Recipe: Zhoosh up Your Weeknight Chicken With Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo’s “Outback-Spiced” Marylands

Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo OAM has worn many hats. The respected Gamilaroi Elder, educator and businesswoman has advised some of Australia’s top chefs – like Kylie Kwong and Neil Perry – on cooking with native ingredients. She’s also spent decades advocating for First Nations people, with a focus on education, including via her catering company Yaama Barrgay, which employs First Nations staff.

Turns out she can do it all. Now, Aunty Beryl is channelling her decades of knowledge into a new cookbook. The approachable collection of recipes weaves native ingredients into familiar staples (including this standout “fancy fish and chips”).

This outback spiced chicken is a great place to start. The key is the seasoning: Indigiearth’s Outback Prairie Dust, a fragrant blend of pepperberry, saltbush, lemon myrtle and native thyme. “I highly recommend you buy a packet from [the] website,” Aunty Beryl writes. Once you smell it, you’ll know why. “Otherwise, make your own mix of saltbush and native thyme to give the chicken a lovely flavour.”

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Outback spiced chicken by Aunty Beryl

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

4 large chicken Marylands
1 tbsp Indigiearth Outback Prairie Dust seasoning (or 1 tsp each of ground saltbush and ground native thyme)
Salt and pepper, to taste
10g butter
⅓ cup (80ml) cooking oil, divided
½ cup (125ml) chicken stock
1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 cup (90g) thickly sliced button mushrooms
Roast potatoes, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Rub the chicken with the seasoning and salt and pepper. Melt the butter with 2 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add the chicken and fry, turning, until golden brown all over.

Transfer the chicken to a casserole dish. Pour over the stock and roast for 40–45 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.

Meanwhile, return the pan to medium heat. Add the remaining oil, then fry the onion until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened and lightly golden.

Scatter the onion and mushrooms over the chicken in the dish and serve with roast potatoes.

Note

This recipe is based on one chicken Maryland per person, but if your Marylands are smaller, then a standard adult serve might require two or three pieces.

This is an edited extract from Aunty Beryl’s Cookbook by Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo. Published by Murdoch Books (RRP $49.99)