When I was about 8 years old I discovered there were yabbies living in our dam and would spend hours sitting in the mud being eaten by mozzies with a piece of meat tied to some cotton, trying to lure them out of the water.

I’m not sure what I’d planned on doing if I’d actually caught one, but now I’m older,(much older) I know they aren’t just fun to watch crawling around, they’re also heaps of fun to eat!

Maybe not your common garden variety like we had living in our dam, but the beautiful blue and red “Cherax  Quadricarinatus”, or Australian Redclaw Crayfish, native to Northwest Queensland and farmed very successfully throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory, are sought after by restaurants all over Australia to showcase on their menus.

And one couple in particular has become the Redclaw supplier to the stars.   Peter and Ethel Moore from Cherax Park in Theebine, about half an hour drive Northwest of Gympie, have been impressing some of the country’s most discerning chefs for years with their consistently high quality product. Andrew Mirosch and Matt Moran are just a couple of the big names who feature them regularly in their dishes.

Both in their seventies, the couple moved to their property in Theebine 14 years ago with a plan to retire peacefully in the countryside, and after seeing a documentary on red claws, thought they’d put in a few dams and have a go at growing some themselves.

57 ponds and a processing facility later, it’s looking like they won’t be retiring any time soon.

I visited the farm last week to see how it all works, and was amazed to find that for all the maintenance, grading, sorting, purging, packaging, farm gate tours, deliveries and administration it’s just 3 of them doing the lot. And in true country hospitality style, there was even a freshly baked teacake coming out of the oven just as I arrived.

Redclaw Crayfish take about 12 months to reach maturity under the right conditions. They are fast growing but also prolific breeders, so the first step is to separate the boys from the girls to avoid any hanky panky slowing down that growing process. Once they reach around 10 grams, the crays are all individually checked by hand to determine their sex and then allocated to separate ponds. Each pond holds around 10000 crays at a time. As opposed to saltwater aquaculture species, red claws live on a diet of predominately wheat based feed and hay, making them much  more sustainable than their ocean cousins. One of the greatest issues with aquaculture has always been the use of fish based product as feed taken from the wild which depletes natural feed stock for wild varieties of fish. Red claws are an exception to this as they are 100% vegetarian and so they tick the sustainability box.

Once the crays reach maturity, they’re harvested by hand from the ponds and taken to the shed to be graded into their sizes, then they’re purged in fresh water tanks for a minimum of 24 hours to remove any “muddiness”. From this stage, they are either boxed up and sent to wholesalers to be sold on to restaurants either live or frozen whole, processed into green tail meat and frozen down in trays, or taken to the commercial kitchen to be turned into their 2 signature products; crumbed tails  or spring rolls.

Ethel also makes her famous “7’s sauce” in the kitchen, a secret recipe handed down to her by her father who obtained it from a chinese man during a poker game. It goes beautifully with the cray meat, and most visitors to the farm leave with a bottle under their arm. Cherax Park is open to the public 7 days a week and it’s worth the drive even if it’s just to see the beautiful countryside around Theebine. But while you’re out there, pop in and sample some red claws straight from the farm, and if you’re really lucky you might score a slice of Ethel’s teacake.

You can also buy your own live or frozen crays, crumbed tails or spring rolls to take home and cook for yourself.

Cherax Park

Kanyan Rd, Theebine, QLD, 4570

Ph. 54846096

www.cheraxpark.com.au

I came home with a big swag of them to play with, and couldn’t decide which out of the 3 dishes I wanted  to make, so I made them all! Here’s the recipes for them. Enjoy.

I’ve also added the recipe for my Pasta Carbonara  using the Guanciale I made last month. It was dinner last night, and believe me, it was worth the wait!

Redclaw Crayfish with Tomato and Avocado Panzanella

Panzanella is an Italian salad of juicy, ripe tomatoes and sourdough bread. Mixed together and dressed with red wine vinegar and olive oil, the bread soaks up all of the juices that the tomatoes release. I’ve added avocado to give it another texture and preserved lemon for a bit of zing.

Serves 4 as an entree

Ingredients:

12 medium redclaw tails

200gm mixed heirloom tomatoes, diced

1 ripe avocado, diced

1 golden shallot, finely sliced

2 slices sourdough bread, crusts removed and torn into pieces

½ cup mixed fresh herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, chervil)

30ml red wine vinegar

50ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbs preserved lemon, finely diced

salt and pepper

Method:

Gently toss together the tomatoes, avocado, sliced shallot, sourdough and fresh herbs.

Whisk together the vinegar, mustard and oil and dress the salad. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, giving it a toss occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Sauté the cray tails in olive oil until just cooked and serve on top of the salad, sprinkled with the preserved lemon.

 

Redclaw Tortelli with Roasted Cauliflower Puree, Caper Butter Sauce and Crispy Kale

 

Tortelli are like ravioli that have been twisted into a belly button shape. They are the large version of tortellini, which are generally about the size of a thumbnail.

Cauliflowers are in the full swing of season right now, and I’ve roasted florets for this puree, which gives it a beautiful nutty flavour. I’ve also used the capers from Bunya Red Farm in the South Burnett. They are the best capers I’ve ever eaten, and from just up the road. You can buy them online if you want to give them a try. They also do great caperberries. www.Bunyaredfarm.com.au

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250gm uncooked redclaw meat

200gm flour

2 eggs

300gm cauliflower, broken into florets

1 tbs olive oil

2tbs cream

75gm butter

1 tbs baby capers

30ml lemon juice

1 tbs flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 cup kale leaves

½ cup vegetable oil for frying

Method:

Make pasta dough by combining the flour and eggs and kneading until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Wrap and allow to rest for half an hour.

In a tray, sprinkle the cauliflower with olive oil, season and cover with foil.

Bake at 190 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. The cauliflower should be soft and have a little bit of colour.

Process to a smooth puree with the cream and season well with salt and white pepper.

Roll the pasta dough through a pasta machine to the thinnest setting.

Cut out 16, 8cm circles and place a small tablespoon of redclaw meat on each.

Brush the back half of the circle with a small amount of egg wash and fold over to form semi circles. Put a little dab of egg wash on one corner and pull the two corners together, giving them a good pinch, to form the tortelli into a circle.

Heat the vegetable oil to 180 degrees and fry the kale leaves until crispy. (Stand back, they tend to spit)

When it’s time to serve, drop the tortelli into a large pot of salted water and cook for 2 -3 minutes.

While they are cooking, heat the butter in a pan until it starts to brown slightly, add the capers, lemon juice and parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop the tortelli into the sauce and toss to coat.

Serve on the warm puree with the caper sauce poured over and garnished with the crispy kale.

Redclaws Grilled in their Shells with Chilli, Garlic and Parsley

This is probably the simplest and best way to cook redclaws. Cooking them in their shells helps bring out all of their flavour. I liken it to cooking a piece of meat on the bone. I used Cherax Park’s jumbos for this and they look spectacular on a platter.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 large whole redclaw crayfish

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely diced

2 tbs flat leaf parsley, chopped

50ml olive oil

salt and pepper

lemon cheeks to serve

Method:

Split the crays in half down the middle through the belly, leaving them joined slightly at the head. Wash out any

Mix together the garlic, chilli, parsley, olive oil and salt and pepper and brush on the flesh of the redclaws.

Grill cut side down on a hot BBQ or grill pan for 3 minutes, turn and cook for another 2 minutes and serve immediately.

These are great served with lemon cheeks, aioli, a green salad and some crusty sourdough bread.

My Pasta Carbonara

This is the long awaited unveiling of my Rhodavale Pork cheek which I cured and hung a month ago. It turned out even better than I expected.

To celebrate it, I made hand cut tagliolini (angel hair pasta) using the beautiful Camphor Laurel pasta board my dad made for me, rolling it out by hand with a rolling pin. I’ve added some pics of the process.

Making your own pasta is very rewarding, but can be frustrating the first few times, so be prepared to have some failures. Don’t give up!

If you want to try this dish without making your own pasta, I’d recommend getting hold of some good quality spaghetti or linguini, one with a nice rough surface.

 Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the pasta:

400gm plain flour

4 eggs

For the Carbonara:

250gm guanciale, pancetta or bacon, cut into lardons

2 cloves garlic, crushed

3 eggs and 1 yolk

150ml thickened cream

50gm grated Parmesan

1 tbs flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Method:

Mix together the flour and eggs and knead to a smooth, elastic dough. Cover and rest for half an hour.

Roll through a pasta machine to number 6 setting and allow the sheets to dry a little before rolling through the fine cutting blades.

Transfer to a tray and cover with a cloth until needed.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.

In a large frying pan, cook the guanciale over a medium heat until it renders some of its fat and starts to crisp up. Drain off any excess fat.

Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

Whisk together the cream, eggs and cheese.

Cook the pasta for 2 minutes, drain and add to the frying pan with the guanciale and garlic. Add the egg mixture and stir everything together while it’s hot.

(The idea is that the hot pasta cooks the egg without scrambling it and you should end up with a thick, creamy sauce)

Add the parsley, season well and serve immediately.