Bon AppetIT

Ostrich & Shrimp in Roasted Garlic Sauce

12 pieces of ostrich

- sliced medallion size and then pounded into scaloppini

8 jumbo shrimp

15-20 medium sized whole garlic cloves, peeled

? bottle dry white wine (preferably Chardonnay)

1? pints heavy whipping cream

1 medium sized red onion, finely chopped

? stick lightly salted butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. olive oil

? cup chicken stock

Prepare ostrich and set aside. Place garlic cloves in the oven at 400? F and bake until soft and brown (about 10-15 minutes). In sauce pot, melt butter and saut? onion until onion is fully cooked (about 5 minutes). Add wine and allow to cook until dry over medium heat. When mixture has evaporated back down, add roasted garlic and puree. Place back on heat and slowly add cream, salt and pepper. Bring to slight boil and set aside. In separate pan, heat olive oil, add ostrich, sear on both sides and set aside. Add shrimp and chicken stock to oil; saut? until cooked. Add ostrich and sauce.

 

Serves 4

 

Courtesy of Chef Lea Zeqira of Cafe di Roma

This article reminded me that the New Year is fast approaching and time for my annual Resolution to quit smoking.  Article:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4438372.stm  Maybe that's the trick, I'll have one of our servers send me supportive emails and text messages.  Of course, with my pass/fail record on this Resolution, I'll have to set it to send messages every 10 minutes :)

Lamb Patties Moroccan Style With Harissa Sauce

Serving Size: 4   

  Amount  Measure             Ingredient 

--------  ------------         --------

   1 1/2  pounds               Ground lean lamb

   2 Tablespoons               Grated onions

   1 teaspoon                  Paprika

   4 Tablespoons               Chopped parsley

   1/4  teaspoon               Crushed dried hot peppers 

                               (or more to taste)

   Salt to taste

   1/4  teaspoon               Ground black pepper

   1 Tablespoon                Olive oil 

                               (or more as needed)

   1 teaspoon                  Ground cumin

   2 Teaspoon                  Chopped garlic

Harissa sauce (follows)

 Put the lamb in a mixing bowl and add all 

of the ingredients except the 

vegetable oil and harissa sauce. Blend the mixture 

thoroughly by hand.

Shape the mixture into 8 equal size patties similar 

to hamburgers.

Heat the oil in a non stick skillet large enough to 

hold all of the 

patties. Two pans may be necessary.

Add the patties to the skillet. Cook them over medium 

high heat about 3 to 

4 minutes on each side, depending on the degree of 

doneness desired. Drain 

on paper towels and serve with the harissa sauce 

on the side.

 

Harissa Sauce

Yield: About 2 1/2 cups

1/4 pound dried chiles, stemmed and seeded (see note)

3 or 4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

1 1/4 cups olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Ground coriander

Ground cumin

Curry powder

Ground cinnamon

Ground cardamom

Place chilies and garlic in a small saucepan; cover with water and bring to a
boil. Let boil for 1 to 2 minutes; drain. Transfer to a blender. Process until
almost smooth, then add tomato paste and vinegar; pulse to combine. With the
motor running, add olive oil in a thin stream, processing until smooth.

Add 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, curry powder, cinnamon
and cardamom; pulse to blend. Taste, and then adjust each spice according to taste.

 

Note: You can adjust the spiciness of this sauce with your choice of dried
chiles. Anaheims and poblanos are relatively mild, for example, while habaneros
are extremely hot.

 

Hope everyone had a great holiday season.  Bit of a rough one for me.  Transmission blew up on the van in Kentucky on the way to Indiana.  Got a wicked cold that has stayed with me for almost three weeks.  In other words, not a whole lot of fun.  The new dual-core computer does help to make up for it though.

Here's wishing all of you a great and prosperous New Year!

 

"The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do'. I typed it out. End of story."
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