Featuring Peter Coulson’s “Ocean Trout Pie with Lemon & Chive Sauce”

Born in Richmond, Melbourne, I served my apprenticeship as a plumber and later moved to Emerald Beach with Pandora whom I have known since our childhood days. We established our own plumbing business and later became the proud parents of two wonderful girls. To cook food is a big part of my life and I am inspired by my wife “Pandora” who always encourages me to use the freshest quality ingredients available. As a keen surfer I enjoy weekends away camping by the beach with friends and family and cooking outdoors.

I enjoy cooking all types of food especially Pasta, Stir Fry, Chicken & Mushroom Pie. My most regular comfort meal is “Fish Pie” which is considered to be the nicest dish I make and one that has been altered over the years from the original recipe. My favourite classic dish is “Roast Lamb”. I have recently discovered Shiitake Mushrooms which I like to use in food preparation. 

The most essential item in our kitchen is the “DeLonghi” coffee machine which is used daily. My favourite kitchen tools are the Garlic & Lemon crushers which have proven so useful in preparing many dishes. I believe every home kitchen should have ingredients such as salt and pepper, garlic, fresh herbs from the garden, tomatoes and vegetables sourced from the local market. A cooking tip I give to my girls is always clean as you go, it is so nice to enjoy a home cooked meal knowing you don’t have to face a sink of pots and pans afterwards.

One of the cook books I constantly refer to is “The Great Prawn” however I do have a collection of various Seafood cook books. My favourite chef is “Paul Mercurio”, he utilizes the freshest produce sourced from local Australian regions and he also makes food preparation fun. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing the expressions on people’s faces while they enjoy my food. Cooking is leisure time for me. It is our family tradition that I make our daughter’s birthday cakes and each year I like to create a different theme and design.

I reminisce on a kitchen incident when I was making pancakes. I was working my magic thinking I was great at flipping the pancakes. One of the pancakes I flipped had too much power behind it, looking up it landed on my face, that's what I call "Fast Food".

Peter’s Ocean Trout Pie with Lemon & Chive Sauce

Ingredients for Ocean Trout Pie serve 6

2 cleaned Ocean Trout fillets (1200 g) skinned and boned

3 eggs boiled

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 onion finely chopped (150g)

12 small button mushrooms sliced (200g)

2 tbls parsley finely chopped

6 sheets puff pastry

2 tbls unsalted butter

1 egg lightly beaten for egg wash

Method

Preheat oven to 180ºC
Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat, sauté onions and mushrooms and allow to cool.
Position six sheets of puff pastry on kitchen bench, cut Ocean Trout fillets into 12 even sized pieces on a chopping board and lay one fillet piece into the centre of each sheet of puff pastry.
Mash eggs in a bowl, mix in curry powder. Place curried egg mix on fillet, then onion and mushroom, topped with parsley. Lay another piece of fillet on top and wrap in pastry, brush edges of pastry with egg wash and press firmly to seal. Use remaining egg wash to glaze each pie.
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Cook Lemon & Chive Sauce and prepare a salad while pie is cooking

Lemon & Chive Sauce

4 tbls Lemon juice

300 ml cream

1 tbls chopped chives

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Pour cream and lemon juice into a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil while stirring. Add chives, season with salt & pepper and reduce sauce until thick.

Serve with Lemon & Chive Sauce poured over the pie accompanied by fresh garden salad

Note: If Ocean Trout is unavailable, Ray’s Bream is also appropriate for this dish.  Using Filo instead of puff pastry creates a lighter version.