These lemony biscuits are great for all ages and any time of day (or even the freezer)

Australian native ingredients aren’t complex foods, so there’s no reason they should complicate a dish when cooking with them, bushfood pioneers elder Bruno Dann and Tahlia Mandie believe.

The pair come from vastly different backgrounds. Dann is an elder of the Nyul Nyul people in Western Australia and a member of the stolen generations, while Mandie is a second-generation Australian and founder of bushfoods supplier Kakadu Plum Co.

Their new joint cookbook brings native Australian ingredients into home kitchens nationwide, offering easy-to-follow recipes using fresh, dried, or powdered bushfoods. It includes easy-to-follow recipes anyone can make, many from Dann’s camp oven, including a nourishing damper drizzled with bush honey.

“We all sit around camp and prepare our nightly meal, each with a unique meaning and flavour,” he writes. “We often enjoy this bread as a side or to scoop up … delicious curry liquid.”

More than just a recipe collection, the book honours Dann’s deep connection to Nyul Nyul Country. Alongside his partner, Marion Louise Manson, Dann helped pioneer a thriving bushfoods economy on his homeland, sustainably harvesting traditional ingredients such as maarr (native lemongrass) and gubinge (Kakadu plum).

“I can say to my old people I did my best to care, to carry on my traditions of caring for this Country,” he writes.

Here, Dann and Mandie share two everyday recipes: simple citrusy biscuits that make the most of lemon myrtle and kakadu plum, and a versatile chickpea salad with macadamia, native river mint and pepperberry.

– Megan Johnston

Lemon myrtle biscuits

The lemon myrtle in this simple recipe provides an extra lemony flavour and aroma. These are great for the kids, for an afternoon snack, or just stored in the freezer for another occasion. From our experience, using good-quality butter takes these biscuits to another level.

INGREDIENTS

• 300g (2 cups) plain flour
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp lemon myrtle with kakadu plum powder (see note)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 220g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 60g (½ cup) icing sugar, plus extra for decorating

METHOD

1. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, lemon myrtle and salt. Mix and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer (or hand-held beater), cream the butter for a few minutes until it becomes light and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until a firm dough is formed.
3. Shape the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap, placing it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
5. Before rolling out your dough, get three sheets of baking paper the size of a baking tray. Line a baking tray with one sheet of paper. Place the dough on the second piece of paper and place the third piece of paper on top of the dough. Begin rolling out the dough between the sheets of baking paper, to about 1cm thick. Using your biscuit cutter shape of choice, cut the dough and place the biscuits on the lined baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
6. Once cool, sprinkle with extra icing sugar if you wish.

Tip: If the dough is too hard to roll, leave it out on the bench for about 5-10 minutes to soften.

Note: This lemon myrtle blend is available online at Kakadu Plum Co, or you can use 1 teaspoon lemon myrtle powder instead.

Makes about 24 biscuits

Chickpea and bean salad with macadamia and native mint

This everyday salad offers a harmonious blend of flavours and textures, making it a versatile dish that can stand alone as a satisfying meal or be served as a side. The native mint has the subtle taste of spearmint and pepper, and is a wonderful substitute for ordinary mint. Tahlia Mandie absolutely loves this salad as it is, but it can be easily adapted to use what you have in your kitchen and pantry. So get creative and make this salad to suit your taste by adding different bushfood combinations or other favourite ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

• 400g canned chickpeas
• 400g canned cannellini beans
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, chopped
• ½ red onion, finely sliced
• ½ cup (80g) kalamata olives, pitted and halved
• 2 tbsp fresh native river mint, chopped or ½ tsp dried native river mint
• ½ cup (15g) fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• ½ tbsp olive oil infused with native pepper (pepperberry)
• 1 tsp salt rub with pepperberry (see note) or sea salt
• juice of ½ lemon
• pinch of pepperberry powder, to taste (optional)
• ¼ cup (40g) macadamia nuts

METHOD

1. Drain the chickpeas and the cannellini beans, and rinse well.
2. In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except the macadamia nuts. Taste and add more salt rub or pepperberry, as desired.
3. Place the macadamia nuts into a press-seal bag, or similar, and bang slightly with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Once roughly crushed, dry-roast the macadamia nuts in a hot frying pan, tossing regularly until golden brown. Transfer to a separate plate to cool, then sprinkle them over the bean mixture.

Suggested variations

• Add some leafy greens. Tahlia Mandie loves to add iceberg lettuce, especially at dinnertime.

• Change the vegetable combinations. Using some fresh red capsicum or cherry tomatoes will add an extra dynamic flavour. Sliced avocado is another wonderful addition.

• Consider some extra protein, such as a tin of tuna, or some smoked salmon or roast chicken.

• Add cheese – some crumbled feta or even grilled halloumi would be particularly good.

Note: Salt rub with pepperberry is available online at Kakadu Plum Co, or you could use plain sea salt instead.

Serves 2-4

This is an edited extract from The Australian Ingredients Kitchen by elder Bruno Dann and Tahlia Mandie, photography by Alicia Taylor. Published by Murdoch Books, RRP $39.99.