The world’s biggest wild abalone fishery, which accounts for 25 percent of the global annual harvest, may be under threat from a destructive virus.

The ganglioneuritis virus has been detected in two abalone from waters off Tasmania and tests are under way to determine the extent of the threat.

The virus has already devastated the abalone industry in nearby Victorian waters.

Our long, slow growing season ensures not only plump, vibrant and glossy berries, but true to type taste and perfume … the whole package! However, beware of the blackberries that line our country lanes. Classified as a noxious weed, they have probably been sprayed.

Raspberries, members of the rose family, had been traditionally grown for processing, but as with many of our berries, the demand is now well and truly for fresh table fruit, due to their exceptional eating qualities. The exception to this are red and black currants, which are grown predominantly under contract for processing.

Raspberries are also being successfully grown in greenhouses. In 2000 Mark Salter, a fourth-generation orchardist, embarked on a new agricultural pursuit with the growing of out-of-season Ichigo strawberries for the Japanese market.

He has now included other varieties grown from runners sourced from Bothwell, in the Southern Highlands. These have proven particularly successful.

The fruit is richly coloured, juicy and beautifully perfumed. They halt production during the summer months, when field-grown strawberries are available. Growing alongside the waist-high strawberry growing trays, are the raspberries.

Each 2m cane flourishes in its own nutrient-fed pot. The canes vacation outside during the winter to set the new fruit.

Pollination is courtesy of the hives housed within the canopy. The strawberry and raspberry blossoms cannot sustain the bees, therefore an apiarist supplements their nutrition.

Peppermint Bay

Woodbridge

Braised Organic Shin of Black Angus Beef ‘en Daube’

2kg shin of beef on the bone
2 onions
2 carrots
1 head celery
4 rashers of streaky bacon
500g Huon Valley Shitake & Honey Brown mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic
¼cup dijon mustard
½ cup tomato paste
2 litre red wine
salt & pepper
bay leaves
rosemary
olive oil
1 cup plain flour

Wash & peel the vegetables before chopping into chunks.

Heat the oil in a heavy pot with a lid big enough to fit the meat.

Roll the meat in the plain flour & dust off the excess.

Brown the meat in the oil all over. When the meat is coloured nicely, add the bacon, vegetables, bay leaves, mushrooms, garlic & rosemary. Now add the mustard, tomato paste & red wine enough to just cover the whole lot & bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat, cover with a lid & let it cook for 2 to 3 hours on a very gentle simmer. Remember to check it several times to ensure that it has not ’stuck’.

You can add more red wine if it seems a little ‘dry’ but overall you want to aim for a reduced sauce.

Add more salt & pepper to taste.

The meat should be soft & gelatinous to the touch when ready.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and steamed baby carrots.

Serves 4

Da Angelos

Battery Point

Gnocchi Portofino

1 red chilli, diced
1 red capsicum, seeds removed then sliced
1 green capsicum, seeds removed then sliced
12 black kalamata olives
300g chicken breast sliced
800ml napoletana sauce
100ml moselle

Slice capsicums and chicken.

Dice red chilli.

Sauté capsicums, chicken and olives.

Deglaze ingredients with white wine and reduce liquid. Once reduced add napoletana, and 1/2 tbsp of oregano and chilli.

Cook Gnocchi in boiling water, gnocchi will float when cooked. Add gnocchi to sauce then serve.

Garnish with fresh Italian Parsley.

Serves 4

Napoletana Sauce
200g finely diced onions
100g crushed fresh garlic
800mls chopped fresh deseeded tomatoes

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil then add tomatoes. Bring to boil for 1 hour over low heat and reduce by 1/3.

Blend if preferred and adjust with sugar and seasoning to taste.

Home-made Gnocchi Recipe
2 kg Kennebec potatoes
2 kg plain flour
12 whole Eggs
salt and pepper

Peel and cook the potatoes till soft. Strain well and mash till smooth — then cool well.

On a lightly floured bench mix all the ingredients together — alternate adding two whole eggs with a cup of plain flour to the potato — kneading together to a dough-like consistency.

Keep kneading till all the flour and eggs are added then cut into approximately ten equal portions.

Then roll each portion into a sausage shape approximately two centimetres in diameter.

From this cut smaller walnut-sized pieces and roll onto a ‘gnocchi board’ or indent with the prongs of a fork.

Spread out on a tray and refrigerate till quite firm, then cook in boiling water till they float, drain and add to the dish.

Home Hill

Ranelagh

Huon Valley Venison with Pepperberry Jus

4 venison eye fillets (150g per person)
700g potatoes
1 cup of cream
salt & pepper
1 cup of pinot noir jus
20g chopped pepperberries
4 tablespoons of Home Hill relish

Peel potatoes and slice thinly. Place sliced potato in a bowl and pour in cream. Fold to coat.

Layer potatoes on a greased baking tray. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180°C till cooked and golden.

In a pot add jus and pepperberries and simmer.

Rub fillet with oil. Heat frypan and sear fillets, turning once. Cook to medium rare.

Remove from heat and set aside to rest.

Plate potatoes. Slice fillets and place on top of potatoes.

Top with relish and drizzle with jus.

Serves 4

Meadowbank

Cambridge

Tart of East Coast Mussels and Creamed Leeks with a Herb and Gruyére crust, with Shellfish Reduction

Filling:
500g extra large Spring Bay mussels, cleaned and steamed open
500g puff pastry, cut into 8 discs
2 young leeks, sliced and washed
250ml cream
250ml white wine
100g Heidi Gruyère cheese
100g fresh breadcrumbs
50g melted butter
100g fresh chopped herbs — parsley, dill, chervil salt and pepper to season 1 egg (for egg wash) olive oil Remove mussels from shells and put to one side.

Sauté leeks in a little olive oil, add white wine and reduce by half.

Add cream and reduce until liquid reaches a sauce consistency.

Season to taste.

For the crust, combine Gruyère, herbs, melted butter and breadcrumbs.

Season to taste.

Shellfish reduction:
500g mirepoix (equal quantities of finely diced carrot, celery, leek, onion and parsley stalks)
1kg crayfish shells and/or crab or prawn shells
100ml cognac
100g tomato paste
2L fish stock
zest and juice of 2 oranges
1 knob of ginger, peeled and sliced
bay leaf
sprig of thyme
1 knob of butter

Sauté mirepoix until lightly coloured.

Add shells and continue to sauté.

Add cognac and flame, to cook off alcohol.

Add tomato paste, and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add fish stock to cover shells, orange juice, ginger, bay leaf and thyme.

Bring to boil and skim scum from surface.

Reduce heat and simmer for one hour.

Strain through cheese cloth or muslin to remove any slivers of shell (you may need to do this twice).

Place liquid back on heat and reduce to 500ml.

Whisk in a knob of butter to finish off the sauce.

Check seasoning.

To serve:
Heat oven to 190ºC.

Place discs of pastry onto a baking tray, and brush with egg wash.

Place a tablespoon of the leek mixture in the centre of the pastry and bake for 12 – 15 minutes, or until pastry is risen and golden.

Place steamed mussels on top of tart, and cover with herb mixture.

Place under a warm grill, until cheese has melted and breadcrumbs are crisp.

Transfer to a warm plate and drizzle with shellfish reduction.

Finish with baby endive and dill sprigs.

Serves 8 as an entree.

Gondwana

Battery Point

Great Lakes Wallaby Leg pocketed with Madeira Figs & Muscatels with Roasted Baby Beets, Dutch Carrots and Kipfler Potatoes and a Roasted Garlic Jus

Wallaby
2 legs wallaby (boned and denuded)
12 dwarf figs (or 6 dried figs)
1/2 cup muscatel grapes (seedless)
600ml port
150g brown sugar
150g crepeinette (caul)

Roasted Garlic Jus
1 head of garlic (roasted)
2 sprigs rosemary
cracked pepper
1.5 litres veal or beef stock

Roast Vegetables
2 parsnips
1 bunch dutch carrots
1 bunch baby beetroot
500g kipfler potatoes
150ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 bunch fresh thyme
salt & pepper

Method — Wallaby
Dwarf figs and muscatels.

Combine figs, muscatels, port and sugar. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 mins. Remove from heat and cool in liquid.

Rinse Crepeinette (caul) thoroughly (2-3 times) to remove excess blood. Store in at least 1 litre of water with 2 dessert spoons of salt.

Wallaby
Remove all sinews from boned legs (denuded).

Butterfly the thicker parts of the legs then cut into six equal portions. Lightly season each portion.

Lay 2 figs (halved) and 5 muscatels into the middle of each piece and carefully roll from one end to the other.

Spread out crepeinette and cut into 6 lengths (wide enough to cover wallaby).

Place wallaby into each length and roll up as tight as possible.

Cover and refrigerate.

Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Jus
Carefully cut the top of the head of garlic off (just enough to expose the cloves). Drizzle with olive oil and bake 20 mins at 180˚C.

Remove and cool.

Combine veal stock, rosemary and cracked pepper in a 5 litre saucepan. Bring to the boil. Reduce to simmer and ‘reduce’ the liquid by half. Strain, add peeled roasted garlic and season.

Roasted Vegetables
Remove tops from baby beetroots, leaving approximately 2 inches at the base of the beetroot. Place in a pot of cold, salted water and gradually bring to the boil. Reduce heat and cook for 5-8 ins or until tender.

Quickly cool and peel away skin from beetroot (should easily be done with your fingers).

Boil kipfler potatoes for 10-12 minutes (skin on).

Peel parsnips and remove top and bottom and cut lengthways twice, remove core and section. Peel dutch carrots leaving 2 inches of the green tops. Toss all vegetables in seasoned olive oil with thyme. Spread out onto baking tray, cover with greaseproof paper and bake for 20 minutes at 170˚C.

Bringing it all Together
In a hot fry pan with a little oil, ’seal’ off wallaby and place in a hot oven 200˚C for 15 minutes.

Remove and rest for 10 minutes in a warm area.

Place vegetables into the centre of a warmed dinner plate.

Slice wallaby in half and place a top vegetables, then spoon over roasted garlic and rosemary jus.

Garnish with rosemary or sage and serve.

Serves 6.

The Deck

Devonport

Tom Yum Broth with Poached Tasmanian Seafood, Glass Noodles and Asian Greens

1500ml water
2 tablespoons tom yum paste
12 mussels
12 fresh tasmanian scallops
320g blue eye trevalla
4 lime leaves
packet dry rice noodles
2 bunches each of bok choy and choy sum
1 bunch of fresh coriander

Tom Yum Paste
If time is available you can make your own paste.

There are many variations to the recipe but an easy one is to simply combine equal quantities of the following ingredients and grind together in a mortar and pestle; garlic cloves, french shallots, lemon grass, galangal, red chilli, pinch salt, soybean oil, lime juice & water.

Glass Noodles are simply a more fashionable way of describing rice noodles.

Purchase the rice noodles in their dry form and simply cover with boiling water and set aside until they are soft.

Refresh under cold water to arrest the cooking process.

The Asian greens can be one of or a combination of Choy-Sum and Bok Choy.

The leaves can simply be left whole or shredded.

To make and serve the Tom Yum broth
Simply bring the water to the boil in a good sized pot so that the liquid is shallow to allow better quality steaming of the seafood.

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of the paste, simmer for 2 minutes, add the seafood and place a lid on the pot to allow the seafood to steam.

Remove the lid after 1 minute and serve by simply pouring the broth over a bed of rice noodles and shredded asian greens, Evenly distribute the seafood to each bowl.

Garnish with coriander and whole lime leaf and serve.

This is the type of soup you can make in minutes whether it’s for yourself or for unexpected guests or for a dinner party where you have time constraints.

Tom Yum is a spicy Asian inspired soup which holds fantastic flavours and infuses the seafood whilst poaching to gives a beautiful aromatic flavour.

Simply make the paste using the recipe provided or you can purchase Tom Yum paste in all Asian food stores or some supermarkets.

Serves 4.