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Recipes for game meat and fish

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Barramundi in three flavour sauce with mango salad

16 January 2026 /
Barra in three flavour sauce, served with coconut rice and mango salad.

Barramundi, or simply barra, is a prized sport and table fish across the Top End of Australia. They are feracious feeders and can grow to over a meter in length. The Barramundi (lates calcarifer) is a catadromous fish, meaning it can live happily in both salt and fresh water, but needs saltwater to spawn.

Picture of man with barramundi
My father at 83 years old, with his first ever barramundi – caught in Darwin Harbour, NT

The colour and flavour difference between a salt water barra and fresh water impoundment barra can be stark. Saltwater fish a silver skinned and pearly white fleshed, meanwhile a fish that has spent many years in fresh water turns dark skinned and the flesh can be grey. If you aren’t in a position to catch your own barra, or buy fresh wild saltwater barra, then the farmed fish from Humpty Doo Barra is the closest I’ve ever found to the quality of saltwater fish.

A characteristic saltwater barra, yellow tail and fins and chrome sliver skin.
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Barramundi in three flavour sauce with mango salad

Crispy fried barramundi fillet in a Thai style three flavour sauce, sweet, sour, spicy. Inspired by the outstanding Thai Crispy Whole Fish at Jimmy Shu's Hanuman restaurant in Darwin. This recipe can also be used for whole fish like small snapper or bream.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian
Keyword: barra, barramundi, crispy, deep fried, fish, sour, spicy, sweet, Thai, three flavour
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 800 grams barramundi fillet fresh wild caugth saltwater fish is best, but Humpty Doo Barra farms fish is almost as good.
  • 1/4 cup corn flour for dusting the fish
  • salt
  • Peanut or rice bran oil for frying

Sauce

  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 red chillies add 2-3 birdseye or Thai chillies if you want a spicier sauce
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp tamarind puree
  • 3 tbsp water add the tamarind puree to this and mix well
  • 60 grams palm sugar or light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp lemongrass paste
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 6 cherry tomatoes

Garnish

  • 1 small bunch basil
  • 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley

Mango salad

  • 2 spring onions (scallions)
  • 2 mangoes
  • 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • small handful cashews unsalted or raw

Instructions

Mango Salad

  • Prepare the mango salad by peeling, slicing the mangoes. Finely slice the spring onions, and 4-6 basil leaves, and toss through the mango. Dress with combined soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil.
  • Set aside, not adding the cashews until ready to serve.

Three flavour sauce

  • Finely chop the garlic, slice the chillies and tomatoes, and crush or slice the palm sugar
  • Add all of the cause ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a slow simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally

Barra

  • Heat peanut or rice bran oil in a large pot or wok. Ensuring there is enough oil to cover the fish
  • Cross-hatch the flesh side of the barramundi fillet every 2cm or so, to a depth of approximately half the thickness of the fish and dust in cornflour
  • Once the oil is 185-190℃ add the fish to the oil skin side down and cook until the skin is crispy and submerged fish golden (approximately 5 minutes) before carefully turning over
  • Once cooked, place the fillet on large plate, pour over the warm sauce and garnish with herbs and sliced chillies, and place in centre of table allowing people to cut and serve their own portions.
  • Plate up individual portions of coconut rice and mango salad.

Notes

I can not stand the taste of coriander (cilantro), to me it tastes like dirty soap and anything but the smallest amount can ruin a dish. Lots of Asian dishes call for liberal amount of coriander, and when cooking anything that does I will substitute the coriander with 50/50 basil and flat-leaf parsley. Give it a go and adjust the ratio to suit yourself.
Sticky post
Pan seared duck breast served with French fries

The best pan-seared duck breast with French fries (magret de canard frites)

15 October 2024 / / 1 Comment

I can think of no better way to enjoy hard earned wild duck, than by quickly pan frying the breasts and serving medium-rare alongside some crispy french fries. The dark and rich duck meat is a superb substitution for beef in the classic French steak frites. In this dish, the end result more than justifies the time it takes thoroughly pluck the breasts before butchering the birds.

Plucking a pair of North American Mallards on a cold winters day in Maryland

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5 from 1 vote

Pan seared duck breast with French fries

In my opinion, by far the best way to enjoy duck breast is to simply pan sear and serve medium-rare with a compound butter and french fries. This treatment lets the rich flavour of the duck take centre stage.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian, French
Keyword: best duck recipe, canard, duck, duck and fries, duck breast, frites
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 4 Duck breasts skin on
  • 4 tbsp salted butter softened
  • 2 tbso duck fat or olive oil
  • 2 tbsp soft blue cheese (optional) can be replaced with additional butter
  • 1 tbsp chives very finely sliced
  • frozen french fries
  • flakey sea salt

Instructions

Compound Butter

  • You can ofcourse make whatever flavour compound butter you like best. My preference for this dish is a butter with soft blue cheese (Danish Blue or even Stilton work great). However, garlic and chives or chives and parsley will also work fine.
  • Combine the blue cheese and soften butter and mic through the chives. If not using blue cheese use extra butter.
  • Form the butter into a log, roll the butter in plastic wrap and set aside in the fridge.

French Fries

  • You could go to the trouble of making your own. But to me the whole point of this dish is to celebrate the harvest of some ducks with a fast delicious meal. So I opt for store bought frozen french fries.
  • Cook the fries by your preferred method: oven, air fryer or deep frier, according to the packet instructions. Try and time this so they are ready at the same time as the duck.

Pan-seared duck breast

  • Heat duck fat (or olive oil) in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat.
  • Lightly score the skin of each duck breast and season with salt.
  • Add the duck breasts skin side down to the hot pan and cook for 4 minutes. Use a weight to press the breasts down if necessary to ensure the skin is fully in contact with the surface of the pan.
  • Turn the breasts and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Aim for 57C/ 135F for medium, or a touch cooler for rare.
  • Rest the duck for 3 minutes before slicing and plating.
  • Serve with crispy French fries and topped with a quenelle of compound butter and finish with a sprinkle of flakey sea salt.
Pan seared duck breast with French fries, topped with blue cheese and chive compound butter

Pheasant breast stir-fry

8 January 2024 / / 1 Comment

Pheasant stir-fry inspired by the salty-sweet-sour balance of Thai cuisine.

Pheasant hunting has always fascinated me—likely a result of reading Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World as a young boy—but having spent most of my adult life in northern Australia it had not been something I’d had the opportunity to pursue. At least not until February 2023, when a fortunate series of events saw me in the United States and invited to participate in a unique pheasant hunt in Maryland. The outfitter, who I had met through gun dog circles, had space for an additional shooter at an event designed to replicate a European style driven pheasant shoot, and while this was a far cry from my long held desire to hunt the wild birds of King Island it was quite simply an opportunity too good to pass up.

The ringneck pheasant, with a native range from Asia to the Balkans, has been widely introduced across North America, Europe and Australia.

That is how I found myself atop a hill on the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, Beretta in hand and dog by my side one Saturday morning in February. To say the morning was crisp is a gross understatement—around ten o’clock the shooters were liberally dusted in snow. The conditions didn’t bother the dogs, the locals, or the birds and I pretended may hands and feet weren’t biting cold to the bone. 

Over the course of the morning the shooters rotated around each ‘peg’, while the outfitter released pheasant in either singles or pairs. At the end of the day the shot birds were divided equally amongst the guns, and the missed birds were left to chance their luck in the woods.  

Most of the birds were ‘breasted out’ by the outfitter’s crew while we were still in the field. As a result I left the hunting clubhouse that afternoon with several kilos of skin free breast meat, and not the number of whole birds I had expected. On one hand this greatly reduced the amount of labour required of me, but on the other it impacted my culinary ambitions. So it was with a relative abundance of pheasant breast meat and a serious hankering for quality Asian flavours—which should naturally suit ring-necked pheasant—I hit on the idea of a Thai-style pheasant stir-fry.

Much later in the year I returned for a morning of upland hunting. This I found to be much more challenging and rewarding.
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Pheasant breast stir-fry

Thai inspired pheasant breast stir-fry
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian, Thai
Keyword: pheasant
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 4 pheasant breasts skinless
  • 1/3 cup cornflour
  • 1 brown onion
  • 1 red capsicum
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 4 shallots (spring onions)
  • 1/4 cup cashews optional
  • 1/4 cup peanut oil

Marinade

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 splash lime juice

Sauce

  • 4 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp Mirin
  • 1 tbsp Palm sugar (crushed) can substitute with brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp ginger paste
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil optional

Instructions

  • Assuming you will serve this with rice, it would be best to start by preparing the rice.
  • Slice the pheasant breasts into bite size portions, discarding any badly blood-shot pieces.
  • Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, and add the pheasant meat to the marinade.
    Strictly speaking we aren’t really marinating the meat, but instead employing a Chinese stir-fry technique called ‘velveting’ to produce meat that is both crisp on the outside and tender inside. Let the meat rest in the marinade while you prepare the vegetables and sauce.
  • Slice the onion, capsicum, garlic and shallots.
  • Combine all of the sauce ingredients and mix well.
  • Over a medium-high heat, heat 2-3cm of oil in the bottom of a wok.
  • While the oil heats, add 1/3 cup of corn flour to a plate or bowl and toss the meat through the cornflour until it is evenly coated.
  • Once the oil has reached around 175-180C, cook the meat in small batches without overcrowding the wok. If you don’t have a suitable thermometer, you can test the oil by adding a small piece of the meat, if the oil immediately bubbles it is hot enough.
  • Once all of the meat is cooked carefully drain most of the hot oil, leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil in the bottom of the wok.
  • Add the onion to the hot wok and continually stir for sixty seconds, then add the capsicum garlic and ¾ of the shallots. Continue to stir fry until the vegetables are cooked but still retain some crunch. Add the cashews (if using them).
  • Add all of the sauce and heat through. Once the sauce is heated return the meat to the wok, and toss or stir everything together until it is evenly coated. Remove from the heat and serve on a bed of rice. Garnish with the remaining shallots. 

Kangaroo Burgers

4 June 2023 / / 3 Comments

Kangaroo burger with bacon, lettuce, burger sauce, blue cheese and onion jam.

This kangaroo burger recipe makes the most of the trimmings from the prime roo fillets and the tougher cuts. It’s a great summer-time alternative to using those tougher cuts in stews and curries. While I’ve used kangaroo meat in this particular recipe, venison is equally suitable too.

Kangaroo is virtually fat free, and fat is really necessary for a tasty burger. When making burgers and sausages I aim for 80 percent lean meat to 20 percent fat. I also normally use beef fat rather than pork fat. I can usually get beef fat free of charge and I think the flavour suits kangaroo and venison well.

If at all possible separate the metal components from your mincer and place them in the freezer for1-2 hours before begging to mince the kangaroo and fat together. And keep both the ingredients and your other equipment as cold as possible. The last thing you want is for the fat to warm up and start rendering.

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Kangaroo Burgers

A simple recipe for home made kangaroo burgers
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian
Keyword: burger, kangaroo, mince, roo
Servings: 50 burger patties

Equipment

  • 1 mincer / meat grinder

Ingredients

  • 10 kg kangaroo meat (or venison)
  • 2.5 kg beef fat

Instructions

  • Prepare the roo meat by cutting into two centimetre cubes, removing as much tendon, sinew and muscle sheath as possible.
  • Spread the cubed meat across a tray and place this in the freezer. Cube the beef fat and add this to the freezer separately. Remove the meat once the outside feels hard, but before the meat has frozen solid. You want the mincer, meat and fat to be as cold as possible. Keeping the temperature as low as possible will prevent the fat from rendering as you run it through the mincer and reduce the likelihood of clogging the mincer too. If the fat does render you end up with a greasy mess that is not much good for anything.
  • Mix the nearly frozen meat and fat together evenly and run through the mincer. I prefer to use the coarse plate for burger mince. 
  • Form the minced meat into patties with medium pressure, too soft and they fall apart. A burger mould is helpful but not necessary. Do not add salt or seasoning before forming into patties, salt will start denaturing the proteins and you will end up with a sausage patty not a burger patty.
  • When it comes to cooking the burgers, season them immediately before placing them on a smokingly hot plate. A generous sprinkle of salt is sufficient seasoning in my view, but steak seasoning or garlic herb mix will impart a little extra flavour. Slap the burgers firmly onto the hot plate to ensure maximum contact and surface caramelisation. Resist the urge to turn them until they are cooked half way through.
    Serve with whatever burger toppings you like best. Personally I enjoy, lettuce, bacon, blue cheese and caramelised onion chutney.

Seared venison backstrap with ‘Double Shot’ seasoning

18 September 2022 / / 1 Comment

This is a meal so simple that it does not really warrant a recipe, but I do feel the need to share a ‘secret’ ingredient. The small batch, Australian made, Hohnke Outdoors ‘Double Shot’ spice blend.

‘Double shot’ includes all the spices I would generally pair with red meat: garlic, paprika, onion and cumin. But the addition of ground coffee (Sambar blend from Dog & Gun) and a little brown sugar complements venison amazingly well.

venison backstrap on a chopping board
‘Double Shot’ from Hohnke Outdoors, the secret ingredient

As you can see, there is really nothing special to this recipe. It uses only a handful of ingredients and is perfect for camping, even in the rain.

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Seared venison backstrap with ‘Double Shot’ seasoning

A super simple meal that can be made anywhere with a mere handful of ingredients
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian
Keyword: venison
Servings: 4 people

Equipment

  • 2 large fry pans preferably cast iron

Ingredients

  • 4 portions of venison backstrap
  • Hohnke Outdoors 'Double Shot' spice rub
  • 6 to 8 medium sized potatoes
  • 3 tbsp canola oil or other neutral oil with high smoke point
  • sea salt

Instructions

  • Generously coat the venison backstraps in 'Double Shot' spice rub and set aside.
    venison backstrap on a chopping board
  • Chop the potatoes into wedges of roughly the same thickness
  • Heat 2 tbsp of oil in one fry pan. Once hot add the potatoes, toss to cover evenly in oil. Cooking for around 4-6 minutes before flipping over.
  • While the potatoes are cooking, heat 1 tbsp of oil, over high to very high heat.
  • As the oil begins to smoke place in the venison backstrap, and sear for 3-4 minutes each side.
    Two frypans on a gas burner outside in the rain
  • Allow the meat to rest (tent the meat in foil if you're cooking in a cold and damp place), while the potatoes finish cooking.
  • Sprinkle potatoes with salt, slice the backstrap portions, and serve-no sauce required.
Seared venison backstrap: a camping meal good enough to eat anywhere
Two plates of fired rabbit

Fried Rabbit – CFR (Canberra Fried Rabbit)

18 September 2022 / / 1 Comment

Canberra Fried Rabbit (CFR) is tastier than the chicken from any fast food joint, and the deep-fried meat of choice for the environmentally conscious.

Following a couple of wet years the rabbit population in the Australian Capital Territory has exploded. The introduced pests are everywhere, even as I type there is a brace of rabbits gnawing away in our suburban front garden.

Tastier than chicken and better for the environment
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5 from 1 vote

Canberra Fried Rabbit

Deep fried rabbit that is tastier than any chicken from a fast-food joint
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Marinade1 day
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian
Keyword: deep fried, fried, fried rabbit, Rabbit
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • large cast iron frypan or dutch oven

Ingredients

  • 1 rabbit Jointed into 8 parts. 2 x front legs and shoulders, 2 x hind legs and thighs, 4 x loin or saddle sections
  • Canola oil or any flavourless oil with a high smoke point
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 tbsp Italian herbs
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic and herb seasoning
  • ½ tbsp freshly cracked pepper
  • ¼ tbsp salt
  • 1½ cups flour
  • ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup cornflour
  • Srirarcha hot sauce optional
  • sesame seeds optional

Instructions

Prepartation

  • Cut the rabbit into 6-8 joints of meat depending on the size of the animal. Remove tendons and as much silver skin as possible.
  • With a sharp fork or pointy knife, prick the pieces of meat all over.
  • Place the meat in a plastic container, add buttermilk to cover the meat, seal the container and place in the fridge overnight.

Frying

  • Start heating 3-4cm (1-1½in) of oil in a large heavy frypan or dutch oven until the oil reached 175°C (350°F)
  • Mix the herbs, salt, flour and cornflour together in a large bowel until combined well. Add the Panko breadcrumbs and mix gently until combined.
  • One at time remove pieced of rabbit from the buttermilk, allowing most of the buttermilk to drip off. While some buttermilk still remains dredge the rabbit in the seasoned flour and place in the hot oil 2-3 pieces at a time.
  • Cook for 3-4 minutes each side, until golden brown. Place on a wire rack over paper towel to drain and cool a little before serving.
    If you have a meat thermometer test the thickest section of one piece. You're aiming for an internal temperature of 70-75°C (160-165°F)
    Rabbit cooking in 170C hot oil
  • Serve the fried rabbit as is, or dressed with hot sauce and sesame seeds alongside a robust pale ale.
Canberra Fried Rabbit – slow ‘fast-food’ fit for conservationists

Stout Rabbit Stew with dumplings

18 September 2022 / / 1 Comment

This stew is perfect for a cold winters night, the rendered fat from the speck compensates for the lean rabbit meat, and the stout adds richness and depth.

The main ingredients for stout rabbit stew

Mid-winter I had enjoyed a bitterly cold evening spotlighting rabbits on a farm in New South Wales. My father was visiting that week and had spoken fondly of the rabbit stews that he had eaten as a child, in post-World War Two Australia when chicken, beef and lamb were scarce and unaffordable for most working class families.

Inspired by a small batch porter Dad and I enjoyed over Sunday lunch at a local brewery, I came up with this rather luxurious homage to the rustic dish of his childhood.

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Stout Rabbit Stew with Dumplings

A rich rabbit stew with speck and dumplings
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian
Keyword: Rabbit, Stew
Servings: 6 people

Equipment

  • Large heavy casserole dish could be made in a slow cooker

Ingredients

  • 2 rabbits divided into 8-10 pieces each
  • 4 small onions
  • 250 grams mushrooms
  • 1 portion speck 380-400g
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 800 ml chicken stock
  • 2 375ml bottles of extra stout or porter
  • plain flour for dusting
  • 1 knob butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Dumplings

  • 400 grams self-raising flour
  • 200 grams butter (cubed) room temperature
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh oregano or 1 tbsp dried oregano

Instructions

  • Pre-heat an oven to 160 degrees Celsius (150 degrees for fan forced ovens) while you make the dough for the dumplings. Dough can be made by hand or in a food processor. 
  • Process or rub the self-raising flour with the cubed butter until the flour resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add milk until the whole mixture binds together and then knead into a firm dough. Be a little careful because if the dough is too dry the dumplings will be crumbly.
  • Roll this dough into a sausage shape and then divide into 16 – 18 pieces. Roll these pieces into balls and place somewhere cool, or in the fridge, to rest.
    dough rolled and sliced
  • If you haven’t already done so divide the rabbits, and then dust in seasoned flour.
  • Quarter the onions and cut the speck into lardons while heating the oil and butter in a large heavy oven proof casserole dish.
  • Seal and brown the rabbit pieces three or four at a time and set aside.
    browning rabbit in a pan
  • Cook the speck lardons, I like them golden and crispy. Add the mushrooms and onions and cook stirring until the onion starts to soften. 
  • Return the rabbit pieces to the dish and add one and half bottles of stout (the remaining half bottle is for the cook to enjoy). Deglaze the bottom of the pan as best as possible before adding the stock and 1 tablespoon of plain flour. To ensure the flour does not form lumps I prefer to mix it into a slurry with a splash of water before adding it to the pot. Add the rosemary sprigs.
  • Simmer on the stove top with a lid on the pot for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. 
  • Remove the lid, evenly space the dumplings pushing them gently into the stew so that the bottom half of each dumpling is submerged but the top is not.  Leaving the lid off the pot place this in the pre-heated oven and cook for a further 45 minutes. 
  • The dumplings will expand and the sauce will reduce slightly in the oven. Once the tops of the dumplings are golden brown the rabbit should also be tender. The stew is ample to feed four adults but can be stretched a bit further by serving it alongside mashed potatoes or polenta. 
Stout rabbit stew with dumplings
I particularly enjoy this stew with a dry red wine like a Sangiovese or Chianta, but a glass of stout would be just as good.

BBQ Braised Venison Neck

17 September 2022 / / 2 Comments

Like many hunters, I had in the past been guilty of discarding deer necks. However, thanks to the influence of Steven Rinella—his cookbooks and the excellent MeatEater television show—that all changed a couple of years ago and I will never again allow a neck to go to waste. Nor will I go to the effort of boning the neck meat for mince or sausages. I am now totally converted to the ease and delicious results of slowly braising whole venison necks. The meat once pulled from the bone can be used in countless dishes.

Fallow are a medium sized deer and a fallow deer neck is ideal for this recipe

I find the best results are achieved by braising very slowly in the oven using a large French enamelled cast iron casserole dish. But it is a lengthy process that can take over six hours depending on the size of the neck, and it needs regular inspection to ensure the meat remains covered in sufficient stock.

For this recipe I have taken the much faster route and used an electric pressure cooker. If you do have a large casserole dish and not much on for the day I suggest trying this same recipe in the oven.

Shredded venison neck meat
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BBQ Braised Venison Neck

Slowly braised venison neck making the perfect base for a variety of meals
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian
Keyword: bbq, braised neck, braised venison, venison, venison neck
Servings: 4 or more people

Equipment

  • Pressure or large heavy casserole dish

Ingredients

  • 1 fallow deer neck (trimmed of excess fat and tendon removed) half or even quarter neck for larger deer
  • 1 tbsp canola oil or any oil with a high smoke point

For the rub

  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tbsp nutmeg
  • ½ tbsp onion powder

For the stock

  • 3 cups game stock beef stock if you don't have your own game stock on hand
  • 4 tbsp bbq sauce
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 1 tbsp HP sauce
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste withhold until thickening the sauce

Instructions

  • Firstly, combine of all of the rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.  Set half of the rub aside and using the other half, cover all sides of the venison neck well. 
    herbs and spices in a small dish
  • While preheating a heavy frying pan, combine all of the stock ingredients (except the tomato paste) along with the remaining half of the rub. 
  • Once the frying pan is hot, add the oil and brown all sides of the neck.
    You could skip this step entirely, but the depth of flavour in the finished product will be lacking.
  • Place the browned neck into your pressure cooker and pour over the stock. Set your pressure running, for my particular model I’ve found 90 minutes at medium pressure works perfectly.
  • Once the pressure cooker is finished, carefully release the pressure, and check on the neck. The meat should easily slide off the bone. That easily that you will need to take extra care removing the neck from the pot. Set the neck aside to cool a little while you reduce the stock.
  • I like to strain the stock to remove any chunks of meat or tendon. Once strained, add the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and place the stock in a saucepan over medium/ medium-high heat to reduce.  Reduce the stock until it has a sauce like consistency. 
  • While the stock is reducing pull the meat from the bone using a pair of forks and some tongs. Combine the pulled meat and the reduced stock and use in any dish you can imagine, if you can resist eating it all straight away. 
  • The pulled venison neck meat makes the perfect base for any number of meals, some of favourites include burgers, enchiladas, tacos, boa buns, and bibimpab (Korean mixed rice)

Notes

Without a pressure cooker the same, or even better, results can be achieved in a large heavy casserole dish placed in the oven for 4-6 hours at 150C.

These are some of my favourite ways to use venison neck meat, the spring rolls and boa buns are real crowd pleasers and a great way to introduce wary friends and relatives to game meat.

magpie goose stir fry garnished with chilli and sesame seeds

Crispy magpie goose stir fry in sticky sauce

15 September 2022 / / 1 Comment
silhouette of a man at sunrise
Waiting for ‘shooting light’, Harrison Dam NT

Magpie goose, either fresh from the field or out of the freezer, was consumed almost weekly while my family enjoyed living in the Top End.

Admittedly my first attempts at cooking with magpie goose were more miss than hit, and the meals received pretty dim reviews. Things took a turn for the better when I started treating the meat more like beef or lamb and less like poultry.

This particular dish, inspired by the smells and flavours of the many Asian food stalls at Mindil Beach Markets, became a firm family favourite. This recipe should yield sufficient quantity to serve 4-6 people, especially if served with rice or noodles and some Asian greens, but it’s honestly that good that there are rarely any leftovers when served to only four.

I can normally have this on the table in less than 40 minutes, but I suggest taking your time and allocating at least an hour so that you’re not too rushed.

Halve each breast lengthways and slice into evenly sized strips
magpie goose stir fry garnished with chilli and sesame seeds
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Crispy Magpie Goose Stir Fry in Sticky Sauce

Asian food stall inspired crispy stir fried magpie goose
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: asian, asian magpie goose, chinese goose recipe, goose, magpie goose, magpie goose stirfry
Servings: 4 hungry people

Equipment

  • wok

Ingredients

  • 4 magpie goose breasts
  • ½ cup corn flour
  • garlic salt or steak spice
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • ½ thumb sized piece of ginger
  • 4 spring onions
  • 1 red chilli optional
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 1-1½ cups canola oil or any neutral oil with a high smoke point
  • 1 tbsp peanut oil

Sauce

  • ½ cup hoi sin sauce
  • ¼ cup light soy sauce
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup oyster sauce
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine rice wine
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
  • ½ tbsp chicken stock power
  • 1 piece palm sugar (crushed)
  • 2 tbsp corn flour for a slurry to thicken sauce
  • 2 tbsp water for a slurry to thicken sauce

Instructions

  • To get strips of meat that are genuinely crispy on the outside and tender in the middle you will need to deep fry the meat and then stir fry the rest of the ingredients prior to combining everything with the sauce. This is best done in a steel wok over high heat.
  • Start by preparing the strips of goose meat. I run a sharp filleting knife horizontally along the length of each breast, to create two fillets of half the original thickness. Then slice each fillet into strips around half a centimetre wide.
    slicing magpie goose breasts for stir frying
  • Once you have cut all of the breast meat, spread it evenly across the cutting board and season liberally with either garlic salt or steak spice.
  • Place the meat in a bowel and toss through half a cup of corn flour, coating each piece of meat evenly. You can leave the meat in the bowl, however I like to lay the meat out in a single layer to prevent it sticking together.
  • Slice the onion, capsicum, garlic, ginger, chilli and spring onions and set aside. 
    sliced spring onion, capsicum, onion and chilli
  • With that done, place the sesame seeds in the wok over a low-medium heat and gently toast them.
  • While the sesame seeds are toasting you can prepare the sauce by combining all of the ingredients (except the corn flour and additional water) into a small bowl.
  • In separate bowl make a slurry from two tablespoons of corn flour and the same amount of water and set that aside too. Keep an eye on the sesame seeds while you do this and make sure to remove them from the wok as soon as they start to lightly brown.
  • Now all of the ingredients should be prepared and within easy reach of your wok. Meaning that you can get the cooking done as quickly as possible and serve the dish while it is still hot and crispy.
  • Add 1 to 1 ½ cups of oil to the wok and heat over a high heat. Once the oil starts to shimmer add a piece of meat, if it bubbles immediately the oil is hot enough to start cooking. Fry the meat in batches of ten or so pieces, but don’t crowd the wok. Fry to golden brown and set aside on a plate lined with paper towel.
  • Once all of the meat is cooked carefully discard the oil. Add a tablespoon of peanut oil to the wok and toss the onion and capsicum constantly for a minute, then add the garlic ginger and spring onion, being careful to not let the garlic stick and burn. You should be aiming for onion and capsicum that is cooked but still retains a firm texture. Once the vegetables are cooked sufficiently remove them from the wok.
  • Add the sauce to the wok and stir it around to ensure all of the palm sugar is dissolved, as soon as the sauce starts to bubble add in the corn flour slurry. Boil for just a moment until the sauce begins to thicken and then turn off the heat.
  • Return the vegetables and the meat, toss well to combine. Serve immediately in to individual bowls, or a large share plate, garnish with sesame seeds, chilli and additional (raw) spring onion.
Serve on a pre-heated plate and garnish with sesame seeds, sliced chilli and additional spring onion

Smoked goat with charred vegetables

7 November 2021 / / 3 Comments

Marinated and smoked leg of goat, served with charred vegetables, salad, and garlic sauce inspired by Turkish and Middle Eastern flavours. This meal is great for sharing with friends over a weekend BBQ or dinner.

Goat meat, or chevon, is incredibly popular across much of Africa and the Middle East. Despite this it is quite rare to be served goat in most Australian homes. There are millions of feral goats across Australia (resulting in $25 million of losses to agriculture per annum) , they can be a challenge to hunt, and are great to eat (perhaps with the exception of big old billy goats).

Having done most of my hunting until recently in the Top End opportunities to enjoy wild goat had been few and far between. Living down south has led to some more wild goat meat in our diet. I came up with this recipe to first introduce my family to goat meat.

Print Recipe

Smoked goat with charred vegetables

Marinated and smoked leg of goat, served with charred vegetables, salad, and garlic sauce inspired by Turkish cuisine.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time4 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Contemporary Australian, Middle Eastern, Turkish
Keyword: chevon, Goat, smoked
Servings: 6 people

Equipment

  • smoker
  • Digital meat thermometer

Ingredients

Goat

  • 1 bone-in leg of goat could be substituted with lamb
  • 2 tbsp freshly cracked pepper
  • 2 tbsp sea salt
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
  • olive oil
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 Onions
  • 4 long red chillies
  • 1 cup mesquite woodchops soaked in water

Salad

  • Rocket
  • 2 tomatoes
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • sea salt flakes

Garlic sauce

  • 2 cups sunflower oil or similar tasteless oil
  • 4 cloves garlic very finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • sea salt

Instructions

  • Make a rub by crushing the coarse salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary in a mortar and pestle. Once all ingredients are thoroughly crushed add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and mix well. 
  • Rub the mixture all over the goat leg, being sure to work it into all of the gaps between the muscles. Set the meat aside, at room temperature, to take on the flavours of the marinade while you prepare your smoker. 
  • If you haven’t already, start soaking a good couple of handfuls of woodchips in water, I used mesquite for this recipe. 
  • I aim to have the smoker stable at 95-105°C (200-220°F), with the water pan at least three quarters full. To achieve this quickly, and to avoid a dramatic drop in temperature, I use a chimney to start the charcoal and once white hot I pour it into the smokers charcoal tray, and then add hot water to the water pan.
    Once the smoker has reached a stable 95-105°C (200-220°F) you’re ready to add the meat.
  • Zest a lemon over the goat leg immediately before putting the leg in the smoker.
  • Put the goat on the top rack of your smoker, and add a handful of woodchips to the charcoal.
    With the smoker at 95-105°C (200-220°F) it should take about three hours to cook, but the size of the leg and amount of fat and connective tissue will vary this time.
    The only way to absolutely know how cooked the meat is with a meat thermometer.
  • While the meat smokes, very finely chop four cloves of garlic.
    Using a small food processor, stick blender, or by hand with a whisk (if you’re a bit of masochist) slowly trickle the sunflower oil into a bowl with the garlic.
    Just like mayonnaise, or a hollandaise sauce, you are trying to make an emulsion. Too much oil too quickly and the emulsion will split.
    Once all the oil is added you should have a thick mayonnaise type sauce, slowly add the lemon juice as you whisk. Then if the emulsion is still too thick slowly add ice-cold water until you have the desired consistency. Add salt to taste, pour into a container and set aside in the fridge.
  • Once the internal temperature of the meat has reached 140 degrees Fahrenheit, or your desired level of doneness, remove the meat from the smoker and set aside covered to rest for twenty minutes.
  • While the meat rests make a salad of rocket and sliced tomato, dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Grill onions and long chillies (a mix of red and green, halved lengthwise) over a very hot grill. Finally, warm some Lebanese or Turkish flat bread and carve the meat from the bone. Serve the sliced goat, topped with char grilled onions and chillies, salad, and flat bread on large plates in the middle of the table to share. 

Notes

With a smoker you really want to avoid constantly lifting the lid to check the temperature, so a remote probe type thermometer is a must. An internal temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) will result in meat cooked to a medium doneness, 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65.5 Celsius) equates to well done and anything five degrees past that will be well done. The average sized upper leg of goat will probably take about three hours to cook to medium, continue to add woodchips throughout the cooking process to ensure a good flow of smoke.
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