The Gentle Majestic Elk

[Lyle]

Hello all.

I've decided to serve a tasting for a party of elk medallions in a cherry(?) port reduction. Having never cooked elk, honestly only tasting it a couple of times, and finding few resources...well, ya know.

Would one roast the loin like beef? To what internal temp? The few times I've eaten elk, I remeber being aghast as I cut into it only to reveal a dark over-cooked steak grey brown. However, I had little compaint about the texture or moisture content. Is this just the nature of the beast, or was it poorly prepared? It must be said, however, it was always slathered in sauce so I've never tasted the pure naked version.

What are your favorite methods of preparing, or favorite dishes of, elk? :

[grillboy]

In my experience with elk (once had a roommate who had a freezer full of elk meet from 2 elks....all different cuts) I found that the meat had a low fat content similar to ostrich. Be very careful not to overcook. I would suggest an internal temp in the 140 degree range to all carry over cooking which should still leave the meat very juicy. By the way if you ever get the chance try elk jerky...too good!

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[Lyle]

Did you find the color as I had described, or were my examples poorly prepared?

Were they even elk?

shudder shudder gag

[grillboy]

I don't recall seeing that color. I can tell you that we grilled almost everything, cooking to medium rare and never had an issue with moisture or flavor.

[Brad S]

IMHO, Elk should be served MR.

Are you buying a saddle or just the loin? because you can make a nice stock from the bones to use as your foundation of your sauce.

If the Elk is farmed raised it won't really be gamey at all. So I would cut nice medallions (maybe 2 Three oz per person) season it with assorted peppercorns (crushed) and kosher salt. I would saute the medallions in clarified butter over high heat for a moment or so. Elk, like venison has very little fat so it cooks very fast.

If you have a stock (or buy a good veal or beef broth) bring it to a simmer.

In a different sauce pan,saute some finely minced shallots,parsley stems,a few peppercorns and a clove of garlic. When lightly carmilized add a couple tablespoons of tomato concasse (this will help give body to your sauce)

cook this base for another moment over medium high heat and then deglaze with your port,reduce to sec and add your stock (opps forgot to tell you to add a bit of salt to your base as it sautees not much though)

Bring this to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes skimming as you go.

In another pan, saute your cherries in a bit of brown butter,deglaze with a little red vermouth then strain your sauce into the cherries,skim,adjust the seasoning and you should be fine.

[Dana]

Being married to an avid hunter for 25 years, I've cooked my share of game, and I'd say without a doubt, that elk is by far the best wild game there is. Antelope is next. Keep it MR. The cherry/port sauce would be terrific. If anyone gets ahold of ground elk (hamburger), use it like lean, good quality ground beef, and no one will know. I made some BBQ meatballs (standard church cookbook recipe) for NY's eve one year. My sister-in-law, who will not touch anything but premium beef and chicken breasts, went back for seconds of them. After she said again how good they were, we told here they were made from elk, she said "You mean I ate elk balls??!!" lol

Elk is the best

[Fat Guy]

I did a sampling of game at a restaurant in Edmonton a few months ago and the Elk certainly stood out as one of the best. Muskox was also terrific. I'd say you want to go medium rare tending towards rare.

[Fat Guy]

Really good thread title, by the way.

[Adam Balic]

Lyle - Where are you geographically? I assume that you are in North America? I ask because in Europe Elk (or Els) = US "Moose", while I think that in the US Elk = UK Red Deer. If we are talking about Red Deer/Elk then I can help you out (I am in Scotland and the damn things are in plague proportions). Can't help with Moose though.

[Lyle]

caped chef - Thanks for the technique. Read many of your posts before and they are quite instructive. What are your observations about the inside color of a medium rare, or more likely, medium medallion of elk. For that matter, that of other NA athletic game like mule deer?

Dana - Yes, I luckily have access to ground elk, and most game. Thank you. My brother is an avid hunter and, therefore, an avid gifter. I have never made nor used, however, the ground product. Question: if nobody could tell the difference between elk and ground beef, why use elk? Is it healthier?

Fat Guy - I too had the opportunity to sample muskox in Colorodo this summer and failed to do so How would you describe the taste, texture, and experience (if you wrote abt it in Canada.com, pardon my sloth). I had great difficulty describing to my wife the taste of elk, none the texture. I had a hint of lamb swimming around somewhere in there, but my palate is probable permanately busted. Again i proffer that my recent sampling of elk was suspect at best.

Adam - My true colours come through! Yes, I am in Texas. Fascinating. I had no idea about the deer/elk localism. Are European elk (moose) edible? I would, at least by sheer girth, somewhat liken them to a Bison...or at least a horse And please tell me all you can about the red deer.

[Oreganought]

The common link between moose and elk is an interesting one that in the past has caused much confusion simply due to their respective regional names. The moose (in North America) and the elk (in Europe) are actually the same species of animal with differences analogous to those of different races within the human population.

Therefore there aren't really any moose, as such, in Europe though there are elk in N. America. The indian name for elk in NA is wapati.

Moose/Elk/Caribou/Reindeer are all in the deer family.The caribou and reindeer are the same animal but are called differently depending on the geographical location.Canada-caribou,Lapland-reindeer.

[Adam Balic]

Lyle - will look at some recipes for you tonight and post tomorow. It is wild game not farmed? This makes a diffrence. If it is wild the quality of the meat varies widely from beast to beast, sometimes it doesn't work out so well. For example that fat content of the meat can vary depending on sex of time of the year. I try not to eat venison from males in rut, as it smells/tastes quite strong. One tip though, that fat in deer congeals very quickly so you must serve it quite hot. This isn't a problem with most cuts, which are pretty lean, but if you are serving a haunch etc you have to look out for it.

The flavour is great, gamey, but not overly so, quite a sweet meat so if goes well with a number of diffrent styles of cooking. Ground venison makes great burgers if you put in a sauce like thai sweet chillie sauce and something sharp to balance that. One thing that is nice to do is to thread cubes of meat onto a small skewer and put them into a jar of olive oil for two or three days. Then take them out and cook (gently fry) them for breakfast.

Roast Venison: (The Cook and Housewife's Manual, Mrs Magaret Dods. 1826)

"Season haunch by rubbing in well with mixed spices. Soak it for six hours in claret and a quarter-pint of the best vinegar or the fresh juice of three lemons; turn it frequently and baste with the liquor. Strain the liquor in which the venison was soaked; add to it fresh butter melted, and with this baste the haunch during the whole time of roasting. Fifteen minutes before the roast is drawn, baste with butter, and dredge lightly with flour to froth and brown it.

For sauce.- Take contents of dripping pan, which will be very rich and highly flavoured, add half-pint of clear brown gravy, drawn from venison or full aged healthy mutton. Boil them together, skim, add teaspoon of walnut catsup and pour around the roast. Instead of catsup lemon juice or any of the flavoured vinegars congenial to venison, and to the taste of the gastronome, may advantageously be substituted."

[Lyle]

In the future I will use wild elk if I ever manage to use it at all, but this time, since I have a large sample population for this experiament, I will be using the most tedious ordering process of Diamond Cut Ranch.

"For example that fat content of the meat can vary depending on sex of time of the year."

Of course I will sleep with any time of the year regardless of the sex, except December, of course, wich is neuter

As for venison, I have, to my knowledge, only eaten wild and, from both doe and buck, never had a poor version. Only poor preparation. And instruction. And sobriety while hunting it.

Thanks Adam!

[Adam Balic]

Lyle - OK, I have spoken to my people about cooking Elk/Red deer. First make sure that all the silvery sinew (my friend calls it "Knicker elastic" is removed from the meat surface, this will contract in cooking and spoil the look of the meat and cooking of the meat. As FG said rareish medium rare is best, unless you like eating rubber! A really good sauce is the following from Francatelli (Queen Victoria's Chef).

2 Tablespoons of port wine

200 gm redcurrant jelly

small stick of cinnamon, broken but not too small unless you like grit. Use cinnamon, not cassia

Thiny pared rind of a lemon or orange (no pith!!)

Mix, heat, simmer for five minutes. Strain. Enjoy.

This is a great base sauce. You can add cream or meat juices or orange juice or cherries or juniper berries etc.

If cooking large joints buy a good meat thermometre - saves many tears.

Thinly sliced rare roasted venison is rather nice in Thai salad or in Nori rolls.

[Dana]

We eat Elk because: it tastes good, it's free (he's going on the hunt whether he gets anything or not), and no hunter I know would ever make a kill without the intention of eating it. Besides, it's a great deal of fun to fool people into thinking it's beef!!