Black Pepper Crusted Elk on Cheese Grits
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I was able to come across some Elk meat while visiting family in Wyoming. I received a back hind leg of Elk. This section will yield several cuts of meat. This includes ground meat for burgers, a roast for the smoker, sausage meat, and some steaks. The whole ride back I thought about what dishes I would prepare with the meat and this dish is one such result. This recipe is similar to a dish you might find in a restaurant versus my past campfire cuisine. You can play around with the ingredients to get the exact flavor you crave. This seemed the proper combination of ingredients on the day that I prepared this dish.
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Black Pepper Crusted Elk on Cheese Grits
4
servings30
minutes40
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
- Cheese Grits
4 servings prepared grits
3 cups medium white cheddar cheese, finely grated
¼ cup whole milk
- Woodear Bechamel Sauce
1 shallot, minced
2 large Woodear mushroom bunches (or a substituting mushroom), roughly diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup room temperature butter
2 ¼ cups room temperature whole milk
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons salt
- Black Pepper Crusted Elk
1 lb Elk meat, cubed
2 tablespoons freshly ground black peppercorns
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon oil or butter
4 thyme sprigs
Preparation
- White Cheddar Cheese Grits
- Cook the grits following the instructions on the package
- Combine the warm grits, finely grated cheese, and the whole milk
- Thoroughly mix with a wire whisk
- Woodear Bechamel Sauce
- Sautee the mushrooms and shallots in the butter until the mushrooms are tender in a large saute pan
- Stir in the flour, salt, and garlic powder
- Continue to stir until the flour begins to brown
- Slowly whisk in the milk and continue to whisk until the sauce begins to thicken
- The sauce should be as thick as a white gravy
- Once the optimal thickness has been reached, remove it from the pan to prevent overcooking
- Black Pepper Crusted Elk
- Heat a large Cast Iron Skillet on high heat
- Add oil or butter
- While heating the skillet, coat the Elk in the ground black pepper and sprinkle with salt
- Once the pan begins to smoke, add the coated Elk meat and Thyme sprigs
- Quickly sear the meat on each side
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Looks oh so good. Will be trying this, thanks!