Alexandrina Yabbie Cocktail served with a Crème Fraiche Seafood Sauce
Alexandrina Christmas eCookbook
During the 80’s and into the 90’s my memory of Christmas would begin in the early weeks of a December, as the grasslands on our farm turn from green to brown, and as my Polish Grandfather tossled traps, and prepared baits for the hunt of the precious local Yabbie, to eventually adorn our festive table. He Dziadek (Zbiegniew aka George) would usually rope my two younger brothers’ alongside him, and they would venture down to our fresh water dams. I know as I write this my throat is choking up, because I honestly wasn’t interested in catching yabbies ever! I preferred to be in the kitchen beside my Babcia (Nan/Cathe), making other preparations, while the gentleman took off on their annual fishing pilgrimage. Once gathered, Dziadek would store the live yabbies in a holding tank near to the house, and sometime by the end of December he would have accumulated 50 or more yabbies for our table. Fond memories indeed.
The really joy of this recipe is knowing that it’s a replication of the dish my Mum would always prepare and serve at our Wigilia, always on the 24th of December. A big thanks to my Mum (Krystyna), I am able to share this with you. This year instead of buying a jar of seafood sauce I hope you can make mine, it’s an easy concoction of Alexandrina Crème Fraiche, tomato sauce, worchestershire sauce, sherry and lemon juice. It’s worth it, and less than 1 min to whisk!!
ALEXANDRINA YABBIE COCKTAIL SERVED WITH A CRÈME FRAICHE SEAFOOD SAUCE
Serves 4
You may need at least a week to source the yabbies!
Groundwork, 30-45 minutes preparation time
Serves 4
Elements
For Crème Fraiche Seafood Sauce
65 ml Alexandrina Crème Fraiche (1/4 cup)
65 ml tomato sauce (1/4 cup)
20 ml worchestershire sauce (1 tablespoon)
20 ml sherry (1 tablespoon)
20 ml lemon juice (1 tablespoon)
For the Yabbie Cocktail
400 g cooked mixed seafood (we suggest using yabbies’ if you have access to them) otherwise prawns are an excellent substitute, as are oysters, salmon, mussels, crayfish.
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
40 ml lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
100 g iceberg lettuce, shaved
4 fresh mango, sliced, portioned, skin on, for garnish
4 slices of lemon, for garnish
4 whole cooked yabbies, for garnish
Technique
For Crème Fraiche Seafood Sauce
mix Alexandrina Crème Fraiche, tomato sauce, worchestershire sauce, sherry and lemon juice.
*this sauce is to be spooned over the seafood mix before serving.
For the Alexandrina Yabbie Cocktail
gently combine seafood, pepper and 40 ml of lemon juice
chill the seafood mix for 30 minutes then place in four cocktail glasses or small dishes
place shredded iceberg lettuce into cocktail glasses or small dishes
portion the seafood mix on top of the lettuce
arrange the mango slice, lemon and arrange a whole yabbie on the side of the glass
place a teaspoon of seafood sauce on top of the seafood mix before serving
Cooking the Yabbies can be the trickiest part - but we freeze the live yabbies for 10-15 minutes, and then pop them in a pot of boiling water for 4-5 minutes - For this recipe you will need 4 whole cooked yabbies, for garnish.
For Crème Fraiche Seafood Sauce - mix Alexandrina Crème Fraiche, tomato sauce, worchestershire sauce, sherry and lemon juice.
Seriously - one of the best parts of this dish is cutting the mango, and resisting eating it! Let us know how you go with that...!!
For your guests, please ensure that you have a seafood cracker. A
Calcium Hero of the Dish | Alexandrina Crème Fraiche
Alexandrina's Creme Fraiche is a naturally matured, thickened soured cream using culture. It has a light and lemony taste, and goes well with both savoury and sweet foods as a condiment. Crème Fraiche is made by adding a culture (special bacteria) to and fermenting our fresh Pure Jersey Cream. It has a subtle tangy, slightly nutty flavour and rich, velvety texture. 30 % minimum fat | available in 500 ml tub.
https://alexandrinacheese.com.au/collections/dairy/products/creme-fraiche
Looking for Alexandrina Products? | To find a list of our supportive South Australian stockists please visit our website ---> here
https://alexandrinacheese.com.au/pages/stockists
Foodie Fact | The scientific name for Yabby or Yabbie is Cherax destructor, and they can grow to 20 cm or more. They are usually brown or green in colour on the shell with patterns on their claws
Looking for Yabbies? | Goodluck! We have spent a month trying to catch our own here in our dam on our farm, with mixed results. We have heard that Kangaroo Island Marron – sell mixed sizes of yabbies’ please call 0427 797 298 and there is another business nearby Bukartilla Yabbies located in Kuipto that might be worth contacting. It’s always good to have a back up plan with extra mixed seafood, and incase your traps are empty!
Top Tip | If you want to learn more about South Australian Seafood then head to SAAC to learn about freshest, healthiest and quality seafood grown sustainably in the cleanest waters on the planet. Also the South Australian Tourism Commission have put together a Seafood Frontier 5 day taste of South Australia – so there are plenty of options to grow your knowledge on where to source the best seafood for future entertaining.
Find more Alexandrina Recipes |
https://alexandrinacheese.com.au/blogs/curds-whey
#christmasiscomplete #withalexandrinacheese
#alexandrinacheeseclub #alexandrinayabbiecocktail
Words by Rebekah McCaul 2022
Contact rebekah@alexandrinacheese.com.au
