Australia Day is fast approaching. This year, rather than cooking up some lamb why not take a cue from the first Australians.
Emu and kangaroo meat is very good for you and raising the animals has a much lower environmental impact than many alternatives. Both meats are incredibly lean and high in protein. Emu meat has less than a quarter of the fat of beef, nearly four times the protein and a lovely rich gamey flavour. Eco-meats is a great little butcher at the Belconnen Fresh Food Market that sells a wide range of interesting meats including emu (as well as crocodile, goat, duck, rabbit, you name it he has it). I picked up my emu from them just in time for Australia Day. Gino was kind enough to mince it for me.
Australian shaped emu patties in a Coat of Arms slider
My Coat of Arms sliders have emu patties, kangaroo prosciutto (that you can pick up from Poachers Pantry, just out of town or check their website for retailers in the ACT), bush tomato chutney and rocket leaves to keep it fresh and peppery. You can get bush tomato from Cooking Coordinates at the Belconnen markets. They stock the whole selection of Herbie’s Spices, and are always willing to help with your kitchen enquiries. I thought it would be fun to shape my patties into the shape of Australia, and picked up a cookie cutter from them. You don’t need to go to this effort, but I thought it would be fun. They have a great range of cookie cutters for pretty much any purpose you can imagine.
This is a great little dish to take to your Australia Day BBQ. If you make them slider size, everyone can get a little taste as well as whatever else they want from the barbie. If you’re keen though, feel free to make them burger sized.
Makes 24 sliders
Bush tomato chutney
| 2 | teaspoons | butter |
| 4 | onions, sliced | |
| 1 | tablespoon | hot water |
| 2 | teaspoons | bush tomato, ground |
| 1 | teaspoon | balsamic vinegar |
| 1 | teaspoon | honey |
| 1 | teaspoon | brown sugar |
Sliders
| 750 | grams | emu meat, minced |
| 150 | grams | kangaroo prosciutto |
| 24 | buffet rolls | |
| butter | ||
| 150 | grams | rocket |
To make the relish, melt the butter in a small lidded saucepan and add the sliced onions. Cover and cook on a low heat for 1-2 hours, till soft and sweet. Add the hot water and bush tomato. Stir to mix, and cook for a few minutes. Add the vinegar, honey and sugar, mix till dissolved. Turn off the heat and set aside till you’re ready to serve. You can make this several days in advance.
To make the patties, take two tablespoons of emu mince and shape into a patty. I pressed mine into a cookie cutter the shape of Australia for the occasion. It was pretty easy, but not at all necessary. Refrigerate till you are ready to cook them.
Heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan. Fry the kangaroo prosciutto till crisp. Drain on paper towel. Place the emu patties in the frying pan and cook for about five minutes on each side.
Meanwhile, place the buffet rolls in a hot oven to crisp and colour according to the directions o the packet. I roasted mine at 180oC for 5-10 minutes.
To assemble the sliders, cut the buffet rolls in half and butter them. Arrange a generous pile of rocket leaves on one side of the roll and top with the emu patty. Place the crisp kangaroo prosciutto on the other half of the roll with a generous dollop of chutney. Serve immediately.
