WE COULD ALL DO WITH AN AUNT WITH THE WISDOM, GENEROSITY AND COOKING SKILLS OF AUNTY BERYL. TRUE TO CHARACTER, HER COOKBOOK SHARES THESE REMARKABLE TALENTS
Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo OAM is a respected Gamilaroi elder, educator, mentor and businesswoman from Walgett, New South Wales. She moved to Sydney at 16 and, at 31, completed a TAFE diploma in hospitality. She later taught at Petersham TAFE and founded a Home and Work Opportunities for Aboriginal Women course at Eora TAFE in Redfern. Aunty Beryl established the Job Ready program at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence.
She has run several cafe kitchens and owns a catering business, called Yaama Barrgay, which means “hello, family and friends” in Yuwaalaraay, which employs First Nations staff. She also advises top chefs including Kylie Kwong, René Redzepi and Neil Perry on bush foods.
Chicken marylands are the drumstick and thigh together, and they can vary in size depending on where you get them. This recipe is based on one chicken maryland per person, but if your marylands are smaller, then a standard adult serve might require two or three pieces. My friend Sharon Winsor of Indigiearth has created a blend of outback spices called Outback Prairie Dust. I highly recommend you buy a packet from her website. It’s a mix of pepperberry, saltbush, lemon myrtle and native thyme. Otherwise, make your own mix of saltbush and native thyme to give the chicken a lovely flavour.
SERVES 4
• 4 large chicken marylands
• 1 tablespoon Indigiearth Outback
• Prairie Dust seasoning or 1 teaspoon each of ground saltbush and ground native thyme
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 10g butter
• ¹/³ cup (80ml) cooking oil
• ½ cup (125ml) chicken stock
• 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 cup (90g) thickly sliced button mushrooms
• Roast potatoes, to serve
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Rub the chicken with the seasoning and salt and pepper.
Melt the butter with 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the chicken and fry, turning, until golden brown all over.
Transfer the chicken to a casserole dish. Pour over the stock and roast for 40–45 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
Meanwhile, return the pan to medium heat. Add the remaining oil, then fry the onion until softened. Add the mushroom and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened and lightly golden. Scatter the onion and mushroom over the chicken in the dish and serve with roast potatoes.
