Ostrich, Buffalo, Venison and other strange meats

[ffutures]

Currently the Iceland chain is offering various slightly unusual frozen meat products - ostrich steaks and burgers, kangaroo and venison meatballs and burgers, boar and apple burgers and sausages, and crocodile burgers. My local branch is small and only had the ostrich steaks (125g for £1.50, I think - can't find my receipt) and kangaroo meatballs (240g for £1.50-ish) and the boar and apple sausages (I think £3.50), they'd had the buffalo burgers but were out of stock. All of them are VERY low fat compared to beef, e.g. the ostrich steaks are 0.7g fat / 100g. I ended up getting a couple of the ostrich steaks and a pack of kangaroo meatballs.

Just ate one of the ostrich steaks grilled with some chips and salad, it seemed very palatable though a little bland, though I did sprinkle some pepper and garlic on it before cooking. I don't think it was particularly over- or under-cooked. Any suggestions on this? Possibly some sort of marinade? Would it be better fried?

I think I'll try kangaroo meatballs bolognese tomorrow, see how that goes. But my initial impression is that the ostrich steaks, at least, are a pretty good substitute for beef, cheaper and a bit healthier. I just need to work on my cooking technique.

Details of the range here:
http://www.iceland.co.uk/_assets/files/Meat-Leaflet-Iceland.pdf

update - found the receipts, it was £1.50 for the kangaroo meatballs and £1.30 for the ostrich steaks.

Comments

[draconin.livejournal.com]

IMHO I found kangaroo to be a very strong tasting meat, too much so for my taste. I'll be interested to hear what you think. I tried crocodile a few times and liked it. A little reminiscent of pork but definitely not the same. I've tried buffalo but I can't remember what it was like.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - Buffalo is a lot like beef, but much lower fat.

[johnreiher.livejournal.com]

I've had Ostrich before, and it really likes a good marinade, some Worcestershire sauce, savory herb mixes, and maybe a touch of hot oil. Plenty of recipes out there for Ostrich. Many are in imperial measurements, but with your background, I don't think that's a problem.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Damn, I thought of Worcestershire source but didn't use it. Thanks for the tips, I'll try them next time.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I love what the Aussies call 'Skippy burgers' and steak. Ostrich is good too, a cross in taste between beef and chicken. (Emu isn't that different, though you won't, I think, get that outside Oz.)

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The ostrich was OK, but as I said just a bit bland. I think this is simply down to my cooking technique rather than an inherent flaw. Will probable try the skippy balls tonight.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Venison is delicious if you've not had it before. I can wholeheartedly recommend venison.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I've had venison steaks and burgers, they were ok but I think I prefer beef or buffalo.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Aligator was nice in a Jumbalaya. I imagine Croc would be very similar.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

My local Iceland doesn't have the crocodile, but I want to find a bigger branch anyway - they have a lot of stuff the smaller branches don't, e.g. you can now only get their Atomic Chicken Vindaloo at the bigger branches.