Curried Duck Tits

Wood Ducks are the most common of your wild duck varieties and are often discarded as being too tough and not having enough meat on them to worry about plucking them. But you don’t have to pluck them anyway, just make a quick incision with a sharp knife on the breast, stick your fingers in and rip the skin back exposing the breast meat. The skin is not worth worrying about and neither are the drumsticks or wings. So all you are after is its breast meat. Just slice each breast off the breastbone and throw the rest of the duck away.

What you need

• A pair of breasts per man (sliced)
• Plain Flour or Corn Flour
• Onions chopped one per man
• Spuds diced one per man
• Can of peas
• Any other veggies you have in the tucker box
• Curry Powder
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Tomato Sauce
• Cooking Oil
• Water

What you do

In a hot oven add half a cup of cooking oil then when it is hot throw in the breasts and the onion. Toss it around in the oven browning it all up on the outside then throw in a good couple of tablespoons of curry and mix that in for another couple of minutes.

Then just through in all of your veggies, add a couple of tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce the same with the tomato sauce, then add just enough water to not quite cover the mixture. Make sure you bring the oven temperature back up so that it is simmering evenly and not boiling flat out then throw the lid on and head for the esky.

As usual the longer it cooks for the better the outcome, so sit back and enjoy a few beers and the sunset.

Tricks & Tips

Always cook enough so that you have plenty left over. Then re-heat it for lunch the following day, it will be twice as good as the first time around.

Rating

Nothing like a good pair of breasts we always say.

Stuffed Pigeon

Pigeon is something that us bush cooks put on the menu now and again just to show that we can do fancy recipes just as well as our five star restaurant chef buddies in the city. But in true bushy style we don’t go to anywhere near the lengths that a chef does to make something edible.

Now lets face it, there is basically no meat on a pigeon to speak of. To get a decent feed you would have to eat about twenty of them and I think by the time you plucked and prepared them you would use more energy than what you gained from eating them. So as far as we’re concerned pigeons can get stuffed.

What you need

• Pigeons, about two per man is good
• Sausages
• Finely chopped onions
• Sage
• Cooking oil
• Water
• Australian red wine

What you do

Shoot as many pigeons as you need then sit down and pluck them and clean them. Then shoot some sausages and gut them as well, they should be easy enough to catch.

Mix the finely chopped onions with plenty of sage and then add it to the sausage meat. Add a splash of red wine to the mix and stir it all together for a couple of minutes. If you can, let the mixture mature for a couple of hours in the esky. If you cant, carry on. Now just stuff each pigeon with the sausage meat mixture then arrange them in rows on the bottom of the camp oven. Splash a bit of the good old Australian red wine over the top of the pigeons, then sprinkle a little oil over them as well.

Add a very small amount of water, just to give a bit of steam while cooking, then place oven on the coals and sprinkle a few on the lid to brown as they cook.

They should be ready in about twenty minutes, enough time to sit down and enjoy that red wine. After all it has already been corked.

Tricks & Tips

Why not have a romantic firelight dinner using this recipe with just the Missus, the sound of summer crickets and the moon silently watching over head. Imagine the firelight flickering on the old river gums, illuminating the little white table cloth with its setting for two. She would gaze lovingly into your eyes, completely overwhelmed by romance, who knows, maybe she will let you go on that fishing trip with your mates next week after all?

Rating

Bloody good for something that is stuffed, which is what you will be if you mention that fishing trip at the table and ruin the atmosphere. How many times have you wished you had paid that little bit extra attention at school, or tried that little bit harder at university? Perhaps the smartest of us all don’t have any diplomas or certificates, just the nose for a good deal.

Murray Cod Cutlets

Murray Cod are a gigantic inland fish leftover from ancient times. They live in the very veins of outback NSW and Victoria in the mighty Murray and Darling rivers and tributaries. If you haven’t camped by the banks of one of these rivers yet, then you simply haven’t lived.

The fish can grow to enormous proportions compared to their environment, growing well in excess of 100 pounds, which is old money for ‘bloody huge’. These days, a 20 to 30 pound fish will readily take a lure and make for some good sport fishing, and give you an esky full of meat to go home with. Anything bigger than this, just take its photo and return it, as we need fish like this in our rivers to catch and kill the rabbits of the river system, the European Carp. The big buggers aren’t much good for eating anyway and a photo and the satisfaction of doing the right thing are far better than a moth riddled trophy with plastic eyes hanging on the wall.

Murray Cod have another almost supernatural power, and that is they somehow tend to grow longer and get heavier in pubs after they have been caught. It’s a wonder more fishermen aren’t killed by these monsters flopping about the floors of inland pubs.

What you need

• A Murray Cod too big to fillet. (Lucky bugger for catching it) 
• Sharp knife 
• Flour 
• Lemons 
• Black fresh ground pepper 
• Lift to the pub

What you do

Rush to the pub and spend an hour or so bragging about the monster you winched up the bank with your Landcruisers power winch earlier on, buy a slab of beer and head back to camp before the fish gets to big kill.

When you catch your fish, kill him with a pointy sharp knife stabbed directly into his brain. He will die instantly and painlessly and the meat will be remarkably better. We use this method now with all fish that we catch and some restaurants will only buy fish they know have been killed in this way.

Simply slice fish cross ways over his back, dust in flour and drop into a simmering camp oven with half an inch of olive oil simmering away in it.

Cook until golden brown on each side and serve with lemon slices and black pepper.

Tricks & Tips

Hang the fish up by his nose end and make a cut through his tail for an inch or so up into his flesh. Let him bleed for an hour. During this time you can scale him and give him a good wash. Dry with plenty of scrunched up newspapers to remove all traces of sticky slime, this will taint the flavour if you don’t do it.

I often get told about Murray cod and Yellowbelly being muddy to taste, mostly this is because of bad preparation. The other part which is best removed is the fat line on either side of the backbone. It is quiet prominent and will give the fish a strong oily taste that is not liked by some people.

Rating

Barramundi doesn’t hold a candle to it.

Yellowbelly Surprise

For when you want to impress that special someone.

What you need

• 1 tin of seafood bisque (its a can of soup) and the same amount of water
• A couple of thinly diced carrots
• A sprinkling of peas
• Any type of fish at all except Yellowbelly
• Bread crumbs

What you do

Lay fish on bottom of pot, combine everything else except for the bread crumbs and pour over fish. Simmer very gently for ten minutes and then sprinkle breadcrumbs over the whole show. Remove all heat from bottom of oven and place on lid for long enough to brown the breadcrumbs a golden brown.

Tricks & Tips

When during the meal someone asks you why it is called Yellowbelly Surprise which they always do you say SURPRISE its not Yellowbelly. 
I usually use a dish to put the ingredients in and cook it dish and all inside the camp oven.

Rating

A real Show Pony. Very rich

Kellogg’s Yellowbelly

Yellowbelly is without doubt a far better fish than any traditional seafood. It has a tender white flesh and delicate flavour. And you will not eat a better crumbed fish prepared in this manner. Thanks again go to a friend and legendary camp oven cook, John, for this recipe which cannot, under any circumstances, fall into the hands of a fish and chip shop-owner.

What you need

• Yellowbelly fillets
• Corn crumbs (There on the same shelf as the breadcrumbs mate)
• Cornflour (Its on the same shelf as the flour mate)
• Egg and milk beaten up
• 2 Sheets of newspaper
• Olive oil

What you do

Sprinkle corn flour onto a sheet of newspaper and do the same to the corn crumbs. Place fillet onto flour and roll the edges of the newspaper around till it is covered all over. Dip into the beaten up egg and make wet. Then repeat step one on the corn crumbs. Place in a quarter of an inch of olive oil that is simmering not bubbling and cook until golden brown.

Tricks & Tips

We all know out here at the back of Bourke that the Darling River Yellowbelly is far superior to your common variety. It is safer to have your oil too hot than too cold. The fish does not require much cooking, but the crumb coating may go soggy if the oil is not hot enough.

Rating

Gone Fishing…

The Tucker Box

The recipes in this blog are for the most part, real recipes that have been used by the authors for years. They are all very simple to make and use basic tucker box ingredients. The meats can be bought from a butcher shop and the rest from any supermarket.

If you are a real novice at cooking, then start with something easy like “Burnt Water Stew” for a step by step guide to making a simple stew using only meat and veggies with no added herbs and spices. You will be surprised at the quality of the meal.

Even though we can cook up a storm in the camp oven, using all sorts of herbs and sauces and such, the simple wholesome flavour and the satisfaction of making such an easy tasty recipe never tires.

Here is a suggestion of “Tucker Box” ingredients that would be useful to have with you for making these recipes.

What You Need

• Sense Of Humour
• Plain Flower
• Self Raising Flour
• Corn Flour
• Bread Crumbs
• Corn Crumbs
• Salt
• Sugar
• Mixed herbs
• Garlic
• Tomato Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Chilli Sauce
• Spuds
• Onions Pumpkin
• Tomatoes
• Tin peas
• Tin corn
• Zucchini
• Lemons
• Meats

 

As we have said above, most of the meat in this book can be simply bought from any butchers shop. The exceptions are the “Bardi Grubs” and the Yabbies. Advice is given later on how to catch Bardi Grubs. For the yabbies, most fishing shops sell opera house type traps that are built to the specification laws of the Fisheries Department and they are excellent to use. Simply place a bit of meat or a piece of soap into the bait net in the trap and throw into the water. These traps are great for overnight yabby catching expeditions as you can be practicing some camp oven cooking while you wait for the trap to fill.

The other type to use is the “Dilly”, which is looks like a butterfly net without the handle, you just tie your bait in, tie a rope to your trap, and then toss it into the water. Check it every five minutes by lifting straight up quickly and smoothly. Centrifugal force will hold the yabbies in the bottom of the net. These are good for catching yabbies as they don’t take much time to start working. Check the Fisheries Department for numbers of traps and Dillies allowed per person, these figures change now and again.

Aboriginal peoples in this country have eaten Bardi Grubs and the more widely known Witchety Grubs since time began. Our modern day palettes have been educated to be repulsed at the thought of this, however, we can assure you that once the squeamishness is overcome you will find a food source that is not only delicious but extraordinarily high in protein. A relatively small amount can go along way energy wise.

If you use more energy collecting food than you gain in nutritional value by eating it, then I’m afraid you are going to starve to death. This happened to a few of the earlier explorers.

The best way to find Bardi’s is to find a local who knows what he is talking about. No doubt he will be in the local pub, so you will obviously have to do quite a bit of research in the pub on this matter. Basically catching them, though simple enough, is a bit of a bush art and is best learnt by demonstration.

Once a “Bardi Tree” has been found, chip away at the ground surface below until you find the holes. These could be a meter or more in length and will have a fat grub at the bottom. Thread a bit of wire with a little ball of wool tied to the end down the hole until you feel a bit of resistance at the end. This is the grub, just dangle the wool around his face until he gets cranky and grabs it, then in one smooth motion slip him up his tunnel and over your shoulder in one careful pull. It is really impressive to watch some of the old timers doing this, and you will have respect for the craft yourself after you have ripped the heads of half a dozen perfectly good Bardi’s.

 

Ronnie Wilson

Camp Oven Cleaning & Maintenance

Never wash an oven unless really necessary and never ever use steel wool or a harsh scour. Always clean as soon as possible after use and if you’re not going to use it for a while rub a thin film of oil over the inner surface before storing.

When cleaning an oven use newspaper if possible and just keep wiping it out with fresh sheets until clean. This will bring it back to its dull black protective layer without taking it off, then just throw the newspaper into the fire as you go and the washing up is done.If absolutely necessary use warm soapy water and a soft cloth.

Another camp oven cook we know called Tiny, told us a story about his pride and joy. An oven he owned for twenty years and in that time it had never been washed. Well anyway his mate was going camping with the missus one night and he wanted to have a go at cooking a roast in a camp oven and so he borrowed Tiny’s oven. He wasn’t real keen to lend it but he knew these people would look after it and bring it back.

A couple of days later they brought it back all right, with many thank you’s in parting the mate said:

“Oh by the way me an the missus give it a good cleaning for you and I tell you Tiny it was bloody hard work, I ended up getting all that black stuff off though with my angle grinder and now it is good as new”.

Then they drove off in a cloud of dust leaving Tiny standing there with mouth gaping in horror at the loss of twenty years of baked dinners. Sure enough when he lifted the lid he found a bright and shiny new metal surface on his oven.

So put your camp oven on the list with your chainsaw and outboard motor of things that never get lent even to your best mate.

Just remember that a camp oven will not wear out from use only from neglect.

Ronnie Wilson

Camp Oven Cooking

Always get your oven hot before putting any food in it. Don’t be scared to get the lid off for a look, but it is a good practice to take a moment and squat down beside the oven and have a listen. Eventually you will learn to judge the speed your oven is working at by listening even better than you can by having a look.

Cooking by ear is the way to learn because you get to leave the lid on for longer periods of time, which as you can imagine keeps all those lovely flavours where they’re supposed to be, not to mention, heat.

Camp ovens cook with pressure as well as heat and most meals do better cooking slow and longer. The saving grace is that you will probably be camping at the time of cooking and so the ‘near enough’ rule will probably apply.

Residual flavours will linger in your camp oven. The metal is porous and will adopt the flavours that have been given to it. This is one reason camp oven roasts and stews always seem to have that indescribable secret flavour. We always try to throw a roast in our ovens after every couple of stews. This keeps the stored flavour in the oven wall loaded and also keeps a natural oily glaze there to protect the oven surface.

The major exception to this rule is with your breads and dampers. A damper will make an interesting dessert when cooked in a curry-flavoured oven. We have one small oven that we use only for dampers and bread. This just makes certain you don’t end up with unwanted flavours in them.

Ronnie Wilson

Dingo’s Breakfast

There is something life giving about rolling out of the swag at daylight in the bush, with cockatoos and parrots flicking through the trees, their voices harsh like the climate. The smell of eucalypt smoke and the first sounds of the fire starting to crackle as it is rekindled from last nights coals. The sight of fellow campers stirring not quite yet awake, peering over the tops of their swags first worried, then relieved to see that someone else is up stoking the fire and putting the billy on.

In the swagmans days, often there was little or no tucker in the tucker bags and this is probably where the “Dingo’s Breakfast” originated from.

Basically a Dingo’s Breakfast is to get up at day light, “have a piss and a good look around”, before setting off on your way again.

What you need

• Full bladder
• Empty tucker bags

What you do

Gaze about the bush whilst emptying the bladder.

Tricks & Tips

Whistling is optional.

Rating

Not very nutritious

Billy Tea

Making Billy Tea is one of those legendary pastimes where every bushy has his own method and style and fiercely disputes the quality of any tea made by any other bushy. The main thing with billy tea is to remember that it doesn’t matter what it tastes like, you have to look real good making it. So with this being the accepted rules of billy tea making, it is no wonder we have a whole craft made up of forked sticks, jam pots tied with wire, gum leaves and bearded bushies swirling boiling water round their heads. It has become acceptable behaviour to threaten the safety of anyone foolish enough to be still standing that close to the campsite after the antics started.

What you need

• Tea, Australian grown of course
• Sugar as needed
• Milk as needed
• Water
• “Billy Can”, make your own or buy one
• Forked stick
• Fire

What you do

Drag some coals out of the fire and put the billy on. When boiling, throw in a single fistful of tea for each person and then throw one in for the pot. Leave on heat for another minute then pull away from coals using the forked stick on the handle to lift.

This is where the rot sets in.

Grab billy handle with hat or other suitable insulator and swing quickly around in a full circle three times bringing it back up past your knee then back over your shoulder and so completing a full circle each time. The reason for doing this is to sink the tea leaves to the bottom of the pot so you can pour a drink without filling the cup with tea leaves.

However if you just let it sit for a minute or two and then pour carefully you still get a good cuppa without risking life and limb.

Tricks & Tips

Some people apparently use tea strainers.

Rating

Nothing like a good tin mug of billy tea to start the day, and for smoko drink with a slab of damper in the other hand.

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