Tag Archives: Recipe

Crab Salad

This is another little creation I made while anchored in Darwin Harbour. It was after I got back from my trip to Adelaide. While in Adelaide working my butt off, painting etc, Dwayne was in Darwin, fishing, crabbing and going to the races….. anyhow he caught a couple of crabs and knew better than to eat them while I was away.

Prepared mud crabs

I’ve been wanting a crab salad ever since we hit mud crab territory but had, as yet, had little luck. With the heat in Darwin during the ‘build-up’ making cooking unpleasant, I decided to use one of the cooked mud crabs for this simple salad.

Crab Salad

I used a food stack mould and layered it with a slice of honeydew and rockmelon, shredded lettuce and then a layer of crab and diced cucumber. I topped the salad with a dressing I made with lime juice, walnut oil, mirin, sweet chilli and sesame oil.

Crab Salad

Delicious and very refreshing in the humidity.

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Crab Salad with #melon #lettuce #cucumber #sesameoil #mirin #sweetchilli

Spicy Crayfish Risotto

I made this risotto while we were anchored in Darwin Harbour awaiting our visa and paperwork to set sail for Indonesia. The crayfish was caught on our way to Darwin as we cruised the Great Barrier Reef.

SPICY CRAYFISH RISOTTO made with a crayfish caught on the Great Barrier Reef

I have never made a risotto before, so I googled to get some ideas. In the end I combined some of my favourite flavours to make the risotto I had envisioned. Yay!

Ingredients for my crayfish risotto, chorizo, garlic, chilli, mushroom

This is what I did… I melted butter in a large pan and sautéed finely chopped onion and garlic, diced chorizo and sliced chilli until the onion had softened.

SPICY CRAYFISH RISOTTO

Next I added the rice and cooked it for approximately four minutes “toasting it”. This step apparently determines the final texture of the risotto. It heats the outside of the rice quickly thus preventing it from breaking and seals in the starch.

I then added a cup of white wine. On medium heat I cooked it until all the liqud was nearly absorbed. I then began the task of adding 1/4 of a cup of hot fish stock at a time, waiting for each to be absorbed before adding more, all the while stirring. When the rice was nearly done (a taste test will tell you) I added sliced mushroom, heaps of tarragon and the lobster.

SPICY CRAYFISH RISOTTO made with tarragon, chorizo, mushroom, chilli, garlic and crayfish
Spicy Crayfish Risotto

Was so good!

Marlin fettuccine with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers

This pasta meal was another simple way we enjoyed the marlin we had ample supply of.

While the fettuccini was cooking, I simply sautéed baby capers, finely diced capsicum and garlic in olive oil. After a few minutes I added halved cherry tomatoes and the diced marlin and cooked for a further few minutes until the fish was cooked through but not over done.

Getting ingredients ready for the pasta

To serve I topped the fettuccine with the marlin and tomato, garnished with sliced spring onions and drizzled with a little olive oil. Simple and delicious.

Delicious pasta with marlin, tomato and capers

Mackerel Cutlets with Tomato, Olive and Caper Salsa

Mackerel Cutlets with Tomato, Olive and Caper Salsa

This meal was made with a fresh catch while we were anchored at Hope Island, on the Great Barrier Reef. It was  a few days out of Cairns  and we still had some fresh vegetables from our shopping trip that we needed to use. The green beans were on their last days so, as it often happens on a boat, what we decided to cook for dinner was determined by the veg we had and what needed to be eaten first.

Dwayne caught, cleaned and cut the spanish mackerel into cutlets. He then  barbequed the cutlets while I made a salsa.

Mackerel Cutlets with Tomato, Olive and Caper Salsa made with this fish caught in QLD

For the salsa I diced tomato, kalamata olives, red onion, anchovy, chilli, capers and added a little olive oil.

Mackerel Cutlets with Tomato, Olive and Caper Salsa

The beans, which were begging to be cooked, were blanched in boiling water for a minute or two and set aside. I sautéed a little garlic in butter and tossed the beans and some chopped pistachio nuts through it.

Mackerel Cutlets with Tomato, Olive and Caper Salsa

We enjoyed a delicious meal of BBQ mackerel topped with the salsa and served with the beans on the side. We love mackerel… don’t think we’ll ever get sick of it!

 

Crayfish Salad with Thai-Style Dressing

While anchored in Darwin Harbour, with supermarkets nearby, I decided to do a romantic dinner for Dwayne. For an entree, I made crayfish salad using a crayfish we caught in the Great Barrier Reef. It is very simple but looks great!

CRAYFISH SALAD WITH THAI-STYLE DRESSING

This is what I did…

I made a salad dressing by mixing

3 Tbs of coconut cream
2 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp brown sugar

I refrigerated until I was ready to use it.

I prepared a small packet of vermicelli noodles by soaking them in boiling water. I drained them well and mixed some of the salad dressing through them. I refrigerated the noodles until I was ready to make my salad stacks.

I shredded carrot, lettuce and snow peas, then chopped some coriander and sliced some tomato.

CRAYFISH SALAD WITH THAI-STYLE DRESSING

I stacked the vegetables firmly into a mould, beginning with the noodles and topping it off with the tomato and coriander.

CRAYFISH SALAD WITH THAI-STYLE DRESSING

I removed the stack mould.

CRAYFISH SALAD WITH THAI-STYLE DRESSING

I then topped the salad with crayfish and salad dressing. Voila! Simple, colourful and delicious.

CRAYFISH SALAD WITH THAI-STYLE DRESSING
Crayfish Salad with Thai Style Dressing

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Crayfish salad with #carrot #lettuce #tomato #snowpeas #coconutmilk #lime #fishsauce #soysauce #crayfish #salad

Grilled Garlic Cream Oysters with Camembert

I made these oysters for Dwayne after collecting a few oysters on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. Once again as mentioned in a previous blog I use odd shells that I have collected to grill the oysters in as it is not easy to get oysters on the half-shell when collecting them off the rocks!

Oysters grilled with cream and camembert cheese.

For these oysters I sauté a little finely diced garlic, then add some white wine and simmered to reduce. I remove the pan from the heat and add some cream.

Delicious creamy oysters grilled

I place an oyster in each shell and pour a little of the garlic cream sauce over, then I top each with a slice of camembert cheese.

Cook them under the grill until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

Grilled cheesy oysters

Another one of Dwayne’s favourites….

 

Crayfish Mornay

One of our longest legs sailing so far was the 58 hour sail from Seisai, QLD to Gove, NT. We had some really nice weather and good sailing for most of it. Since it was another milestone (i.e. entering another state, Northern Territory) we decided to celebrate with a delicious meal. Crayfish Mornay.

Made with a crayfish caught on the Great Barrier Reef this delicious creamy mornay was so yummy.

This is what we did…

Dwayne cut the crayfish in half, from head to tail. I removed the meat, washed the shells, and roughly chopped the lobster flesh.

Crayfish Mornay - the empty shells

To make the mornay I heated some milk, a thick slice of onion, a bay leaf and some peppercorns in a pot. I simmered it for a couple of minutes. I then removed the pot from the heat, covered it and let it sit for 15minutes so the flavour would infuse.

I heated a little oil (I didn’t have butter) in a saucepan and added a some plain flour. I cooked this for a minute or two, stirring constantly, then removed it from heat.

I added the white wine and mixed until I had a smooth consistency, then added the milk gradually while mixing. I cooked it over low heat for a few minutes until the sauce thickened. Stirred in a little salt and pepper, cream and some cheese. I stirred this until the cheese melted, then added the crayfish meat.

The Crayfish Mornay mix

I then spooned the lobster mixture into the shells, sprinkled with cheese and baked it  in the oven for 15minute .

Crayfish Mornay ready to be cooked.

It was nice served with basmati rice and steamed broccoli.

Crayfish Mornay served with steamed basmati rice and brocoli

Teriyaki Marlin Sushi

At Cape Bedford, in Far North Queensland, windy conditions prevented us from going ashore. Unable to get off the boat and with little to do, my mind inevitably turned to thoughts of food. I often think about what I can do with fish to spice things up a bit. This particular day I decided that for lunch the following day we would have Teriyaki Marlin Sushi. So I dug deep into the freezer where the last of the marlin is and took out a piece to defrost. Once defrosted (doesn’t take long in tropical QLD) I put it into a container with some teriyaki marinade and put it into the fridge.

The next day we sailed to Lizard Island where once anchored, I made the sushi for lunch. Ten years ago in Broom, WA, I was taught to make sushi by a Korean lady named Hee. Hee was the Cable Beach Resort head sushi chef and she taught me to make it with raw fish, and we love it with raw fish. However, the fish was not fresh which is why I decided to marinate it and cook it.

Once I had gathered all my ingredients, and my sushi mat, I set to work.

sushi seasoning, mirin dressing

INGREDIENTS

Teriyaki marinated marlin fillet

1 cup Sushi rice
1 ½ cups cold water
2 Tablespoons Sushi Seasoning
3 Nori sheets
Wasabi
Pickled ginger
Whole Egg Mayonnaise
Cucumber
Soy sauce
Mirin

To make the sushi…

I cooked the sushi rice and seasoned it with the sushi seasoning. Then I lightly fried the marlin, sliced the cucumber, drained the ginger and made a dipping sauce with the soy and mirin.

Cooking strips of marlin for sushi

To roll the sushi….

I placed the nori sheet on my sushi mat and spread the lower third of the nori with some of the rice then I spread a bit of wasabi and mayo on it. Topped the rice with the marlin, cucumber strips and pickled ginger and rolled it up.

Making marlin sushi with ginger, cucumber and wasabi

I served it with some extra wasabi and the soy mirin dipping sauce.

The marlin sushi ready to eat.

Marlin Dumplings in a Spicy Broth

At the moment we are still working our way through the marlin we caught out from South West Rocks, NSW.

photo 3

I’m having a lot of fun thinking up new ways to serve Marlin, and  these marlin dumplings are one of my favourite creations so far and very easy to make.

This is what I did…

In a food processor I blended marlin with some fresh ginger, fish sauce and spring onions, then I mixed in some chives. I made the dumplings using wanton wrappers.

Wonton wrapped dumpling made with marlin

For the broth I use chicken stock, five spice, chilli, and some slices of fresh ginger. I brought the broth to the boil then reduced the heat and simmered for a few minutes.

Simmer the dumplings

I simmered the dumplings in the broth for 3-4 minutes, then they were ready to serve!

Marlin Dumplings in Star Anise Broth

Bon Appetit!

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Chinese style dumpling or wantons made with marlin in a spicy broth