The perks of living on the Fraser Coast

My family and I have been visiting Fraser Island for as long as I can remember. My parents would wake us up in the wee hours and pile us all into the 4WD to make the barge by first light. These sparrow's fart missions were carefully planned by my Dad, so he could throw in a line for a fresh Tailor by lunch. He's a smart man my Dad.

The Island is only a 3 hour drive from Brisbane but when you are 5 years old, it felt like forever to get there and back then, with 4 kids my parents no doubt agreed 3 hours was a long time too. There is no place like Fraser Island and hands down, it is still my favourite place in the whole wide world. Even after travelling the world, I can still say that for those 3 weeks every September holidays, it was our home, beach camping at it's best....fresh fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'd take Fraser over a 5 star hotel any day.

When we first moved to the farm, I remember thinking how lucky I felt to finally be calling the Fraser Coast home. We are blessed with a diverse and abundant food bowl including red claw, rosella, lychee, pineapple, liquorish and sugar cane farms all close by and we have access to some of the best seafood in Australia – which suits my pescetarian taste buds jusssssst fine! 

The Fraser Coast region plays host to several seafood festivals throughout Winter and August is home of the Hervey Bay Seafood Festival - the only seafood festival in Australia managed by the men and women who catch the seafood for you!

So in honour of this weekend's event, I wanted to share some simple, yet fancy scallop recipes with you because fresh, pan seared or baked, they truely are my favourite seafood.

Scallops 3-ways

• Porcini Crusted with Cauliflower Macadamia Puree
• Seared on Rocket + Sundried Tomato + Wild Mushrooms with Macadamia Truffle Vinaigrette
• Macadamia Polenta Crusted with Sweet Potato Ragout

Porcini Crusted with Cauliflower Macadamia Puree
Place 1/2 cup Barenuts Natural Macadamia Nuts into a food processor and blitz into breadcrumbs.
Place 1/2 doz dried porcine mushrooms and 2-3 tablespoons of macadamia mix into fine crumb.
Roll scallops in mixture to coat. Set aside.
Puree 1 x cup cooked cauliflower, 2-3 tablespoons of macadamia crumbs and a dash of milk/almond milk to get a thick consistency. 
Add lemon zest and lemon juice to taste.
Roast or saute scallops and serve on warm cauliflower puree.

Seared on Sundried Tomato + Wild Mushroom with Macadamia Truffle Vinaigrette
Braise brown button mushrooms in a few splashes of white wine, thicken the mixture with some Barenuts Macadamia Nut Butter.
To make the vinaigrette, blend together 2 x tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 3 x tablespoons of Barenuts Macadamia Nut Oil, 1/2 teaspoon truffle oil and salt to taste.
Add 1/4 cup of macadamias and blend until chunky bite size pieces.
Sear scallops and serve over the mushrooms.
Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Lemon Myrtle Macadamia Crusted with Sweet Potato Ragout
Combine 1/4 cup of Barenuts Natural Macadamia Nuts and 1/4 cup of polenta (cornmeal).
Coat scallops with the macadamia/polenta crust. Refrigerate.
Saute diced sweet potato with some diced Barenuts Lemon Myrtle Macadamia Nut + shallots, until golden.
Add diced cherry tomatoes and a dash or water or citrus and braise until tender, mashing the sweet potato slightly.
Sear the scallops and serve over Ragout.

Team with your favourite Pinot Grigio or Sav or Chardonnay.