Kangaroo Ragu Jaffles - Chef Recipe by James Viles

Ingredients

"A dear friend, a great Chef and a man who has incorporated hunting and foraging into his cooking in a way unlike many others, James's cooking reflects the land around him: it's a special gift." ~ Anthony Puharich.

2 kangaroo tails
2 brown onions
4 garlic cloves
16 slices white bread, buttered
Salt flakes, to serve
Lemon myrtle powder, to serve (optional)

Ragu:

3 brown onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
10 overripe tomatoes
1 Tbs and 1 tsp Tasmanian mountain pepper (optional)
Salt flakes, to taste
60mL olive oil

Bechamel:

80g butter
40g plain (all-purpose) flour
500mL milk
Salt flakes, to taste
100g gruyere or similar

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 140 C. Seal the whole roo tails in a hot pan until golden. Remove and place in a baking tray. Cover with rough chopped brown onion, garlic and 3 litres of water. Then cover with foil and braise in the oven for about 4 hours, or until tender. Once cooked, remove from the liquid and pick the meat off the tail. Retain meat and then reduce the liquid to make a sauce.

Meanwhile, for the ragu, sweat the onions and garlic in a pot until soft, add the roo meat, followed by all the other ingredients, cook on low heat for 1 hour.

For the bechamel, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and cook out until it loosens on the side of the pan. Add some hot milk and then whisk in, then add the rest and whisk in. Cook on low heat for about 15–20 minutes then add the grated cheese. Set aside to cool, then chill. Check seasoning.

To make the jaffle: you can use a traditional iron that goes in the fire, which is what we use at Biota (it gives you a beautiful round jaffle) or you can use a press. Place the buttered bread on the base of the iron followed by the ragù and then the bechamel. Top with a second slice of bread and cook until the bread is golden, add some salt and lemon myrtle when finished cooking and serve hot.

Credits: Images and recipes from Meat by Anthony Puharich and Libby Travers. Photography by Alan Benson (with exception of images pages 6 & 11, which are by Paul Gosney), Murdoch Books, RRP $79.99.