The boat's in!
The boats it and the menu is set for our second Bait to Plate seafood lunch. I am really excited this time to be featuring Repulse Bay and our inshore fishery as this is a fishery I most associate with personally. Growing up fishing out of wooden dinghy’s in the Pumicestone Passage and very long way from the blue water and the reefs. I love fishing Proserpine River and the bay and it is great to be able to showcase these fish at a Bait to Plate event and help encourage people to try them from local fish shops.
I have started to form a great relationship with 2 young blokes commercially fishing Repulse Bay and they will be at the restaurant on Sunday to talk about the how, when and where of the fish we are having for lunch and also share some of their experiences and tall tales.
Mark AKA Dr Rum is working on some nice matching wines and I only have a few spots left so book quick or miss out (again).
BBQ’d Giant Brown Tiger Prawns w/ Green Pawpaw Salad : These are caught just outside the bay and I am also hoping to have some local bay banana prawns delivered tomorrow morning as well so I can serve both hot and cold.
Trio of Salmon w/ homemade Hollandaise Sauce. A mixed plate of local King salmon and Blue salmon and a “ring in” from Tasmania (the true salmon) and I will have whole fish of each variety to show guests, fillet and talk about.
Chili Mud Crab. A tasting dish of our house speciality with all the hard work done and the crab meat all pulled out and ready to eat. I am hoping to have a live crab as well, just to add a bit of theatre.
Poached Wild Barramundi in Ginger Broth. A recipe I have learned from working with a Chinese Chef last year and now a staple during Chinese New Year.
Mint Crusted local Grunter. An inspiration just to mind and in deference to our famous Mojitos. I am going to coat this wonderful fish fillet with panko crumbs and chopped mint. Pan fry, and serve with lime cheeks and a rum scented aioli and crunchy chips.
Painted Crayfish Pasta with Garlic & Chilli. These amazing looking local crayfish have a reputation for being both tough and strongly flavoured but in a “less is more” dish the diced cray meats, pan-fried with garlic, chilli, parley and diced tomatoes creates an amazing olive oil based dressing for hot pasta with the pasta the hero and the lobster the flavour base. I big cray will make enough pasta for the entire lunch.
Tempura Bug Tails w/ Thai dressing. A nice little finisher of local bay bugs. The wind has been a little unkind this week and varieties of fish have been a bit hard to get but local bugs are a star on any plate.