Recipe: "Turtle Island Elkloaf 1.0"
Dec. 29th, 2019 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithTonight I made Turtle Island Elkloaf and Maple Squash.
"Turtle Island Elkloaf 1.0"
Ingredients:
sunflower oil
1/4 cup diced onion (about 1/8 sweet or red onion)
1 egg
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon juniper berries
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 cup piñon nuts
1 pound ground elk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a loaf pan with sunflower oil.
Peel the onion, cut it into sections, and dice until you have about 1/4 cup of tiny onion bits. Put the bits in a small bowl and set aside.
Crack an egg into a large shallow mixing bowl and scramble it with a fork. Mix in 1/4 cup half-and-half. Mix in 1/2 cup of cornflake crumbs. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, until it turns to mush. Don't leave it too long or it will turn stiff.
In a mortar and pestle, grind together 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon juniper berries. Then add 1 teaspoon rubbed sage, and grind it in. Sprinkle over the corn mush.
Add 1/4 cup piñon nuts to the large mixing bowl. Add the onion bits too.
Put the ground elk into the large mixing bowl, tearing it into small pieces with your hands. Mash and knead the mixture until thoroughly blended; it should be fairly smooth and stick together well. (If it’s too dry, add a little more half-and-half; if it’s too wet, add more cornflake crumbs.) Pat the mixture into an oblong shape and lift it into the loaf pan.
Cook the meatloaf for 50 minutes. Juices should run clear. Serves 5 people.
Notes:
Sunflower oil is native to Turtle Island (North America). It has a similar non-flavor as vegetable oil and can be used the same for cooking.
I used about 1/8 of a sweet onion. You can add more onion if you wish. Make the pieces very small if you want them to soften, a little larger if you like them crispy. Use wild onions or ramps if you can get them. Shallots also work, and red onion is particularly good with the dark flavor of elk.
Turtle island cooking prefers duck eggs or quail eggs. One jumbo chicken egg equates to one duck egg or three to four quail eggs. I used chicken.
Dairy is an auxiliary ingredient in that we don't know of people using it widely in the past, but milk-giving animals existed then and there, so it was possible as an occasional ingredient.
Corn is a staple of Turtle Island cooking, one of the Three Sisters alongside squash and beans. Here I used cornflake crumbs because they make a great meatloaf filler. Crushed cornbread should also work. You might try cornmeal or corn flour but the consistency may vary.
Sea salt was a hugely popular trade item in Turtle Island. People also tracked animals to salt deposits and collected mineral salt, so that works too. Table salt will do if that's all you have.
Juniper berries have a bright, strong flavor with lemony and resinous notes. This commanding spice stands up well to dark meats like elk, venison, and bison.
Wild sage has always been a big part of Turtle Island cooking. Garden sage has a similar flavor, just a little milder.
Piñon nuts are also called pine nuts because they are seeds from pinecones. They have a sweet, nutty flavor and they soften well when cooked. Some Southwestern tribes used these as a primary food. Other peoples relied on acorns, hazelnuts, or other nuts. Use what you have.
Elk is a lean, dark red meat with a strong taste. It can be a little on the dry side, so it's often mixed with or wrapped in a fattier meat, or else topped with a gravy or other sauce. After a brief discussion, we unanimously concluded that this meatloaf should be served with mushroom gravy.
The flavors in this recipe are designed to complement the robust flavor of elk meat. Other game meat such as moose or venison would probably work. It’s not optimized for beef, though you could try grass-fed beef if you don’t have access to game.
If you want a charred top on the meatloaf, take it out five minutes early and move up the oven rack so the meatloaf will be just below the burner. Cook for five minutes or until it has as much char as you want.
"Turtle Island Elkloaf 1.0"
Ingredients:
sunflower oil
1/4 cup diced onion (about 1/8 sweet or red onion)
1 egg
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon juniper berries
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 cup piñon nuts
1 pound ground elk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a loaf pan with sunflower oil.
Peel the onion, cut it into sections, and dice until you have about 1/4 cup of tiny onion bits. Put the bits in a small bowl and set aside.
Crack an egg into a large shallow mixing bowl and scramble it with a fork. Mix in 1/4 cup half-and-half. Mix in 1/2 cup of cornflake crumbs. Allow to sit for 1-2 minutes, until it turns to mush. Don't leave it too long or it will turn stiff.
In a mortar and pestle, grind together 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon juniper berries. Then add 1 teaspoon rubbed sage, and grind it in. Sprinkle over the corn mush.
Add 1/4 cup piñon nuts to the large mixing bowl. Add the onion bits too.
Put the ground elk into the large mixing bowl, tearing it into small pieces with your hands. Mash and knead the mixture until thoroughly blended; it should be fairly smooth and stick together well. (If it’s too dry, add a little more half-and-half; if it’s too wet, add more cornflake crumbs.) Pat the mixture into an oblong shape and lift it into the loaf pan.
Cook the meatloaf for 50 minutes. Juices should run clear. Serves 5 people.
Notes:
Sunflower oil is native to Turtle Island (North America). It has a similar non-flavor as vegetable oil and can be used the same for cooking.
I used about 1/8 of a sweet onion. You can add more onion if you wish. Make the pieces very small if you want them to soften, a little larger if you like them crispy. Use wild onions or ramps if you can get them. Shallots also work, and red onion is particularly good with the dark flavor of elk.
Turtle island cooking prefers duck eggs or quail eggs. One jumbo chicken egg equates to one duck egg or three to four quail eggs. I used chicken.
Dairy is an auxiliary ingredient in that we don't know of people using it widely in the past, but milk-giving animals existed then and there, so it was possible as an occasional ingredient.
Corn is a staple of Turtle Island cooking, one of the Three Sisters alongside squash and beans. Here I used cornflake crumbs because they make a great meatloaf filler. Crushed cornbread should also work. You might try cornmeal or corn flour but the consistency may vary.
Sea salt was a hugely popular trade item in Turtle Island. People also tracked animals to salt deposits and collected mineral salt, so that works too. Table salt will do if that's all you have.
Juniper berries have a bright, strong flavor with lemony and resinous notes. This commanding spice stands up well to dark meats like elk, venison, and bison.
Wild sage has always been a big part of Turtle Island cooking. Garden sage has a similar flavor, just a little milder.
Piñon nuts are also called pine nuts because they are seeds from pinecones. They have a sweet, nutty flavor and they soften well when cooked. Some Southwestern tribes used these as a primary food. Other peoples relied on acorns, hazelnuts, or other nuts. Use what you have.
Elk is a lean, dark red meat with a strong taste. It can be a little on the dry side, so it's often mixed with or wrapped in a fattier meat, or else topped with a gravy or other sauce. After a brief discussion, we unanimously concluded that this meatloaf should be served with mushroom gravy.
The flavors in this recipe are designed to complement the robust flavor of elk meat. Other game meat such as moose or venison would probably work. It’s not optimized for beef, though you could try grass-fed beef if you don’t have access to game.
If you want a charred top on the meatloaf, take it out five minutes early and move up the oven rack so the meatloaf will be just below the burner. Cook for five minutes or until it has as much char as you want.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-12-30 06:20 am (UTC)I think plan b is probably grass-fed bison which I can usually get at whole foods.
Yes ...
Date: 2019-12-30 06:42 am (UTC)We got ours from a specialty meat market in the Chicago area. Try searching "elk" or "specialty meat" and the name of your city or state. If you travel, it's well worth searching the name of your destination city to see if they have foods you can't find near home.
>>I think plan b is probably grass-fed bison which I can usually get at whole foods.<<
That should work fine.