Serves: 4

Difficulty:
Ingredients

1 kg kangaroo rump
2 tablespoons in total; of a dash of soy, a splash of mirin and a nip of umeboshi plum vinegar
¼ teaspoon Alpine Pepper
¼ teaspoon aniseed myrtle (optional)
375ml white balsamic
300g fresh ricotta
1 teaspoon Red Desert Dust
1 small bunch English spinach, washed and coarsely chopped
4 large pine mushrooms
100g baby rocket
8 slices proscuitto
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Method

1. Marinate the kangaroo in a mix with the added aniseed myrtle and Alpine Pepper for at least two hours (the longer you marinate it, the better)
2. pour the white balsamic into a saucepan and reduce it down to a thick syrup
2. mix the ricotta with the spinach and Red Desert Dust and fill the mushrooms
3. place the mushrooms in a moderate oven (180°C or 375°F) until they become tender
4. panfry the roo to medium rare, about 8-10 minutes on a medium heat; remove the meat from the pan and rest it in a warm spot for 10 minutes before slicing it
6. rub the proscuitto with brown sugar and panfry until golden brown

Styling

Use a white plate for this dish. Place the mushrooms slightly off centre on each plate and pile the rocket to the side. Slice the roo across the grain of the meat and place the slices, just overlapping, on top of the rocket. Drizzle the plate with the reduced balsamic and finish with the crispy proscuitto.

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Kangaroo rump with ricotta filled pine mushrooms and rocket is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Alberts Lakeside Restaurant Norwest Sydney

Recipe By: Mark McCluskey

What really needs to be said about kangaroo as an environmentally appropriate, ecologically sustainable alternative? And this low fat, tender, high iron, delicious meat is so good, it’s on our National Coat of Arms.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Baked Illawarra plum cheesecake
• Braised veal shank with native mint drizzled pink eye potatoes

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 6

Difficulty:
Ingredients

6 boneless veal shanks
12 pink eye potatoes
2 turnips
120g smoked speck or ham
1 Paperbark Roll
Alpine Pepper
2 litres beef or veal stock

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 150°C
2. heat the stock in a deep roasting tray
3. lay out 6 sheets of paperbark on the bench fibrous side down
5. lay the shank in the center and season with Alpine Pepper
6. cut the turnips into fingers and speck into strips and lay in the center of the shank
7. roll up like a Swiss roll, and tie the ends of the bark and along its length so that it retains its shape
8. place the shanks in the liquid and place in the oven for about 2 hours
9. the best way to test if the shanks are cooked is to pinch them if they feel a little soft they are cooked
10. steam the potatoes
11. infuse some olive oil with native mint the correct ratio is 1 tsp. to 250ml of light olive oil
12. smash the potatoes and drizzle with the mint oil salt and alpine pepper
13. when the shanks have been in the oven for 1½ hours, place the potatoes in too
14. when the shanks are cooked remove them and the potatoes from the tray and rest the meat
15. reduce the stock by half and adjust the seasoning; never add seasoning before you reduce as will concentrate the flavour as it reduces and will get too strong
16. remove the shanks from the paper bark and slice in half

Styling

Arrange the potatoes on the plate with the veal shank nearby and finish with the reduced stock.

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Braised veal shank with native mint drizzled pink eye potatoes is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney

Recipe By: Mark McCluskey

The slow wet cooking really does the trick in tenderizing the veal and it’s great with the Alpine Pepper and subtle flavour from the paperbark.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Baked Illawarra plum cheesecake
• Kangaroo striploin tartlet with sweet potato and bush tomato jus

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty:
Ingredients

4×100g chicken breast
1 teaspoon Wildfire Spice
Yarras Grove olive oil, as needed
3 cobs sweet corn
1 chilli, chopped
1 teaspoon minced Buderim ginger
2 litre chicken stock
200g polenta
100ml coconut cream
seasoning to taste
100g emu proscuitto

Method

1. Marinate the chicken breast in Wildfire Spice and olive oil
2. Remove the corn from the husk and rub with olive oil; BBQ until tender
3. Add some oil to a pan and briefly fry the ginger and chilli; add the chicken stock and bring to the boil
4. Add the polenta, chicken and coconut cream and simmer for 5 minutes
5. Remove the corn kernels from the cob and add them to the soup; simmer for I minute more

Styling

To four medium sized soup plates, divide up the broth. Garnish each with some watercress and finish with the emu proscuitto

Notes
Obviously, any proscuitto can be used, pan-fried to crispness for that all-important textural crunch!

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Braised chicken in a sweet corn and polenta broth is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Banjo Patterson’s Restaurant on the Parramatta River

Recipe By: Mark McCluskey

Be bold with your flavours here. The Wildfire Spice adds almost pizza notes but you can get smokey flavours from the BBQ or crank up the chilli, if you like it hot! Also, any prosciutto can be used, pan-fried to crispness for what Vic calls that all-important, “textural crunch!”

Other recipes from this Episode

• Boomerang trifle with lemon ironwood syrup, wild fruit jelly and Fruit Spice
• Ribeye steak with broccolini, shitake mushrooms and wattleseed jus

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty:
Ingredients

6 desiree potatoes
1 can of sliced beetroot
1kg lamb mince
1 teaspoon Wildfire Spice
1 teaspoon Alpine Pepper
2 egg yolks
¼ cup flour
oil for frying
2 Spanish onions, finely sliced
a generous pinch of Outback Salt
¼ bottle of beer (optional) or some water
1 loaf wattleseed and walnut bread
150g bacon or proscuitto
1 fresh pineapple, peeled and thinly sliced (2 slices per serve)
2 sweet vine ripened tomatoes
shredded lettuce of your choice
100ml Mountain Pepper BBQ Sauce

Method

1. cut the washed desirée potatoes into thick chunky chips and preheat hotplate or frying pan.
2. heat sunflower oil to 190°C/375°F, and lower the chips into the oil and fry for five to six minutes, until soft but not browned, then remove and allow to cool.
3. combine the lamb mince, Alpine Pepper, egg yolks, flour and beer. Mix well.
4. form the mince mix into patties and cook on hotplate or frying pan. Cook pattie to desired doneness.
5. also begin to fry the bacon, the pineapple slices and the Spanish onions on the hotplate.
6. slice the tomatoes and toast the wattleseed and walnut bread
7. remove the pattie, pineapple, bacon and Spanish onions from the grill
8. heat the oil up to 200°C/400°F, then return the chips to the oil for two to three minutes. Remove and drain well, season with seasalt and Wildfire Spice.
9. construct the pattie on the wattleseed and walnut toasted bread, then bacon, onions, pineapple, tomatoes and shredded lettuce. Add a little Mountain Pepper BBQ sauce on top and place the other piece of wattleseed and walnut toasted bread as a sandwich.

Styling

Serve the Aussie Burger with chips on a plate.

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Aussie burger and chips is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Crowne Plaza Newcastle

Recipe By: Mark McCluskey

Add things like melted cheese, fried eggs and chopped chilli. To go a bit more Mediterranean; add a little mint to the lamb, use thin and crispy proscuitto, toast Turkish bread and spread it with bush tomato chutney, then add crispy, fried or baked haloumi cheese.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Polenta and Lemon Aspen cake with sugar bag and Wild Rosella Cream
• Seafood laksa with wild limes and lemon myrtle linguini

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty:
Ingredients
Yarras Grove olive oil for frying
a tablespoon butter
100g diced carrot
100g diced turnip
100g diced potato
100g diced sweet potato
100g diced Spanish onion
100g diced celery
200g white beans
½ teaspoon Alpine Pepper
2 litres vegetable stock
a generous pinch salt
Continental parsley

Method

1. In a large pot, drizzle in the olive oil and butter and sauté the celery, carrot and onion
2. allow the vegetables to caramelise and season with salt, if desired
3. add the vegetable stock, then the remaining vegetables
4. bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft

Styling

1. Serve in a traditional cassoulet dish with a lid or a individual soup bowls
2. garnish with chopped parsley
3. serve with Riberry and blue cheese damper

Notes

A cassoulet is traditionally a rich, hearty stew of various meat and or beans with a mix of starchy and aromatic vegetables and herbs.

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of White bean cassoulet is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbookwhich can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

A cassoulet is traditionally a rich, hearty stew of various meats and or beans with a mix of starchy and aromatic vegetables and herbs. Use any root vegetables you can get including parsnips, swedes, yams or even beetroot. You can obviously add other flavourings too but remember, the damper has plenty of complexity of taste.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Japanese pumpkin frittata served with bush tomato chutney
• Riberry and Blue Cheese Damper
• Wattleseed pancakes with riberry confit

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty:
Ingredients

1 kg crocodile tail fillet (bone out and trimmed)
60g Wattleseed
Outback Salt
1 piece damp paperbark, appropriately thinned
string or cooking twine
80g Riberry Confit

Method

1. In a bowl, sprinkle the crocodile with the wattle to evenly coat the meat and lightly season with salt
2. roll the meat to form a log shape and set in the middle of the paperbark sheet; wrap well and tie securely
3. place in a microwave dish and cook on high (750W) for 5 minutes; rest for 5 minutes, invert the roll and cook a further 5 minutes on high; alternatively, poach in a steam oven until firm to touch, although this will give a drier result as the juices tend to run with prolonged cooking
4. chill overnight then remove the bark from the required amount of crocodile (re-wrap and chill the remainder)
5. machine slice the crocodile to 2mm thickness

Styling

Fan out 35 to 40g portions around the plate. Serve with the Riberry Confit garnish.
 Email This Page

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Wattleseed crocodile with riberry confit is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Lillipilli in the Rocks

Recipe By: Vic Cherikoff

There is a satisfaction in eating something that wouldn’t think twice about eating you, given half the chance! And harvesting crocodiles for meat is part of good resource management. One of the few flavours which enhances rather than overwhelms the very subtle, fishy-chicken flavour of crocodile is wattle. This is one occasion that wattle is used dry as a seasoning rather than more commonly being boiled first to soften the grounds and extract its characteristic flavour.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Pork braise with bunya nut and Australian rice grass
• Rainforest lime and macadamia nut pudding

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty:
Ingredients

40g butter
225ml milk
1 bay leaf
1 pinch grated nutmeg
½ onion, sliced
40g flour
175g ripe goat’s cheese
4×60g eggs separated
½ teaspoon Alpine Pepper
150ml cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. using a thick bottomed pan melt the butter slowly
3. in a separate pan warm the milk, bay leaf, nutmeg and onion gently
4. add the flour to the butter and cook out for about 1 minute, stirring
5. add the soft goats cheese and stir until it combines
6. add the egg yolks
7. whip the egg whites in an electric mixer, a good tip when working with egg whites is to wipe the bowl out with a lemon half, and start the egg whites off slowly; this helps them to take in more air, then turn the speed to full until the whites are firm and you could upturn the bowl above your head without wearing egg on your face
8. add the milk to the cheese mixture and cook out, stirring until all the lumps have gone; season with the Alpine Pepper and then take the pan off the heat so that it cools down
9. butter and flour six moulds
10. fold in one spoonful of the whipped egg whites at a time, so that you don’t lose the aeration, be gentle and the result will be great
11. spoon the mixture into the moulds and place in a deep tray; add boiling water ¾ way up the sides of the moulds
12. put them in the pre heated oven for about twenty minutes; remove and allow to cool

Styling

When it is time to serve the soufflés, pour the cream over them and place them back in the oven until warm. I like to serve these soufflés with a really peppery, rocket (choose the older leaves rather than baby rocket which is too mild for this dish) and dress it with a balsamic reduction and some diced fresh chilli.
 Email This Page

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Twice baked goats cheese soufflé is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach

Recipe By: Mark McCluskey

Experiment with this dish; add what ever you want to the soufflé, sweet or savory it doesn’t matter. And try the more ripen cheeses which can handle other strong flavours Unlike a conventional souffle which is light and fluffy, this twice cooked version is a little more substantial and well as being delicious.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Paella with shellfish and lemon aspen fruits

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty:

Three cheese corn fritters with a paperbark smoked beetroot jam
If you have trouble finding the Australian flavoured cheeses in your local supermarket, try adding a selection of Australian Herbs and Seasonings to ordinary cheddar.

Ingredients

For the fritters (corn cakes)

500g self raising flour
150ml milk
1 egg
60g Akudjura cheddar
60g Australian mint cheddar
60g Mountain pepper cheddar
1 cob fresh corn

For the beetroot jam

1 large beetroot (beets)
1 Paperbark roll
100ml white balsamic vinegar
100ml dark balsamic vinegar
80g sugar
Garnish
30g rocket (arugula)

Method

Beetroot jam

1. In a camp oven lined with damp paperbark, place the diced beetroot, fit the lid and set over medium heat for 40-50 minutes of until the beetroot is soft and fully smoked
2. in a saucepan combine both vinegars and the sugar and begin to reduce the volume by half
2. add the paperbark smoked beetroot and continue cooking to make a thick jam; stir as needed

Corn fritters

1. Peel the corn and poach in hot water until done.
2. in a mixing bowl combine the flour, milk and eggs to make a pancake batter consistency
3. chop or grate the cheeses and add into the mix
4. in a lightly oiled hot pan make pancake sized fritters
5. place on a grease proof sheet until ready to serve

Styling

Stack three fritters using some beetroot jam as the ‘food glue’. Garnish the plate with dobs of jam and top the fritters with the rocket

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Three cheese corn fritters with a paperbark smoked beetroot jam is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Alberts Lakeside Restaurant Norwest Sydney

Recipe By: Benjamin Christie

There are a growing number of Australian companies now making cheeses flavoured with Australian herbs and spices. These include fetta, soft cheeses, cheddars and club cheese made from milk from cows, ewes and goats (rather than wallabies, wallaroos and wombats, which are all pretty hard to milk since none of them like to stand still long enough). However, a substitute for the ready-made, flavoured cheeses would be to use your choice of light flavoured cheddar and add Australian seasonings to the fritters, say, a heaped teaspoon of Akudjura or of any of Vic’s savoury seasonings.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Chocolate mousse tart with gumleaf cream and wild rosella flowers
• Kangaroo rump with ricotta filled pine mushrooms and rocket

Other Episodes

• The Three Sisters and the Post Office Restaurant in Leura
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast

Serves: 4

Difficulty: 
Ingredients

For the salad

500g mesclun salad mix including rocket, radicchio, coral, coz, cresses,
100g snow pea sprouts and edible petals
6 Boiled quail eggs
12 cocktail tomatoes
1 avocado, sliced
50g pomegranate seeds
15g Riberry Confit
5 slices of prosciutto – try to find emu or roo proscuitto
50g croutons

For the dressing

1 punnet of strawberries
½ teaspoon Fruit Spice
1 teaspoon Alpine Pepper

Method

1. Prepare the dressing by blending the strawberries to a purée
2. microwave about 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl or cup until it is quite hot but not boiling and steep the seasonings in it; allow to cool a little and add this mix to the strawberry
purée (if the strawberries were chilled you can combine it all together right off)
3. cut the carrot lengthwise carefully and fashion a long spear which you pass through appropriately cut holes in the bases of carefully separated witlof leaves which you arrange to make like the Opera House sails; store this garnish in cold water until you need it

Styling

Arrange your salad on a platter and set the garnish in place. Scatter the accompaniments around the salad including the slices of proscuitto and pour on the dressing generously before finishing with the croutons. Obviously leave these and possibly the garnish as well if you are preparing the salad way ahead of time, although if you carefully plastic wrap the all-but-croutoned salad, it will be fine; just add the croutons prior to serving.
 Email This Page

Dining Downunder Cookbook
This Australian recipe of Sydney Salad is included in the Dining Downunder Cookbook which can be purchased online at the Dining Downunder Online Shop. Also available online is a wide range of native Australian herbs and spices, sauces, syrups, infused oils and bush tucker ingredients such as wattleseed and paperbark rolls.

Episode: Australia Day on Sydney Harbour

Recipe By: Vic Cherikoff

The best part of this salad is the dressing which can be added up to a day ahead and won’t turn the lettuces to sludge. In fact, it makes it stay firm and fresh due to osmosis.

Other recipes from this Episode

• Char-grilled baby octopus
• Mud crab and smoked kumara gnocchi
• Paperbark smoked barramundi
• Soused sea perch fillets
• Wild rosella and wasabi dressing

Other Episodes from this series

• Swiss Grand at Bondi Beach Sydney
• Margaret River and restaurant Vat 107
• Lillipilli in the Rocks
• Feast Restaurant on Avoca Beach
• The Cowrie Restaurant Terrigal Beach
• Redgum Restaurant at Boronia House Mosman
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle
• Hydro Majestic Hotel in the Blue Mountains
• Buderim Ginger and Bistro C in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast
• Banjo Patterson’s Restaurant on the Parramatta River