Recipes from 'The Chef and I' first edition

With a philosophy of simplicity, using fresh produce and sustainable wild catch seafood, these sample recipes from the seafood cook book 'The Chef and I' are a sensational way to feed your family healthy seafood and sneak in the other healthy ingredients as well!

Garlic Prawns

800g whole green prawns
50ml olive oil
1 bulb garlic, chopped (use less if you
prefer)
1 lemon, juice and zest
1 large red chilli, seeded and
chopped
½ bunch fat leaf parsley, roughly
chopped  
freshly cracked black pepper and salt

Remove heads from prawns, lay prawn on its back and with a small sharp knife cut through the belly of the prawn to the shell (without cutting through the shell) and remove the intestinal tract.
You will now be able to fold open or “butterfly” the prawn.
Place prawns in a mixing bowl with the garlic, chilli, lemon zest and half of the parsley.
Add about 12 twists of black pepper from your mill and toss. Leave for a couple of hours to marinate.
Heat a large frying pan or BBQ plate until hot.
Toss prawns with a tablespoon of salt, mixing well.
Place prawns shell side down into pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Cover pan with a lid and cook a further 2 minutes.
By now the flesh should have changed from its original colour to an opaque pink and white.
Add reserved lemon juice, a glug of olive oil and remaining parsley, and toss to combine.
Serve with crusty bread, plenty of napkins and finger bowls.
This dish makes a great appetiser or canapé that I’m sure your guests would prefer to a boring old bowl of chips or
nuts. Try the prawns on their own with any of the marinades on p12.

Tuna Tacos

Page 50. Serves 4 GF Check your taco shell packet for traces
of gluten.

400g drained tuna in spring water
1 recipe Mexican marinade (p12)
½ red onion, fnely diced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
½ iceberg lettuce, fnely sliced
1 ripe tomato, diced
120g grated cheddar cheese
1 x 200g tub light sour cream
12 taco shells

Mix together tuna, diced onion and Mexican marinade p12.
Spoon into taco shells and top with your own combination of the remaining ingredients.
Use the same ingredients for soft tacos, quesadilla, enchilada or nachos.
Place all ingredients in the centre of the table for your
guests to assemble their own taco.

Salmon Quesadilla

Page 52. Makes 8.

For tortillas
1 x 180g tinned salmon, well drained
100g grated cheddar cheese
100g corn kernels
1 carrot, grated
1 tblsp ground cumin
8 white or yellow corn tortillas
For avocado salsa
1 ripe avocado
¼ small red onion, fnely chopped
1⁄3 cup chopped coriander
juice of 1 lime

Mix together all ingredients for tortilla filling and season with salt and pepper.
Lay out tortillas on a clean cutting board or work bench and top with tortilla filling.Fold over tortilla to form a semi circle.
For salsa, scoop out avocado flesh and mix with remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat BBQ hot plate to medium and heat oil lightly.

Place quesadillas on grill and press lightly to flatten evenly. Cook until golden brown and crisp; repeat on
the other side.
To serve cut quesadillas into wedges and top with avocado salsa. Substitute cheddar with a low fat ricotta for a healthier option.
Substitute cooked, roughly chopped prawns for salmon. Flour tortillas may be used instead of corn.

Seared Scallops, Caulifower Purée

Page 122. Serves 6. GF

12 scallops
200g caulifower
125ml pouring cream
½ bunch chopped chives
1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

Slice cauliflower stalk and all into 1cm slices. Place cauliflower in medium saucepan with cream and bring to boil. Cover with lid and simmer slowly for 5 minutes.
Pour cream and cauliflower into blender and purée until very smooth, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Heat a large frying pan, brush with oil and when oil begins to smoke for 30 seconds add scallops. Sear on each side for 30 seconds and remove to rest on a paper towel to soak up any juices released.
Dice scallop into ½cm pieces, stir in chopped chives and olive oil.

To serve set out 12 Japanese soup spoons and place a teaspoon of cauliflower purée in the base of each spoon. Top cauliflower with scallop mixture and serve.
Prepare cauliflower purée the day before serving and reheat in microwave.
Frying pan must be smoking hot when cooking scallops. Be careful of any spattering oil.  
Add cheese to cauliflower purée for a delicious gluten free cheese sauce.

Seared Tuna Steaks, Nicoise Salad

Page 98. Serves 4. DF  GF

360-400g fresh tuna loin
4 cooked kipfer potatoes
150g cooked green beans
2 soft boiled eggs, peeled
½ punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
16 pitted kalamata olives
1 lebanese cucumber, sliced   
4 baby cos lettuce leaves
3 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tblsp lemon juice

Cut tuna into 4 small, even sized steaks and season with salt and pepper.
In a hot frying pan sear tuna for about 30 seconds on each side. Tuna will be rare at this stage, cook for longer if you prefer to eat tuna more done.Remove from pan and cut into 2cm thick slices. If the tuna is not cut straight away after removing from pan it will continue to cook from the residual heat.  
To serve cut eggs in half and set aside.
Whisk oil, mustard and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, and toss with remaining salad ingredients.
Arrange salad on plates and top with egg and tuna.
Quality tinned tuna could be substituted for fresh.

Seared Sea Scallop, Roasted Baby Beetroot, Walnuts and Goats Curd

Page 106. Serves 4. GF

350-400g scallop meat
200g tinned baby beetroot
1 small red onion
60g walnuts
120g goats curd
small handful washed rocket leaves   
100ml extra virgin olive oil
20ml red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c.
Cut beetroot in half, toss in a mixing bowl with 40mls of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bake beetroot for 20 minutes and walnuts on a separate tray for 5 minutes.
Slice onion into thin rings.
To serve preheat a large frying pan to very hot.
In a large mixing bowl whisk remaining oil and vinegar, toss with warm beetroot, walnuts, onion and rocket.
Divide rocket salad among 4 plates, reserve any remaining dressing and dot with dollops of goats curd.
Sear scallops in the very hot frying pan for 30 seconds on each side.
Remove scallops from pan and place amongst rocket salads. Drizzle over any remaining dressing.  
Shaved parmesan, ricotta or blue cheese works well in this salad.
Your frying pan must be very hot to cook your scallops.
Your pan will need to be hot enough to sear the scallops without having them release their juices and stew in the
pan. It may be best to fry them in three batches, keeping each batch warm on a tea towel to soak up juices.
Beetroot and walnuts could be prepared ahead of time.
Place scallops in and around the salad so they look as though they are mixed through rather than just plonked on
top.

Spanner Crab Lasagne

Page 34. Serves 6.

600g crab meat
1 x 750ml jar tomato passata
½ bunch basil chopped
1 tsp of caster sugar
60g butter
60g plain four
500ml full cream milk
250g ricotta cheese
250g grated parmesan cheese
300g instant lasagne sheets

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c.
For white sauce, in a medium sized saucepan melt butter, stir in flour and cook over moderate heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Gradually add milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
Bring sauce to boil and reduce heat to simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season with salt and white pepper, stir in ricotta and parmesan and set aside.
For tomato sauce, bring tomato passata to the boil and stir in chopped basil, sugar and season with salt and
pepper.
To assemble, take two mixing bowls. In one bowl combine about half of your cheesy white sauce with
your spanner crab.In the other bowl mix about half of your cheesy white sauce with 100ml of your tomato sauce. This will be your finishing layer.

Your assembly should go like this:
Thin layer of tomato sauce
Layer of pasta sheets
Thin layer of tomato sauce
Layer of crab mixture
Thin layer of tomato sauce
Layer of pasta sheets

Repeat this and finish the top of your lasagne with the reserved tomato and cheese sauce mixture.
Bake in oven for 45 minutes.
Serve with a simple salad.
If you are meating your own crabs you will need about 2.5kg of whole crab.
If you are using frozen or tinned crab be sure to squeeze out any excess moisture. If you do not do this your sauce will be
watery and thin!

Chocolate Mousse

Page 136

200g light/milk chocolate
2 tblsp cream
4 egg yolks
a small pinch of cream of tartar
6 egg whites
1 tblsp castor sugar

Break chocolate into pieces and melt with the cream in a bowl over a double saucepan. Whisk slowly until smooth.Remove from heat.
Add the egg yolk and combine until smooth.
Add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them until they are fairly firm. Add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Using    a    large    metal    spoon,    gently    incorporate    ¼    of  the egg white into the chocolate preparation, then carefully fold in the rest of it.Gently spoon the mixture into mousse pots or large bowl and leave to set in the refrigerator for several hours.
Decorate with crushed chocolate flakes, cream or strawberries, if desired.
Don’t let any water hit the chocolate while it is melting over the stove. It will ruin it instantly.