Cooking with Ahleckz, 'Unusual Meat'.

Ahleckz · 31 Mar 2011 at 12:56

As I mentioned in This Instant And Moment and the Random Image Thread, last week I won a box of meat. That meat arrived today, and this thread will detail my adventures in cooking it and thoughts about the meat. The box isn't as initially described, but that's not a problem. Just what they had lying around I guess. I didn't pay a penny for it so I'm just grateful to get any sort of free meat! Yes I could have got more 'normal' meat for the money if I had paid but it's all about trying new and unusual meats, right?

The meat is from these guys - http://www.keziefoods.co.uk

So without further ado, on with the pictures (I haven't started cooking yet, will be updated when I do)

The Boxes.

They sell the selection pack for £50. I got some extras.

Box one, containing Zebra and Bison Burgers. Wild Boar Sausages. Wildebeast, Zebra, Ostrich, Springbok Steak, Crocodile Fillet.

Box two, containing a big bag of Snails and two Shark Fillets.

Haven't got any plans for any of it yet, so would be happy to hear some suggestions as to what to do with the things.

Ahleckz · 31 Mar 2011 at 14:09

I was going to get the BBQ going on Sunday (Mothers day isn't it? Who needs flowers when you can have Crocodile) but it doesn't look like it'll be raining. But I'm a real man and can BBQ in the rain! I'm that manly, I eat Shark.

The lady friend is calling me a sicko, psh. Women.

Ahleckz · 31 Mar 2011 at 14:11

Stretch said:
Would Zebra not be a bit like eating horse meat?

Possibly, just as well horse is bloody amazing!

Ahleckz · 31 Mar 2011 at 18:13

Yeah, sorry about the lack of actual cooking pictures. Going to save the majority of it for a BBQ, got nothing to go with it atm so can't do anything tonight. Just showing off my meat (ooh err).

Ahleckz · 9 Apr 2011 at 20:36

So, I just had the zebra burgers. Made a stilton sauce for one and a tomato salsa for the other.
The zebra wasn't great to be honest. Quite smokey and a strange 'Earthy' taste. I cooked it medium, but was quite gristly.
Good to try, but not for me. I wouldn't like to have a zebra steak.
I have a few pictures, I'll put them up later. And if anyone wants the recipe for the sauces let me know.

Ahleckz · 10 Apr 2011 at 01:01

JHeaton, I'd hold off if I were you and try something else. If anyone wants a opinion on any of the meat, do speak up and I'll cook that next!

Sauce recipes, very simple really. Can adapt it for what you have in your cupboards.

OK, the stilton sauce was:

100grams of Stilton, crumbled.
2 Tablespoons of Creme Fraiche (cream would also work)
1 Tablespoon of All Grain Mustard
Salt and Pepper
Pinch of Paprika

Slap it all in a pan and stir it whilst it heats. Keep heating until the cheese has melted, and heat until you get your desired consistency. Get plenty of sauce for a steak, I made far too much!

Salsa:
3 tomatoes. Score the bottom of them, plunge them into boiling water for 1 minute. Then plunge into cold water. This'll allow you to easily remove the skins.
Half an onion
1 third of a red pepper.
Garlic
Salt and Pepper
Splash of Worcesiter Sauce
Splash of white wine vinegar (cider would be nice, but I didn't have any)

Throw onions, garlic into a pot. Fry off a bit with olive oil. Add the rest of the things and fry for a few minutes (until the tomatoes start to break down).
Top up with some water (don't need that much, not enough to cover everything but you want a broth).
Reduce this a fair whack, and you're left with a very quick and simple salsa.

Ahleckz · 15 Apr 2011 at 19:39

lookitsjonno said:
have you tried the snales yet?

I haven't yet. I haven't really had much of it at all! Been a pretty busy couple of weeks, and I keep forgetting to defrost something. Going to have some Springbok this weekend, and maybe something else so I'll report back.

Ahleckz · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:55

So left this thread to die a bit.

I was planning on doing something fancy and doing reviews of the meat but my camera broke a few days after I got it and money was pretty tight so wasn't able to make anything amazing. I just basically cooked the meat simply, to enjoy the flavours and texture of unusual meat that you can't really get down the supermarket.

I'm a competent cook and wished I was able to do something more special but meat is meat right and I enjoyed tasting them at their 'raw' state so to speak.

Just a quick couple of words:
Zebra Burgers - Pretty tough and gristly. Had a weird 'earthy' flavour to them and quite a smoky after taste. Certainily not inedible but I wouldn't get them again. I prefer beef.
Bison Burgers - Much nicer. A lot more 'meaty' than your traditional beef and just seems to be full of flavour. Really good.
Zebra Filllet - As above, quite tough and not very juicy. How much was lost in freezing I don't know. I expected it to taste like Horse which I love but it just didn't live up to it. Again, I wouldn't order again.
Ostrich - Pretty good, can't fault it. Not amazing, not bad though.
Springbok - This was great. Like a really good sirloin really. I'd happy eat this again. I reckon it would be really versatile as well as it seemed to go with all the sides I had. Slap on the BBQ and it would be fantastic I reckon.
Crocodile - You couldn't BBQ this. Too much water in it.

Wild Boar (and apple) Sausages - These were fantastic. Pretty 'gamey' but really good. You wouldn't want to have them every morning in your butty because they were so rich but nonetheless were a nice treat. Getting more and more common in supermarkets as well which is a good sign I guess.

I also got some shark which I haven't eaten yet, and a big bag of snails which I haven't eaten also.