- July 10, 2019
- Cooking
- Tamila Gresko
Judging by the reviews, elk meat is considered a delicacy. In addition, due to its high nutritional value, the meat of this game is a dietary product and beneficial for the body. According to experts, many chefs consider this meat third-rate. This means that it is used primarily for broths. However, if you try hard, this game can produce many very tasty dishes. If you got your hands on this product, you are most likely wondering how to cook elk ribs? One of the recipes is presented in this article.
Product introduction
Those wondering how to cook elk ribs should know that this game is recognized as a rich source of protein, iron, vitamins, phosphorus and calcium. Externally, elk meat is very similar to beef. For this reason, many hunters call the elk a forest cow. The taste of the meat has much in common with lamb and veal. But, like any game, it has a characteristic gastronomic note. The meat of wild animals differs from the meat of domestic animals in that it is much tougher. In addition, it has a specific aroma. However, according to culinary specialists, it is not as pronounced as in wild boar meat. However, before cooking the elk ribs, they should be thoroughly soaked in the marinade.
Drying and smoking
To make the product tasty and beautiful, it must be dried after salting. When preparing at home, air drying is used. This takes a lot of time, in addition, you need to ensure a sufficient level of ventilation in the room where the drying takes place, and this is difficult.
We carry out preliminary drying in a special chamber. The product is blown with warm air from all sides, so drying takes several hours rather than several days. During drying, a thin dried crust forms on the product, which prevents excessive loss of moisture, so the finished product will not be dry.
After drying, you can proceed directly to smoking. A professional chamber is used to prepare the delicacy. The chambers maintain optimal temperature and humidity levels; the mode is selected depending on the type of meat.
A smoke generator is used for smoking. Moreover, the chamber is equipped with special filters that retain harmful substances contained in smoke.
Alder, beech or apple wood chips are used for smoking. The choice of type of chips is agreed with the client; the color of the finished ribs and their aroma depend on the choice.
Type of wood chips | Basic properties | Finished product color | Aroma of the finished product |
Beech | Dense, with high calorific value with low tar content | Golden | Pronounced smoky aroma, maximally retains the natural taste of the product |
Alder | Soft, with a relatively high resin content, has bactericidal properties | Brown | Pleasant smoked aroma with characteristic notes |
Apple tree | Soft, high in resin and sugar | Golden brown | Pleasant delicate scent with subtle fruity notes |
Upon request and prior agreement, the customer can pick up the finished ribs immediately from the smokehouse, still hot. Before you pick up your order, you can try what happened.
About cooking ribs in a duck pot. Ingredients
Before cooking elk ribs, get the following products:
- Vegetable oil (three tablespoons).
- 900 g elk ribs. If you don't have elk meat, then roe deer ribs will do.
- Butter (one tablespoon).
The following ingredients are used for the marinade:
- 10 heads of onions.
- Carrots (3 pcs.).
- Parsley (one root).
- 600 ml 3% vinegar.
- Sugar (1 tbsp).
- One and a half teaspoons of salt.
- Spices.
Homemade elk sausage
- Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
- Number of servings: 5 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 1500 kcal.
- Purpose: for lunch, dinner.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
Homemade moose sausage is dry-cured - an ideal addition to beer or other alcoholic drinks. In the finale, the aroma of game is not felt, the taste remains original, but pleasant. The method of preparing this sausage is the same as the recipe for dry-cured sausage made from beef or pork. You can also make dried or raw smoked sausage from red elk meat.
- elk meat – 500 g;
- spices - optional;
- salt – 2 tbsp. l.;
- mustard – 2 tbsp. l.;
- bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
- lard – 300 g.
- Mix all ingredients and pass through a meat grinder.
- Prepare pork intestines for sausage (can be purchased separately).
- You need to hammer it very tightly to prevent mold from forming.
- Hang in a warm place for up to three days.
How to make a marinade?
For those who are interested in how to deliciously cook elk ribs, experienced chefs recommend thoroughly soaking the game. Start preparing the marinade by chopping onions, carrots and parsley. These products are placed in a vessel, poured with vinegar, and then enriched with salt, sugar, bay leaf and cloves. Now all you have to do is bring the contents of the container to a boil. Afterwards, the marinade should simmer for another half hour over low heat. At the very end, the liquid is cooled. Some housewives use dry white or red wine instead of vinegar.
How to fry elk meat in a frying pan
- Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
- Number of servings: 5 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 1500 kcal.
- Purpose: for lunch, dinner.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
Fried elk meat is no different in structure from other types of dishes made from this ingredient. Many people combine frying with other processes, because in a frying pan it is difficult to achieve a delicate structure of the component due to its natural harshness. Before doing this, soak it overnight, cut it into cubes or longitudinal strips, but not into large pieces. After frying on each side, it is better to add vegetables and simmer with them for a while.
- elk meat – 700 g;
- vegetables - to choose from;
- salt - a pinch;
- spices (cardamom, mustard powder) - a pinch for rubbing.
- After soaking and slicing, rub the meat with mustard powder or other spices and salt (dried herbs will do).
- Fry on each side over medium heat until done.
- Add vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, carrots) and cook the stew for about half an hour.
How to cook elk ribs in the oven? Where to begin?
The dish is made in a cast iron or ceramic duck pot. If you do not have such dishes, then use any other container. First of all, chop the ribs so that their length is no more than 50 mm.
Next, the products are washed. It is important that the bones are free of bruises and film. After processing, they are placed in a container with marinade for a day. After this time, the ribs are thoroughly dried using napkins, salted and rubbed with spices. Now they can be placed in a well-heated frying pan and fried in sunflower oil until a crust forms.
During frying, game should be carefully turned over so that it does not break into several separate pieces. Remove the onion from the marinade, place in a colander, and then fry in a frying pan. The bulbs should take on a golden hue. After frying, the elk meat is placed in a duckling pan and additionally seasoned with spices. Since this game is quite lean, add butter. Now water is poured into the duckling pot so that it does not reach the edges by a couple of centimeters. After completing these steps, all you have to do is preheat the oven to 200 degrees and place the bowl with meat in it. In half an hour your dish will be ready.
Spicy BBQ elk ribs
This recipe will yield tender and juicy elk ribs that you can enjoy with your family or with guests. When it comes to barbecue, you can stick with the suggested recipe or double the amount of ingredients for the sauce to create a generous portion in which you can dip the meat and bread.
Ingredients:
- elk ribs 2 kilograms;
- 1 liter of water;
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice;
- salt and ground pepper;
- foil.
- For the BBQ sauce:
- 200 grams of ketchup;
- 50 grams of sugar;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 100 milliliters of water;
- 1 tea boat of ground ginger;
- ground black pepper;
- salt.
Cooking method:
- Rinse the ribs and dry with disposable towels. If the rib strips are long, cut them in half.
- Prepare a wide-bottomed pan, pour in a liter of water, add lemon juice and place the ribs in the solution. Let them soak while you prepare the BBQ sauce.
- Bring 100 ml of water to boil in a small saucepan and add sugar. When the syrup boils, reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for 5-7 minutes. Then add ketchup, continue stirring the sauce until it boils. After the first bubble appears on the surface, you can remove the pan from the heat.
- Crush the garlic cloves and stir together with the ginger into the finished sauce.
- If you used hot ketchup, then no additional spices are required. If there was a mild type of ketchup, for example, tomato, then you can add pepper.
- Then set the oven to preheat at 180°C. Coat the ribs with barbecue sauce on all sides and place in a baking dish or directly on a baking sheet. Pour about 100 ml of water into the pan where the ribs lie, cover with foil and bake for 50-60 minutes.
- When the roasting process is complete, brush the ribs with more barbecue sauce and place on the top rack of the oven or under the grill for 8-10 minutes. This will allow the top layer to brown nicely.
Serve hot ribs with green leaf lettuce, fresh vegetable salad, butter and unleavened tortillas. Potatoes prepared in any way also go well with this dish.
Useful tips
Cooking according to a recipe will save you from unpleasant accidents, so following it and choosing good meat for frying will ensure a tasty and juicy result. Just in case, we present some useful tips that will help you avoid mistakes while cooking:
- Before frying, the meat should be wiped with a towel so that it immediately begins to fry and nothing interferes with the formation of a crust;
- do not eat the steak right away, holding it for 10-15 minutes will allow the hot surface to finish cooking the inside;
- cut the meat across the grain, and the thickness of the pieces should be no more than 2.5-3 cm;
- Warm the meat after refrigeration at room temperature, do not start cooking right away;
- If you're barbecuing, turn it every 3-4 minutes to ensure it heats evenly.
Grilled elk has a specific taste, vaguely similar to some common types of meat. We advise you to try it if possible and add a new item to your library of tastes.
Homemade elk shish kebab
- Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
- Number of servings: 5 persons.
- Calorie content of the dish: 1500 kcal.
- Purpose: for lunch, dinner.
- Cuisine: Russian.
- Difficulty of preparation: medium.
If you don't know what to cook with elk meat, then this recipe is best. Many people believe that tasty and aromatic elk shish kebab can only be prepared outdoors, over a fire. This recipe describes how to make it from the comfort of your home. If you adhere to all the conditions, then in the oven on skewers the taste will be no different from cooking over a fire. The main component is peeled and marinated tenderloin. The combination with vegetables will give the dish new aromatic colors.
- tenderloin (elk) – 1 kg;
- onions - 3 large heads;
- lemon – 1 pc.;
- tomatoes – 400 g;
- spices and salt - to taste;
- mineral water – 1.5 l.
- We clean the tenderloin from film, veins and other things, cut into even cubes for kebab.
- Cut the onion into rings and mix with the meat for a long time until the onion releases juice.
- Fill this with sparkling mineral water, adding lemon juice (it will remove excess odors of game - swamp or other, if any).
- After two hours of preparation, fry the tenderloin in a frying pan until golden brown.
- Thread onto a skewer with onions and tomatoes (skewers) and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Moose jerky
To prepare delicious dried elk meat, you need a large amount of elk meat, and the sternum of the animal is best suited for this (since the size of the finished dried piece is reduced). Initially, the elk must be washed, slightly dried, and trimmed so that it becomes an even piece.
Elk jerky
Then the elk meat is placed in a deep container and sprinkled tightly with salt, pepper and other spices, and placed in the refrigerator for three days so that it is frozen and well soaked in seasonings. After three days, the meat is lightly rinsed from salt and wrapped in film to prevent mold and other troubles. The brine recipe for drying elk can be supplemented with many other ingredients (garlic, kefir, and so on).
It takes about 2-3 weeks to dry a piece, during which time the meat dries out a little. Such meat is considered a real culinary masterpiece, since elk meat itself is a very tender and tasty product.
Recipe for drying elk:
- salt;
- spices;
- vinegar.
In order for the drying process to proceed correctly, it is necessary to maintain the proportions of salt (1 pack). In addition, a small amount of vinegar should be added to the salt (allows the bar to go through the drying process without creating mold or anything like that).
If you decide to take a whole animal carcass, then before cooking you need to separate the fleshy part from the bones and veins, but this process takes much more effort and time.