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I'm going to have to disagree strongly w/ marinating in much of anything, esp. acids. To my mind, elk chops need nothing more than s & p, then quickly saute to brown slightly, remove, make a little pan sauce (I use shallots, a little demi, some red/white wine, maybe a shot of cream or a spoon of sour cherry jam, etc.), then return the chops to the pan to finish off to no more than med. rare. With no real marbling to speak of, the window of opportunity is somewhat brief.
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sarah galvin
Jul 12, 2009 11:02 AM
Treat like beef. They are wonderful - not too gamey. Toughness depends on cut, not the size of animal! The more exercised the muscle, the tougher it is. Loin and such are tender.
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A long time ago, I lived in Montana. Though we were in a city, our next door neighbors ran an elk processing operation out of their garage. Their payment for processing elk was a percentage of the animals. They ate a lot of elk throughout the year.
She loved to cook whole roasts every Sunday, but when making chops, she simply used some salt and pepper and grilled. Now, they had simple tastes and didn't take kindly to "those fancy preparations", but simple might be good for your first foray into a new meat. [And a complete aside, our dog loved to chew on the leftover bones.]
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shaogo
Jul 12, 2009 07:30 AM
Three words: marinate, marinate, marinate! I'd make a marinade of olive oil, black pepper, and perhaps marjoram (and/or juniper berries). Whisk in a little Balsamic vinegar and perhaps some red wine. Allow the meat to marinate for at least two days, then I'd pan-sear the chops and finish in a slow (350 degree) oven.
I'm working on the assumption that Elk, being such a large animal, is gonna be a bit tough by nature.
I noticed that most of the recipes in your link were for stews and ground Elk. Perhaps this is because cooking Elk otherwise is tricky - again because of the toughness issue.
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re: shaogo
Fritter
Jul 12, 2009 11:41 AM
"I'm working on the assumption that Elk, being such a large animal, is gonna be a bit tough by nature."
That would be a incorrect assumption in most cases. Elk is some of the finest venison.
Most recipes are for ground venison because when you process an animal you wind up with a lot of ground meat. Additionally many folks just turn off to it thinking it will be gamey before they ever try it so ground meat becomes more useful to some.
Personally I say treat chops just like beef. Nothing wrong with marinating if that trips yer trigger and crushed juniper berries go very well with venison.
Here is a link to a site where I did some game recipes. One of which is a venison loin marinade.-
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re: shaogo
Fritter
Jul 12, 2009 01:42 PM
I don't know if it's popular but it is available commercially raised although most of those I know harvest their own.
Typically when venison is tough or gamey it comes from improper or less than ideal handling in the field or differenct cuts of meat and not from physical size.
Moose is incredibly good as well and they can be huge. On any venison the two best cuts will be the tenderloin and the back strap. Chops are cut from the back strap.
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