Tuna Steak and Prawn and Scallop Skewer

After tinkering around with Chinese chefs on and off for a few years, Calum drew inspiration for this month’s recipe by fusing Asian techniques with the best of Aussie produce.

a pile of delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

3 x 180g Yellow Fin tuna steaks

3 x U6 green king prawn

3 x 10/1 roe off scallop

50g snow peas

1 sliced red onion

½ red capsicum, julienne

1 clove of garlic

10g ginger julienne

2 tblspn lime juice

10g chopped Coriander

10g chopped dill

1 tblspn sesame oil

4 tblspn sweet chilli sauce

50g butter

2 tblspn corn flour

Handful of bean sprouts

½ bunch shallots

Salt & Pepper to taste

Sprinkling of Sugar

5g black caviar

3 tblspn peanut oil

1 tblspn Kecap Manis sweet soy sauce

 

METHOD:

Dust tuna in corn flour, fry in 1 tablespoon of hot peanut oil and butter. Sprinkle with dill and half the lime juice on both sides whilst cooking and season with a sprinkle of salt, pepper & sugar. Set aside.

Fry vegetables and garlic in sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of peanut oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Add ginger and 1 tablespoon of Kecap Manis. Stir through. Set aside.

Thread prawn and scallop onto a bamboo skewer. Fry prawns and scallops in 1 tablespoon of peanut oil, splash with 1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce and sprinkle coriander. As you turn over, squeeze over remaining lime juice. Cook for only one minute on each side.

To plate up, add 1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce and a dash of Kecap Manis to the side of each plate. Place vegetables in the centre, stack tuna steak on top, followed by the skewer. Sprinkle with fresh coriander. Place a small amount of black caviar on the side of the plate.

Thanks Calum and PFD for supplying the yummy seafood!

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flash of a gold Harley to a flash in the pan..

Calum whizzed past on his gold Harley and offered Helen a ride. The rest, they say, is history

Calum met Helen back in 2001. Helen was standing outside the panel shop where she worked when Calum came whizzing past on his gold Harley Davidson, promptly did a u-turn, and stopped to ask Helen if she’d like to hop on. “I said, ‘nice bike, it’s a pretty colour’. I had a pushbike as a kid that was the same colour as his Harley, and my gold bike was the fastest in the street,” giggles Helen. And the rest they say is history.

These days the pair are the faces of fresh produce, bring everything from seafood to soup to St George and the West  via their recent business venture – PFD. “As a chef previously myself, it’s given me a good understanding of  the food service industry – when chefs need it now, they really need it. I’ve run out of things half way through service myself. I try to provide the service I always wanted when I was cooking.”Starting out washing dishes at an a-la-carte restaurant, Calum gradually moved up the food chain, working with chefs in high volume clubs, Chinese restaurants, and eventually run his own kitchen in a pub. “I remember working in the club with 300 meals to go out. We had them from clean plate to a waiter within seven seconds.”

Performing under pressure for the thrill of the crowd is nothing new. “I worked as an entertainer and front-man in bands (as a singer and bass player) for years before I started cooking. I get the same thrill from doing a good performance as I do putting out a good meal. It’s not a thankless task. People genuinely  appreciate it. That’s what it’s all about.”

The lure of Chinese cuisine remained and Calum was afforded lots of insights into Asian cuisine. “It’s just such a different way of cooking, from knife skills to the way they prep the food. And the sauces – they are the flavours in Chinese cooking.” But the secrets he learnt will forever remain secrets. “They always say after they show you something special – ‘if anyone asks you, you don’t know anything!’ “

“With Chinese, everything is cut to be eaten with chopsticks. They like everything to be cut uniformly so it cooks through the same. I watched the chefs cook for the restaurant and then do their own stuff for their family afterward, which is a bit different to Australian Chinese cooking a bit. Australian Chinese is made to be done really quick and fast, whereas they’ll cook pork belly for their family all day.”

One of Calums key tips to any dish is seasoning. We hear a lot about seasoning with salt and pepper, but Calums experience with Asian food brings a new perspective. “ We’ve all heard the saying ‘a teaspoons of sugar makes the medicine go down’. So when I say seasoning, I mean salt, pepper and sugar. It’s an Asian trick. Asian food is all about balance. Sugar balances out salt and adds an extra big of flavour. It also helps caramelization.”

Check out Calums recipe: Tuna Steaks with Prawn and Scallop Skewer

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Butter – a kitchen Miracle

Sometimes it’s the simplest of ingredients that make a dish really shine. I’m a fan of butter and you’d be surprised what a knob of butter here and there can do for a dish, particularly when added to a sauce.

Butter has great memories for me. I’ll never forget the first time I tasted carrots at my aunty’s place in Victoria. They were simply steamed carrots with a knob of butter thrown through. I wanted mum to cook carrots like that every night!

My nanna from the other side of the family was a bit partial to lemon butter. It was never missing from the fridge. She’d often lather a slice of bread with lemon butter.

I haven’t quite developed Heston Blumenthal’s addiction to spiced butter with Worcestershire sauce and Marmite in it, but it’s getting close! He puts this butter mix in everything that resembles stews and mince including chilli con carne – along with star anise. Sounds like a crazy combination and I can’t wait to try it when I have a weekend spare. ( All his recipes are quite time consuming!)  He also has a popular recipe of sea bass with vanilla butter.

Aside from being that magic addition to chocolate to make is super glossy, butter is also a handy kitchen tool. Did you know if you’re cutting something sticky – like dates, toffee etc – you just smear your knife with a little butter and it will slice straight through without sticking to your knife? Sticky date pudding just got a whole lot easier! Make your cheese last longer by rubbing the edge you cut with butter, which helps stop the mould. Ok enough of the Martha Stewart like household tips. But just one more:  Butter will even take the squeak out of your door….

So when I found a recipe this week for a flavoured butter to drizzle on charred lettuce – yep – lettuce of all things, I thought I’d give it a crack. (I tried charring the lettuce – didn’t work for me)  I used the rest of the butter dressing/sauce to drizzle on fish as the recipe also said was worth a try. WOW! It was great! The addition of lemon and anchovies gives the butter a spectacular kick.

Since I didn’t use it all, I let the ‘dressing’ set back to a solid in the fridge and used it the next day just like normal butter with salmon on crackers as a quick snack, which was also pretty delicious.

 

RECIPE: Lemon and Herb Butter

Want a quick week night meal? Grill some barramundi (or fish of your choice), chop a fresh salad and drizzle a little of the butter over the fish.

1/3 cup salted butter

2 tablespoons finely chopped pine nuts

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary

2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped

3 tablespoons lemon, frozen whole then grated (or add more to your taste)

4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

 

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until butter is melted. I like to let them very gently simmer for a few minutes to really infuse the flavours together.

 

 

you’ll be using this very yummy little butter everywhere!

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