Slow Cooked Wild Beastie put us in a good mood.

Luckily, I saw Charlie, the hunter I told you about before (March 4 and March 6 - my first adventure with cooking Elk), and was able to relate to him my Elk cooking adventure. I say luckily, because he gave me an Elk roast, more Elk steak, and some deer meat to try out. Oh yes, I was thrilled! Well he and I must have been on the same page that day. I asked him about putting the meat in the crock pot; "Funny you should ask that", he said, "I just tried that out the other day." He told me how he had cooked it in the crock pot, and I couldn't wait to try it out myself. However, I went online and perused several hunting sites that gave cooking tips, just to see how others dealt with Elk roast. Jotting down a few notes, off to my kitchen I went....

Oh, the meal? Incredible!!! Hubby actually went back for thirds; that is how well it came out.

Elk Roast Slow Cooked

Ingredients:

¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup beef broth
1 Tbsp minced garlic
¼ tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 large onion, sliced
2 to 3 lb elk roast
1 (6.5 oz) can sliced mushrooms
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes

Preparation:

Into a 4 qt crock pot, set on low, put the vinegar, broth, garlic, black pepper, Worcestershire, brown sugar and flour; whisk together well. Spread out onions over mixture; place roast on top of onions. Spread out mushrooms and tomatoes over top of roast. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours; roast will be very tender and easily come apart with a fork.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Three Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp softened butter
3 large red skinned or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced thin
½ cup diced onion
¼ cup each shredded Swiss cheese and crumbled goat cheese
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ cup milk
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 2 qt baking dish with the softened butter.

Layer the potatoes in the baking dish; spreading onion, Swiss cheese and goat cheese over each layer.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, flour, salt and black pepper; pour over top of potatoes.

Cover with aluminum foil; bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 40-45 minutes; potatoes will be tender. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over top of potatoes; bake another 10-15 minutes; cheese will be bubbly and just starting to brown. Let potatoes rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour