Cold Weather Elk Stew with Cumin and Mustard

Mr. A hunts deer and elk on occasion. And occasionally he even comes home with something. This year we spent the long Veterans Day weekend in Wenatchee with friends—the moms and kids made apple cider and took long walks along the river while the dads spent their days following a huge herd of elk on the bluffs above the Columbia River.

It was a beautiful, if cold, weekend spent with good friends. The men did manage to bring down a cow elk on their last day, though I would have been happy no matter what the result. That said, having game meat in the freezer does feel good, and it goes a long way toward our “I want to know where my meat came from and how it lived” philosophy of eating.

We butcher the majority of our meat, even when we get it from local farmers, so we usually have a lot of say in what cuts we have and how it is packaged. For this elk we turned our share of the meat mostly into roasts and stew meat. Stew meat for us is a leftover over piece of trim that is good quality and roughly a one to two-inch cube. Once defrosted I use it in stews (duh!) or chop it into finer slices and use it in a stroganoff.

For our first package of meat I decided to make a basic stew from scratch. It turned out fantastic, and of the friends of ours that got to sample it during a Christmas party, several asked for the recipe. Eccola qua mi amici!

Elk Stew with Cumin & Mustard. Image by the Author.

 

If you do not have elk you could always try this with bits of beef, lamb, or venison and I think it would be equally delicious. Just keep in mind that with game meat you want a high temperature sear on the meat, and take care not to overcook it.

Atamians’ Elk Stew

1 lb. elk, cut into 1 in. cubes
1 medium-sized russet potato, cubed
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 quart home-canned tomatoes, pureed (or two 14 oz. cans of tomatoes, undrained and pureed)
1/2 tbsp. Kosher salt
1 tbsp. ground mustard
1 tbsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tbsp. fresh minced garlic
2 tbsp. thick, good-quality balsamic vinegar

In a Dutch oven, add the olive oil and braise the elk meat cubes on high heat until just brown on all sides. Throw in the onions, carrots, and potatoes. Cover with the lid and cook until just tender. At this point the meat should have generated some juice in the bottom. I took a quart of tomatoes I canned over the summer and pureed them in the blender. You can also puree two 14 oz. cans of tomatoes with their liquid and add that instead. Add the tomato puree, kosher salt, ground mustard, cumin, and cayenne. Once things are bubbling, add 1-2 tbsp. minced garlic, and the balsamic vinegar. I used a fig balsamic vinegar, but any sweet, thick balsamic will do. Simmer for 1-2 hours or longer. Serve with warm sourdough bread.

There are plenty of nights I make the stew, we eat it right away, and it tastes fine. But as with all stews and soups, it’s always better when allowed to simmer all day long, or when eaten the next day. Taste before eating and season again to your tastes. We tend to be generous with the spicing, so do what tastes right to you and take notes in the margins of the recipe.

And leave feedback in the comments. I’m always looking for ways to improve!

 

Author’s note: This recipe was featured in The Spokesman-Review with the title Cooking your game: a Family’s quest to eat locally.

Gingerbread at the Davenport and “Gingersnap Cookies” at Home

“Ginger” is a loaded term at our house, by turns an epithet or a warm, spicy, sweet embrace. I love ginger and the citrusy spice that is at once peppery and aromatically sweet. My husband says he likes it . . . but it makes him nauseous. In a case of classical conditioning Mr. A has come to associate ginger with our attempts to help his motion-sickness problem. I say heavenly spicy goodness, he says no thank you. The kiddos? . . . well, the jury is till out on that one.

Mr. A spends a lot of his time as a biologist doing surveys in helicopters or fixed-wing aircrafts. Flying around all day might sound like fun, but being buffeted by winds along mountainsides while flying in circles and simultaneously counting animals on the ground, and then looking down to try to record this information? Let’s just say it makes even the most iron stomachs a bit queasy. In my “we-don’t-need-drugs, I’m-sure-I-can-find-some-natural-wholesome-remedy-that-will-help-you” efforts early in his career, you could say that I managed to put the kibosh on any type of pumpkin, gingerbread, or Asian food recipe that actually tastes good for about 5 years. Teach me to go for natural remedies, right?

It’s not that Mr. A doesn’t like ginger. He does. It’s just that if it is present in a dish in any decent large amount, he tastes it and balks. Can’t do it, he says. Well, lucky for me, those days are gone! We have moved beyond his ginger phobia. The overdose is out of his system, and I can finally make my favorite gingersnaps again!! I love the combination of ginger and blackstrap molasses, and the sweet saltiness of these cookies. If you decide to make these, understand that regular molasses works just fine. I have just been in love with blackstrap since my last pregnancy when I learned that not only is it high in iron, it also contains vitamin B6, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and potassium, all in higher levels than regular molasses.

For the last five years we have gone to Davenport hotel for their Gingerbread Build-off. Five to six local groups, usually chefs or bakeries, participate in a gingerbread building contest to see who can make the best gingerbread scene or sculpture. Visitors can vote on their favorite, and in the adjoining ballroom you can decorate your own gingerbread house with candy (for a small donation).

The glorious part for Mr. A and his ginger-phobia is that the pre-made “gingerbread” houses we always get for the kiddos to decorate are made from graham crackers. It seems a bit cheesy, paying to decorate graham crackers with candy canes, m&ms, and Swedish fish, etc. and, well, it is cheesy (candy-y?) but the old-world charm of the Davenport Hotel, the Christmas decorations, and the proceeds going to charity make it that kind of yearly tradition that makes you smile. This year I will remember skipping down the sidewalk with my girl singing carols, and watching both kids eat their houses with no hands. Oh, and trying to put frosting on Lil’Moose’s nose while he was decorating. Yes, that was fun too.

Grandma’s Gingersnap Cookies

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (see Directions)

1 tablespoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/4 dark molasses (I use blackstrap molasses)

1/3 cinnamon sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Sift the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the mixture to blend evenly, and sift a second time into another bowl.

3. Place the butter into the empty mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Gradually beat in the white sugar. Beat in the egg and dark molasses. Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture, and mix together until a soft dough forms.

4. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1-inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes until tops are rounded and slightly cracked. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.