New Year's weekend was a great time for me and my wife. We visited my father and step-mother at their farm, which I had not seen since the days when the only permanent structure was an outhouse he built using an artesian well and some pipe. Now there is a substantial house with a nice game room: I beat him at darts, and he beat me at pool.
More to the point, we ate very well. The best meal was New Year's Day when he grilled us a surf and turf with beef tenderloin and lobster tail. My father is an avid sportsman, and the lobster was caught on a scuba diving trip a few months prior. Frozen, yes, but essentially fresh out of the ocean. Grilled with a little butter, it is what I missed most about Florida while I was living in land-locked Arizona.
But aside from one of the best meals we've ever had (my wife said the filet mignon was the best steak she's ever eaten), we were sent home with a cooler full of other sustainably gathered meats, including hogfish, grouper, and a plethora of elk cuts.
Vault the squiggles, and let's talk about the elk!
Ground Elk
I figured the easiest way to start my elk meat adventure was to break out the ground stuff and make burgers. Not knowing exactly what to expect, I decided to play it safe and make them much like I have always made burgers. I, also, thought seasoning lightly would be the best way to go.
Here is the recipe:
Elk Burgers with queso fresco and guacamole
Smokeymonkey's Elk Burgers
Makes 6 burgers
1 avocado
1/4 cup salsa
1 lb ground elk meat
1 egg yolk
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
6 hamburger style potato buns
1/4 lb queso fresco
Make the guacamole:
Holding the avocado in one hand, slice down the center around the hard pit in the middle, rotating the avocado until the cut encircles it. Separate the halves and remove the pit by gently turning it. Carefully score the flesh of the avocado on the diagonal making sure not to penetrate the outer husk. Repeat this scoring perpendicularly to create a diamond pattern. Scoop out the flesh and you have diced avocado.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the salsa into the avocado, smashing the avocado gently. Do NOT use a blender or processor as the heat of the blades will turn it to mush. Season with salt and pepper to taste (avocado is very bland by itself). Cover the guacamole with plastic wrap and push the wrap onto the surface to prevent browning. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Form the patties:
In a large mixing bowl, combine ground elk, egg yolk, diced onion, and breadcrumbs. Divide the mixture in half, then divide each half into thirds. Roll the six portions into balls, then flatten into circular patties. Important: Be sure to depress the center of the patties while leaving the outer edges as thick as possible for the diameter necessary; the center will thicken while cooking.
Set the patties aside on wax or parchment paper.
Cook the burgers:
In a cast iron skillet, heat a light coating of neutrally flavored oil (vegetable or canola, for instance) to medium heat. Season the burger patties with salt and pepper. Cook patties in oil until juices begin to pool on the top. Remove patties to a plate and let juice reabsorb. Cook the other side until heated through. Remove to plate to rest again. Repeat this process until burger is cooked medium rare.
Assemble the burger:
Toast the burger buns. Smear guacamole on top half of bun. Place burger on bottom bun and crumble queso fresco over burger. Serve.
I used the guacamole and queso fresco mainly because that is what I had in the fridge, but it came together so well, that I don't know what I could have changed. The queso and the guacamole are so creamy and light-tasting they are a perfect foil for the rich umami gaminess of the elk meat. Elk is not rich in fat, but the flavor of the lean meat is very similar to lamb in my opinion.
The technique of taking the patties off the heat and letting them rest multiple times I learned from something on cooking channel, I think. I want to say it was a Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives episode where the guy made this incredibly complex cheeseburger, but I can't find the particular episode I'm thinking of. Anyway, the technique is perfect here, because if you simply flip the burger with all that juice on top, you will end up steaming your burgers. I learned this on my test run and decided to get advanced for the other attempts. Letting the juices reabsorb and turning the burger multiple times keeps all the juiciness inside instead of in your pan.
Elk Roast
My next elk experiment was with the roast. It came de-boned, so I decided a stew was not going to be my best bet. Also, my father had told me that when he made his favorite stew recipe with elk instead of beef, he wasn't pleased with the added gaminess. Having learned from the burgers above, I thought maybe stroganoff would be a great application. Again, the creaminess would tame the wild meat.
Monkey's Elk Stroganoff
Serves 4
1 lb elk roast
1 medium white onion, diced
1 lb mushrooms, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp sour cream
2 cups cooked pasta
In a cast iron dutch oven, bring a light coating of oil to medium heat. Slice the elk roast against the grain in long, thin strips. Cut to smaller pieces as necessary, approximately 1-2 inches long as desired. Brown the elk slices, then add onion and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook until soft. Season with salt and pepper and add garlic, stirring gently.
Warm veggie stock to a light simmer and deglaze roast mixture a few spoonfuls at a time. As sauce begins to form, add some milk as well, being careful not to drop the temperature too much at once. When all stock and milk has been added, let reduce to half and begin adding sour cream and stirring constantly.
Once sauce has thickened, add cooked pasta of desired shape (I like spirals for this) and stir together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
You can use any pan you want really, I just love my dutch oven and use it whenever I can. The key is to get the meat sliced thinly because otherwise it will be tough. It was tough enough on my first attempt that I would happily take advice on how to make it more tender. My wife said it was fine, but I'm a perfectionist.
You can use variable amounts of the stock, milk, and sour cream to obtain the creaminess you want. I'm not even really sure on the quantities above, so just add a little at a time, then stir and wait. The sauce should be thick, but not sticky. Usually you can pull a stirring implement through it, and it will 'ooze' back into place by itself.
I like a ton of black pepper, so I crack some in every time I add an ingredient. Just season to taste.
More roast
Simple elk stew over quinoa
I had some elk roast left over from the stroganoff, so for a quick lunch the next day, I put together a simple stew over quinoa. I simply sauteed some celery, carrots, and onions until tender, added the elk scraps and seasoned with salt and pepper. It needed quite a bit of salt with all that veg, but the elk added a terrific umami. The quinoa I did in some veggie stock with green onions.
Overall, I found that elk is a terrific meat to work with, somewhere between the best beef you've ever tasted and lamb, which is too oily for me in most applications.
Please, tell me about your elky adventures!
Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 10:14 AM PT: I'm so happy to be rescued because there are some great recipes and discussions in the comments. Who knew elk was so popular?