What a great time Phil Dudman and I had in Griffith as Ambassadors for the Griffith Garden Festival. There was so much fresh local produce to work with it made my job very easy. Here are the recipes from the dems at De Bortolli winery. Enjoy!
Apple Slaw with Crispy Skin Murray Cod fillets
Serves 4
Apple slaw
4 green apples, core removed and cut into matchsticks
1/4 Wombok (Chinese Cabbage) finely shredded
6 sticks celery, finely sliced
1/2 bunch chives, finely sliced
a good handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
a good handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Dressing
1 preserved lemon, washed and pulp removed and finely diced
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise
1 tablespoon natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Crispy Murray Cod fillets
4 x150gm Murray Cod fillets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
To make the apple slaw, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. To make the dressing, whisk together the zest and juice of the lemon, mayonnaise, yoghurt and mustard and pour over the slaw, combine well.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Rub the skin of each fillet with 1/2 teaspoon salt and season with freshly ground black pepper. Cook fillets, skin side down for 3-4 minutes or until skin is crispy. Turn and cook for a further 2 minutes or until golden. Serve with the apple slaw.
Lamb feta and spring veg salad
Serves 4
500gms lamb mince
200gms feta
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs
1/4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped plus extra for serving
1/2 cup chia seeds
150gms freshly podded peas, blanched
1 bunch asparagus, blanched
4 zucchinis, thinly sliced
6-8 radishes, thinly sliced and pickled (see recipe)
1 preserved lemon, flesh removed and thinly sliced
2 cups rocket
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup Greek plain yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed, extra
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Combine mince, 100g feta, garlic, breadcrumbs and mint in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Place chia seeds on a plate. Form mince mixture into small patties, then place on plate and turn to lightly coat in seeds. Cover and refrigerate until needed. In a large bowl combine the blanched peas, asparagus, zucchinis and pickled radishes, preserved lemon and rocket.
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook patties, in 2 batches, for a few minutes each side or until browned and cooked through. Add lamb patties and lemon juice to vegetables and toss gently to combine.
Combine the yoghurt, garlic and lemon juice and set aside. Divide salad among plates and top with extra mint leaves and scatter with the remaining 100g feta, serve with garlic yoghurt.
Quick pickled radishes
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoons salt
6-8 medium sized radishes, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
In a medium bowl, stir together vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir through the radishes. Allow to stand for 30 minutes before serving.
NB: these quick pickled radishes are best eaten on the day but can keep for 1 day in the refrigerator.
Quick Moroccan chicken
Serves 4
1kg chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons Herbies Chermoula or Moroccan spice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion, peeled and sliced
400g can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 preserved lemon, pulp removed and sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds, roasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup green olives
1 tablespoon tahini
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
Place chicken into a large ceramic or glass bowl and coat with chermoula spice. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and cook onion on a medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until softened.
Increase heat to high and add the chicken in batches and cook until golden. Add the tomatoes, stock, lemon, almonds and olives and stir well. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
NB: Chermoula is a North African herb and spice blend and is a great marinade for seafood or chicken. Herbies Spices has a great Chermoula Spice Blend.
Rice pilaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup basmati rice, rinsed
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons tomato paste
500mls chicken stock
2 tablespoons coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 cup Greek style natural yoghurt
1/4 cup mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
harissa paste, to taste (see note)
lemon wedges to serve
To make the pilaf, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the spices, chilli, salt and pepper and cook for a further minute. Add rice, raisins, tomato paste, stock and almonds, stir well and bring to the boil.
Cover tightly and simmer on a low heat for 18-20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes with the lid on. Stir in parsley.
Combine the mint and yoghurt and place into a serving bowl. Add the coriander to the pilaf and fluff the rice with a fork and serve on warmed plates topped with the chicken, mint yoghurt, harissa and lemon wedges.
Note: Harissa is a Tunisian chilli paste, from gourmet and Middle Eastern food shops.
Whole BBQ Murray Cod with citrus rice stuffing and salsa verde
Serves 4
The golden rule for cooking fish is not to overcook it, a guideline when cooking the snapper is a minute per 100gms (1 kilo fish will take 10 minutes each side). Serve with rocket, fennel & potato salad with preserved lemon dressing.
1 x 1.5-2kg whole fish, scaled and gutted
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salsa Verde
2 firmly-packed cups flat-leaf parsley leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons capers in brine, rinsed
7 anchovy fillets
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Make Salsa Verde: combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth, set aside.
Pat fish dry with paper towels. Cut 2 incisions 1cm deep, 10cm long and 4cm apart on each side of the fish. Brush with the olive oil.
Place fish on a large sheet of non-stick baking paper (large enough to wrap the fish). Fill the cavity of the fish with the rice stuffing.
Wrap the fish tightly with the non-stick paper them wrap in alfoil. Place the fish parcel onto a pre-heated hot BBQ. Once fish is on the hotplate, reduce to a medium heat and cook each side for approximately 20 minutes (depending on weight of fish).
To check if fish is cooked, eyes should be opaque and the fin should pull out evenly. Place fish onto a serving plate and pour the salsa verde over the warm fish.
Citrus rice stuffing
3 cups cooked Jasmine rice
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp grated ginger
½ cup shredded coriander
½ cup shredded mint
½ cup shredded basil
4 green onions, finely chopped
2 red chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
For the stuffing, mix together all the ingredients.
Pickled beetroot
Barbecued Rosemary Lamb kebabs with a Radish Tzatziki and Beetroot, Feta and Rocket salad
Serves 4
4 long rosemary branches, leaves removed leaving some at top
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sumac, plus extra to dust
1 tablespoon lemon juice
500g lamb fillet, cut into 2cm cubes
Salad
2 large beetroot or 4 baby beetroot, washed
200g Greek feta, crumbled
1 bunch rocket leaves, washed and dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Radish Tzatziki
4-6 radishes, depending on size, trimmed
1 Lebanese cucumber
200g Greek plain yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons mint leaves, chopped
Soak the rosemary branches in cold water for 30 minutes to avoid burning.
In a medium sized ceramic or glass dish combine garlic, oil, sumac, lemon juice and season well. Add the diced lamb and toss well to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.
Meanwhile, trim the beetroot stems and place into a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and reduce heat to medium and simmer for 40 minutes or until beetroots are tender but still a little crunchy. Leave to cool.
Wearing plastic gloves peel the beetroot by rubbing off the skin gently. Cut into wedges and set aside. Combine olive oil, vinegar, sugar and mustard in a screw top jar and season well.
Combine the beetroot, feta and rocket in a medium bowl and toss with the red wine vinegar dressing prior to serving.
Coarsely grate the radishes and cucumber and place into a sieve to squeeze out excess moisture. In a medium bowl combine the yoghurt, garlic, mint, radish and cucumber and season well. Set aside.
Heat a char-grill on a high heat. Thread the lamb evenly amongst the branches.
Cook the lamb on the char-grill for 6-8 minutes turning occasionally or until cooked. Serve the lamb with radish tzatziki and salad.
