10th September 2015

You know that spring is on its way in New Zealand’s South Island when Whitebait season begins! The fishermen have set up their temporary huts and are busy trawling so that we can enjoy this delicacy. To celebrate the season, we asked one of our in-house chefs, Chef Dave Miller, to create a fresh whitebait recipe for MajorDomo’s guests and friends.

Here is our in-house chef’s recipe, we hope you enjoy it!

FRESH SPRING WHITEBAIT

West coast whitebait pan tossed with fresh lime & chives served with a rocket salad avocado salad with lemon aioli & a white balsamic dressing

Ingredients:

• whitebait 250 grams
• 50gms semi sun-dried toms diced
• 200gms rocket
• 1x lge avocado diced last min
• 20gms chives chopped
• ½ lime
• olive oil for frying

Aioli:

• 1tsp seeded mustard
• squeeze of lemon
• small clove garlic
• 1tsp white balsamic
• 2 eggs yolks
• 200ml to 300ml grape seed oil

Dressing:

• 1tbsn white balsamic
• 50 to 100ml olive oil
• salt + pepper to taste

Method:

Aioli:

To make the aioli place the yolks mustard garlic & vinegar in your food processor and blend then slowly drizzle in the oil. It should be very slowly drizzled to emulsify, if it get too thick add a drizzle of water in as the motor is running and continue until the oil is in (you can add more oil as it is amazing how much the egg can hold. Now season with salt and pepper taste . Now finally add the lemon slowly (your choice to how much lemon you like). I then place in a disposable piping bag or a zip lock if you don’t have one.

Dressing:

Simply take a stainless steel bowl and add the vinegar, once again slowly whisk in the olive oil and season to taste.

For the Salad:

Everything should be at the last minute, as we don’t want the vinegar to wilt the rocket too much. So in a bowl place the avocado and season well then the rocket and diced sun-dried tomatoes are ready for the dressing. I also now have the pan on a high heat ready to go and I also use a mold for my salad if you have one (makes it look professional).

I now add a small amount of dressing to the salad and mix we only want to coat it so don’t use it all (you will certainly have some for later) then a touch of salt

(No need for pepper the rocket has that covered) Place in mold if you have it, now add the olive oil to your frying pan, and when just smoking add the whitebait (I try to spread them out and not clump them) once half cooked appx 1 min add S+P and the lime juice once fully cooked appx 30 sec to 1 min later add the chives. Now have a little taste adjust the seasoning and place in the mold on top off the salad. Make a small cut in the piping bag and in the middle a nice dollop of aioli. Pull the mold and serve.

This is certainly a fresher way of serving whitebait instead of the old omelet style! Enjoy!