Let's Have Christmas Dinner in Australia

I have always wanted to travel internationally and one of the places I want to visit is Australia. I have always wanted to visit Australia because I love the water and I have seen beautiful pictures of Australia. In addition to Australia's beautiful scenery, Australia is becoming a great travel destination for food lovers of all ages. In terms of food, I associate Australia with many varieties of seafood, including, prawns, which are just large shrimp, vegemite, lamb, and meat pies. In addition, I love scones and tea so I would love to travel to Australia to sample some savory and sweet scones and sip some tasty tea. Moreover, I have always wanted to see how different countries celebrate Christmas. Therefore, I have combined my love of traveling, food, and knowledge to create some recipes for an Australian Christmas dinner. Two are fish recipes, and one is a savory scone recipe

I love seafood and Australia is known for its seafood so it is appropriate to have two seafood dishes Christmas dinner in Australia.

Fillet of Fish Macadamia
2 (6 ounce) swordfish steaks
White peppercorns, salt
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons clarified butter
Juice of ¼ of a lemon plus extra for sauce at the end
2 ounces Macadamia nuts, grated
1/8 cup dry sherry, warmed
1 tablespoon fresh parsley stalks, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Season fish with peppercorns and salt; mix egg yolk, 2 tablespoons clarified butter and juice of ¼ lemon together. Bush the yolk mixture onto fish and press nuts into each side. Place 2 tablespoons of clarified butter into frying pan. When frying pan is hot, add fish and fry 3 minutes each side add heated sherry and set aside. Add chopped parsley stalks. Place fish on serving dish. Add 1 tablespoon butter and extra lemon juice to fry pan, pour sauce over the fish.

Abalone Victoria
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 cup bread crumbs
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons clarified butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Flour, to coat
8 sliced abalone steaks
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste
½ cup butter
1 tablespoon sherry

Directions
Mix together parsley and bread crumbs and in a separate bowl, combine egg yolk, clarified butter, and lemon juice. Place flour on a dish for dredging. Season 1 side of the abalone steaks with salt and pepper. Lightly flour and paint with egg mixture. Coat fish with parsley/bread crumb mixture. Melt butter in frying pan. When butter begins to foam, add steaks and cook 1 minute each side. Add sherry and flame. Transfer to serving dish and cover with brown butter from pan.

I think that I should been born in Australia because I love eating scones and drinking tea during Christmas time. Therefore, I would include scones for Christmas dinner in Australia.

Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup cold, mashed, cooked pumpkin
A pinch of salt for flavor

Directions
Grease a scone tray or baking tray.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well.
Add pumpkin, flour, and salt, and fold in by hand. Knead lightly and cut into one inch squares.
Place close together on the scone or baking tray and bake at 200-220 degrees Celsius until well risen and golden on top (about 15 minutes)
Serve hot with butter and lemon curd.

* The temperature is meant for European ovens; covert to degrees Fahrenheit for American ovens. Serves 4-6. Pumpkin scones can be savory scones and used as a side dish for Australian Christmas Dinner or they can be sweet scones and served as dessert at the end of an Australian Christmas dinner. All of this food is making me hungry; so let's travel to Australia for an Australian Christmas dinner. Sources: www.foodnetwork.com, www.australia-day.com/recipes