Ostrich loin is very lean, packed with protein, and delicious! If you haven’t tried ostrich meat before, then try this simple Grilled Ostrich Loin with Easy Risotto. It’s a meal that can be on the table in about 20 minutes any night of the week! I received product for review but all opinions about ostrich are my own.
About this time last year, I packed up the dogs, the hubs, and headed to North Carolina to meet up with the owners of the Misty Morning Ostrich Ranch. You can read all about our adventures. It was amazing to learn so much about something I knew nothing about! And I did learn A LOT about ostrich. I hope you read and learn as much as I did.
I must admit that this little blog of mine is really getting me to branch out and try new things. If you had asked me 10 years ago that I’d be not only writing about but also eating and enjoying ostrich loin I’d tell you that you were out of your mind! Now, not only have I tried ostrich, but I’ve cooked duck breast, ground duck, and lamb! I know those don’t really seem so out there to y’all, but to me that’s HUGE! Just ask my fam.
Yesterday I shared a great recipe for duck bahn mi tacos as my intro post to #CookoutWeek. Today I’m sharing a simply delicious Grilled Ostrich Loin with Easy Risotto. Not only is this a delicious meal for any night of the week, but it can be a date night recipe, too. It’s not every day you get ostrich. In fact, some of you might not even know where you can purchase ostrich.
I definitely would start at the American Ostrich Association. They have several listed throughout the United States. Other countries have probably been sourcing ostrich and emu longer than we have here. There was a ban on important bird to the states and once that was listed, ostrich has slowly started to grow and gain popularity. Of course, if you’re in North Carolina, you can easily head to Misty Morning Ostrich Ranch. Ryan and Gaby are great people and have tours and events all the time!
Of course, you could Google “ostrich meat near me” and see what pops up. There’s a farm near me that I just emailed about visiting for not just ostrich meat but see what their fam is about. I’m still hoping to make a connection with local farms and suppliers in the area. I’m getting ready to donate a bunch of sugar to a bee keeping society. I hope that leads to something, too.
But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about this delicious Grilled Ostrich Loin with Easy Risotto. Ostrich meat is healthier for you than almost any other meat on the market. It’s low in cholesterol and fat. So much so that there’s little to no shrinkage when you cook ostrich meat. It’s high in protein and iron. Most dietitians and medical practitioners refer to it as the healthiest red meat.
Different cuts have more iron flavor than others. We had one loin and one filet to cook. The loin is the lighter of the two on the plate. The other is the filet which is a thicker cut the hubs had that night. Since his was a little on the medium to rare side it had more an iron flavor than the loin I ate. He said it tasted like liver, but I didn’t get that at all. Just make sure it’s cooked to at least 145F and you’re good! If you do read the post I shared about my experiences on the ranch, you can see how the burgers came out. I still have some of their ground ostrich in the freezer to cook up later.
Since there’s little to no fat, your best bet is to not only oil the grates but to baste the loin with some olive oil, too. This will prevent it from sticking to the grill and will hold the salt and pepper or any other flavors you want to put on your loin. Since we wanted to taste the ostrich for itself, we didn’t put much on ours. However, rosemary would be amazing with the loin as well as some garlic and maybe a little onion powder, too.
The richness of the ostrich meat deserves a delicious side dish to go with it. I made some pressure cooker risotto. Which is now the only way I made risotto. You see, Mom and I took some cooking classes while she was here for my birthday. We had a blast! Seriously.
We took a macaron class and one about quick eats. We were sold on the class when the listed 7 minutes risotto as one of the recipes to make. Seven minutes? Seriously? Thus was my introduction to a multi cooker that has now replaced my slow cooker and is typically on the counter at least one night a week. In fact, I use it more for a pressure cooker than slow cooker. I remember all those family meals that we made in that old aluminum pressure cooker that we had to carefully put a spoon under the weight to de-pressurize. So many meals…
Maybe I’ll share some of those with you later.
The trick to the risotto is to use the brown setting and not sauté. Sauté doesn’t get hot enough fast enough for me to sauté the garlic and onions. Using brown gets it hot enough which will allow it to reach pressure quickly, too. That’s my trick to making this more like a 15 minute start to finish risotto than the 7 the class boasted in the menu. It cooks for 7 minutes, but there’s before and after cooking that they don’t account for.
So, step out of your comfort zone and try to find some ostrich to cook up. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the flavor and taste. I know I was. The lean, flavorful meat and the creamy polenta are quick and easy to cook up any night of the week. OR it could be something special for a date night dinner. I’d go for a Beaujolais wine to pair well with the richness of the meat.
Ingredients
- 2-8 ounce ostrich loins
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon garlic flavored olive oil
- 1/4 cup diced shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry, white wine
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Set your gas grill to high heat (or start your chimney of charcoal) before you start the risotto.
- Set your multi-cooker to brown. Swirl the olive oil into the pot and sauté the onions and garlic until fragrant. Stir in the arborio rice and continue to sauté until the rice gets lighter in color.
- Stir in the white wine and simmer 2 to 3 minutes before adding the chicken broth.
- Turn the cooker off before setting the lid and pressing the risotto button (or set your pressure cooker for 7 minutes on high).
- Lightly oil the grates of your grill. Place the ostrich on the grill and cook 3 minutes, then rotate 45 degrees and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the loins over and repeat until the internal temperature reaches 145. Allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes, tented with foil, until ready to slice and serve.
- Allow the pressure cooker to release pressure naturally on the risotto for the best results. Once the pressure is released, open the pot and stir in the butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper before serving with the sliced ostrich loin.
Disclaimer: Thank you to #CookoutWeek Sponsors The PinterTest Kitchen, Chef Shamy, Maple Leaf Farms, Barleans, and Vermont Village for providing the prizes free of charge. These sponsors also provided bloggers with samples and product to use for creating #CookoutWeek recipes. All opinions are my own.
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