For Caroline’s birthday a few months ago I gave her 2 presents.

1. She could pick a theme dinner to be made by me.

2. She was allowed to say “it’s my birthday” for a whole week, which meant lots of cooking, washing up etc…

She picked Tasmania, and more specifically, Tasmanian Seafood as the theme. And as for pulling the birthday card for a week, well…, let’s just say well played Caroline, well played.

Here’s some of the dishes I made:

Tempura Oysters

Spicy Tempura Oysters

1/2 dozen freshTasmanian oysters

finely sliced chilli and coriander leaves to garnish

Tempura batter:

1 egg

1 cup icy cold water

3/4 cup plain flour

pinch bicarb soda

pinch of salt

beat the egg and water together until fluffy

Add flour, salt, and bicarb soda, beat together quickly so it stays cold

The batter SHOULD be very thin, if need be, add more water. Coat oysters in batter and dip into VERY hot oil (peanut or any oil with high burning point) Remove oysters after about 1 minute, when golden brown. Place on paper towel to drain off excess oil.

Top with ponzu-style sauce. 
(2 tbs soy, 1tsp rice vinegar, juice of half lime, splash of sesame oil, finely grated ginger) 

Garnish with sliced chilli and coriander leaves.

Caroline approved

Tuna Sashimi

Scallops with Fingerlime, Chilli, and Ginger

The scallops were great with the Spring Vale Gewurtz, one of our favorite wines.

Have you ever had a finger lime? If not, you are missing out. They are an amazing Australian native lime. They look like elongated, pinkish-brown limes. But when you cut them open, tiny caviar like balls of citrus juice tumble out! They make amazing garnishes on dishes and match particularly well with seafood.

Yum