Ocean trout with smashed new potatoes, salty chickpeas, garlic, kale and green beans

Once again everything remaining in the fridge find's it way into a recipe for a late lunch, I love the different flavours and minimal fuss it took to prepare this meal, high in essential fatty acids the ocean trout comes from Hooked in greenwich a family run fish shop that also is a cafe and makes great salads, I have this habit of shopping for my client there and arriving just as they are carving up the trout or seconds after. It's a very oily fish (much oily than salmon) and also has much more flavour.
The kale came straight from my garden and the sun-dried tomatoes from Sonia's lebanese shop in Northbridge, bless you Sonia for your culinary advice and also recipes and delightful warmth.


1 piece ocean trout
sea salt and pepper to season
clarified butter or ghee to cook in
handful green beans trimmed
6 new potatoes, cut in half and boiled until al dente
handful sun dried tomatoes
kale
1 clove garlic
cumin powder
1 cup chickpeas

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the potatoes, cook for 8 minutes
Rub the salt and pepper into the skin of the trout
In a saute pan heat the butter or ghee gently and put the fish in skin down
When the potatoes are a minute off done throw in the beans for a quick blanch
Once the skin is crispy on the fish turn over (around 3 minutes) and cook until medium rare
Set the fish aside and add the garlic and cumin the the pan and gently fry, add the potatoes and press down with the back of a spoon or potato mash until flat and so they can soak up the flavour, add the kale, beans and sun-dried tomatoes and stir well.

Serve on a bed of salty chickpeas and put the fish on the top of the chickpeas

Summer salad

I have arrived back at home with a flourishing and delicious garden after the rain, so today's lunch is a combo of thing's from the fridge and thing's from the garden and of course the top ingredient the Capra ash goat's cheese all the way from bairnsdale!


Rocket
grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 cucumber peeled and sliced thinly
cannelloni beans
half a lemon
caper berries
Capra ash goats cheese
extra virgin olive oil
half a avocado
sea salt
pepper

Combine all ingredients on a plate and have with some rye sourdough

Capra organic goat's cheese

Emma, Matt and baby Selwyn from whom I met at the conference, I transported some of there beautiful handcrafted cheeses in an esky in my suitcase and they made it back to Sydney and yes they are beautiful. They have been winning awards all over Victoria and soon they will be available in Sydney, completely certified organic, Emma has a background as a naturopath and in total they have 65 goat's that they milk twice everyday of the year!

Organic famers association conference bairnsdale, victoria

I really am blessed with my life, I have just returned from a guest speaker spot at the organic farmers assoc conference on the weekend, I spoke to 125 organic famers, educators and food producers, it was so inspiring and enriching to tell my story and also meet so many wonderful people working from the heart on the land and changing the face of australian agriculture.

The stories were uplifting and encouraging, the highlight speakers for me were Nigel Kieran who won farmer of the year in 2008, and also Shane Blundy a beef and lamb farmer from Cherry Tree Organics, there stories of resilience, diversity and respect for nature blew me away, learnt alot about the challenges of organic crop farming and grazing.

Another highlight was meet Kane a young man from a third generation or organic famers just oustide Bairnsdale, his story of resilience was growing up with deaf parents and his father running a very successful organic crop farm. My late father was very passionate about holistic land management n his own work and also social nutrition so everything he had taught me about respecting nature and working with her and not using harsh pesticides or chemicals really resonated with me on this trip.

Thanks to Stephen Cross and the people of Bairnsdale for there openness and hospitality.