Moose Bourguignon or Is It Moose Ragout ?

Moose meat is one of the last things that I thought I would be cooking. Correction, all game meats are equally unlikely. I thought my culinary horizon would be limited to the ordinary live stocks. Lucky for me, I got to try cooking a nice moose blade steak fresh from a hunt that my boyfriend's parents went on a few weeks ago. It looked liked beef but is a bit leaner. It did not smell like beef but a little gamy as expected. Armed with no previous knowledge of moose meat, let the experiment began!

For my first try at a moose dish, I had chosen to base my experiment on Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon recipe. Though, I think due to the many many improvisation that was required, the final recipe can only be considered as a ragout with red wine. Oh well, one has to make do with what she has in the fridge. However, the next time I would follow Julia's recipe a little more closely and larded the meat to give the meat a little more tenderness.

I would like to think that my lazy-woman's recipe is pretty easy. Blanch. Brown. Simmer. Serve!



Moose Bourguignon

Serves 4
1 1/2 - 2 pounds of moose blade steak, cubed
2 tablespoons of baking soda
2 tablespoons of butter
1 medium sized onion
2 cups beef broth
1 cup red wine
2 carrots
1 pack of mushrooms
1 tablespoon of thyme
3 cloves of garlic
1 pack of Knorr's Hunter Sauce
1/4 cup water

1. Toss the cubed steak in baking soda. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. The baking soda would help to tenderize the meat. Then blanch the meat.
2. Slice the onion and sauté it in a pot with butter until it browns. Add in the blanched meat, broth and wine. Bring to a boil then turn the heat down to low for slow simmer.
3. Slice the carrots, quarter the mushrooms and crush the garlic. Add them all into the pot along with the thyme.
4. Cover the pot and keep at a heat setting that will allow for a 2-3 hour simmer. Stir occasionally.
5. Check that the meat is tender using a fork. Dissolve a pack of Knoor's Hunter Sauce in 1/4 cup of water. Stir the sauce into the pot. Turn up the heat to medium to evaporate excess liquid until the constancy reaches that of a stew.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta, mashed potato, or bread and a side of veges!