![]() I did hike my friend’s elk out of the woods once. ![]() I’ve been working with the product for 15 years but I’ve never pulled the trigger. Like beef, the rump and tougher cuts should be braised or slow cooked to break down the cartilage. Ground elk is usually mixed with a fatty meat like pork or beef and can be used the same way as ground beef, for burgers, taco filling, chili, and meat sauce for pasta. Loins in general are leaner and more tender and don’t need much more than a quick sear at a high temperature and simple seasoning. What’s your advice for the home cook when it comes to working with elk? Then I finish it off in the oven so it doesn’t overcook, burn, or over crust. I sear it on a very high temperature in clarified butter. You want it to keep it on the rare/medium rare side or it becomes chewy. I begin by seasoning it with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. I use the short loin, which is the upper tier of the tenderloin. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it. For people who like a more elaborate dish, I do seared elk with cauliflower and kale gratin and serve it with a purple potato and bacon hash with a horseradish cream. I serve it with hericot vert and mashed potatoes. So I do a seared elk with veal demi glace. ![]() Most of the hunters that come to my restaurant like a more basic dish-they’re meat and potatoes kind of guys. Think of a rare steak or beef tenderloin medallions-it’s very tender meat when it’s prepared correctly. It’s slightly gamier than beef, but what the animal eats can affect the flavor, so every cut is different. How would you describe the flavor profile of elk meat? We caught up with Kate Rench, Executive Chef at Café Diva to talk about elk preparation and how she gets her game on when it comes to Steamboat’s meatiest delicacy. Talk about local, fresh, and organic it doesn’t get much better than (to borrow a hunter’s terminology) some local kill. Elk dishes are a hallmark of the fall culinary season. In fact, eating elk is as much a Steamboat pastime as swilling microbrew beer at après ski. It always has been, and it always will be.” People come from all over to hunt the Yampa Valley,” says Lonny Vannatta, owner/operator of Vannatta Outfitters. “I think Northwest Colorado has some of the largest elk herds in the country. Steamboat might be synonymous with skiing, but it is elk hunting that has defined a way of life in the Yampa Valley for generations. ![]()
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