Saturday, September 29, 2007

Ostrich Egg Frittata

Ostrich Egg Frittata

We got this humongous egg home one day, half expecting a baby dinosaur to come out of it the longer we refused to crack it open. When we finally did, we were rewarded with a bounty of wonderfully tasty and healthy (lower in cholesterol) version of the regular egg!
Camera used to take the pics below: Non-SLR. Olympus Digital, C-720 Ultra Zoom.
That's what it looked like when we got it

Hammer, chisel? It actually came with instructions!!


Yes, ALL that from one ostrich egg!

This is what we did with it :)


I have been meaning to write about my Ostrich egg escapades for a while now. Just as I am about to do that, I notice that Jai and Bee's 1st photography event theme is EGGS!! Serendipity anyone?

I am sending this eggstatic post Jai & Bee's way. For those who have not tried ostrich egg before, it pretty much tastes like regular egg, only 1 Ostrich egg tastes like 21 of the regular ones ;). Yup, thats right 1 ostrich egg yields yolk and egg-white equivalent to 21 regular eggs :)

Now how did we come about an ostrich egg you may ask. Well, R and I were on a tour of the California missions starting from San Francisco and going all the way down to Santa Barbara when we spotted an ostrich farm on the way! What again? Yes, an ostrich farm where they raise ostriches and allow people to go feed them. The brave ones who decided to go feed the large birds were given a LONG list of Dos and Donts (well Donts mostly :)).

R was just fascinated by the ostrich egg shell and was about to buy just the shell, when the person raising the ostrich convinced him to buy the actual egg with its goodness all intact instead. I kept nodding very vigorously, but alas R was already like a lil kid asking her all kinds of questions as to how many eggs does an ostrich lay in a week, do they protect them like mammals do etc etc. At that time I knew this was a lost cause..oh well...next thing I knew we had this HUGE (understatement!) egg sitting in our backpack where we were instructed to err keep it warm and covered???

Now the moment I heard the words keep it warm and covered, I had scary visions of a lil ostrich staring at us from the back of our car by the time we got home!
Well all ended well with us discovering the joys of ostrich egg, and for some reason we came away wondering if everyone raised ostriches instead of chicken, would that reduce the need to buy eggs as often as we do??? Hmm....now thats a thought, silly one albeit ;)

Kanchana of Married to a Desi was nice enough to highlight eggs as this month's WBB event event originally conceptualized by our favorite neighborhood doc Nandita. This way we get to click our eggs and eat them too ;). Am sending this ostrichy frittata her way!

Ostrich Frittata
Ingredients
1. 4 cups of ostrich egg well beaten. Alternatively you can use 4 regular eggs.
2. 1 cup peeled, cleaned shrimp
3. 1 cup broccoli cut into florets
4. 1 cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped thinly
5. 1 tsp Black pepper
6. 2 tsp cajun spice (or paprika)
7. 1 tsp olive oil
8. Salt to taste
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven at 350 degrees
2. In a deep vessel, add all the ingredients above and mix well
3. Spray a thick bottom skillet with oil
4. Add the mixture to the skillet and let cook in the oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes of till the egg turns brown
5. Once cooked, cut into wedges and serve.
I served this with some garlic bread. Made for a very satisfying meal!
Enjoy :)

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok. where can i order one from? thanks for a very unusual and fun entry, dhana. does it come with the "buy one egg, get a hammer and chisel free" deal? :-)

Dhana said...

Thanks J & B! Believe it or not we bought it while zipping down Hwy 5 from a middle of nowhere Ostrich Farm!! Sadly for R, neither the hammer or the chisel came free with it ;)

Suganya said...

Wow! You are adventurous or what? This reminds me of a television programme trying to make sunny side up with ostrich egg :)

Anonymous said...

What am amazing post! I've had ostrich meat, which is in between lamb and chicken, and is very delicious. But not ostrich egg! Who'd have thunk?!

So is it eggier than regular eggs? You know the kind that hens lay? :-D Do tell!

Nupur said...

Dhana, what a completely fascinating post! Well, all I can say is that y'all are way braver than me...I could not imagine bringing home and cracking open this huge egg :D
Did your frittata feed the whole neighborhood?

Srivalli said...

thats really a big one..

sra said...

Enjoyed reading this, Dhana! Never knew you'd need a chisel and hammer to break it open, thought all eggs were delicate!

Sia said...

u seriously need chisel n hammer to break that egg??? Amazing post dhana...

FH said...

WOW!! You saved some too. That is one humongous Egg!:))

Cynthia said...

This is a fantastic entry!

Dhana said...

Wow Suganya, the thought of making a sunny side up with an ostrich egg sounds even crazier!…all we were thinking was lots n lots of soufflés ;). Hehe…

Thanks Manisha! Yah, ostrich egg sure was interesting!! It is similar in egginess as the regular egg….but just the sheer quantity of it makes it feel very very very eggy however ;)

Thanks Nupur!! Brave or insane, not so sure ;). Trust me we brought it home eggcitedly, but then stared at it for a few days after not sure at all if we really wanted to crack it open ;). It almost did feed the entire neighborhood…had lots n lots of people over that week for sure ;)

Haha Srivalli, it really was! I will post a pic with it in comparison with the ever popular chicken egg ☺

Sra & Sia, I know! Who knew one would need a HAMMER to crack open the egg. My 1st thought was how does the baby ostrich crack it open..then figured maybe that’s why ostriches are so strong where they can kill a human with 1 single kick ;)

Asha, the instructions came with storage instructions too…I think they too figured you may not really be able to consume 21 eggs worth of stuff in 1 sitting !!

Aww Cynthia, you say the nicest, most encouraging things!!

Laavanya said...

Whoa.. amazing! I expected an Ostrich egg to be big but never realized it's equivalent to 21 chicken-eggs and needs a hammer and chisel to break open!

Sig said...

Wow! 21 eggs... I've never bought an ostrich egg... I was too chicken (pun intended) to do so :) Had ostrich meat though... next time I throw a big party, will try and get an ostrich egg :)

Dhana said...

Thanks Lavanya! When the instructions said use a hammer and a chisel, I was doing an about take as well, especially given the theory of those super fragile eggs and all ;)

I know Sig! Yah, would be so fun to get this for a party!! Imagine a HUGE omelette of sunny side up and people sititng around making their way through...priceless :)

Anonymous said...

How fascinating! Why does it need to be kept warm and covered? So you got to eat the egg and keep the shell too!

Dhana said...

Anita, I was wondering the very same thing...hehhehe! But yah, we did get to keep the shell, where we have gotten amazing suggestions from converting it into a lampshade to painting it etc....

Manasi said...

WOW!! that is HUGE!!!! and u r adventurous!!!

Dhana said...

haha, thanks Manasi! No choice when the lady at the ostrich farm egged us along..no pun intended ;)

Ashwini said...

Dhana you guys are way way way adventurous where food is concerned. Loved reading about the ostrich egg and your humorous asides.
PS - I didnt know you are in Bay area (I can be blind sometimes)!!!! Just saw the Ganpati post and did a double take...will mail you soon

Namratha said...

THAT is a LOOOOT of egg!! hehe..you sure are adventurous enough to try it! :-P

Sharmi said...

hey I thought you were kidding..
man that sure looks so big.

Dhana said...

Ashwini, not sure adventurous or crazy..hehe! But sure was fun :). Yup, I live in the bay area, and the Ganpati pic was taken at the visarjan at Sunnyvale temple.

Namratha, ruly a lot of egg ! Am glad it also came with storage instructions ;)

Haha Sharmi, no no it was really big...21 regular eggs big :D

Meeta K. Wolff said...

WOW! A unique entry and take on this months theme!

Anonymous said...

Hey Dhana,

What an adventure dear! It reminded me the movie 'Gods must be crazy'.

Dhana said...

Thanks Meeta!! I thought of submitting a pretty pic of egg curry, but this just seemed so much more fun :D

Thanks Anon!! It sure was a bit like that :)

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know where I can buy an ostrich egg in Wisconsin? I almost bought one in Santa Clara, California, but would not pass security at the airport. I wanted to buy it for my son-in-law.