Thursday, September 18, 2008

What are you favourite salads?

As the cold weather slips away, new-season produce begins to appear and our eating habits change. We want lighter meals but perhaps not the crisp, cold salads that match a perfect summer's day. There's no better time to enjoy warm salads as entrees, mains or side dishes served with meat or fish.

Salads were prepared long before they were written about. The term comes from the Latin "sal" or "salata", which refers to raw vegetables dressed in vinegar, oil and salt. Later, salad, or "sallet", turns up in late 14th-century English literature. It was the late 20th century when nouvelle cuisine introduced warm salads as menu items. Fortunately, the salad has continued but nouvelle cuisine is a thing of the past.

Try these salads to start: Globe artichoke, sausage and sage salad, Mum's potato salad and Broccoli, almond and oregano salad.

What are you favourite salads?

Posted by Monika Jansch at 3:58 PM | Comments 4

Pan-fried or flaked in a salad, Trout make a simple meal

Pan-fried or flaked in a salad, these fresh-water fish make a simple meal - just add veg.

I rarely do any serious hunter-gathering, other than from the vegetable garden. A country weekend was planned and the first night's menu was to be trout from the nearby trout farm, and the next night a well-aged Angus rump steak grilled directly over the coals of a fire. I packed my prized oval copper frying pan, designed for just such a fish, and a hinged metal grill from the $2 shop that I fancied would do the job with the steak.

There are some terrific food and wine destinations in provincial Victoria. We had a speedy lunch and bought wine at the stunning Giant Steps complex at Healesville, local cheese at Cheese Freaks, also in Healesville, and on the return journey enjoyed superb coffee in a sun-drenched courtyard at the Tea Rooms at Yarck.

But back to the hunter-gathering. It was raining heavily when we arrived at the Buxton Trout Farm, so we felt particularly intrepid heading to the ponds with fishing rods, bait (pellets), and without gumboots. In my youth, I spent a camping weekend with an enthusiastic fly fisherman. Equipped with thigh-high waders he stood in the icy waters of the Howqua River lightly flicking his rod, the fly skimming the surface, and I remember being fascinated watching the fish leap and fall, scattering silver drops of water. But he didn't catch anything. So I do know the difference between fishing in a trout-farm pond and proper fly-fishing: a trout farm assures success and it is much faster. Which was just as well as the banks were slippery and slimy.

The rain fell more and more heavily.

Our group caught four good-sized fish, averaging around 400 grams each.

When I came to prepare the fish they were still stiff (a sign of a truly fresh fish). A classic dish of pan-fried trout with a squeeze of lemon and some buttery browned almonds seemed ideal.

My copper pan outperformed the usual non-stick pans; it was faster and the fish was crisper.

The only other accompaniment was a bowl of waxy potatoes tossed with butter and chopped parsley. Leftover cooked trout made a lovely small salad as part of our lunch the next day.

The next day dawned cold and clear. Mount Buller glittered in the distance, the nearer hills were a deep purple-blue, the grass green, the sky blue and kangaroos large and small stared at us as we walked, snug in gloves and beanies. I was already planning how to secure that huge piece of steak in the too-small grill on top of the fire without it falling into the coals.

Try these simple trout recipes: Trout with almonds and cherry tomatoes and Salad of trout.

Posted by Monika Jansch at 3:53 PM | Comments 1