Sweet Fig and Jumper Pottage

I have always loved the combination of meat and fruit. One of my favourites from my mum's repertoire is Apricot Chicken. Thanks to the providence of my backyard fig tree, I am literally buried in figs, so I have made this unctuous, sweet and savoury kangaroo stew several times in the past month, and I love it.

Ingredients

• 400g Kangaroo loin or rump. Kangaroo is a wonderful strongly-flavoured, very lean meat. It is wild-caught, so it can have some variability. I consider it an ethical ecological choice of meat in Australia.
  
  
• 1 litre of stock. I use my vege stock which I make from scraps each week. I don't like supermarket stocks. They are generally low quality and expensive for something so easy to make.

Green Grocer

• 3 carrots
• 1 onion
• 3 stalks of celery
• 3 bulbs of garlic (at least)
• 2 cups fresh figs (about the same volume as meat). You could use other fresh or dried fruit instead. Use about 3/4 cup if using dried fruit.
• 1/2 tsp of rosemary leaves, plucked from a neighbour's garden

Dry Store

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2-3 Tbsp Rice Bran Oil (or other light-flavoured, high smoke point oil or fat)
• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar or 1 glass of red wine

Method

These techniques are common for stews of all kinds: Flour and seal the meat, cook out your soffrito (Italian), or mirepoix (French) of root vegetables, add the sealed meat and other flavouring, and add a good stock.

• Chop the onions, carrot and celery into small dice (brunoise). If you aren't so handy with a knife, it is fine to use larger sizes (paysanne, or "peasant" cut). 
• Peel and chop the garlic and keep it separate from the vegetables.
• Halve the figs and remove the stems and any blemishes. I also remove the little "arse", which can be a bit hard, and any "scars" from where they have rubbed on the branches of the tree.
• Cut the meat into large cubes. The cubes will shrink a little with cooking. The goal is to end up with a bite-sized cooked article.
• Put the flour in a plastic bag with some salt and pepper. Add the meat cubes and smush it around with your hand to coat the meat. You could do this on a plate or bowl, but I find this method quite neat. I keep the leftover flour in the freezer for up to a couple of months so I don't go through so many plastic bags.
• Heat up your stew pot and add 2 Tbsp of oil. Get it to smoke point before adding the meat. Add a single layer of meat - otherwise you will cool the pan too quickly. I have a stew pot that is just big enough to do this in a single batch.
• Brown the meat well. This will both flavour and colour your stew. Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon.

• Brown the vegetables. You may want to add a little more oil if the pan is dry. 
• Add some salt and pepper at this stage. 
• Add the garlic to the pan with the rosemary for a minute or two.
• If using the paysanne (larger) cut of veges, add a tablespoon of flour at this stage. The brunoise (small cut) will melt into the sauce and thicken it a little. 

• Add the figs and meat back to the pot. 
• Add red wine or red wine vinegar. If using wine, then let it reduce by half before moving on to the next step. If you like a little flash, you can flambé the wine once it comes to the boil.
• Add the stock. Let it come to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 2 hours.
• Correct the seasoning with salt and vinegar/lemon. Correct the consistency - a little more stock if it's too thick, or a cornflour slurry, if it is too thin. I like this kind of stew quite thin.

Serve with potato dumplings (kloesse), doughboys, baked potatoes or rice and some garden peas.