Shepherd’s meat pie with Italian elk sausage includes chopped celery, carrots, onion, mushrooms, fresh tarragon, shallots, a little bacon and mashed potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 pound ground elk
• 1/2 pound ground elk Italian sausage
• 3 celery stalks (chopped 1/4 inch or shredded)
• 3 carrots (chopped 1/4 inch or shredded)
• 3 zucchinis (chopped 1/4 inch or shredded)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 cup mushrooms (chopped)
• 2 shallots
• 1 slice bacon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup shredded cheese blend
• 1 cup mashed potato
• Fresh Tarragon
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Puffed Pastries (defrosted)
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Add ground elk and elk sausage to skillet and cook until browned. Remove meat from skillet and set aside.

3) Add butter and bacon to skillet and proceed to sauté chopped celery, carrots, zucchini, onion, shallots and fresh tarragon. Approximately 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add mashed potatoes, elk meat and cheese to pan. Remove from heat and stir.

4) On a floured surface, roll 1 pastry sheet to be the size of your pie dish. Place the pastry sheet on the bottom of the dish. Transfer meat and vegetables into the pan.

5) Brush the outer edge of the bottom pastry sheet with egg wash.

6) Roll the second pastry sheet out on floured surface and cover the top of the meat. Press and close the edges of the pastry sheets together. Brush top of the pastry sheet with remaining egg wash. Season with salt and pepper. Cut an ‘X’ into the top of the pastry.

7) Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Cover with tinfoil for the last 20 minutes so the pastry doesn’t burn. Remove from oven when done and enjoy.

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The perfect appetizer for impressing your dinner guests has to be Mushrooms stuffed with ground elk, barbequed sweet onion and smoked mozzarella cheese hot out of the oven. I would have to say… Yum! Remember too that you can always substitute other meats for these recipes such as ground sausage.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cooked ground elk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 25-30 mushrooms
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded smoked mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella
• fresh thyme
• salt
• olive oil

Makes approximately 25-35

DIRECTIONS
1) Slice sweet onion in large pieces about ¼ inch thick. Season with olive oil, salt and cook direct on barbeque. Turn every 2-3 minutes for roughly 10 minutes or until the onion becomes soft.

2) In a food processor add elk meat, onion and garlic powder. Pulse ingredients together for approximately 5-10 seconds. Remove and add to bowl combining the meat mixture and both mozzarella cheeses. Gently stir together and set aside.

3) Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium heat. Add all mushrooms top side down, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip all mushrooms and cook for another minute. Remove from skillet and place top side down on a cookie sheet.

4) Spoon roughly 1 tablespoon of stuffing into each mushroom cap and top off with some fresh thyme. Cook mushrooms for 10-12 minutes or until stuffing is warm. Remove from oven and enjoy!

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It’s all about Portion Control these days, so I cooked up some Mini Elk Calzones with ground elk, mushrooms, oregano, ricotta cheese and creamy Alfredo sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• .5 lb ground elk
• 1 cup mushrooms
• ¼ cup onion
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon oregano (dried)
• ½ cup Ricotta cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 sheet puff pastry (defrost prior to cooking)
• 1 egg beaten plus 1 teaspoon water
• Creamy Alfredo sauce

Makes 10-12

DIRECTIONS
1) Add 2 tablespoons grape seed oil to skillet and cook ground elk, mushrooms and onions over medium-high heat. When meat has browned add garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Continue to cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Once the meat has cooled, add ricotta cheese.

2) Heat oven to 400 degrees.

3) Place pastry sheet on a lightly floured cutting surface and flatten with a rolling pin. Use a glass with a 2 ½ inch diameter and cut 10 – 12 circles. Add pastry rounds to non stick cookie sheet.

4) Measure out about 1 teaspoon of the elk stuffing and place on half of each pastry circle. Fold the pastry over the stuffing and press closed. It’s OK if it doesn’t close all of the way.

5) Brush the tops of the pastry calzones with the egg wash. Add some fresh parmesan and some chili flakes to the tops of each. Place in oven and cook for 10 minutes or until pastry is browned.

6) Remove from oven and serve with your favorite creamy Alfredo sauce. Enjoy!

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Oops. I did it again. I had to make one of our favorite burgers into a smaller slider of a size. Try these Brie stuffed Elk Burgers with sautéed mushrooms and smother them in your favorite BBQ Sauce. Don’t forget to smash them down to release the melted cheese inside.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground elk
• 2 tablespoons Whole Grain Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 inch Brie cubes
• 1 cup mushrooms
• Sourdough Rolls
• Grilled onions (optional)

Make 4 Sliders

DIRECTIONS
1) In a large bowl, add mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to ground elk meat. Mix all ingredients by hand. Take a small amount of meat and form the patty. Be sure to make it small enough to fit on a small roll. Press gently with your thumb creating a small indent in the center and add the Brie cheese. Take another small amount of meat and cover the cheese continuing to form the patty. Your sliders should be about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick.

2) Pre-heat cast iron skillet to medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil to pan and once the skillet is good and hot, add the burgers. Cook the burgers for about 5 minutes and then turn. Be sure not to burn. Cook the same amount of time on the opposite side. Now here’s the fun part… I like to cook mine on their sides, stacked next to each other and rotating every minute until they are medium rare.  They come out a bit Square but still just as tasty! Remove from heat and let rest.

3) While your burgers are cooking, pre-heat another skillet to medium-high heat. Add butter and mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms for roughly 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

4) Place elk sliders on sourdough Rolls, flatten or smash down on your slider with a spatula  to release the melted Brie, top with the sautéed mushrooms and smother in your favorite BBQ Sauce! Now that’s good!

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cup Elk Italian Sausage
• Fresh oregano
• 2 cups brown mushrooms
• ½ red onion
• 20 cherry tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 6 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup Cheddar cheese
• ½ cup parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1) Cook elk sausage on medium high heat until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.

2) Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms, chopped onion and a few fresh oregano leaves. Sauté for about 10 minutes or until mushrooms and onion become caramelized. Add cherry tomatoes and continue to cook for another five minutes or until tomatoes become soft. Remove from heat and let cool.

3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

4) Add 6 whole eggs to a large bowl. Beat eggs until blended. Add milk, cheeses, sausage, mushrooms and stir together.

5) Spray 9×13 pan with Non Stick cooking spray. Add quiche mixture to pan and cook in oven for 25-30 minutes.

6) Remove from oven and serve. I like to serve with salsa, fresh avocado, pickled jalapenos and sour cream.

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The best cuts of meat deserve the most attention to detail; however, that doesn’t mean that you need to use the most expensive ingredients. Simple things like Alfredo sauce, yes from a jar… sage, mushrooms and onions make a fine dining meal in minutes.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 – 1/2inch thick backstrap steaks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Grape Seed Oil
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 2 cups mushrooms (8 oz)
• 1 cup creamy Alfredo sauce
• 6-8 sage leaves
• Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
1) Cut backstrap in 1/2 inch thick steaks. Pat dry, coat lightly with oil, fresh cracked pepper, kosher salt and set aside.

2) Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and whole sage leaves. Cook until onions become soft and translucent. Add sliced mushrooms and a few fresh sage leaves direct to onions and continue to cook for about 10 minutes. Add 1 cup creamy Alfredo sauce and stir. Turn heat to low and simmer.

3) Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, sear the elk steaks for about 2 minutes on one side. Turn steaks and cook another 2 minutes. Steaks will be medium rare. Remove from heat and allow resting for 3-5 minutes.

4) Plate your elk steaks and top off with a few spoonfuls of Sage Mushroom Alfredo gravy.

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