Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

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perry
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Location: morayfield qld australia

Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

#1 Post by perry » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:04 pm

G/Day Folks, Bunya Nut Season is here. Bunya Nuts are a real treat. The Aboriginals tribes used to put aside their differences and gather in the Bunya Mountains for what could only be described as a huge pig out.

Preparing them for a feed reminds you how heavily processed our foods are no day's. They can be a bit of work but the rewards are great.

Bunya Nuts can be eaten raw but are best boiled or roasted. Once boiled in Salted water they can be chopped finely or put through a potato ricer and mixed into bread dough, pancake batter or even used in fruit cakes. Bunya Nut Pesto is to die for. They can be used in place of Pine Nuts in all sort of recipe's. The are also very good with greek style yogurt with a little Garlic, Chilli and Parsley mixed through.

The small green coloured core of the Bunya Nut will make you crook if too many are eaten raw. I'm told they are OK when cooked but I play safe and remove them regardless. I'm not keen on them Raw as they can have a woody texture but have a good flavour. Cooked or raw Bunya Nuts are a Pain to crack. Use the heel of your biggest Kitchen knife to start them, them carefully push through. Some folks start them as described and then use 2 sets of pliars to peel the husk away. If you roast them they explode out of the shell so keep the camp oven covered.
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A Bunya Cone which contains the Nuts can weigh up to 20 Kilo's. When ready for eating they fall from the Tree which can be over 40 metres tall - Eyes Up - don't camp or park your car under a Bunya Tree. Each Nut is contained in a segment. If you pick up a Nut and it does not want to break open by hand, put it in the fridge for a few days or simply cut the top of the Cone off and the segments will come out easy enough. Pop the Nut out of the segment and your done. There is approx 50 nuts per Cone
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Here's the contents of a 3 Kg Bunya Cone. When cooked they have a texture quite like a Potato and some compare them to chestnuts. They are unique and soak up other flavours very well. A favoured method to cook them is to boil them in the same broth you cooked your Silver side in
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My Wife cooked a lovely Bunya Nut Pie for Dinner tonight - bloody lovely. Looks a little like a train smash in the photo but I can assure you it was lovely. I added a dob of Sour Cream with chopped Parsley - MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM better than Donut's. Here's the recipe - http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Bunya_Nut_Pie

They are unusually filling and a 2 1/2 " wide slice of that Pie filled me up.

For Australia Day I made a Loaf of Bread, standard ingredients with the exception of some very finely chopped Bunya Nut's neaded in just before the last rise - went down a treat
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With any luck I have some game meat coming to my freezer very soon. I'll be experimenting with Bunya Nuts and Game meat in a Red Wine Cassorole

They generally only fruit every 3 years or so so get into them if you can get em - they freeze well. Here's another link with a little more info - http://www.ozpolitic.com/gardening/trees/bunya.html

regards Jacko
"To my deep morticication my father once said to me, 'You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.' "

- Charles Darwin

longbow steve
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Re: Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

#2 Post by longbow steve » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:34 am

Thanks Perry, My father bought a few cones down last year and we had a nice cook up. They work well cut up and fried in the likeness of slivered almonds and add a bit of soy sauce or sweet soy and they make a nice little snack :) .
Steve

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jindydiver
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Re: Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

#3 Post by jindydiver » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:37 am

Great stuff Perry. :D
Mick


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Gringa Bows
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Re: Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

#4 Post by Gringa Bows » Sat Feb 05, 2011 9:04 am

That pie did look tasty :D

alaninoz
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Re: Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

#5 Post by alaninoz » Sat Feb 05, 2011 6:51 pm

Looks like the kind of thing the cockies would love!
Alan

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kimall
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Re: Eyes Up - Bunya Nut's are in season

#6 Post by kimall » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:04 pm

Good post Perry I love the B/nuts but can never remember when to look for them.
Cheers KIM

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