Sunday, November 25, 2012

First Crayfish of the Season

I went diving on Friday and got a cray fish.
( I should say here, that there are very strict limits as to how many you can take and how big they need to be!)

Anyway, mum loves them and we've been so busy since she got here that last night was the first time we were actually able to have crayfish for dinner.
After trying out lots of different ways of cooking them we learned last year that steaming them in a fish kettle was the absolute best way. It keeps all the flavour in!

So, Lloyd went out to the garden and gathered up keffir lime leaves, a couple of limes, coriander,  some lemongrass and used some of our garlic. How amazing to have all this in our garden!! We ended up having a dinner, that in a restaurant, would have been extortionate - and here we were having it for the price of a dive tank fill.


 Banana (the wonder cat) inspecting, what he wished, was his dinner!


In the fish kettle - ready to be steamed - love the colours. All you do is put everything in and add about 1cm of water to the fish kettle.


The smell while this was cooking was amazing - it was like we were in Thailand! Lloyd steamed them for 20 minutes and they were absolutely delicious! The tails came out of the shells perfectly.

 It was served with a baby rocket salad, toasted walnuts, shaved parmesan and a simple lemon dressing. Mum said it was the best meal she'd had since arriving and I have to say I agree. Lloyd did himself and the crayfish proud - I think they were the best I've ever had!

13 comments:

  1. Ooh this looks lovely! And I love the picture of Banana the cat looking longingly on!

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    1. I can hardly explain how amazingly lovely it was!!! We did give him a teeny tiny bit!

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  2. My mouth is watering just looking at those pictures. It sounds like your Mum is having a lovely time.

    xx Susan

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    1. yeah, I think she's having a good time, it's certainly been full on!

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  3. Anonymous12:12 pm

    The crayfish is huge! Banana would never have managed it all :-) Pleased you're having a good time with your Mum

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    1. there's actually 2 side by side! It really would have been huge if it was one! :)

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  4. Just look at the colours in the fish kettle ! from the garden & the sea, now that is what I call perfection. Dear Banana, I wonder what he was REALLY thinking he might do, I am pleased he had a little sample! xx

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    1. I think he was thinking that given the change he'd eat the lot!!

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  5. That sounds AMAZING! I want to try one :)

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    1. well, if you're ever over this way visiting you know where to come!

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  6. Ooo! You grow big crayfish there! In our streams around here they are really teeny - but they still nip our lady's toes if she steps near one. That looked yummy!

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    1. Aha! these are just called crayfish here - they're a lot more like rock lobsters, but without the claws! We do have those wee fresh water crays here too - supposedly they are good eating but they seem so small to me that it's just a shame!!

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  7. Crayfish - caught by yourselves - fantastic. I just adore crayfish. Please do drop me a line on ca4ole@gmail.com if you are ok with me linking this post to my blog (Carole's Chatter). Cheers

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I love it when you leave me comments, it lets me know there are folk out there reading my ramblings! Thank you, I appreciate them loads and loads
Laura x