SEARED CRISP SNAPPER WITH SMOKY CHERRY TOMATOES, BORLOTTI BEANS & OLIVE BUTTER

Serves 4

This is one of my Melbourne favourites and it moves off and on the menu in various forms. Here we smoke cherry tomatoes, add them to slow-cooked beans and toss them together to make a delicious little salad under the fish. The green olive butter is a killer with any seafood or barbecued meat.

GREEN OLIVE BUTTER

125 g (4½ oz) unsalted butter, cubed & at room temperature

50 g (1¾ oz) green olives, pitted & finely chopped

juice of 1 lemon

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Place the butter, olives and lemon juice in a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Spoon onto a sheet of baking paper or aluminium foil and roll into a log shape about 35 cm (14 inches) long and 4 cm (1½ inches) in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap, twisting the ends to secure and refrigerate until firm. Cut into 1 cm (½ inch) thick slices to serve.

TO SERVE

4 x 200 g (7 oz) snapper fillets, skin on

½ loaf sourdough (from the centre of the loaf)

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) podded fresh borlotti beans (about 1 kg/2 lb 4 oz unpodded)

12 cherry tomatoes

60 ml (2 fl oz/ ¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves, chiffonade

1 tablespoon Forum cabernet sauvignon vinegar

clarified butter for cooking

Trim the crusts from the loaf of sourdough and discard. Place the loaf in the freezer and leave until frozen.

Place the borlotti beans in a saucepan filled with cold water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30–40 minutes or until soft in the middle. Drain.

Using a meat slicer or electric knife, slice the bread into paper-thin slices. You will only need 4 slices. Place a slice of bread on a chopping board and place a snapper fillet, skin-side down, on top. Cut out around the fish through the bread and discard the off-cuts. Repeat with the remaining bread and fillets.

Heat a barbecue or chargrill pan to high. Roll the tomatoes around on the grill for 10–20 seconds or until the skins blister. Remove the skins, keeping the tomatoes whole.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and borlotti beans and cook for about 4 minutes or until warmed through. Add the parsley and vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, heat the clarified butter in a frying pan over medium–low heat, add the fish, bread-side down, and cook until the bread is golden and crisp, then turn over and cook the other side for 1 minute or until just cooked.

Divide the tomato mixture between plates and top with a piece of fish, bread-side up. Place a slice of green olive butter on top of each fish and serve.