so 3 days prior, the preparation (for the feast) began... here are some of the aussie food we enjoyed on the day...
inspration came as i watched "surfing the menu", when bender and curtis went to a trout farm in tassie and started to improvise afterwards... i think it was bender who cooked the dish of "salt baked ocean trout"... "ooo what a nice party dish!" i thought...
the quest to find an ocean trout that would fit the oven wasn't an easy task... they were all so huge... finally i figured out a 3 kg would just fit into the 900mm oven... see how the tail end was wrapped in foil, so to prevent a fire happening from it contacting the side of the oven...
as the trout was brought home, the scales where left intact (so the salt would not directly contact the skin and impart an ultra salty taste)... the gills were removed and the inner cavities of the fish (stomach, mouth and all) were filled with sliced lemon, sprigs of rosemary and fresh parsley... 2 long rolls of Al foil outlines the boundary for the salt/olive/egg white mix at the base (more on the salt later)... and the lovely dressed trout slept on top...
much more of the salt mix was needed to encase the entire trout, sealing the juices in and let it steam in the 210 degrees celcius oven heat for 1 1/2 hours...NB on the salt: rock salt was used and if one was to purchase 7-8 kg from a deli or coles, it would have cost $4/2kg = $16+... so in true bargain hunter spirit, bender suggested getting the salt from any pool shop or hardware store... i concurred and ventured to the local pool shop and got some pool salt (ie- unrefined 100% australian salt) for $9/20kg! (that was the smallest bag they have) that would be many more salt baked fish, salt baked chicken or duck etc to come...
the bloody thing was so heavy to lift... by now the 3 kg fish has become 7-8kg with the salt and baking dish...
the cooking time was researched and researched on the internet (as bender did not specify the weight vs time of cooking in the show)... the amalgamated facts pointed towards a 15-20 min cooking time per kg of fish or 20 min per inch of thickest part of the fish/casing...
1 1/2 hours later the fish was ready... the challenge now was to get the rock hard salt crust off... and that was not possible without some hammer action...the lovely crusty skin just peeled off, revealing the fragrant, well-oiled, juicy pink flesh... yummo... and it was a party favourite! it was enjoyed with my home made pepper lemon cream sauce
other party faves included home made aussie meat pies... sorry tassie, the cookie cutter didn't include you in the picture...
other party faves included home made aussie meat pies... sorry tassie, the cookie cutter didn't include you in the picture...
anzac biscuits in the shape of oz (mainland again, sorry tassie)...
aussie sausage, roast tomato and potato quiche...
a modified idea from "jamie at home" - he did a version with asparagus instead and aussie sausages and tomatoes were substituted to give it an aussie edge...
other faves included slow cooked lamb (also from "jamie at home"), coleslaw, ribs, rice...
to finish the meal, we had aussie fruits, pavlova (thanks jamie at home again), and lamingtons with aussie flags!
by the end of the day... we couldn't even fit in the awaiting timtams and coffees (for some dunking)...
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment