Braised kangaroo tail, spiced quandong mash and saltbush salad

Kangaroo tail is so delicious and when it is cooked slowly, it is lip-smackingly good. Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen

• serves

  6

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  5:30 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

I served it with a wonderful mixture of local salads all foraged from around Margaret River, but luckily for everyone, all of the bush food I’ve used is available around Australia from bush food suppliers.

Ingredients

• 5 kg kangaroo tail, chopped into large pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 100 ml olive oil 
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme 
• 10 garlic cloves
• 2 brown onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped 
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 600 ml red wine (I used a good Margaret River Shiraz)
• 1 litre chicken stock

Bouquet garni

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 sprigs native pepper leaf
• 5 star anise
• 2 cm knob ginger, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves

Spiced quandongs 

• ½ kg quandongs, halved and seeded 
• 100 ml white wine 
• 100 ml white vinegar 
• 2 sprigs pepper berry leaves 
• 150 g sugar 

Paris mash potatoes

• 1 kg Desiree potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered if large
• 150 g butter, at room temperature 
• 200 ml pouring cream
• 125 ml milk 

Salt bush salad

• 50 g bush basil
• 50 g bush mint
• 50 g sea celery
• 100 g salt bush 
• 50 g thinly sliced quandongs
• 75 ml extra virgin olive oil 
• 25 ml lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 100˚C. Season the kangaroo pieces well with salt and pepper.

Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Add the olive oil and when hot, cook the kangaroo in batches until golden all over. Return all the meat to the pan, add the herbs, garlic and vegetables. Pour in the wine and simmer until nearly evaporated.

Wrap the bouquet garni ingredients in a piece of muslin, tie up to secure, then add to the pan with the stock. Cover and bake for 5 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone.

Meanwhile, for the spiced quandongs, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until tender but still holding their shape. Remove from the heat and set aside.

For the mash, place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold lightly salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer until tender but not falling apart. Drain well. Pass the potatoes through a mouli or push through a fine sieve back into the pan. Add the butter, cream and milk and beat until smooth and creamy. Season to taste.

For the saltbush salad, place the greens and quandongs in a bowl. Dress in the oil and lemon juice and season to taste.

To serve, divide the mash between plates, top with the spiced quandongs and kangaroo tail. Ladle over some of the cooking juices and serve with the salad passed separately.

Peter Kuruvita's Coastal Kitchen airs 8pm, Thursdays on SBS and then you can catch-up on SBS On Demand. Visit the program page for recipes, videos and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

I served it with a wonderful mixture of local salads all foraged from around Margaret River, but luckily for everyone, all of the bush food I’ve used is available around Australia from bush food suppliers.