Elk Shank Tagine Canapés
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As someone who lives in a large city (NYC to be exact), I love to explore new cuisines and am regularly afforded the opportunity to taste flavor combinations that I would have never had or dreamt of. It is awesome. I’ve had Moroccan tagine a few times before in restaurants, and each time, I left thinking, “I have to do this with wild game.” That is what spawned this recipe. The nutty, citrusy and warming flavors of tagine are something that I think really complement the hearty and silky textures of shank meat. Tagine is a fragrant stew with incredibly robust layers of flavors from ingredients like olives, lemon peel, turmeric and raisins to name a few. This recipe is something that I love to serve to people who have never eaten wild game or are skeptical – it is a surefire hit. Conversations after this dish usually start with something like, “How do I make this? How do I get the meat?”, and end with, “How do I learn to hunt?”. I know that’s a lot to expect from one dish, but give this a try at your next holiday party or potluck, and let me know how your conversations went!
Serving Size: 24 pieces
Time to make: 2 hours
Special Equipment: Grill, instant pot, cast iron
Also works with: Any slow-braising meat cuts
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Elk Shank Tagine Canapés
Course: Wild Recipes, AppetizerCuisine: Moroccan, Mediterranean24
servings30
minutes40
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
5 lbs 5 elk, cubed
1 teaspoon 1 minced fresh ginger
2 large 2 white onions, sliced
5 5 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon 1 turmeric powder
1 tablespoon 1 kosher salt
1 teaspoon 1 black pepper
0.5 tsp 0.5 ground white pepper
1 tsp 1 sweet paprika
15 15 Kalamata olive, pitted & halved
15 15 green olives, pitted
0.5 cup 0.5 raisins, chopped
1 1 whole preserved lemon rind, sliced
2 2 cinnamon sticks, whole
1 tablespoon 1 lemon zest
1 tablespoon 1 chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon 1 chopped mint
0.25 teaspoon 0.25 nutmeg
1 cups 1 venison or elk stock (can substitute with chicken stock)
4 tablespoon 4 olive oil
0.25 cups 0.25 olive brine (from jar)
0.5 cup 0.5 freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 4 Pita breads
1 cup 1 Tzatziki sauce
Preparation
- De-bone your elk shank and cube the meat into 2-3 inch pieces. If using whole shanks, proceed as indicated for the rest of the recipe but shred meat from shanks after step 6.
- Combine garlic, ginger, lemon zest and 2 tbsp olive oil with all of the spices. Toss meat in spice-blend and let marinate for at least 3-4 hours to overnight in the fridge.
- Heat remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in cast iron or instant pot. Add shank meat and brown on one side. Remove from heat.
- Sauté the onion until light brown. Add stock to deglaze the pot, and meat back into the same pot.
- Add cinnamon sticks, raisins, preserved lemon rinds, olives, lemon and olive brine to the pot.
- Cook at medium-high heat covered for 40 minutes to 1 hour until meat is fork tender or falling off of the bone. Reduce liquid if needed by cooking the last 10-15 minutes with the top removed. Remove pot from heat, salt if needed.
- Heat grill to 400 ° F. Brush pita bread with olive oil and char until grill marks develop. Flip and repeat. Quarter cut each pita.
- Assemble the pita bite as follows: place 1 tsp dollop of tzatziki sauce on center of pita, place 2 teaspoons elk shank tagine on top, garnish with equal parts chopped parsley & mint.
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