FISH FOR COMPLIMENTS
At his seafood restaurant, Saint Peter, Josh Niland hauls in the diners with an approach that translates perfectly to the home kitchen.
Josh Niland’s zeal for seafood is catchy. At his Sydney restaurant, Saint Peter, he hauls in the diners with his deft yet uncomplicated cooking – an approach that translates perfectly to the home kitchen.
Fish and chips is something Josh Niland refuses to approach lightly. Which might seem a bit weird, given he’s perhaps the sharpest seafood cook in the country right now. “But it’s the one dish that everyone has a nostalgic memory of,” he says, and that’s the challenge.
Not that Saint Peter is a fish-and-chippa. Niland opened the restaurant in Paddington in Sydney with his wife and fellow chef, Julie Niland, in September last year, and in just six months the modest 34-seater has built a loyal following with its elegant yet seemingly effortless handling of sustainably sourced seafood.
Many come for the fish and chips. Despite the crispness of the coating, it’s the quality of what’s inside that stands out. “No generic white cubes of fish here,” Niland says. It might be bluespotted flathead one day, teraglin or deep-sea bream the next. “There’s got to be some kind of identity behind the batter.”
Niland grew up in East Maitland, north of Newcastle. While he has fond memories of the fish-and-chip shop, and afternoons spent fishing for flathead with his mum, it wasn’t until he worked for Sydney fish whisperer Steve Hodges at Fish Face that he developed a deep appreciation of seafood and its correct handling.
The beauty of Niland’s cooking is the way he complements his careful sourcing of excellent seafood with restraint in the kitchen. His fish is never shrouded by heavy sauces or overcomplicated plating. The raw scallops featured here, for example, have nothing more than a vibrant citrus dressing to bring them to life, while folds of cured ocean trout on crème fraîche show the ingredients at their best. “My style is simple,” he says. “It’s normal, hands-on cookery, purely reliant on finding the best fish and excellent veg.”
Where many chefs demand consistency of their suppliers, Niland prefers to ask for “the best of the best” from the likes of fish specialist Mark Eather and Nicholas Seafoods. “It’s a really good way to cook,” he says. “It keeps my mind active and keeps our customers coming in a couple of nights a week.”
The central idea behind Niland’s approach – making a virtue of simplicity – translates perfectly to the home kitchen. “Oftentimes you’ll find that the simplest of dishes are the most memorable,” he says. “These are recipes you’ll go back to.”
Oxheart tomato and white peach salad
“This is a fabulous salad that really shows off the best of summer,” says Josh Niland. “Look for fragrant peaches and heavy, juicy oxheart tomatoes.”
Prep time 10 mins
Serves 4 (pictured opposite)
3 large oxheart tomatoes, thickly sliced 3 ripe white peaches (or yellow), stones removed, halved or thickly sliced
Chardonnay vinaigrette
90 ml extra-virgin olive oil
25 ml chardonnay vinegar
Scraped seeds of ¼ vanilla bean
1 For the vinaigrette, whisk olive oil, vinegar and vanilla seeds in a small bowl.
2 Drizzle tomatoes and peaches with dressing, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Scallops with citrus dressing
“Scallops and citrus have a wonderful synergy whether they’re raw or cooked,” says Josh Niland. This dish was put together at the beginning of summer a few years ago, I had recently seen how to take apart the individual cells of a fresh pomelo and was excited to add this to a dressing along with as many other citrus fruits as I could find. Adding the zest, juice and segments of the fruit it gives you a fantastic balance of sweet, sour and bitter. The white soy sauce adds a wonderful complexity and savouriness to the dressing and a little sugar rounds it out. This dressing can be made with just one or two types of citrus for a similar result, but it’s a truly beautiful dish if all the citrus can be found. It’s also great served with raw fish – John Dory, black flathead and wild kingfish would all be excellent choices.”
Prep time 1½ hrs
Serves 4-6 (pictured p99)
12 live scallops in the shell
Citrus dressing
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp finely grated citrus rind, such as
lemon, lime, pomelo or ruby grapefruit 1½ tsp white soy sauce (see note)
1 tsp caster sugar
150 gm segmented and roughly diced citrus flesh (any mix of lemons, limes, orange, ruby grapefruit, pomelo and finger limes works well)
60 ml (¼ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 Hold a scallop shell with the mouth end facing you and gently insert the blade of a bread knife near the hinge. The scallop flesh is in the centre of the shell, so be careful not to damage that. Staying as close to the top shell as possible almost scrape and carefully slice scallop off the top shell, then lever the top shell off. An intact scallop should be sitting in the bottom shell surrounded by its skirt, which is generally covered in sand, and the scallop roe. Carefully pull the skirt and small white adductor muscle off the scallop
“The simplest of dishes are the most memorable. These are recipes you’ll go back to.”
flesh, being careful not to tear or damage the scallop or roe, and discard. Quickly dip the scallop flesh in the shell into a small bowl of salted water to remove residual sand, then immediately pat dry with paper towel. Cover and refrigerate until required (this can be done a few hours ahead).
2 For citrus dressing, combine lemon and lime juices and rinds in a bowl, then mix in white soy sauce and sugar to dissolve. Add citrus flesh, season to taste and stand at room temperature for an hour for flavours to develop. Season again to taste with extra sugar or white soy sauce. Add oils and stir before serving.
3 To serve, cut flesh from the bottom shell, then slice scallop in half, spoon dressing over and arrange on a plate of ice.
Note White soy sauce is available from Japanese grocers; if it’s unavailable, substitute light soy sauce or fish sauce.
Wine suggestion Blanc de noirs sparkling from Orange, NSW.
Crisp-skinned Spanish mackerel, aïoli, parsley and pickled onion salad
“Spanish mackerel has a high oil content which lends itself to this acidic and mineral-driven garnish,” says Josh Niland. “Other species that would work well for this include wild kingfish, herring or sardines.”
Prep time 30 mins, cook 5 mins
Serves 4
20 gm clarified butter (see note) 4 boneless Spanish mackerel fillets (150gm each), skin on
50 gm rice flour
Aïoli
1 egg yolk
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp white wine vinegar
125 ml ( 1/2 cup) grapeseed oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1½ garlic cloves, finely grated on a microplane
Parsley and pickled onion salad
15 small pickled cocktail onions, plus 1 tbsp pickling liquid, or to taste
1 cup (firmly packed) flat-leaf parsley 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon juice, to taste
1 For aïoli, process yolk, mustard and vinegar together in a small food processor. With motor running, slowly add oil in a thin steady stream and process until thick and emulsified. Add lemon juice, garlic and salt to taste. Refrigerate until required (this can be done a day ahead).
2 For parsley salad, halve onions and slice into half-moons. Combine in a bowl with parsley, drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice to taste and a little of the pickling liquid from the onions, and toss to combine.
3 Preheat oven to 200C. Heat a deep ovenproof frying pan over high heat. Add clarified butter and heat until a light haze is visible on the surface. Very lightly dust skin side of fillets with rice flour and tap to remove excess. Place fish in pan skin-side down, lowering it away from yourself to avoid burns. Place a square of baking paper on top of the fish, then a heavy saucepan on top of that to weight the fish down –this helps ensure the skin crisps and fish cooks evenly; cook until skin is golden (2 minutes). Remove saucepan and place frying pan in oven until the fish’s flesh is warm to touch (2 minutes). Remove from oven, turn fish over so it’s flesh-side down in the hot pan, then immediately remove fish to a warm plate to rest for a minute. Slice fillets in half and place on serving plates with a dollop of aïoli and pile of parsley salad.
Note To clarify butter, heat 100gm butter in a saucepan over low heat until milk fat separates. Remove from heat, stand to settle, then carefully pour off clear butter and discard milk fat.
Wine suggestion A skin-contact gewürztraminer from Gippsland, Victoria.>
Fish and chips
“There are few other dishes that come with so much expectation and nostalgia. It’s so important at Saint Peter that the fish and chips gets put on a pedestal as a dish of importance and luxury,” says Josh Niland. “Gone are the days of having wishy-washy defrosted white fish in limp pale batter and frozen chips. The key to fantastic fish and chips is obviously a great fish that’s suited to coating in a batter and deep-frying. Fresh pink ling is a perfect fish for battering – it’s robust, has a dense compact flesh with little sinew, good amount of fat, sweet-tasting flesh, few pin bones and can be readily found. The batter is also hugely important. Having worked with Heston Blumenthal as a stagiaire, I got to see his fish and chips and was blown away by the logic of using vodka in a batter. It makes sense – more alcohol content means it burns away faster, resulting in a very crisp and delicious batter. Fish and chips would be incomplete without a good tartare sauce; our tartare, made with yoghurt instead of mayonnaise, is a much cleaner, lighter sauce.” Start this recipe a day ahead to soak the chips.
Prep time 30 mins, cook 10 mins (plus soaking, drying)
Serves 4-6 (pictured p98)
600 gm pink ling fillet, cut into 7cm x 3cm pieces, drained on paper towels
Rice flour, for dusting
Dill pickles and lemon cheeks, to serve
Potato chips
1.5 kg sebago potatoes, scrubbed, skin on, cut into 1cm-thick chips, soaked overnight in old water, drained
Cottonseed oil, for deep-frying
Yoghurt tartare sauce
300 gm natural yoghurt
2 large golden shallots, finely chopped 80 gm cornichons, finely chopped
80 gm drained tiny capers in brine, finely chopped
Batter
200 gm rice flour
105 gm self-raising flour
5 gm (1 tsp) baking powder
170 ml vodka (preferably with 37% alcohol) 20 gm honey
275 ml beer (Josh Niland uses VB)
1 For potato chips, heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 140C. Pat the chips dry in a tea towel and deep-fry in batches without colouring until they blister and small bubbles appear on the surface (9-10 minutes). Drain, place on a wire rack over a tray and refrigerate to dry (1-2 hours).
2 For yoghurt tartare sauce, combine ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate covered until serving.
3 For batter, combine flours and baking powder in a large bowl. In a jug, whisk vodka and honey together, then add to flours along with beer and whisk until the batter has the consistency of heavy cream. If it becomes too thick add a little more beer.
4 Preheat oven to 120C and heat oil to 180C. Deep-fry chips in batches until very crisp and golden (5-6 minutes; be careful, hot oil may spit). Drain on paper towels and season with fine table salt. Place in oven on an oven tray lined with baking paper while you fry the fish.
5 Dust fish lightly in rice flour, shake off excess and coat in batter. Fry fish in the oil in batches until golden brown (2-3 minutes; you may need to turn fish over midway so it colours evenly). Drain on paper towels and season. Serve fish and chips with yoghurt tartare, pickles and lemons. Drink suggestion Steam Ale from Victoria.
Salt and vinegar onion rings Prep time 15 mins, cook 10 mins
Serves 4-6 (pictured p98)
500 ml (2 cups) malt vinegar
80 gm sea salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
4 onions, thickly sliced into rounds 50 gm rice flour, plus extra for dusting Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Batter
200 gm rice flour
105 gm self-raising flour
5 gm baking powder
170 ml vodka (preferably with 37% alcohol) 20 gm honey
275 ml beer, such as draught beer
1 Bring vinegar, salt and sugar to the boil in a saucepan. Remove tiny rings from centres of onion (reserve for another use). Separate onion into individual rings and simmer in 2 batches in vinegar mixture until just softened (1 minute). Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
2 For batter, combine flours and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk vodka and honey together in a jug, then add to flours along with beer and whisk until batter has the consistency of heavy cream. If it becomes too thick add a little more beer.
3 Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 180C. Dust onion rings with rice flour, coat in batter and, in batches, carefully lower into the oil so the batter puffs up before the ring has a chance to sink. Deep-fry until light golden brown and crisp (1-2 minutes; be careful, hot oil may spit), then season with salt and serve.
Cured ocean trout, fennel crème fraîche and brioche toast
“This is a great dish to organise ahead of time,” says Josh Niland. “Start the brioche a day ahead to prove the dough. The cooked brioche can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or frozen. The ocean trout will keep refrigerated for up to a week.” Start this recipe three days ahead to cure the fish.
Prep time 40 mins, cook 30 mins (plus curing)
Serves 4-6
35 gm caster sugar
30 gm sea salt flakes
1 tbsp coarsely chopped fennel fronds 600 gm piece boneless ocean trout, preferably Petuna, skin on
Lemon wedges, to serve
Brioche dough
14 gm (2 sachets) dried yeast 2 tbsp warm milk
7 eggs
2 tbsp caster sugar
500 gm (3 1/3 cups) bread flour
300 gm butter, diced and brought to room temperature for 30 minutes
Fennel crème fraîche
1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped, plus half the fronds, coarsely chopped
250 gm crème fraîche
1 Combine sugar, salt and fennel fronds in a bowl. On a work surface, place 2 sheets of plastic wrap overlapping and long enough to enclose the trout. Spread half the salt mixture over the wrap, place trout on top and spread with remaining salt mixture. Wrap trout tightly in the plastic wrap, place on a tray and refrigerate for 3 days, turning each day. Some liquid will be drawn from the fish but don’t discard it – this acts as a brine in the curing process.
2 For brioche dough, combine yeast and milk in a small jug and stand in warm place until foamy (5 minutes). Whisk 6 eggs, sugar, 3 tsp salt and 1½ tbsp water in a bowl to combine and set aside. Place flour in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add yeast and egg mixtures and mix on low speed until a smooth dough forms into a ball (5-6 minutes). Increase speed to medium and gradually add butter a couple of pieces at a time, beating well between additions, then mix until dough is smooth and glossy (8-10 minutes).
Knead on a lightly floured work surface and form into a tight ball.
Transfer to a lightly buttered bowl, cover and stand in a draught-free place until doubled in size (2 hours).>
Knock back on a lightly floured bench by folding it over on itself, bring dough into ball again, return to bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
3 For fennel crème fraîche, combine ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until required.
4 Butter a 11cm x 23cm loaf tin and line it with baking paper. Knock back dough on a lightly floured bench. Divide into 5 equal pieces, roll each into a tight ball and place balls in a single row in prepared tin. Beat remaining egg with a pinch of salt and brush it on brioche. Cover and prove until dough rises to the top of the tin (1-1½ hours). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Bake brioche until golden and crisp on top (30-35 minutes). Cool briefly in tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
5 Toast thick slices of brioche. Unwrap trout and wipe off salt mixture. Place trout skin-side down on a board and thinly slice with a sharp knife, leaving the skin behind. Place a spoon of crème fraîche on each serving plate, arrange trout slices on top and season to taste. Serve with brioche and lemon.
Wine suggestion A Tasmanian chardonnay.
Almond meringue with white peach caramel
“The caramel is a modern take on preserving, the hot caramel capturing the fruit’s flavour, like a refined jam,” says Julie Niland. “I’ve kept it for up to 10 months and it’s still as fragrant and intensely flavoured as on day one. Granny Smith apples, plums, pineapple, even roasted Jerusalem artichokes, can all be used.”
Prep time 30 mins, cook 1¾ hrs
Serves 8-10
300 gm eggwhite (about 8)
300 gm caster sugar
150 gm icing sugar mixture, sieved 1 tbsp rice flour, sieved
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean 50 gm flaked almonds
Peach-caramel cream
300 gm white peaches, stones removed, skin on 150 gm caster sugar
500 ml thickened cream, whisked to soft peaks
1 Preheat oven to 200C. Butter a 20cm-square cake tin and line it with baking paper. Whisk eggwhite in an electric mixer on high speed until frothy, then add caster sugar 1 tbsp at a time and whisk continuously until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, whisk in icing sugar, rice flour, vinegar and vanilla seeds. Spoon meringue into prepared tin and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Reduce oven temperature to 145C and bake meringue until crisp and dry (1 hour 45 minutes). Turn off oven and leave meringue to cool completely in oven (3-4 hours). 2 For peach-caramel cream, process peaches in a blender until smooth. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Scatter a third of the sugar evenly in pan and cook, swirling pan and gradually adding remaining sugar as it melts, then stir gently until dark caramel (4-5 minutes). Whisk in peach purée (be careful, hot caramel may spit). Remove from heat, cool, then refrigerate. Just before serving, place a spoonful of caramel in each serving bowl, and gently fold the remainder through the cream to form a ripple effect.
3 Divide meringue into 8-10 large portions (we’ve cut it into 8cm squares) and serve with a generous scoop of caramel-cream.
Wine suggestion Late-harvest riesling from the Barossa Valley, SA.
Summer pudding
“If you don’t have surplus fresh berries, frozen are a perfect substitute; just give them a little more time in the sauce to warm through and soften,” says Julie Niland. Start this recipe a day ahead to chill and set the pudding.
Prep time 20 mins, cook 8 mins (plus chilling)
Serves 8-10
500 gm morello cherries (from a 670gm jar),
juice reserved
300 ml sparkling white wine
150 gm caster sugar
600 gm raspberries
600 gm blackberries
100 gm frozen redcurrants
750 gm panettone (or crustless white bread) Strawberries, quartered, cherries and other extra berries of choice, to serve
200 ml heavy cream
1 Blend morello cherries with 125ml juice from the jar to a smooth purée. Combine cherry purée, wine, sugar and 250ml water in a saucepan over high heat, stir to dissolve sugar and bring to the boil. Add 500gm raspberries, 500gm blackberries and all redcurrants, remove from heat and stir gently to just warm berries through (30 seconds). Strain through a sieve into a bowl and reserve berries and liquid separately.
2 Remove brown crust from panettone and discard. Slice panettone into six 1.5cm-thick slices. Brush slices with a little berry liquid and arrange 4 slices brushed side outwards and slightly overlapping around the sides of a 2-litre mixing bowl lined with plastic wrap. Press gently to join the pieces. Spoon berries into centre of the bowl and gently press down to level. Arrange remaining panettone overlapping on top to cover. Pour 250ml reserved berry liquid over so pudding is stained red. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Refrigerate leftover berries and liquid to serve.
3 To serve, remove plastic wrap, put a large plate over the top of the pudding and quickly invert. Remove plastic wrap from top and drizzle with remaining liquid. Serve with reserved berries and heavy cream.
Wine suggestion A late-harvest riesling from the Barossa Valley.