To the Lighthouse – for BBQ snapper

I recently returned home to Australia for the wedding of two very lovely friends. The ceremony was under a huge tree in a botanical garden, and the reception overlooking Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda.  

After a fabulous dinner at The Aylesbury, with ricotta nudie that was so good it brought a tear to my eye, I headed to the coast, to catch up with more family and friends. 

When I was home earlier in the year, some friends and I baked a snapped on the BBQ, and it was incredibly succulent. As soon as I mentioned to my brother that I was planning on barbequing a snapper for friends at their holiday house in Airey’s Inlet, he offered up a fish he’d caught over the weekend. A sizable six pound fish! He also volunteered to come to dinner to help eat it – as there was far too much for the three of us. 

The fish was delicious although the BBQ was perhaps a little hot and singed the outside a little more than I would have liked. Next time, I’d cook if for longer on a lower heat.

Airey’s Inlet is also gorgeous. A tiny town on the Great Ocean Road, with giant sandstone cliffs, secluded beaches, and a proud little lighthouse.   

Here’s the recipe:

Whole fresh snapper (gutted and clean)

Ginger

Chilli

Dukkah

Lemons

Foil (enough to wrap the fish)

Step 1: Get your brother, or your fishmonger, to clean and gut the fish (to my mind, that’s certainly not the most romantic part of fishing). Light the BBQ.   

Step 2: Chop the ginger and chilli finely, and coat both sides of the fish in it. Sprinkle dukkah over both sides.

 

Step 3: Slice the lemons and make a line on top of the fish.

Step 4: Wrap the fish in foil and pop it on the BBQ. You will need to cook the fish on both sides. The time on each side depends on the size of the fish and the heat of the BBQ. The best way to ascertain when each side is cooked is be opening foil packed and using a fork to break open the skin of the fish to expose the flesh. You will know it is cooked when it is soft and white. 

Enjoy! Got a favorite way to cook snapper? Please share it, I'd love to try it!

 

Ricotta and parsley stuffed artichokes

"After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual "food" out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps." - Miss Piggy

True enough. But the small amount of edible artichoke heart you find in each artichoke is delicious. And, globe artichokes are beautiful to look at. As a result, when I passed them recently at our local market, they soon found their way to the centre of the dining table.

 

Artichokes are actually a thistle. Globe artichokes are picked before they flower, but the flower buds are inside the artichoke. Referred to as the choke, this part is inedible and needs to be removed. For advice on preparing artichokes, including a demonstration on how to remove the choke and the inedible outer leaves, see You Tube.

Once the artichokes are prepared, there is very little work in this dish. It’s fresh and simple. It would make the perfect lunch, side dish, or entree, at a dinner party.  

Recipe

(serves two)

4 globe artichokes

4 tablespoons fresh ricotta

Juice of once lemon

Handful of chopped parsley

Ground black pepper

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic (I used smoked garlic, but you can also use unsmoked)  

Step 1. Prepare the artichokes, removing the outside leaves and the choke. Rub with lemon juice once they are prepared, to prevent from browning. Cut the artichokes in half and lay on a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil generously. Roast at 180C for 10mins, with the grill on if possible.

Step 2. While the artichokes are roasting, mix the ricotta, finely chopped parsley, lemon juice, and chopped garlic in a bowl.   

Step 3. Remove the artichokes from the oven. The artichokes will hve begun to chargrill, with the thin leaves darkening. 

Step 4: Spoon the ricotta mixture into each artichoke half, dividing evenly among the segments. Add another generous drizzle of olive oil. Place back under the grill for 10 minutes. 

Happy November foraging!

According to my mini (field guide) version of Richard Mabey’s Food For Free, there are plenty of fungi and nuts, as well as a few other goodies to forage for in November.

Here’s a quick run-down, lifted directly from Food For Free: 

   

Blewitt

Cauliflower fungus

Cep (one of my favourites...)

Chanterelle (another of my favourites...)

Chickweed

Fairy-ring champignon

Field mushroom

Giant puffball

Hazelnut

Hedgehog fungus

Honey fungus

Horse mushroom

Jew’s ear

Oyster mushroom

Rosehip

Saffron milk cap

Shaggy cap

Sweet chestnut (just foraged some of these!!)

Velvet shanks

Walnuts

Remember leave plenty for the woods and hedgerow dwellers and take only what you can, and will eat.

Be careful with fungi –if you are in France you can check with any pharmacist on if your foraged fungi are edible if not.

Has Food for Free missed something? If so, please let me know? I’d love to read what other goodies you are foraging!   

 Above: the path to the chestnut wood, behind Segur le Chateau, France.