Instructions: Rinse ostrich and pat dry.

In a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat, melt butter. When hot, add ostrich in a single layer. Brown on each side, cooking until rare or medium-rare (red in center, cut to test), 4 to 5 minutes total, or to taste (well-done ostrich is dry).

Remove pan from heat, quickly transfer the meat to a platter, and keep it warm.

Add port, cream, and cheese to pan; stir over high heat until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Pour sauce over the meat. Season to taste with pepper and salt.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Comments: Serve on buttered toast with sauteed pear slices.

Ostrich is no longer a novelty. Growers in this country produce more than 1 million pounds of ostrich meat every year. The meat is available frozen, or it can be ordered at most meat markets and supermarkets. Ostrich is a very red, lean, and mild-tasting meat. Comparing it to beef makes the most flavor sense.

The ostrich has no breast meat - its mostly leg and thigh, plus a strip from the back called the tenderloin. The tenderloin and some cuts from the thigh (top loin, fan, oyster, and inside and outside strip) are quite tender. Others are chewier. Ostrich meat that is cut into neat slices or re-formed into steaks called medallions or mignons cooks quite evenly.

At $10 to $20 a pound, depending on the cut, ostrich isnt cheap. But its lean, boned, and quick-cooking, and takes well to bold sauces.

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