The Evolution of Elk Supper

Ever since Joe brought back a gargantuan helping of fresh elk meat from his October hunting trip, I have taken on the formidable task of cooking up novel elk-inspired dishes. Having never hunted, consumed, or prepared elk (or any game meat for that matter) in my life, I found this challenge to be particularly intriguing.  If you remember, my first attempt of cooking elk was letting it slow-cook into a Hearty Hunter Stew.  We ended up freezing most of that stew, in part because I made enough to feed a squadron of elk hunters, but also because our appetites quickly grew weary of the dish.  After the New Year, once the last of the stew leftovers had been thawed and consumed, I decided it was time to really get serious about chipping away at our elk reserve. And so, the evolution of our elk suppers began.

My first elk experiment, so to speak,  was to throw a big hunk of meat into the food processor for some ground elk to be used in a savory meatball recipe.  The ingredients consisted of bread crumbs, fresh garlic, and dried herbs.  The balls were generously slathered and baked in a sweet tomato and onion sauce. 

This was one curious cooking experiment that resulted in a mediocre meal.  Despite the garlic, salt and seasonings, the meatballs tasted like elk.  That was when I blurted out, "Why on earth do you people spend all of this time and money on hunting big game animals for their meat if you hate the taste of it?!"   I realized then that cooking game is a game in itself:  the better disguised the taste of the game, the better the taste!   We grabbed a bottle of hot sauce from the fridge and managed to eat four measly meatballs.  Great... I had made over a dozen. What were we going to do with the rest? 

The following night I tried breaking them up and letting them slowly simmer  with a jar of marinara sauce.  Spaghetti a la Elk, anyone?   It was better than meatballs, but we both decided that the taste of game was still lingering.

Maybe, I thought, I could make the elk a minor ingredient instead of the main ingredient? I boiled up some lasagna noodles and baked some lasagna - heavy on the spices and cheese.  The verdict? Better than the meatballs and spaghetti, but still a bit gamey.  

After my unintended Italian cooking series of elk dinners and leftovers, we needed a break from all things game for a while. It wasn't until a month or so later when I was preparing to fry up some Slovakian Schnitzel for a quick meal that I realized we were out of pork.   Might elk be a decent substitute?  

Yes, yes!  A salty batter accompanied by a hot oil bath might be just the thing it needs for disguising the gamey taste!  I made sure to pound the elk steaks thin so that there would be maximal surface area for the batter and oil to cover.  The smell was intoxicating.  Perhaps I was getting somewhere?

We garnished our hot elk schnitzels with fresh green onions and dished up toasted goat cheese crostini.  This dish reminded me of a Texas favorite... chicken fried steak!  However, it still wasn't quiet as good as when made with tender beef.   In addition, we both agreed that pork meat makes better Schnitzels.

By early February, our freezer was finally looking a bit less crowded.  The inventory of freezer bags containing elk had decreased from seven to a mere two.  I sensed that the opportunities for finding the perfect elk recipe were becoming limited.  Oh, how I wish I had a food dehydrator!  Elk jerky is quite delicious and could fuel my protein-hungry husband well into the hiking season (Joe always carries jerky in his pockets when hiking as his preferred energy snack).   

After I pulled one of the remaining bags of elk from the freezer to thaw, I went online to browse the internet for ideas for my next cooking venture.  I was about ready to scratch down directions on how to make yet another stew when I stumbled upon a recipe that caught my eye.  It was a crock pot recipe that listed only two ingredients:  elk + condensed cream of mushroom soup.  No way that is going to taste good!, was my first reaction.  Here I go putting all of my energy into combining many different ingredients and cooking techniques to chase away the game flavor, and then this recipe comes along with glaring simplicity!  The deciding factor steamed from the fact that the reader reviews were fervently positive.  Hmm... O.K. Why not? 

In addition to this recipe, I decided to follow some advice from a hunter that I met who seemed to sympathize with my cooking experiments.  He advised me to try marinading my elk meat overnight before cooking.  He noted that he prefers his elk grilled.  That could be an experiment for future hunting seasons since I currently don't own a grill.  But the concept of marinating the meat before cooking stuck.  I sliced the elk steaks thin (again to increase the surface area) and whipped up a marinade of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and shake of garlic powder.  The steaks marinaded in this potent concoction overnight. When the time came to put them into the crock, they actually resembled beef steaks.  They even smelled like beef steaks!  Could that mean that they would even taste like beef?

Fast forward eight hours of crock potting and it was time to taste test.  All I did was spoon condensed cream of mushroom soup over the steaks, as the recipe called for, and set the cooking setting to low while I was at work.  As the crock pot cooled down, I prepared some garlic mashed potatoes as a starchy base, and green beans for a vegetable.  Amazingly, the elk was so tender that it fell apart upon dishing up. The condensed soup had soaked up the elk juices and had transformed into a decadent, thick gravy.  That was easy! And...

We gobbled it up!! This elk dish was so good, in fact, that we barely had any leftovers.  That was a first.    

As I write this I am able to breath in the seductive aromas of our crock pot as it nears its final hours of cooking yet another round of this favorite.   The evolution of our elk-inspired dinners have finally come full circle.  They began with a familiar hunter stew, then morphed into various Italian and Slovakian renditions, and finally back to another old hunter's favorite (which has now become one of our favorites)!  

Elk and Creamy Mushroom Gravy

Serves 4

1 lb. elk, sliced into think steaks

1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (2 cans if you like gravy)

Salt and pepper to taste

Handful of sliced mushrooms (optional)

1/4 onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Marinade:
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder


Mix all of the ingredients of the marinade well and pour over elk steaks in a gallon-sized plastic bag.  Toss well to coat all surfaces of the elk.  Lie into an edged roasting pan or large bowl and refrigerate overnight to marinade.  Drain the steaks.  Set crock pot setting to low and layer with the marinaded steaks, then dump the can of soup over the top.  If you would like to add more texture, add a fresh mushrooms and onions into the crock pot dish before the steaks (that way they can soak up the meat juices and caramelize on the bottom of the dish as it cooks).  Cook 8-10 hours including 1 hour on high setting (or about 5 hours on high setting).  This dish goes very well over mashed potatoes or buttered egg noodles!

Roasted Cod in No Thyme

It is nights like these where all I want to do is slip into my pajamas, pour myself a glass of red wine, and retire to my bed with a novel.  In fact, this is what I usually fantasize about doing most weekday evenings!  After a full day of work, dinner becomes more of an after thought than something I look forward to.  How can I make dinner something that is special, beautiful and wholesome amidst the hustle and bustle of the dreaded work week?  


Next time your family or significant other rolls their eyes at the thought of another crock-pot creation, consider your oven as your new secret supper weapon!  Roasting is a quick and easy way to prepare a wide variety of foods. Here is something I threw together in a hurry.  It did, indeed, transform a weary Wednesday into a fresh dining experience worthy of a slow Sunday!

Roasted Cod in "No Thyme"

Another firm white fish can be used, such as halibut or haddock.
Garnishing with lemon wedges adds flavor and decoration.

As the oven was preheating, I threw in a roasting pan full of chopped winter-inspired vegetables. Make sure to cover the veggies with some tin foil to give them a bit of steaming time. After about 20-30 minutes, remove the foil and let roast for another 15-20, or until the tops get a bit caramelized and crunchy. This equates to about the same amount of time that the fish requires for baking as well. Therefore, the veggies and fish will finish roasting at the same time!  Clean up? No problem. Just line your baking sheets or roasting pans with tin foil.  There is time for that book in bed after all!

My mix: Carrots, cauliflower, frozen brussels, squash.
Toss with olive oil and spices that you enjoy.
I recommend nutmeg and ginger for tasty twist!

Roasted Cod in No Thyme
Serves 4

4 cod fillets, fresh or thawed
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lemon, washed, sliced thinly
Dried thyme (about 1 teaspoon)
Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Line a roasting pan with tin foil. Coat each fish fillet with a Tablespoon of olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper and dried thyme leaves (about 1/4 teaspoon of each spice per fillet). Garnish with thinly sliced lemon slices, or squirt with lemon juice. Place into the oven, uncovered, and roast for about 15 minutes or until fish is tender but cooked through. Accompany with a chilled white wine and roasted seasonal vegetables. 

Cabbage Stew

Yesterday the offices where I work were all abuzz with hopes of heavy snow fall starting in the evening and continuing through Friday.  Sure enough, my boss called me this morning at 6:20 AM to confirm that the offices were "most definitely" closed today! Not two minutes later, Joe's phone started ringing and he too was off the hook for the day!  I tried to lay in bed and fall back a sleep, however, I couldn't help but slip on my winter boots to survey last night's snow fall. This is what our apartment's court yard looked like just before 7:00 AM:

Since we can't travel to the mountains due to hazardous travel conditions, I chose to work from home through the day while Joe reclines on the couch with a computer game.  NPR steams on the radio and I feel content watching the snow flakes continue to fall outside our frosty windows.  For lunch we needed something hearty and warm. I prepared the following cabbage soup, similar to what my mother used to make on cold winter evenings. I modified the recipe a bit to accommodate the contents of our pantry, and as a result, I believe I have discovered a healthier version of an old favorite!  See recipe below.

Cabbage Soup

Serves 6-8

Half head of cabbage, thinly sliced

2 slices bacon or pancetta, diced

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

4 cups whole milk

1 large potato, finely diced

1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 Tbsp. salt

Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Dried dill (optional garnish)

Boil enough water in a large pot to cover the cabbage. Once boiling, add cabbage, cook for 1 minute and drain. Set cabbage aside. Rinse and dry the large pot and then cook bacon over medium heat unter rendered of fat. Add the onion continue cooking until transparent. Sprinkle the flour over everything and stir until well mixed and slightly browned. Add the broth, stirring rapidly with a whisk. Once the mixture simmers, add the cabbage, potatoes, salt and pepper and caraway seeds. Then stir in the sugar and vinegar and cook, stirring often from the bottom up, until the vegetables are just tender (about 30 minutes). Add the milk half-way through the cooking time and continue to add more milk if the soup becomes too thick. Serve the hot soup with a pinch of dill (optional) or more salt and cracked pepper. Note: Soup will thicken as it cools.  

Denver is expected to receive another 8 inches today and up to 4 more overnight.  Schools, universities, and just about every other business has closed their doors today.  Highways are closed and flights have been canceled through the afternoon. Although the snowfall is heavy and the road conditions are icy, I can't help but notice the absence of the sound of snowplows and snowblowers. These sounds are very familiar in Minnesota (where snow falls regularly in the feet).  In fact, I don't hear anything outside except the occasional crunching of boots from people letting their dogs out for a bathroom break.  Perhaps by mid-afternoon us lazy hibernators will be begging for an outdoor break as well!

Minnesota Memories

Playing in the snow with brother and old puppy

December 2010

Minnesota received record snow fall in 2011,
but nearly none this year.
It appears that Denver is stealing it all!