' BUSH BEER SNACKS .'

Summer Beer platter of - Spicy Crocodile jerky , Bush tomato & Dorrego pepper leaf flavoured Wild yam chips , Sugar-bag honey roasted Macadamia nuts . 

            The follow on from the popular bush tapas this is a platter to have when having a beer on a summers day (possibly Australia Day) before a barbecue or while watching the cricket. The macadamia nuts were the real inspiration for this dish and the story goes like this. The other day coming home from the local shop on the bikes with the boys we stopped out the front of this house as I wanted to grab some fallen nuts from this big mature macadamia tree. Just as I'm filling my pockets a ladies head pops up from behind a garden bed and says 'take as many as you like, they're messy things'. She walks off inside and not half a minute later she comes back outside and hands me a bag and walks off again. So I quickly grab whats there and get back on the bike, this is 'zero food miles' at its best. The recipe I used for the croc jerky is a traditional Cambodian recipe for marinated sun-dried snake, of which I've just simply replaced the snake for crocodile meat and opted for an oven instead of my solar de-hydrater.          
           To make these bush snacks I first started with slicing the crocodile tail meat while still half thawed thinly, placing the strips into a bowl and mixing with crushed chilli, coriander seeds and roots, crushed black pepper corns and lemongrass, brown sugar and soy seasoning (maggi). This was allowed to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours before placing on to a wire rack and dried in a 50 deg.c. oven for about 4-5  hours. The wild yam chips were made by thinly slicing the yam and soaking in cold water for an hour. The slices were then pat dried and brushed with olive oil before being placed on to a baking paper lined flat tray and oven baked at 170 deg.c until just starting to show colour. They were then removed and seasoned with ground bush tomato and dorrego pepper leaf. The macadamia nuts were shelled and rolled in sugarbag honey before being placed on to a lined tray, sprinkled with salt and roast at 150 deg.c. until golden in colour, removed and allowed to cool.                                                                            
            The centre piece of this dish although edible is there more for its decorative value. Made from squid ink the gelee circle in the middle of the plate holds a chilli bush tomato sauce (red), a honey mustard sauce (yellow) and soured cream (white). These were arranged on to the gelee of squid ink using an indigenous art technique of dot painting. This centre piece has no significance other than the peoples association and perception of the decoration to help identify the culture of the food.

' COCA COLA BRAISED CROCODILE PAW .'

Asian style Coca cola braised Crocodile paw , Hawaiian sweet potato puree , Cola broth reduction , Water hyssop (Brahmi herb) , Ginger mint and Wild spinach flower.

             This isn't the first time I've used coca cola to braise meat, it does a fantastic job, nor is this the first time cooking crocodile paw this week. But as far as braising 'Croc in Coke' its a first. Earlier this week I made char grilled croc hock with a fresh made banana flower salad and it tasted fantastic on the blistering hot summer day it was. On the last day of our holidays on the coast, I came across a small shop in the heart of Surfers Paradise, they'd only been open for a week. 'Fortune Abalone Australia' are traders in world delicacies and it was the massive mason jars standing half a meter tall filled with deep sea cucumbers that caught my attention whilst walking past. Well really it might have been the price label of AUS. $1200 / kg for these sea melons from the abyss. They had snake, birds nests you name it and as I pried further with curiosity, my wife clung tighter in desperation to my two boys, so they couldn't knock anything over. At the back of the shop these crocodile paws caught my eye from a chest freezer, when I saw the price $6 for two hocks I had to get them and along with some tail fillet, we walked out of there with some fairly cheap (Australian standards) croc meat and the boys managed to avoid a second bill (the damages). This crocodile meat comes from a farm in Cairns Nth. Queensland and comes available washed, skinned, vacuum packed, frozen and in various cuts. The asian cola broth paired with the sweet potato is just heaven, add the croc paw just tops it off. Crocodile paw cooked this way by far surpasses the textural highness of braised chicken feet. The dish was finished off with the renowned brain herb Brahmi or Water hyssop which grows with much vigour at this time of the year. Along with watercress and kang kong (water spinach) they make up the natural plant filters in my solar aquaponic pond set-up which I grow Red-claw yabbies.                                                                          
               To begin I started by defrosting, washing and cutting the croc hock to the portion sized paw, this was then boiled rapidly in water for 2-3 minutes before removing, discarding the water and washing the pot to start the broth, this process removes any unwanted impurities before braising. Into the pot I put the croc foot with one part coke to two parts water enough to cover the paw. Adding to this a quarter part of each soy sauce, dry sherry and panela (evaporated sugar cane juice) along with red chilli, ginger, star anise and cinnamon stick this was brought to the boil before reducing to a simmer for around 45-50 minutes covered and turning the paw twice each side during this process, this was removed from the heat and set aside. During the braising process I peeled some Hawaiian sweet potato cutting into equal pieces I placed them into a pot of cold water which I brought to the boil until the starch was tender of which I then drained and placed into a blender with a little seasoning and some milk and blended to a rough puree. To make the sauce I simply poured some of the strained cooking liquid into a small saucepan adding a little more panela and some xantham gum I simmered the sauce until thick and reduced.          
              to plate I spooned some of the reduction onto the plate dragging the paw through the sauce I then spooned some puree topped with water hyssop opposite the sauce placing the croc paw on top of the puree and finishing the dish with a little ginger mint and a wild spinach flower.