Serves 6
Ingredients
6 x 180 g yellowfin tuna steaks
olive oil
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vinegar
Champ
6 large Desiree potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
120 g butter
1/2 bunch spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons capers
salt and pepper
Lemon and caper sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 whole salted lemon (preserved lemon)
1 tablespoon capers
1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

For serving:
30 g capers, washed

Method
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, reduce to a simmer, add vinegar, then break eggs onto a plate and slide into water. Cook for 3 minutes or until white is set but yolk is still soft. Remove and drain on kitchen paper or refresh in iced water and reheat just before serving.
Heat a heavy-based pan to high and add enough olive oil to coat the base. Sear tuna 2-3 minutes each side until medium rare. Remove from pan and rest 1 minute before serving.

Champ
Boil potatoes until tender and then mash. Bring milk, cream and butter to boil then gradually stir into the potatoes until they acquire a light, smooth consistency. Fold in spring onions and capers. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Lemon and caper sauce
Heat butter in a small saucepan until nut brown in colour. Remove and discard flesh from lemon, wash skin well and dice finely. Whisk in butter and remaining ingredients and season to taste.
Place a large spoonful of champ on each plate, rest fish on side and top with warm poached egg. Drizzle with lemon and caper sauce and garnish with extra capers if desired.
Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual

Spanish mackerel dry red curry with a green papaya salad (serves 6)

Ingredients:
600 g Spanish mackerel fillets, skin off

Marinade:
peanut oil, to coat
1 cup Spanish onion, finely diced
½ cup cracked coriander seeds
1 cup roughly chopped fresh coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk lemongrass, minced
2 tablespoons red curry paste

Sauce:
1 small can coconut cream
1 cup dry white wine
Green papaya salad
1 green papaya, skin and seeds removed
1 cup shredded carrot
2 cloves garlic
1 birds eye chilli, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup white wine vinegar

Method
Cut mackerel fillets in half lengthways, remove bloodline and cut straight across into 2 cm strips.
Place in a bowl, add just enough peanut oil to coat and toss through the remaining marinade ingredients.
Cover for 2 hours to 4 days-it should be quite dry and well coated.
Heat a heavy-based non-stick frying pan that has a lid, add a little oil and fry the mackerel until browned on both sides.
Add the coconut cream and dry white wine, cover and cook for a further 4 minutes.
Remove from sauce and keep warm. Reduce sauce to a thick consistency and decorate with green papaya salad and fresh coriander.

Green papaya salad
Cut papaya and carrot into julienne strips and place in a bowl.
Combine remaining ingredients in a screw top jar and shake to combine (this is best made ahead of time for flavours to develop).
Pour dressing over salad and toss lightly just before serving.

Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual

Slow-cooked ruby snapper in extra virgin olive oil with asparagus and chardonnay vinegar (Serves 4)

Ingredients:
720 g ruby snapper fillets, cut into 4 portions
150 ml extra virgin olive oil

Mash:
2 large peeled foxton potatoes (or other potato suitable for mashing)
30 g butter
50 ml cream
salt, pepper and chopped chervil to taste

Asparagus mix:
6 spears fresh asparagus, blanched and sliced
50 g kalamata olives pitted
1 sprig oregano (optional)
2 roma tomatoes, blanched, seeded, skin removed and sliced lengthways
1 clove garlic
cracked pepper and salt

For serving:
chardonnay vinegar; basil leaves, crisp-fried in olive oil

Method:
Seal the ruby snapper in a hot pan until golden brown.
Place in an ovenproof dish with the extra virgin olive oil and cook at 40°C for 15 minutes.
Mash the potatoes, stir in butter, then slowly add cream.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and chervil.
In a non-stick pan, heat a little olive oil and sauté the asparagus, olives, garlic and, if desired, some oregano.
Season to taste with cracked pepper and salt, add the tomatoes and then warm through.

To serve, place mash in centre of plate and asparagus mix to one side.
Top with fish and drizzle with the chardonnay vinegar. Garnish with the fried basil.

Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual

Served wtih sweet chilli lemon myrtle dipping sauce – jasmin rice

Serves 4 – 2 per person

The art of this dish is in the packing, oil the best hand, hold the cut sugar cane in the other, pick up a handful of prawn mixture and wrap it onto the cane, don’t get to much oil mixed in, smooth it off and well you’ll get the hang of it!

Ochre Catering has done this dish at several Pt. Douglas Food and Wine Festivals serving about 400 in a couple of hours – it’s a great party food and fun to eat, don’t forget to suck all the juice from that cane.

This dish was selected to represent TNQ at TASTING AUSTRALIA in Adelaide in October 1999 serving 3000 serves in 2 days from the Tastes of the Tropics Stand. It is also included in the recently released Dining High Cookbook produced by Ansett for their 50th anniversary, Making the front cover.

Sugarcane Prawn Stick
Sugar Cane grows all around me in Tropical Queensland, but obviously not in 75% of Australia, check with your best Greengrocer, there is even Organic cane grown near Innisfail TNQ. You need to wash then cut the cane in 6 to 8 inch lengths and then split into 4 sticks per length.

Recipe
600gms Prawn Meat – Gulf of Carpenteria
5 gms Sambal Oelek – Asian Foods Australia – Cairns
30mls Sesame Oil
2 shallots – chopped – Innisfail
1 tbsp salt and pepper
10gms coriander – chopped – Innisfail
2 egg whites – Yamagishi Eggs – NQ

Puree all ingredients together in food processor until coarsely bound.
Pack onto sugar cane sticks as per above instructions.

Sweet chilli lemon myrtle dipping sauce
1 Lt water
250gms sugar – Bundaberg sugar
200 mls rice wine vinegar
100 mls fish sauce
2 large green chillies – sliced finely
30 gms ginger – julienne
20 mls soya sauce
25 fresh lemon myrtle leaves – julienne – grows throughout Queensland
Simmer all ingredients for 10 minutes then thicken slightly with cornflour

To Serve
Barbecue Prawn sticks on a BBQ flat plate until just cooked [don't over cook]- serve with jasmin rice and
Sweet chilli sauce – garnish with sliced shallots.

Courtesy Craig Squire – Ochre Restaurant Cairns

(Serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 x 300 g king threadfin fillets
100 g plain flour
2 eggs, whisked
2 tablespoons olive oil

Fritters
1 cup cooked sweet corn kernels
1 cup grated sweet potato
1/4 cup finely diced chives
1/4 cup chopped zucchini
3/4 cup diced capsicum
1/3 cup chopped basil
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 eggs
salt and pepper

Tapenade
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup basil, chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup olives
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons orange juice

Garnish
8 sprigs basil
8 sprigs bush or Greek basil
tomato, julienne
1 cup bean sprouts
paprika
red coral lettuce

Method
Cut each king threadfin into 4 darnes straight across the fillet.
Combine fritter ingredients in a large bowl and chill. Roughly chop and combine all tapenade ingredients. Brush a non-stick frying pan with oil and make 16 small fritters, cooking until golden brown on both sides. Place on paper towels and keep warm.

Coat the king threadfin in flour and egg. Heat the oil in a pan, add the king threadfin and cook for 3 minutes each side, depending on thickness.

Arrange fritters around outside of plate and place king threadfin between them. Spoon tapenade onto the fish and decorate with garnish.

Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual

(Serves 6)
Ingredients:
6 plate-size barramundi
lemon myrtle leaves (fresh, if available)

Lemon myrtle dressing:
2 tablespoons dried lemon myrtle leaves
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
seasoning to taste

For serving:
salad greens, roasted bunya (or macadamia) nuts

Method:
Smear fish with dressing and place fresh lemon myrtle leaves inside the fish.
Heat a little of the dressing in a very hot pan and sear fish for 2 minutes each side, then place on an oven tray, drizzle with more dressing and bake at 200°C for 5 minutes.
The skin should be crispy, and the flesh spongy to touch.

Lemon myrtle dressing:
Combine oil and dried lemon myrtle leaves and season to taste.
Allow flavours to develop for 12 hours or more.
Serve whole on salad greens, garnished with bunya nuts.

Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual

(Serves 6-8 as an entrée)

Ingredients:
600 g green endeavour prawn meat, coarsely chopped
400 g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
800 g orange sweet potato (kumera), peeled and cut in fine julienne
200 g carrot, cut as for potato
peanut, olive or macadamia oil for frying
8 green endeavour prawns, unshelled

Dipping sauce
2 Birds Eye chillies, thinly sliced
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon Vietnamese fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Combine ingredients, adjusting sugar to taste.

Method
Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Mix in garlic, make a well in the centre and whisk in about 11/2 cups water, to make a thick batter. Add prawn meat, sweet potato and carrot and mix well.
Heat 12 mL of oil in a heavy-based frying pan until hot but not smoking. Place a spoonful of mixture in the oil, press an unpeeled prawn into centre and flatten cake with the back of a fork. Repeat with remaining mixture and cook until golden (about 2 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Serve whole or sliced with dipping sauce.

Source: Australian Seafood Users Manual