Day 163 - Turtle Cove Beach / Trinity Beach, north of Cairns - Deep-Fried Breaded Barramundi & Chips

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This day freakin' rrrrrrocked!

First, my Aussie buddy Brad and I headed out early morning for a half-day ATVing trek around the Kuranda rainforest. H-o-l-y c-r-a-p was it fun! Dirty, fast, raw ... good hick fun first thing on a Sunday morning!

The adventure company with whom our trip was organized had a working farm on-site. Once we got back to camp after 2+ hours of circling through the woods on our 4x4's, there were a few demonstrations put on by the resident cowboys. Aside from a whip demonstration (which was pretty cool in itself - man, did he made it look easy) and a sampling of hot, freshly-prepared fireside damper bread, two of the farm's working dogs put on a sheep-herding demo.

Somewhat ironic, I saw both dogs earlier in the afternoon, not realizing they were highly-trained working dogs. After petting one of them for a few minutes, I tried to get it to "SIT!" for me ... no such luck, it looked at me with a blank stare. Naturally I assumed it was just a regular dog. Imagine my surprise when the cowboy called him over with a blow of his whistle, and it began to heard 50 sheep around the farm with minimal effort. (???)

"It's like rain on your wedding day ..."

A quick barbecue, and we were hearded (much like the sheep) back into our mini-bus coach and ushered back into Cairns.

Our afternoon formula was simple: get in Brad's car, drive along highway north of Cairns, and stop at a YTBD beach for the afternoon. The highway in question hugs the coast line, and there are countless, beautiful beaches lining most of the highway. (Some may not even have names, there are so many) Below, a road-side picture we took en route to Turtle Cove, one of the many great beaches which are largely empty of tourists and backpackers (<- did I just turn my nose up?). When I look at the below picture, it almost doesn't look real (it's almost too perfect - like a picture screen you would stand in front of at Sears while having your picture taken. KnowwhatImean?).

People actually live here??!!

After an afternoon of soaking up the sun, exploring the coast line some more, and swimming in the waves, we were s-e-r-i-o-u-s-l-y staved. It felt like a fish & chip day to me, so we headed to a local fish market which gets rammed full of customers on weekends wanting fish & chips! A quick taste of our bounty and we quickly discovered why it's such a popular spot: fantastic deep-fried, fresh, locally-caught, breaded fish (and moutainous piles of fries to boot).

We quickly popped by local Trinity Beach to enjoy our food oceanside. After polishing off our order, in addition to the dozen or so fried calamari and the jar of tartar sauce we tacked onto our dinner purchase, Brad and I had to roll ourselves back into his car we were so stuffed. [Mr. Burns] Excellent! [/Mr. Burns]

Battered fish are good, but I prefer breaded. You definitely get to appreciate your fish more, especially when it's fresh. Plus, breaded fish are easier to prepare and cook than battered ... bonus!

Ingredients

Oil for frying
1 1/2 pounds Barramundi fillets, skin removed
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Method:

1 - Heat at least 2 inches of oil in a large, deep saucepan to 375°F.
2 - While the oil heats, soak the fish fillets in the milk.
3 - Mix the cornmeal and bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Season with salt, lots of pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Dredge the fish in the cornmeal, patting to make the breading stick.
4 - Fry until golden on both sides, about 8 minutes total. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on paper towels.
5 - Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce.

Note: Make sure you season the cornmeal generously with black pepper.