Roasted Ostrich with Rosemary & Shallots, Spanish Potato Leek Soup

On a recent trip through Sunflower Farmers Market, I found some ranch raised ostrich. This specimen was vacuum packed, frozen, ground ostrich rather than the ostrich steaks I was accustomed to, but thought it was worth a shot. For the preparation, I tested my hypothesis that rosemary + shallots + sea salt always works well with red meat, even ostrich. After stripping the leaves of several sprigs of fresh rosemary, then chopping finely, I added a couple healthy dash of sea salt and 3 minced shallots. After mixing, and defosting the ostrich, I formed patties and coated each patty, pressing the shallots & rosemary slightly into the surface. The patties were then roasted on a baking pan for 20 minutes at 425F. The results: an unqualified success, rosemary + shallots + red meat, always a good pairing.

To accompany the ostrich, I made a Spanish-influenced version of potato leek soup.



- 1 qt vegetable broth
- 6-8 scallions
- 2 large yukon gold potatoes, 1/4 slices
- 2 large organic leeks, coarse chop
- 1 pt organic heavy cream
- chipotle sauce (tabasco brand) TT
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 2 tsp parisienne bonne herbes
- hot spanish paprika
- sherry vinegar TT
- kosher salt TT

Combine all ingredients except for the sherry vinegar, scallions and cream. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Blitz with a stick blender, then add the scallions; simmer another 10 minutes. Add the cream and sherry vinegar, adjust seasoning and serve. The soup was good, and accompanied with some fresh homemade water crackers. I think some piquillo peppers would be a nice last minute addition next time, but it evoked a Spanish flair to a simple potatoe leek soup. The ostrich was excellent, one of my twins was up past her bedtime and she feasted with me on the big bird. Even though she's typically not a red meat eater, she couldn't get enough ostrich.