Munthari Berries - How do you like using them?

[Shalem]

Note to forum admin: I hope this topic's not already been raised somewhere else. I assume that if I can't see a topic I want to create under the Cooking section, then it hasn't been raised.

These berries remind of sultanas a bit. I've put them in home made muffins but not a lot else.

What are your culinary experiences with this?

[Shalem]

Munthari berries


I've posted some pics and info on munthari muffins under bush tucker muffins.

[Shalem]

Botanical Name: Kunzia pomifera

Other Common Names: Muntarie Berries, Muntharie Berries, Muntaberry, Native Apple

Flavour: A sweet apple & cinnamon like flavour.

Look: The fruit are small, round & soft. They are a greeny ligkt pink in colour. Their usual size is approximately 5 to 10 mm in diameter.

Use: Very versatile fruit. Use fresh in a salad or cook into a savour dish, jam, chutney, dessert sauce or substitute for apples and sultanas in puddings & pies.

[Referenced from: www.australianproduce.com.au]

[Shalem]

Unfortunately I find it a struggle to eat breakfast. I do, however, like smoothies or milkshakes for breakfast whenever I have some suitable fruit.

Here, I made a munthari berries shake from Mark Olive's Outback Cafe book.

Compared to how they worked in the muffins, the muntharis in this case were not as appealing to me, as they didn't blend up finely like, say a banana. I think this happened last time I made this.

That's not to say this recipe is bad and that someone shouldn't give it a go.

It may've had something to do with my blender, I am unsure.

I think I'd like to try some other native fruits in my milk shakes too.

Let us know if you have a good one.

[Shalem]

A munthari berries hot meal with lemon ironbark rice.


Recipe

I was looking for a way to use up my munthari berries, other than with muffins. So I chose the Marinated Kangaroo Kurrajong from Vic Cherikoff's book "Uniquely Australian".

Unfortunately I didn't have all the ingredients available to me, so I used or "improvised" what I could.

Marinade

I marinated pork belly strips in macadamia oil, garlic & munthari berries overnight. Chopped the fat and grilled.

Sauce

I put the marinade in a skillet, with the marinated munthari berries, chicken stock, cream, vino cotto, small amount of chopped Davidson Plums, and barbie sauce. Gently boiled till thickened and reduced.

However, if I had any Dining Downunder's Illawarra Plum sauce or Mountain Pepper Sauce, I would've put that in place of barbie sauce.

Assembling the dish

To serve, I sprinkled ground lemon ironbark & Dining Downunder's lemon myrtle sprinkle into the cooked rice and let it infuse for a few minutes.

Then topped the rice with chopped meat, and poured the sauce over.

Presentations

Another way I could have presented this dish is to put the rice inside a small jelly mould or dariole mould (like in Mark Olive's barramundi dish in Outback Cafe book), unmould it onto the centre of the plate, surrounded by the meat sauce, or unmoulded it at the side with meat sauce on the other side. [I can show photos later if I do something like this again.]

Summary

I enjoyed making this quick simple dish, which was a little bit like a sweet & sour sauce meal. I especially enjoyed the munthari berries in this sauce. I truly thought they were a lovely soft, non-overpowering berry for a main meal sauce, and I've now concluded that I prefer these berries cooked, like in my muffins & this meal, rather than in a milk shake (just a personal choice).

This is the first time I've marinated meat in macadamia oil so it was new to me. It appeared as though the berries had plumped up overnight in the oil.

[Shalem]

available frozen from www.outbackchef.com.au though I haven't bought so don't know process for postage/pickup. Also has tips & info on how to use them

[Shalem]

munthari berries fruit leather is available

[Shalem]

muntries and date pudding......looks yummo. www.andrewfielke.com