How Do You Like Your Elkburger?

[B. Lahey]

I've got quite a few lbs of ground elk in the freezer, and I need inspiration.

So far I've done chili, burgers (mixed with a little fatty hamburger, smoked then grilled), and meatloaf (elkloaf).

What else can you do with ground elk?

Schwarma? Gyros? Meatballs?

I'm open to any ideas...

[hogdogs]

Swedish meatballs, Spaghetti and meatballs, stuffed peppers, Salisbury steak, tacos to name a few.
Brent

[Swampghost]

One time. My friend came back from the Dakota's proud as punch and IMHO it tasted like stink.

I have relatives sprinkled around Elk territory and I hear nothing but the best, I suspect my friends transport method.

[wyobohunter]

only of course, it's waaaay better.

[B. Lahey]

stuffed peppers

Nice. One of my favorites.

I suspect my friends transport method

That would be my guess too. There are lots of ways to describe elk, but "stink" isn't one of them unless something went wrong.

[RamSlammer]

Okay . . .you want different . . .here goes:

for 2 lbs elk or deer (ground)

Heat a large nonstick skillet on medium well coated with olive oil. Add defrosted Game Meat including ALL BLOOD, one medium onion (minced) and 3 cloves of garlic (crushed). Sautee until browned, remove from pan reserving all liquid with meat.

Deglaze pan with 3/4 cup Pinot Noir or Syrah wine until browned glaze mixes with wine - use a wisk.

Drain pan, reserve contents.

Cook 1 cup medium grain rice according to instructions except using liquid initial meat drippings with sufficient content of water to cook rice.

Once rice is cooked, mix in meat well, add fresh herbs to taste such as basil, thyme, parsley and a good measure of minced shallots. Add kosher salt, black and red pepper, a bit of celery seed and sage. At he last step mix in the pan deglasse' and work with hands into croquettes (small patties).

beat 3 eggs, wash croquettes in beaten egg then coat in PANKO bread crumbs.

Pan fry in light olive oil until golden on each side, serve drizzled with hollandaise. Accompany with grilled vegetables such as new potatoes, asparagus, crooked neck squash and sweet Vidalia onion.

enjoy! Prepared well, the croquettes should be crisp yet spill out tastes clearly of the game, but in a subtle way. Well prepared game only. Try this with 3 year old freezer fare you dissected in the field and it'll taste like well seasoned excrement.

[HiBC]

The basic fine hamburger is hard to beat.

But,brown it,add red chili,garlic,cumin,and onion and you have something to put in tacos,enchiladas,burritos.

Do you know the wily Krautburger? Cabbage and burger baked in a yeasted bread bun?

A stirfry,some rice,veggies,soy? Ginger,soy,and garlic are a favorite of mine.

Then there could be browned meat,chopped up nuked or baked potatoes,onions,maybe some jalapenos browned in a black iron pan...

Or browned meat,put in garlic and onions,matbe celery,oregano,basil,a bunch of chopped zucchini,some olive oil,chopped up tomatoes,roll it around,dump in some parmesan


I can tell,you need an excersise.Boil a large potato.put it in the fridge.

Do not eat for 3 days.Retrieve the potato.Sprinkle a little salt,and enjoy.

Go a week on a box of oatmeal.(I recomend a bullion cube and a pinch of sage)OK,for meat you may add some spam chunks.

Then,have an elkburger.

[smoakingun]

I seem to have stumbled upon the the perfect thread, guns and food, wow. before we get too fancy, might I suggest the humble suasage? grind in 1/4 lb pork to 3/4 to 1 lb elk, season to taste

[dalegribble]

i've had some pretty nasty and some pretty tasty elk. the only difference is how it is first taken care of. if you leave it in the field very long, or wait till you can get it somewhere where others will do the dirty work for you then it probably won't be very good. these hunting programs are famous for teaching you what not to do.

if you are lucky enuff to drop an elk, take a few pictures and then get to work skinning it. the faster you can gut and skin the animal and quarter it up and get it chilled the better the meat will be. let the meat get hot, don't gut or skin it till everyone in camp has a chance to admire your trophy and you finally get around to it and it probably stink up the house when you cook it and the dogs won't even eat it.

i have had friends eat burgers, meat loaf, spagghetti, chili, roasts and steaks and complement me on the dinner without ever knowing it was elk.

[PredatorHunter]

My wife and I shot 3 antelope 2 deer and a bull elk this year. Most it went into burger. I agree an old hambuger steak is hard to beat, but,... I have been making meatloafs in my smoker and they ROCK! I will be doing stuffed peppers for a function here in a few weeks can't wait!!

[grymster2007]

I've only had elk steaks and stew; never burgers. Sounds good though! I'd do something along the lines of RamSlammer, but be careful not to get too complicated, wherein you might drown the flavor of the elk.

[Scorch]

What else can you do with ground elk?

Spaghetti sauce, tacos, spice it like sausage and make breakfast patties, stroganoff, sloppy joes, you name it.

[jammin1237]

red oak smoked italian style beef sausage..... sounds weird but tastes great... take the elk meat and mix it with fatty beef(ground beef rib meat works good)... about 70% elk and 30% fatty beef...take any generic sweet italian sausage spice mix and make according to directions(usually by weight)...then slow smoke with red oak, it has to be "red oak" not white oak...

how long you smoke it depends on what you stuff it in and how strong of smoke flavor you want... sausage size approx 2 hrs... meatloaf size approx 16-24 hrs depending on temp - slow is better....



give er a shot and let us know....



cheers

[Buzzcook]

Chili Rellenos, stuffed peppers with attitude.

http://www.mexgrocer.com/534-killer-...-rellenos.html

[Big Bill]

Hamburger Helper and anything else you would use ground beaf for.

[FrontSight]

My family is from Naples, Italy. Not to brag, b/c I am usually quite the pinnacle of humbleness. But in this case I must say best damn cooks in the world.

So meat sauce for ravioli. PM me if anyone wants a recipie.

[BobR]

I'm open to any ideas...

Well, since no one else offered.

Package up about 5 pounds of it and let me know what the shipping charges will be. Don't forget the dry ice.

bob

[FrankenMauser]

Stroganoff, Elkburger helper, Elk tacos....

If you can use ground meat in it; you can use ground Elk in it.

[Rembrandt]

We like Elk burgers and Elk Brats.....mmmmmm.

[ZeroJunk]

My wife makes some great spaghetti with it. Also hambugers and meat loaf. Between deer burger and elk burger we haven't bought any ground beef in probably 15 years.

[davlandrum]

My mom's husband cans a lot of the marginal meat which makes it nice and tender. Makes a great stroganoff!

Since this is already ground, I personally would go Tex-Mex - tacos, burritos, etc.

A nice 7-layer dip (refried beans, elk, cheese, sour cream, repeat) in a big baking dish with tortilla chips makes a nice TV watching snack with your buddies. And since you are providing the grub, they have to provide the adult refreshments!

[jhgreasemonkey]

I make patties, wrap them in thick bacon around the outside edge (using toothpicks to hold it in place while cooking) season it with jonny's seasoning salt and garlic powder, then cook it like a regular hamburger in a pan (It's kinda crumbly for a grill in my experience) It is awesome this way!

[davlandrum]

Hope this is related enough not to be a hi-jack -

How many are grinding your own or do you have it done somewhere? There is only one place left within decent driving distance that will even touch wild game around here.

[ZeroJunk]

There is one guy local that will skin, gut, and grind a deer for $50. A couple of local meat stores will grind your clean deer for $40. It's big money for them. One of them does over 1000 deer a year. I like to get the USDA inspected stores to do it, I'm too lazy.

[FrankenMauser]

How many are grinding your own or do you have it done somewhere? There is only one place left within decent driving distance that will even touch wild game around here.

We grind our own. My sister-in-law got tired of hand-cranking an elk one year, and bought an electric grinder.
It is amazing how easy the process became.

If we plan to mix beef or pork fat with our venison; we'll grind the meat, then run it through again with the fat. (For more even distribution.)
Anything destined for grilling or frying usually has some fat added.