Ostrich

When I lived in Cape Town, I was strolling down the meat aisle in the grocery and passed chicken, pork, beef, and then ostrich. They had ostrich filets alongside the hamburger meat and steaks. With this rare bird (which is actually red meat, and you'd think it was beef by looking at it) at my fingertips, I thought I'd experiment. It's extremely healthy and has hardly any fat, but lots of protein, so it's best cooked rare/medium rare. I made it a few times in Cape Town and really loved it.
Since moving downtown, I am right around the corner from Ottomanelli's. I've often seen their sign in the window stating that they sell ostrich, and until Monday, I hadn't investigated. I went in and got one ostrich filet (frozen) for $8. It was the afternoon and I didn't know if it would thaw by dinner, but it said "DO NOT THAW IN THE MICROWAVE" in big letters, so I popped it in a bowl of warm water and it was thawed in less than half an hour. I threw it in a marinade and got started on my ostrich brainchild menu that had been brewing since the first time I saw the sign "We have Ostrich!" Here it is, if anyone wants to try it. I made it for Jamie and it seemed to be a success. (He thought it so impressive he took a picture on his iPhone--above.) It's a good dinner to impress someone. It looks pretty, tastes great, is healthy, and isn't all that difficult. (Feel free to buy store bought noodles and just throw a little red wine in the cooking water.)

(This only serves two with a little leftover, so double it if it's for more.)

Ingredients:

Ostrich
1 ostrich filet
1 bottle of red wine (I used Charles Shaw Shiraz)
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 chopped garlic clove
1 chopped shallot
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt (to taste)


Pasta
2 cup 00 flour
1 egg
pinch of salt
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine

Sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 shallot, sliced
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
red wine

Garnish

12 cherry/grape tomatoes (I got little heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's)
2 wooden skewers

Directions:
First, mix all the ingredients for the marinade together, tasting as you go and adjusting salt/spice, and throw in the ostrich. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing it down so it touches the ostrich and the marinade. Marinate for about 4 hours, give or take a couple of hours if you don't have time or want to give it more flavor.

For the pasta, pour the flour out onto a table or cutting board. Make a well in the center and crack the egg into the well. Add a pinch of salt, the olive oil, and a splash of the wine. Using a fork, gently beat the egg mixture, slowly incorporating more flour and adding more wine as needed, until it forms a dough. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Once it gets to that consistency (and it should be a light brown/purple color), knead it for about 5-10 minutes by pushing it out with the ball of your hand and pulling it back in. Do this until when you stretch the dough it comes back back together and seems elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for half an hour in a warm place.

After half an hour, run the dough through your pasta maker until it's at the thinnest setting and you have long thin sheets. At this point, I like to halve the sheets so they're not as long and are easier to work with, but if you want long noodles, keep them long. Let the sheets dry out a little because they'll be easier to cut. Once they get a little dry, run them through the pasta maker on the linguine/fettuccine setting. (If you don't have this, you can roll the sheets up and slice them so when unrolled them form long noodles.) You can keep your cut noodles in the fridge until you need them, or if you're about the cook them, just leave them out.

I used a grill pan, but you can definitely use a skillet for your ostrich. Get the grill pan really hot (if you're using a skillet, put in a little olive oil and get it really hot). Meanwhile, bring your water to a boil. Take your tomatoes and put them onto the skewers, then rub a little oil on them and put them on the grill. Grill them until they get a little soft and have a little browning on them. Grill the ostrich for about 3 minutes per side then take it off and let it sit. Put the shallots, olive oil, and tomato paste into a skillet and cook it until the shallots get soft. Cook the pasta (it cooks really quickly because it's fresh) and when it's ready throw it into the pan with a little wine and salt and toss it together. Taste it to see if you want to add more wine or salt.

To plate it, slice the ostrich into thin pieces. Put the pasta in the middle of the plate, top if with the ostrich pieces, then surround it with the grilled tomatoes.

Add a bake at home baguette from Trader Joe's and you're all set!