Article #7: Field Recipes, by Pete Buttschardt

While the stereotypical hunter has only one recipe for wild game…kill it and grill it…there is a different breed of hunter whose passion for knowledge drives not only his pursuit of the game, but the preparation and presentation of the meat he harvests.

Peter Buttschardt is the owner and chef of Roosters Brewing Company and Union Grill restaurants in Ogden, Utah. His eclectic recipes and restaurants have been recognized in countless culinary and travel magazines.

In a webisode viewable at optifade.com, he quickly prepared four delectable wild game dishes. Due to the high demand from viewers for his recipes, we’ve provided them below.

Good hunting and bon appétit!

Bleu Cheese Crusted Elk Filets

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Elk Tenderloin or Elk steaks
• Olive Oil
• Fresh Garlic
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 4 large onions
• 2 TBSP butter
• White wine
• Bleu Cheese

Rub elk tenderloin or steaks with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for twenty-four hours. If using the tenderloin, cut it into steaks, ready to grill.

Make the caramelized onions:

• Peel and slice thin, 4 large onions.(sweet onions are preferred)
• Heat 2 T of olive oil in a skillet
• Melt 2 T butter in the oil
• Sauté the sliced onions, season with salt and pepper. Cook until lightly brown stirring often for about 5 minutes
• Pour a half cup white wine over the onions add a pinch of sugar and simmer until the moisture evaporates, maybe 15 minutes. Repeat this process for the best results.

Cook steaks on the grill until just before done.( pull off while still rare)

Heat up a top broiler

Place Steaks on baking sheet and cover with good bleu cheese and melt under broiler.

Place caramelized onions over the top and serve.

NOTE: Elk meat is very lean and will cook quickly, but will also continue to cook after they are removed from heat source. Elk fillets are best when grilled 3 minutes per side.

Elk Rouladen

Rouladen is a German dish where the pickles, mustard, bacon and a few onions are rolled up in the meat and the roll up is pinned together.

You can use a toothpick or there are actually rouladen pins sold at kitchen stores (sold as turkey lacers).

The rollups are then browned and simmered in a red wine demiglace until cooked through and very tender.

The amount of ingredients below depends on how many you want to make:

• Elk loin cutlets
• Sliced dill pickles (or German pickles if available)
• Dijon mustard
• Bacon pre-cooked
• Slivered sweet onions
• 3 cups beef broth with good flavor (either from bouillon or can)
• 2 cups red wine

Prepare elk loin cutlets ahead of time about 3 oz each, by pounding out with a mallet so they are ¼ inch thin and 4 X6 inch rectangles. Soak these cutlets in buttermilk for 2 hours in the refrigerator which will help tenderize them. (There is an enzyme in buttermilk that breaks down muscle tissue.)

Make a slurry of 2 Tablespoons flour and 1/4 cup water, mixed together with a wisk.

Pad the cutlets dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper and lay out flat.

Spread a tablespoon of mustard on each cutlet, lay 2 strips of bacon, a few slivers of onion and 2 slices of pickle on each then roll up neatly and pin together.

If one end is more narrow than the other, start rolling from the skinny end.

Roll in soy sauce-(plate) and brown sugar.

Heat a heavy-bottomed pot and brown the rouladen in a little oil and butter with a little garlic, you may need to do them is batches.

When rouladens are nicely browned on all sides pull them out and set aside on a platter.

Add broth and red wine, let simmer 10 – 15 minutes

Add in the slurry and cream.

Return the rouladen to the pot and gently simmer with the gravy until cooked through.

This would be about an hour but its is best to check with a chefs thermometer and they are ready when the internal temperature is 170˚

Elk Schnitzel

Schnitzel is generally made with veal or pork but elk works just fine.

Ingredients:

• Eggs
• Bread crumbs
• Vegetable oil for frying the schnitzels
• Seasonings
• Lemon

Prepare elk loin cutlets ahead of time (about 3-4 oz. each), by pounding out with a mallet so they are ¼ inch thin and about 4x6 inch rectangles. Soak these cutlets in buttermilk for 2 hours in the refrigerator which will help tenderize them. (There is an enzyme in buttermilk that breaks down muscle tissue)

Pad the cutlets dry, season with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy skillet. Put a cup or so of your breadcrumbs on a large plate.

Dredge a dry cutlet through the egg and then the bread crumbs and set in the skillet to fry up, repeat with a few more cutlets, may be 3 or 4 total. Do not overcrowd the skillet. When your plate of bread crumbs becomes clumpy, toss the clumps and add some new crumbs. Another tip is to crank up the heat on your skillet as you put the meat in and then back it off a minute later. When you fill the skillet with cold meat it cools right off, so this can compensate for that.

Cook about 5 to 7 minutes so it is golden brown and turn each over, cook on the other side until it is brown. This should be enough time to have them cooked through.

Cut the center open to check one. If they are a little thick and are not quite done, cook a bit longer.

Remove cooked schnitzels and place on a platter, loosely cover with foil while cooking the next batch.

You will probably need to add more oil to the skillet.

The cooked schnitzels can be held in a warm oven while the others are cooking.

To serve sprinkle with a pinch of cayenne pepper and squeeze some lemon over the top.

Whiskey Cherry Sauce for Elk Steaks

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 shallots diced fine
• ¼ cup dried cherries
• ¼ cup bourbon
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Heat the butter and sauté the shallots 2 minutes.

Add cherries, bourbon, vinegar and sugar.

Simmer together 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce over grilled steaks or sliced tenderloin.