Austrich au cidre

[Frances]

If you only ever try one of my recipes on this forum, it should be this one...

One of my absolute favourites! It started life as coq au vin and sort of evolved. So here goes:

4 austrich steaks cut into large chunks
150 g of bacon cubes
2 onions cut into quarters
500 g cider
rosemary
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper
chopped parsley
2 apples, unpeeled, in slices

optional ingredients:
two tblsp of raisins
a slog of calvados, just before serving


Heat some olive in your cast iron pot and fry the austrich until browned on all sides, together with the onions and bacon. Add all the other ingedients, put the lid on and place in your oven for at least half an hour at around 180 C. Or longer in a cooler oven.

This is really great with mashed potato! The bacon and cider make a delicious sauce. And you get to drink the left oven cider, too.

You can also use a whole chicken cut into about eight pieces, or miscalaneous bits of chicken, or rabbit, or whatever.

[dmun]

Austrich=Ostrich? The big bird? That took some googling.
I also assume that cider is the euro (alcoholic) version.

[james]

Ostrica is oyster in Italian, but then I have never heard of of an oyster steak cut into large chunks.
James

[Inishta]

I seem to remember an ostrich farm about 20 miles/km away from us at Cadianda although the signposts weren't there the last time I was up there. I have always wanted to try some so the recipe will definitely get a go.

Dmun...........is the American cider non-alcoholic?

[Frances]

Oooops, ostrich it is.

I was thinking of the French autruche...

And cider definately the alcoholic version, rather than the non-alcoholic beverage also known as apple juice. Which you could also use, but its better with cider.

[dmun]

Dmun...........is the American cider non-alcoholic?

Yep, In the us cider is a seasonal (autumn) refrigerated item in the dairy department. It's non-alcoholic, cloudy, and has a tangy flavor, not sweet like the apple juice in the glass bottles.

[Frances]

Sounds really nice - and I'll bet it would work great for this recipe!

[CanuckJim]

Frances,

Just a sidenote on cider. I well remember--well, not really--my first summertime encounter with hard cider in England. My English mates had a fine time with it--and watching me, the neophyte. Can be quite deadly, especially the local shire varieties that were available at one time. In England at least, there's also an alcoholic pear cider as well, equally deadly, but very tasty. Pub Strongbow cannot hold a candle to either.

Down the road from me--yes, in Ontario of all places--there's an Emu farm, and the occasional ostrich can be seen running around. Strange sights in a northern landscape. Ostrich makes a fine meal, but I have real trouble with Emu.

Jim

[Frances]

Ho yes, I remeber a cider evening on one of my visits to England ...

They seemed to have cider with particular vinages, made with specific sorts of apple, regional speciality ciders... a bit like wine in fact. Which makes sense, since apples must grow far better than grapes over there.

In Switzerland we have one kind of cider called apple wine. Its quite weak, only 4 proof, and quite nice, but not very exciting really.

Talking of emus (what's wrong with them? Don't they taste nice?), in the alps you keep coming accross farms that breed llamas and/or scottish highland cows... makes you want to check the map to see if you've got seriously lost somwhere along the way

[CanuckJim]

Frances,

I've said before that I'll try anything once. If somebody, somewhere, eats a certain thing, it can't be all that bad. Well, Emu is a very dark meat. That's not a problem (about the same as wild goose), nor is it the texture. To my taste, the flavour is far too intense, gamey, and the meat is tough. I'm sure some of our down under mates will chime in with a magical method of preparing it (marinated for a week in a couple of tubes, maybe ), but, so far, it's not for me.

Jim