ONE cancelled flight and a missed flight couldn't keep crafty cook Danielle Fisher from competing in the NSW final of 'Australia's Best Home Cook Dish' competition in Sydney.

Ms Fisher came runner-up in last week's competition, where she was up against two other state finalists to cook the perfect meal in two hours.

Working in an induction kitchen for the first time, she created her signature recipe - Indigenous Kofta with Warrigal Greens - from scratch.

Try the recipe yourself

The Southern Cross University project officer said was excited and relieved to plate up her dish, as she almost didn't make it to Sydney in time to compete.

"I was supposed to fly from Ballina airport on Wednesday, but my flight got cancelled," she said.

Ms Fisher booked a new flight to leave from the Gold Coast, but an accident on the Pacific Hwy meant she had to jump on a later flight again.

The setbacks continued in Sydney when she went to pick up her order of kangaroo mince - a key ingredient in her dish - from a butcher in Leichhardt.

With one and a half hours on the clock until the start of the competition, Ms Fisher was told her order had been sold to another customer.

"It was a crazy race-around Leichhardt to try and find some kangaroo mince but in the end it all came together," she said.

The Ballina resident, formerly of Yamba, said judges liked the idea and concept of her Indigenous kofta, and were impressed by the ingredients she used.

"I thought it was an amazing experience, just to be able to create something that's yours and then give it to somebody and get some feedback," she said.

"I'll definitely be entering next year if I come up with something again."

The winner of the NSW final was Margun Carless, a mother of five from Port Macquarie.

She will go on to cook her winning dish, duck with flower salad, in the national grand final at the Noosa International Food and Wine Festival in May.

Ms Fisher said she would cheer Ms Carless on from the sidelines at the festival.

Kangaroo kofta with Warrigal greens

Ingredients

For the Kofte:

• 100g kangaroo mince
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• ¼ cup red onion grated
• ¼ tsp ground mountain pepper leaf
• ¼ tsp sumac

For the Fattoush:

• Finely diced red onion
• Cherry tomatoes
• Lebanese cucumber
• Warrigal greens, blanched and chopped
• 1/8 cup chopped mint
• 1 sml clove garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp sumac
• ¼ tsp lemon myrtle
• Juice ½ lemon
• 32ml extra virgin olive oil

For the Flatbread:

• 1 ¼ cup tepid water
• 1 ½ tsp dry yeast
• 1 ½ tsp castor sugar
• 460g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• garlic yoghurt sauce
• 2 tbsp greek yoghurt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Salt to taste

Method

Pre-heat oven to 200°C

1. Heat 1 tsp olive in a small fry pan over a medium heat and cook red onion and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. Set aside to cool.
2. To make the flat bread, combine water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl and leave in a warm spot for 20 mins or until the mixture foams.
3. Create fattoush dressing by combining garlic, sumac, lemon myrtle, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl with salt to taste.
4. Place all other ingredients for fattoush (except flatbread) in a larger bowl, pour over dressing, toss and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt for flatbreads, then make a well in the centre. Add the olive oil and yeast mixture and combine. Work the dough until it comes together. Turn out and knead on a lightly floured bench until it becomes smooth. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with clean tea towel and leave for 15-20mins or until it has doubled in size.
6. While dough is rising, place ingredients for kofte (including cooled onion mixture) in a bowl and combine using your hands.
7. Split kofte mixture into three equal parts and shape into small fat cigar shapes. Thread the kofte on to one metal skewer. Set skewer onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in oven for 15 mins or until kofte are cooked through.
8. While kofte are cooking, split flatbread mixture into 12 equal parts, wrap 10 parts in glad wrap and freeze (use these babies for future fattoush, as an accompaniment to other meals or even pizza bases).
9. Roll out the remaining two balls of dough onto a floured bench so each are flat and even and approximately 16cm in diameter.
10. Brush one flatbread with olive oil and place oil side down into a non-stick pan over medium heat. Gently brush a little oil on top while it is cooking, the bread should start to puff up. Check the base, when it looks crispy flip it over and cook the other side until crispy then set aside on a plate. Repeat with other disc.
11. Remove kofte from oven and place on top of fattoush mixture with flatbread.

Serve with garlic yoghurt sauce.