Emu fan fillet sandwiches

I really like emu. It has a magnificent, meaty flavour. Not as strong as kangaroo or venison, even, but still very nice. I bought a kilogram of fan fillet the other day, so twice over the next few weeks you'll see emu recipes appear. I had the butcher cut the piece into three. I'll have to try a curry with one of the pieces. The other piece? No idea at this stage. A thought that occured just now, though, is a sort of 'coat of arms' pie. That'd be a whole lot of fun. Particularly if I could season it with native stuff like mountain pepper. Stay tuned, kids.

Anyway, this sandwich. It's essentially a steak sandwich, only with emu instead of beef. You could make this with beef. You could make this with buffalo. With ostrich. With kangaroo. You could add a bit more vegetable matter. Maybe take those lovely pieces of onion that have absorbed the flavour of the red wine and lay them on top of the fan fillet. Go crazy. I mean, it's meat in bread, you can't really ruin it.

Ingredients:

4 slices of sour dough or other good quality bread
4 slices beetroot
2 150-175 g pieces of emu fan fillet
1 quantity thick red wine and garlic sauce
a small handful of baby spinach leaves (could use rocket here, I guess)
a little olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt

A half hour before cooking, remove the emu from the fridge to get it up to room temperature. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle a little olive oil on top, too.

Pre-heat the fry pan to smoking hot. You could use a barbecue, of course. Could even toast the bread over the grill. Just be careful not to burn it. When hot, add the emu fan fillet pieces. Cook for two minutes on each side and then transfer to a plate. Wrap in foil and let rest for five minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bread. Rub a little olive oil into it and toast it lightly. When toasted, top two of the slices with the baby spinach leaves and beetroot slices. When the fan fillet has rested enough, add to the sandwich. Then pour over the sauce. Now, you might've figured this is the kind of steak sandwich you eat with a knife and fork. You'd be right, there. So maybe sex it up a bit with a garnish. Preferably something more interesting than the very 90s sprig of continental parsley, mind.

Emu meatballs with a red wine dipping sauce

When I cooked emu for my students, once again I worked with the sausages. Emu has a strong, meaty taste. It stands up well to all of the sauces typically paired with red meats, including red wine jus. Emu sausages can be ordered in most butchers and poultry stores. If you're serving emu as a sit down dinner, it might be more appropriate to order a fan fillet. If you're serving the meatballs at some kind of function, though, simply jam a toothpick into each meat ball.

Ingredients:

1 kilogram emu sausages
3/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup beef or veal stock (either home made or quality store-bought stuff)
6 tbs unsalted butter, softened
2 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Using a paring knife, slit sausages open and extract meat. Take a pinch of meat in your fingers and roll it into a ball. Season with salt and pepper, then repeat the process until you've used all the meat. Fry meatballs over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes or until cooked through.

Heat a tablespoon of butter in a fry pan. When hot, add shallots and garlic. Stir until soft and then add the red wine and stock. When the red wine and stock mixture starts to boil, drop the temperature and allow to simmer for a good 15-20 minutes. The volume should reduce by half, if not more. When wine and stock have reduced, whisk in the remaining butter a tablespoon at a time. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.