Hunting season is winding down.
For those who hunt, that means the chest freezer in the garage is spilling over. For those who don’t hunt but like to eat wild game, it means that now is a great time to score some local game from the butcher without having to deal with all those loading and firing and dressing details.
The question is, once you have your venison haunch or elk shoulder, whether self-harvested or procured from your favorite butcher, what do you do with it?
The answer: Not much, and slowly.
Game is generally tougher than the beef or pork you’re used to preparing, for good reason: Wild game is more muscular, thanks to spending its entire life racing through the woods eating berries and dodging camo-clad hunters rather than hanging out in the barn eating livestock-chow.
That means longer, slower cooking is required to break down the tough muscle fibers and give the meat the velvety texture it’s prized for.
When it comes to cooking meat in general and game in particular, there’s no one in the world whose instructions I’d rather follow than all-pro omnivore Clarissa Dickson Wright, the surviving member of the most entertaining television chefs ever, the “Two Fat Ladies.” (R.I.P. Jennifer Paterson.)
Her new book, “Sunday Roast: The Complete Guide to Cooking & Carving,” contains this excellent, absurdly easy recipe for elk shoulder.
Roast Shoulder of Elk
Adapted from “Sunday Roast,” by Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott. Serves a tableful of hungry people. Excellent with roasted root vegetables and wild rice. You can easily substitute venison here, or antelope. Be sure to call your butcher at least a week before you’ll be preparing your roast; not every butcher has elk shoulder on hand. Or, order from one of the several Colorado-based companies that sell farmed and wild elk meat on the Web, including Grande Premium Meats (elkusa.com) and Colorado Elk and Game Meats (colorado-elk.com).
Ingredients
1 shoulder of elk, about 8 pounds
6 juniper berries
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Barding fat (Ask your butcher for this; he may call it something different. Barding fat is fat that you wrap around the roast, or lay over the roast, to help baste it as it cooks. Because most game is so lean, this extra fat ensures moister meat. If you can’t find barding fat, use bacon, but it will add a faint smoky note to the final dish.)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Crush the juniper berries and mix with some salt and pepper and a little olive oil. Smear over the surface of the meat, then cover with barding fat. Put in a roasting dish and roast in the oven for 15 minutes per pound.
(Optional step: Before wrapping roast with fat, use a paring knife to make several small 1-inch-deep slits around roast and stuff with barding fat and/or garlic cloves and/or rosemary twigs. Just take care not to slit too deeply into roast.)
Be sure to let the roast rest for 20 minutes under a loose sheet of foil before carving. Great the day after on country white bread with a little mayo.
Tucker Shaw: 303-954-1958 or dining@denverpost.com
