Elk Backstraps?
- Thread starter landop
- Start date
W
whiskeybent
Guest
I Had elk strap and eggs yesterday for breakfast. I Just fry them in a little olive oil with seasoning salt and pepper. Make sure to trim off all the fat and silver skin and don't don't over cook them.
BPKHunter
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,744
+1 on thorough trimming.
I use either a heavy cast iron skillet inside or a 500 degree bbq outside.
3/4 inch = 1 min/side
1 inch = 1.5 min/side
1.5 inch ~ 2.5 min/side
Thicker steaks can rest about 5 min, smaller ones less so.
I season with "hot shot" pepper, olive oil, garlic salt, and rosemary. season and sit on counter until room temp.
I serve with some mushrooms/onions/garlic finished with a combo of soy sauce/wine/broth/butter.
Simple and quick. Very healthy(except butter).
I don't recommend to marinade or cook low/slow. Save that for neck meat in a stew.
I use either a heavy cast iron skillet inside or a 500 degree bbq outside.
3/4 inch = 1 min/side
1 inch = 1.5 min/side
1.5 inch ~ 2.5 min/side
Thicker steaks can rest about 5 min, smaller ones less so.
I season with "hot shot" pepper, olive oil, garlic salt, and rosemary. season and sit on counter until room temp.
I serve with some mushrooms/onions/garlic finished with a combo of soy sauce/wine/broth/butter.
Simple and quick. Very healthy(except butter).
I don't recommend to marinade or cook low/slow. Save that for neck meat in a stew.
LAST EDITED ON Apr-06-11 AT 11:52AM (MST)[p]I just had the remainder of an elk backstrap and sauce for lunch today at work that I had prepared this past Saturday. It was delicious, but not as extraordinarily good as it was Saturday night! The description below is long -- because I am describing the steps in detail -- but this is really not difficult to make. Just take your time and exercise care.
Marinade: 1/2 cup red wine (I use pinot noir), 1/2 bay leaf crumbled, 1/4 teaspoon of thyme, 6 crushed juniper berries, 12 crushed black peppercorns (or 1/8 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper). You can crush juniper berries under a bottle rolled on a surface.
Sauce: 1/2 cup red wine, 1/4 cup good cognac, 1/2 cup elk broth (or canned chicken broth), 1/2 bay leaf crumbled, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 6 crushed juniper berries, 1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream.
Other ingredients:
2 LBS elk backstrap, trimmed, cut into 3/4" steaks
4 ounces of sweet unsalted butter
Cut the steaks. Put in a gallon sized zip-lock back with the marinade ingredients. Toss around. Let sit overnight. I periodically manipulate the steaks in the bag to mix the wine and spices around, but I don't know if this is necessary.
When ready to begin cooking the steaks, first prepare "clarified butter." Melt the butter. Skim the white scum that floats on top of the butter and discard. Gently pour off the clear liquid yellow into a small bowl, being careful to leave the white, curdy-looking stuff on the bottom. This clear yellow liquid is "clarified butter" which can be heated to a higher temperature without burning.
Take the wine, cognac, broth, crumbled bay leaf, thyme, and crushed juniper berries (not the heavy cream)(not the marinade liquids); put this in a sauce pan; and boil this down to about 1/3 cup. Set this aside.
Have a serving plate warmed ready to receive the steaks. I turn the oven on for awhile with the serving plate in there, warm it up -- but not flat out hot! -- and then turn off the oven. When the steaks are cooked, I'll put them on this serving plate to keep warm in the oven. Warm -- not so hot they keep cooking.
Remove the steaks from the marinade. Discard the marinade. Dry the steaks. Salt and pepper the steaks on both sides. Dredge the steaks in flour. Put some (1/3) of the clarified butter into a heavy skillet. Heat this on high heat. Put enough steaks in the skillet to cover the bottom of the skillet but not overlap each other. On high heat, these things cook quick -- 90 seconds per side. If your skillet gets too hot, back off the heat just a bit. When cooked on both sides, remove from the skillet, place on the pre-warmed serving plate, return the pre-warmed serving plate to the warm oven. If needed, add more clarified butter. Keep repeating until you have cooked all the steaks. When you serve the steaks, they should have a little bit of red showing in the middle. You don't want to overdo the backstrap steaks, as they may become tough.
To make the sauce (all steaks cooked and on the pre-heated platter in the warm oven), put the reduced sauce liquids into the skillet, add the heavy cream, boil on moderate to high heat to thicken stirring all the while. When thick to your liking, add salt to your taste. Don't add salt earlier -- either when boiling the liquids earlier or now with the cream, as the salt flavor will concentrate and be too salty. Pour the sauce into a separate gravy bowl, put the steaks on the table with the sauce in the gravy bowl and enjoy! The pinot noir wine drinks really well with this preparation.
By the way, you throw away the marinade liquid because protein leaches out of the steaks as they marinade, and if you boil up this marinade liquid a nasty scum is created that makes your sauce look like hell. This is not harmful, but it is a little distracting and unpleasant. I just find it is better to throw away the marinade liquid and use fresh stuff. About all you waste is 1/2 cup of red wine.
With reference to elk broth. I butcher my own game. I save bones and useless trim portions and make a broth from all this. I add this animal stuff into a big pot with an onion, some thyme, some parsley, some sliced carrots, and boil. Initially, I skim the scum that rises to the surface during the first 15 minutes to 20 minutes. I then boil for about another 40 minutes. Then I remove the onion, carrots, and parsley. I continue boiling the meat and bones for maybe a couple of hours, then I discard the meat and bones, leaving just the liquid. I will boil this down to reduce it to a concentration that is suitable -- maybe to 1/2 the original volume of LIQUID. I let this cool. I will remove any fat that may be on the surface. I then carefully ladle off the broth into plastic zip-lock bags with about 1.2 cups per zip-lock back. I then freeze all this stuff. There are lots of things this broth is useful for. This dish. Making wild rice to accompany wild duck. Making game chili. Other stuff.
Marinade: 1/2 cup red wine (I use pinot noir), 1/2 bay leaf crumbled, 1/4 teaspoon of thyme, 6 crushed juniper berries, 12 crushed black peppercorns (or 1/8 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper). You can crush juniper berries under a bottle rolled on a surface.
Sauce: 1/2 cup red wine, 1/4 cup good cognac, 1/2 cup elk broth (or canned chicken broth), 1/2 bay leaf crumbled, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 6 crushed juniper berries, 1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream.
Other ingredients:
2 LBS elk backstrap, trimmed, cut into 3/4" steaks
4 ounces of sweet unsalted butter
Cut the steaks. Put in a gallon sized zip-lock back with the marinade ingredients. Toss around. Let sit overnight. I periodically manipulate the steaks in the bag to mix the wine and spices around, but I don't know if this is necessary.
When ready to begin cooking the steaks, first prepare "clarified butter." Melt the butter. Skim the white scum that floats on top of the butter and discard. Gently pour off the clear liquid yellow into a small bowl, being careful to leave the white, curdy-looking stuff on the bottom. This clear yellow liquid is "clarified butter" which can be heated to a higher temperature without burning.
Take the wine, cognac, broth, crumbled bay leaf, thyme, and crushed juniper berries (not the heavy cream)(not the marinade liquids); put this in a sauce pan; and boil this down to about 1/3 cup. Set this aside.
Have a serving plate warmed ready to receive the steaks. I turn the oven on for awhile with the serving plate in there, warm it up -- but not flat out hot! -- and then turn off the oven. When the steaks are cooked, I'll put them on this serving plate to keep warm in the oven. Warm -- not so hot they keep cooking.
Remove the steaks from the marinade. Discard the marinade. Dry the steaks. Salt and pepper the steaks on both sides. Dredge the steaks in flour. Put some (1/3) of the clarified butter into a heavy skillet. Heat this on high heat. Put enough steaks in the skillet to cover the bottom of the skillet but not overlap each other. On high heat, these things cook quick -- 90 seconds per side. If your skillet gets too hot, back off the heat just a bit. When cooked on both sides, remove from the skillet, place on the pre-warmed serving plate, return the pre-warmed serving plate to the warm oven. If needed, add more clarified butter. Keep repeating until you have cooked all the steaks. When you serve the steaks, they should have a little bit of red showing in the middle. You don't want to overdo the backstrap steaks, as they may become tough.
To make the sauce (all steaks cooked and on the pre-heated platter in the warm oven), put the reduced sauce liquids into the skillet, add the heavy cream, boil on moderate to high heat to thicken stirring all the while. When thick to your liking, add salt to your taste. Don't add salt earlier -- either when boiling the liquids earlier or now with the cream, as the salt flavor will concentrate and be too salty. Pour the sauce into a separate gravy bowl, put the steaks on the table with the sauce in the gravy bowl and enjoy! The pinot noir wine drinks really well with this preparation.
By the way, you throw away the marinade liquid because protein leaches out of the steaks as they marinade, and if you boil up this marinade liquid a nasty scum is created that makes your sauce look like hell. This is not harmful, but it is a little distracting and unpleasant. I just find it is better to throw away the marinade liquid and use fresh stuff. About all you waste is 1/2 cup of red wine.
With reference to elk broth. I butcher my own game. I save bones and useless trim portions and make a broth from all this. I add this animal stuff into a big pot with an onion, some thyme, some parsley, some sliced carrots, and boil. Initially, I skim the scum that rises to the surface during the first 15 minutes to 20 minutes. I then boil for about another 40 minutes. Then I remove the onion, carrots, and parsley. I continue boiling the meat and bones for maybe a couple of hours, then I discard the meat and bones, leaving just the liquid. I will boil this down to reduce it to a concentration that is suitable -- maybe to 1/2 the original volume of LIQUID. I let this cool. I will remove any fat that may be on the surface. I then carefully ladle off the broth into plastic zip-lock bags with about 1.2 cups per zip-lock back. I then freeze all this stuff. There are lots of things this broth is useful for. This dish. Making wild rice to accompany wild duck. Making game chili. Other stuff.
B
bucklover
Guest
One thing for sure, your meat should be well aged by the time you get around to cooking it. Just kidding. Sounds like you really know your stuff. And you obviously let nothing go to waste. Thanks
