A few photos from our weekend feasting!
A couple of weeks ago, Pete and I stopped at the Sydney Fish Markets on our way home from lunch at Youeni. While we were there, we bought a 2.5kg Tasmanian Atlantic salmon for just $14.99/kg (a discounted price because the fish weighed less than 3kg). Knowing that all of Pete’s family would be here for the long weekend, we stashed the fish in the freezer.
On Saturday morning, we somehow managed to fit it into our back fridge to defrost overnight…
On Sunday, Pete and his sister Penny stuffed the fish with parsley and lemon, then laid it on a bed of sliced potatoes and leeks, before roasting. They followed this Jamie Oliver recipe…
It was sublime…
We coated local Hawkebury River School prawns in flour seasoned with a little salt and Hungarian paprika…
…deep fried them until crispy…
…and then ate them, shell and all, dipped in a little homemade mayonnaise. My sister-in-laws’ technique was to pinch the prawn’s head, covering its eyes “so it doesn’t look at you”, then to crunch all the way from the tail up…
We grilled haloumi with ridiculous ease in the sandwich press, then served it with lemons from the garden…
While making room in the fridge for the fish, I uncovered an old bag of coarse burghul wheat, which became caramelised leek tabbouleh. We also had potato salad and Greek salad (brought my Pete’s brothers), Guinness and Treacle sourdough, garlic focaccia and a cheese plate…
I baked June’s Hungarian cottage cheese cake, using Pete’s Greek yoghurt instead of sour cream…
Pete ate four pieces (and then stopped counting)…
And to round the meal off, a chorus of dark milk feuilletine chocolate cane toads…
How was your weekend? I hope you had as much fun as we did!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Nothing like yours! Although I did manage to make a rhubarb custard pie and had a delicious wilted arugula salad with a soy sauce and olive oil dressing that has me drooling just thinking about it!
Love all of your feast0 and I’m sure Pete’s family did, too!
Heidi, that salad sounds divine! I love rocket (as we call it here), but the boys are less enthusiastic..
We relaxed, and did nothing much at all. No workmen, so the house was quiet for a change. It was nice. I do love the look of that salmon. There are few things better than fresh salmon. Yum!
Misky, we do get some fabulous farmed salmon here! Very reasonably priced too!
Sounds like a perfect foody family weekend!
Thanks Chica, it was grand. :)
A feast indeed!!! Look at all of that amazing food! It’s funny, because we also roasted a whole fish over the weekend. We made Red Snapper and stuffed it with herbs & lemon. Isn’t simple food just so good? And PS- That picture of the fried prawns is just perfect.
Now, why weren’t the rest of us invited again? ;)
Em, you should have come as we had so much food leftover! The prawns were an eye opener – delicious AND we didn’t have to peel them! :)
That sure was quite a feast. Every dish looks so yummy and complimented each other. I was sure there would be chocolate and was not disappointed.
Norma, thank you! There’s always chocolate! :)
Looks like such a wonderful feast and sounds as if everybody contributed to it, which I bet added to the enjoyment. Love the look of that salmon cooked on the potatoes and leeks. I have a large trout in the freezer thanks to a generous fisherman that I’d really like to try cooking like this – especially as there are some leeks that need using from the garden before they go to seed.
Andrea, we usually wrap our fish in foil to bake, but this Jamie Oliver recipe was fabulous and such a nice change. Plus we had a garden full of perennial leeks and continental parsley, so almost all the other ingredients bar the fish came from our backyard! :)
A feast indeed Celia…and so lovely that it was a family effort. Love those cane toads x
It was a family effort indeed, Jane, and you’re right – that made it all the nicer! :)
I’ll be surprised if your guests ever leave. What wonderful feasting. The fish looks really good sitting on that bed of potatoes. Did you have to de-vein the prawns? And I had a feeling chocolates would make an appearance xx
Charlie, we just closed our eyes and ignored the vein and ate the whole thing. They were almost impossible to peel, as the shells were so thin. And yes, we couldn’t not have chocolate! :)
What a glorious feed! Like Charlie says, I’d be very reluctant to leave a home where the food is so good!
Amanda, thank you, there was enough food to feed us for several meals! :)
If you are going to feast then feasting in style with fresh gorgeous ingredients is the way to go.
I was surprised how well the frozen and defrosted fish baked up – it was just perfect! The hardest thing really was fitting it in the fridge and freezer! :)
That feast looks amazing. I’ve been following your blog for some time now and have really enjoyed it. Because of you, I have started to bake my own bread this year, and am a big fan of Dan Lepard, NQN, Pepe Saya amongst others. I’m yet to try sour dough but I hope to gather up the courage soon!
We did roast pork on the spit and I made Portuguese Custard tarts for the first time which turned out really well.
Best wishes from Dale
Dale, thanks for stopping in to say hi! Portuguese custard tarts sound amazing – the last time I tried to make them, the custard curdled! :)
Dear Celia,
Isn’t it awesome we can get such fresh seafood in Sydney. We had baby Atlantic salmon from Musumeci at $12.99 a few weeks ago. I’ve wondered what is a good seasoning for deep fried school prawns coz so many Sydney restaurants are doing it at the moment. Unlike your sis in law, I need to eat them head first.
Chopinand, $12.99 is so cheap, I’ve never seen them at that price before! This is our first attempt at deep frying the prawns – maybe we’ll experiment with seasonings next time. I think some variation of the salt and pepper squid spice mix might be nice?
What a wonderful weekend of fun and feasting Celia! The salmon is a real star and what a great bargin too. Our weekend was quiet, but we did try out a new Yum cha restaurant for littlej, I wish we had the choice and variety that Sydney offers :( xox
Becca, I’m surprised you say that! We were always told that Canberra had more fine restaurants per capita than any other Sydney city! But we do get a lot more fresh produce up here, that’s for sure.. x
Great looking fish. Great looking everything!
Thanks Greg! It was a lovely weekend!
Wow, everything looks fabulous! My son turns 20 on Thursday so I may make the cottage cheese and sour cream cake is it looks like it would easily feed a crowd. Any suggestions for a replacement for European cottage cheese as I can’t locate it? Would Philly work just as well?
Thanks, Bronwyn
Bronwyn, I’d use a very well drained ricotta – I’ve never tried it with Philly. Here’s a similar cake that I made using ricotta:
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/09/28/ricotta-slice/
June’s pastry is quite soft, make sure you keep flour on hand so you can add more if needed. And happy birthday to your son! :)
I had a nice weekend, Celia, but it pales in comparison to yours. Such a feast! Sounds to me like you all enjoyed the visit. That’s wonderful!
John, we had a lovely time, the food and the company were just perfect! :)
One of these days I really must stop peeling my prawns, especially if on the small side and I know the heads are meant to be scrumptious: have eaten the shells before but not the ‘top’ part :) ! The fish does look so moreish . . .
Eha, the prawn heads are the best bits, but I don’t always eat them either. And my sister-in-laws didn’t like the eyes looking at them.. :)
We had our first barbecue at Casa Debbio. It rained. Our friend Paul stood outside in the rain and cooked our delicious pork and veal chops, steak and sausages, while we sat inside with the fire going. It all turned out well despite the horrible weather.
Deb, you’re christened the house now – first barbecue! Cool! :)
I couldn’t look at all that gorgeous food without thinking… and she had to wear a bra the whole freakin weekend. LOL
We went to a blogger picnic on the Gold Coast but other than that, pretty boring around here.
Ha! Yes, the entire weekend, nearly killed me.. ;-)
Wish I’d eaten your fabulous food over the weekend instead of ours! While you were digging into that feast we (helpers at a farm event) were served up pappy white buns with tasteless plastic cheese.
Anne, I read about your farm event – didn’t you even get to eat your own delicious bread? :)
The organisers provided “lunch”. As I’m fairly sure they don’t read your blog, I can admit I only ate half my cheese roll and hacked off a chunk of green bread hot from the oven.
What a splendid feast you all cooked up there! I feel full just looking at the pictures – what gorgeous fish !
Thanks darling, the fish was just superb. Pete and Pen did such a good job on it..
That’s a fabulous feast. And all the better for being shared with family. We had a bonfire with hamburgers on sourdough rolls, chocolate eclairs, brownies and whoopie pies for dessert and then toasted marshmallows.
Oooh Jo, that sounds like a wonderful weekend. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a bonfire!
Great idea on dong the cheese on the panini press. I’ll have to try that. Everything looks so wonderful! Hugs, Maz
Maz, it’s SO easy. Just slice and press, no need to oil the griddle or anything!
What a feast, Celia! Delicious.
Thanks Lizzy! It was a fun weekend!
I think my invite got lost in the post! It looks like a scrummy weekend :)
Tandy, I wish you HAD been here, we had heaps of food! :)
Lovely Celia! Here’s to more weekends like that one :-)
Brydie, yes indeed! Thank you! :)
Look at all that amazing food!
Clare, that wasn’t even all of it! There was more, but we were busy eating and I forgot to take photos! :)
Delicious Eats – love the chocolate frogs:)
Thanks Renee! The frogs are always popular.. :)
A feast and a half – wow!
I havent spoken to you since the long weekend. I feel like you might be still recovering from all that food,. I especially like the look of the ricotta cake. I want to make that x