Lilly Pilly is a common native shrub belonging to the myrtle family. Fruiting in Djeran & Makuru (winter), the fruit, which looks like a tiny apple, has high levels of vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and essential fatty acids . Noongar people traditionally used Lilly Pilly for its anti bacterial and healing properties.
Ingredients
- 125g butter
- ¾ cup caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 ½ cups self-raising flour
- 1 cup of lilly pillys
- Pink food colouring (optional)
Method
Firstly peel skin from lilly pilly fruit and deseed. In a small pot put water and
spoon of brown sugar and cover lilly pilly fruit and boil to soften.
- Combine all ingredients in medium bowl to make batter base.
- Add lilly pilly mixture and food colouring
- Add to patty pans and pop in oven180°C for approx 20mins or until browned.
- Ice and eat ... Enjoy!
Fruiting in early spring, the bright red fruit of the Quandong (also called Bush Peach) is easy to spot growing throughout the wheatbelt and South west of WA. The fruit can be collected and then frozen until needed. For an extra festive take on the cake, try dried Quandong soaked overnight in an orange liqueur. The alcohol infuses the fruit enhancing its natural sugars. The Quandong nut kernel is high in fat and takes on an intense flavour when lightly roasted.
Ingredients
1½ cups dried Muntries (or sultanas)
½ cup raisins
zest of 1 lemon or orange
½ cup coarsely chopped pitted dates
2½ cups fresh or frozen quandong
½ cup chopped dried apricots
¼ cup quandong jam
¾ cup orange liqueur or orange juice
250 g butter, softened
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
1½ cups macadamia nuts
½ cup roasted Quandong nut kernels
1 tsp ground bush tomato
1 tsp ground pepperberry
1 tsp wattleseed, toasted and ground
Decoration
1 cup apricot jam
1½ cups water
500 g fresh or frozen quandong halves
Method
- Combine fruit, jam and liqueur in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and stand overnight or for several days, stirring mixture occasionally.
- Pre-heat oven to 140°C. Line the base and sides of a deep 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper, allowing 5 cm to extend above the tin.
- Beat butter and sugar in a small bowl with an electric beater, until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined between each egg. Add butter mix to fruit mixture and stir well. Stir in sifted flour and mixed spice, then macadamias, bush tomato, pepperberry and wattleseed.
- Spread mixture evenly into cake tin. Bake for 3 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- To decorate, place jam and water in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer uncovered until reduced to half. Strain into a bowl, discarding pulp. Allow to cool. Thaw quandongs if frozen. Quickly toss quandong halves in cooled glaze. Carefully place halves on top of cooled cake. This is a very sticky job, but take your time.
Schooling in massive numbers along the South west coast during the season of Djeran (April and May), the Australian Salmon (Ngari) is often overlooked as an eating fish. Smoked and served with saltbush, it takes on a flavour all of its own and is a seasonal favourite in Wadandi Country.
Ingredients
3 Ngari (Australian Salmon) cleaned, filleted and cut into strips
2 Tbsp Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Lemon Myrtle
1 Tbsp sugar
Saltbush to garnish
Jarrah woodchips for smoker
Method
- Prepare, scale, clean and fillet the fish.
- Cut into strips and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Add salt, sugar and Lemon Myrtle flakes. Massage ingredients through the fish.
- Cover and leave to infuse for 1 - 1/2 hours.
- Meanwhile light and prepare the smoker. Smoke the fish for around 10 minutes and serve with Saltbush or Sea Parsley leaves
This is more about harvesting than preparation. A favourite amongst us kids growing up near the coast. There are 4 species of the plant that are native to Australia. When the flower dies off in summer, what remians is the bright red edible fruit. Remove any dead petals, wash the fruit and chill slightly. The fruits can be eaten whole, or sliced into circles and served with vanilla icecream. The taste is said to be like a strawberry with a slightly salty taste.
The leaf sap can be used as a mild astringent. Applied to the skin, it is a popular emergency treatment for jellyfish and similar stings. When mixed with water it can be used to treat diarrhea and stomach cramps. It can also be used as a gargle for sore throat, laryngitis, and mild bacterial infections of the mouth. It can also be used externally, much like aloe vera, for wounds, mosquito bites and sunburn.
Lemon Myrtle’s fresh tangy leaves may be used in teas, syrups, glazes, cakes, biscuits, dressings, sauces, ice creams, dips and meat dishes. Essential oil distilled from the leaves has a refreshing lemony scent, and has been found to have antifungal and antibacterial properties. Harvesting is simple. Just pluck fresh leaves as needed, removing no more than one-third of the plant at a time.
Ingredients
125g butter, chopped
¾ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon Lemon Myrtle
powdered spice
Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a deep, 20cm round cake pan. Line base with baking paper.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl using an electric mixer, until pale and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down sides of bowl. Lightly fold flour into creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Add lemon myrtle in with cake mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.
Bake for 40-45 mins, or until cooked.
To make the vanilla icing: Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add butter, water and vanilla. Add a little lemon myrtle. Beat well with a wooden spoon until a smooth spreadable consistency. Spread over cooled cake.
Stewed, dried or raw the quandong is one of Australia's most versatile bush foods — so versatile in fact that it can also be used to aid with foot massages or cure toothache. The native fruit, a member of the sandalwood family, grows throughout arid and semi-arid areas of Australia. Roasted wattleseed has a wonderful mocha flavour that brings a depth and richness when added to whipped cream.
Ingredients
125g butter, chopped
¾ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon Lemon Myrtle
powdered spice
Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a deep, 20cm round cake pan. Line base with baking paper.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl using an electric mixer, until pale and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down sides of bowl. Lightly fold flour into creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Add lemon myrtle in with cake mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared pan.
Bake for 40-45 mins, or until cooked.
To make the vanilla icing: Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add butter, water and vanilla. Add a little lemon myrtle. Beat well with a wooden spoon until a smooth spreadable consistency. Spread over cooled cake.
Serve with roasted wattleseed infused whipped cream
The bright red fruit of the Quandong appears in late winter, early spring. The sweet and tangy fruit is enjoyed raw and often stewed and used as a pie filling or jam and contains twice the Vitamin C of an orange. The nut kernel contains a range of complex oils and was used by Aboriginal people for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory qualities.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Kg quandong flesh
- 1 ½ cups of sugar
- Juice of 2 oranges
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Zest of ½ lemon ½ orange
Method
Put all ingredients into heavy base saucepan with a little water and cook, stirring often until the mixture gels when sample is dropped into cold water. Bottle in hot dry jars previously sterilised in boiling water. Fill jars leaving to within 1-2cm from the top of the jar and seal.
TIP: If the jam is going to be eaten right away, you can speed up the setting process by placing jars in a cool water bath.
A low glycaemic food, Wattleseed also contains high concentrations of potassium, calcium, iron and zinc. Wattleseed was traditionally ground and used to make a type of flour to be mixed with water and made into cake, a valuable source of protein and carbohydrate in times of drought.
INGREDIENTS
- 100 gm butter
- ¼ cup roasted wattleseed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup plain flour
- ¾ cup cocoa
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 tspn vanilla extract
- 100g chocolate chips
- Unroasted ground wattleseed (optional
METHOD
- Just cover 1/4 cup ground roasted wattleseed with hot water and soak for 5 mins.
- Soften butter and blend in the soaked wattleseed. Stand and infuse for 30 minutes.
- Cream 100gm wattleseed butter & white sugar. Add 1 egg and mix well, add 1 cup
- plain flour, 3/4 cup cocoa, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tspn vanilla extract. Fold in 100gm
- chocolate chips.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place tablespoon sized balls of biscuit mix,
- evenly spaced, on the baking tray. Flatten slightly. Top with a sprinkle of unroasted
- wattleseed.
- Bake in 180°C oven for 8-10 mins. Leave on tray to cool. The biscuits should still be
- soft when you remove them from the oven. They will firm up as they cool.
Makes about 24 biscuits.
Note: If you don't have unroasted wattleseed, substitute finely chopped sandalwood or macadamia nuts.
Wattleseeds are available from Maalinup Aboriginal Experiences.
Kangaroo has been an integral part of the diet of Aboriginal people for thousands of years. With less than 2% fat, it is a healthier red meat option. It is also high in protein, essential B vitamins, zinc, iron, omega 3 fats and omega 6 fatty acids. Compared to beef, kangaroo contains double the amount of iron and triple that of chicken and pork.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg Kangaroo mince
- 2 x 785 g jar of tomato pasta sauce with herbs
- 1 or 2 50 g sachets of tomato paste (to taste)
- 2 onions very finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery trimmed and finely chopped
- 1 carrot finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive or grapeseed oil divided.
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- Note: Fresh and/or dried Australian native herbs such as Native Thyme, Native
Basil and Native Pepperleaf. 2 teaspoons of dried herbs. Pick off two or three
small branches of Native Thyme if you have it fresh. Reduce dried herbs to 1 tspn.
METHOD
- In a large deep frypan, sautee the onion in half the oil on medium heat for a few minutes. Then add the carrot and celery and cook a further few minutes on medium heat until they are just soft. Remove to a bowl.
- In the same pan heat another tbsp of oil. Add the kangaroo mince and brown over a medium heat, chopping the meat with a silicon slice or spatula to break up the lumps. Keep breaking up any lumps until it is starting to brown.
- Add the cooked vegetable mix, stir through and cook for another few minutes. Make sure it doesn't catch.
- Add the jars of tomato sauce and then fill one jar with water and add that. Stir well. Turn up the heat to get it bubbling and then turn down to a simmer.
- Stir through one sachet of tomato paste. Add the salt and sugar and herbs.
- Keep reducing the sauce until it is thick, stirring constantly. Add more water as needed to ensure the sauce is smooth and the meat and vegetables well incorporated.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning, add the other sachet of tomato paste if you think it needs it and stir through well, heating again.
- Pour over cooked pasta and top with parmesan cheese.
Packed with nutritional goodness. Wattle Seed contains potassium, calcium, iron and zinc.
INGREDIENTS
- dark chocolate
- 1/3 cup plain flour
- 1 tbls ground wattleseed
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 pinch salt
- Icing sugar, to dust
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 200C. Grease and flour individual ramekins or muffin tin. Tap out excess flour.
- In a double boiler, slowly melt chocolate over low-medium heat until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Then add eggs one at a time, beating well after every addition. Beat in flour, wattleseed and salt. Fold in melted chocolate and mix until combined.
- Divide chocolate mixture evenly into prepared ramekin or muffin cups. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until tops appear firm and dry to the touch. After removing lava cakes from the oven, let cool for 5-7 min before dusting tops with caster sugar. Serve warm.
A bush food take on a Christmas favorite.
INGREDIENTS
- 50gm butter
- 1 desertspoon Dried Native Thyme
- 12 strips of pancetta or thinly sliced streaky bacon
- bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
- 4 medium red onions, peeled
- 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
- a big handful of breadcrumbs
- 1 apple peeled
- half cup of reconstituted dried quandong (cover with water and soak for an hour)
- 300gm minced pork
- zest of 1 lemon
- a pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 large free-range egg
- sea salt and freshly ground pepperberry
- 1 tablespoon Dried Native Thyme
- 4–4.5kg turkey, preferably free-range or organic, at room temperature
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 1 large orange
- Macadamia Nut Oil
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 1.1litres chicken or vegetable stock
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to maximum.
- The Stuffing: Heat a saucepan until medium hot and drop in the butter, Native Thyme and 6 of the pancetta or bacon strips.
- Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and 1 onion.
- Add the garlic, celery and onion to the saucepan and fry everything gently until soft and golden brown.
- Take the pan off the heat, add the breadcrumbs and, while the mix is cooling down, chop quandong and apple roughly and stir in.
- When the mixture has cooled down, add the pork, lemon zest, nutmeg, egg and lots of salt and pepper, and mix everything together well.
- Slice the remaining strips of pancetta or bacon in half and slice 1 peeled garlic clove into thin slivers. Place half a teaspoon of Native Thyme and a garlic sliver on one end of a halved strip of pancetta and roll it up tightly. Repeat with the other pieces of pancetta until you have 12 little rolls. Stab the thighs and drumsticks of the turkey in 6 places on each side. Push a little pancetta roll into each hole until it just peeps out. (Your turkey thighs will be flavoursome and moist.)
- Chop the remaining onions in half and slice the carrots thickly. Give your turkey a good wipe, inside and out, with kitchen paper, and place it on a board, with the neck end towards you. Find the edge of the skin that’s covering the turkey’s breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers and then your hand under the skin, freeing it from the meat. Lift the loose skin at the neck end and spoon the stuffing between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop anything leaking out. Pop the orange in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up and stuff it into the cavity. Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time (about 20 minutes per 500gm).
- Place the bird on a large roasting tray, rub it all over with oil and season well. Surround with the chopped carrots, onions, remaining garlic, cover with alfoil and then into the preheated oven. Immediately turn the heat down to 180°C, and roast for the calculated time, or until the juices run clear from the thigh if you pierce with it a knife or a skewer. Remove the alfoil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.
- Carefully lift the turkey out of the tray and rest on a board that’s covered loosely with foil for 20 minutes while you finish off the veg and gravy. Skim the surface fat from the roasting tray and add the flour and stock. Place the tray on the stove top and bring to the boil on a high heat. When the gravy starts to thicken, strain it into a bowl.
- Carve your turkey, serve with the gravy and vegetables!
Kangaroo has been an integral part of the diet of Aboriginal people for thousands of years. With less than 2% fat, it is a healthier red meat option. It is also high in protein, essential B vitamins, zinc, iron, omega 3 fats and omega 6 fatty acids. Compared to beef, kangaroo contains double the amount of iron and triple that of chicken and pork.
INGREDIENTS
Bush Herb Rub:
- Bush Tomato Crushed 90g
- Ground Roasted Wattleseed 40g
- Ground Dried Saltbush 40g
- Ground Dried Native Thyme 10g
- Onion Powder 10g
- Garlic Powder 5g
- Pepperberries ground 5g
200g
Meat
- Kangaroo steaks sufficient for the number of guests.
- Olive or Macadamia Nut Oil for the marinade and for frying the steaks.
METHOD
- Crush and grind the bush tomatoes and pepperberries in a compact blender.
- Add the wattleseed, saltbush and native thyme. Pulse a couple of times.
- Add the onion and garlic powder and pulse once to combine.
- Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and then paint with the oil of choice.
- Sprinkle the bush herb rub generously over each side of the steaks, pressing firmly, to ensure they are well coated.
- Cover and allow to marinate fin the fridge for 30 minutes or more.
- Return to room temperature before cooking.
- Pre heat the oven to 180 C
- In a large frying pan bring the oil to medium high heat.
- In small batches sear the steaks quickly on both sides and then lay them in an oven proof dish. This is just to brown, not to cook through. When all the steaks are seared, cover the dish with aluminium foil and place in the pre heated oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, pierce the aluminium foil a couple of times with a sharp knife.
- Keep the dish in a warm place for 20 minutes to rest the steaks.
- Remove from the dish and slice across the grain to serve.