The main Christmas protein dish this year was inspired by Donna Hay magazine. The minute I spied the recipe in the Dec/Jan 07 issue, I knew I just had to give it a whirl. Once again, I have tweaked the recipe somewhat.
Baked Almond Ocean Trout
125g flaked almonds
2 tbs lemon rind
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 1/2 cups panko crumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
2kg ocean trout (ask the monger to fillet into sides)
1/4 cup olive oil, and extra for drizzling
Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius.
Place the almonds, panko, lemon rind, herbs, eggs, seasoning and oil into a bowl and stir to combine. Place the mixture over one of the trout sides and sandwich with the other (skin to the outside). Secure the two sides together with kitchen string; an extra pair of hands here will be extremely useful. Place onto a baking paper lined tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season again with sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper.
Roast for 30 minutes or until the fish is golden and cooked through. Remove from oven and leave to settle for a few minutes before slicing.
Serves 10.
This was then served along with the following Christmas feast items:
Mains
Crunchy hasselback chat potatoes
Green beans & broccolini with a bacon balsamic dressing
Lentil, Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad
Basil Marinated Tomato Salad
Parmesan Cos Salad
Prawn & Avocado Salad
Crab Salad
Roasted Red Peppers
Beef Cotoletta
Turkish Bread
Dessert
Mum’s Christmas Cake
Ultimate Fruit Meringue with Vanilla Cream
Tordilli
It was a wonderful feast made all the more palatable by good champagne/wine, great conversation and my lovely family. But dang…we’ll be eating the leftovers for days! 
A joyous season to all.
Oh my god!
Hey Leila! Oh my god what?
Merry Xmas by the way! How you doing?
Oooh, yum! I do a similar dish with rainbow trout and a pine nut/sour cream stuffing. Soooooo good.
Happy New Year!
Oooh Lady Lunchalot – do share your recipe! Sounds yum! And a Happy New Year to you as well
All that food looks amazing all on that table! Happy new year ! I’m well – at stonnington still – meh.
Hiya again Leila. And a Happy New Year to you as well
Say hi to all the gang for me (funny, but I do lament my time spent at the ol’ SCC, as I so miss funky Prahran). I have the big CBD to keep me amused now, so it’s not so bad.
We’ll have to catch up for some drinks when Ms.P comes back from hols.
Take it easy !
The salmon dish looks amazing, as does the whole Christmas menu. I’ll be back:)