36: Elk "Steak" / Relish of Leeks, Wild Mushrooms & Zucchini / Sweet Potato Fries

My plan was to make elk burgers with an onion and roasted garlic mayonnaise, but I didn’t have enough garlic, onion, or buns. Instead I made “steaks” from ground elk with a relish of leeks, wild mushrooms, and zucchini, topped with aged white cheddar, made complete with sweet potato fries – all ingredients I already had in my refrigerator.

Elk is low in fat, calories, and cholesterol, while being high in protein and richer in flavor than beef. The texture is also heartier than beef. I’m happy to see different meats I cook are so popular on this blog. A quick peek at the Popular Posts section on the right side of this blog reveals that the veal chops and goat recipe are very popular. In fact, both recipes have been on the top since I posted them – that’s out of over 30 meals I’ve posted on here.

These elk “steaks” were admittedly pretty big once they cooked. I should’ve made three patties, but I went with two because we were pretty hungry. I was thinking they would shrink down a little when cooked, but they actually plumped up. The savory “steak” is a nice contrast with the heavenly sweetness of sweet potato – one of my favorite vegetables, along with kale.

By the way, I get all my “exotic” meats through my farm club, Arganica Farm Club. Check your local farmer’s market as well. Try these elk meatballs braised in red wine sauce as well.

Ingredients and Directions:

1 lb ground elk, room temperature (or actual elk steaks if you can find them)

1 leek, diced

1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced for fries

1/2 cup wild mushrooms, diced (I used creminis and shiitakes)

1/4 cup zucchini, diced

2 slices aged white cheddar, room temperature

1 tbs each of basil, mint, and parsley

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine elk and herbs with about a tablespoon each of salt and pepper, and use your hands to mix together well. Form patties as big or as small as you like. Arrange sweet potatoes in an oven safe dish with a light coat of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking process.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add leeks to the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add oil to a cast iron plate over medium high heat while the leeks are cooking. Add mushrooms and zucchini to leeks, reduce heat to low, season, and sauté for the duration you cook the elk, stirring occasionally and adjusting seasoning as you like. Add elk to the cast iron plate, and cook to desired doneness. I cooked the elk for about 7-8 minutes on each side, plus 2 minutes in the oven to melt the cheese on top, giving it a nice medium profile. Fries should be done at the same time you are ready to transfer elk to melt the cheese. Remove fries to cool while melting cheese in the oven. Add vegetable relish to your steak when cheese is melted to your liking.

Enjoy!

20: Braised Elk Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce / Thyme-Laced Potato & Carrot Torte / Steamed Broccoli

What a meal! I went to the gym, ran three miles, did some abs, and then biked another three miles from the gym to go shopping for jeans and a shirt. All I had to eat beforehand was a bowl of granola, so, needless to say, I was starving. I grabbed a smoothie from Robek’s, and I finally returned home a few hours after my intense workout. I was ready to eat, but I knew I had some serious prep work ahead of me as well as 90 minutes for the meatballs to cook.

I have to be honest here: I made a couple mistakes that would improve this dish. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but a couple tweaks to the recipe would have made it even better. I’ll italicize what I should have done below.

Anyways, elk is a heartier meat, low in fat and cholesterol, with a distinct rich flavor. I paired it with a potato and carrot torte as the starch, and steamed veggies to round out the meal. We drank HJ Fabre Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina – a luscious plum- and currant-rich red with smoky undertones.

In my famished state, the prep was intense for about 90 minutes. You could prep everything before starting to cook anything, but it would probably take longer than 2 hours and 15 minutes it took from start to finish the way I did it. Be sure to read through this a few times before deciding your plan of action.

Ingredients and Directions:

-1 lb ground elk

-2 large red potatoes, thinly sliced

-1 carrot, thinly sliced

-half a large onion, diced

-2 large tomatoes diced

-3 cloves of garlic, minced

-2 eggs, beaten and separated

-1 cup hearty red wine

-minced sage, rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley (mix together but keep thyme separate)

-fresh grated cheese, optional (parmesan or grana padano)

-1/3 cup bread crumbs

-olive oil

-salt and pepper

To make the meatballs, combine elk, one beaten egg, salt, pepper, splash of olive oil, and bread crumbs in a large bowl. Mix well and use your hands to make meatballs. I was able to make 14 meatballs out of one pound of ground elk meat.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a Dutch oven, or at least 4 quart sauce pan, heat olive oil on medium heat in preparation of browning the elk meatballs. It should take about 10 minutes to brown the meat. Then transfer meatballs to a plate with a slotted spoon, leaving behind all the oil in the pan.

Add onion and garlic to pan and sauté for a few minutes. Begin getting an 8 inch baking dish ready for the torte by coating the dish with a thin layer of olive oil. Arrange half the potatoes in a layer, slightly overlapping.  Add layer of egg wash. Add salt, pepper, and a pinch of thyme to the bottom layer.

Add wine to onions and garlic, and cook wine for one minute. Add tomatoes and herbs, saving a couple pinches worth for garnish, to wine mixture now, and then add the meatballs back to the sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 90 minutes.

Now add the carrots to the torte and repeat with seasoning and egg wash. Repeat with top layer of potatoes, minus adding egg wash. Cover with foil. Cook the torte covered for about 30-40 minutes. Here’s where I could have tweaked the recipe the first time. Remove foil and use a spatula to flatten torte. My torte came out a little fluffy because I didn't flatten it. Cook for another 25 minutes.

I thought the meatballs could have been braised longer than 90 minutes, but the torte was definitely done, so I couldn’t cook the meatballs longer. I would recommend another 30-60 minutes to the meatballs before serving.

In the waning minutes of your torte cooking, start water for steaming broccoli. Add broccoli to pot as you begin to plate the torte and meatballs.

Serve everything, garnish with cheese (I didn't think the cheese made much of a difference because the sauce was already so flavorful.), a pinch of herbs, and enjoy!!