"elk" news and stories

Hark, eager carnivores! As promised, Fuddruckers has unveiled the second in its line of exotic burgers, so channel your inner wolf and get ready to bag some elk (cooked to medium and topped with Swiss cheese and grilled onions, of course).

The self-proclaimed home of the "World's Greatest Hamburgers" introduced its "Fudds Exotics" burgers in May. While the burgers are certainly exotic when compared to the competition, they probably wouldn't be anything that Dr. Livingstone would write home about. Don't expect charbroiled wildebeest to pop up on the menu any time soon.

The half-pound elk burger joins Fuddruckers' half-pound bison burger as the second gamey "exotic" that's available now. The chain will add a half-pound wild boar burger in September, and -- just in time to give another bird a run for its money -- look for a 7-oz. ostrich burger to arrive before Thanksgiving.

If you don't mind embellishing your Facebook profile, Fuddruckers is offering you a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to try all their exotic offerings if you put a "Fudds Exotics" icon on your profile page.

The minute I tasted farm-raised elk, I was a convert. Pepperettes, steak, roasts, sausages -- it's all good -- rich in taste without being terribly fatty. But it's not just a meat that offers great taste -- it's ridiculously good for you, and if you can score it from a local supplier, it's also another step towards eating locally.

Just look above. For a 100 gram (approx. a quarter pound) cooked portion of meat, it offers the lowest calories, an astonishingly low amount of fat, the lowest cholesterol ranking, and the second highest protein count under veal. And this is including the diet mainstay -- chicken. You really can't beat something that offers great flavor without the price of your health.

Of course, a little more care needs to be given to a juicy piece of elk, but not too much. Sear it to seal in the juices if you're pan-frying it, or try massaging the steak with oil to help seal the meat and keep the moisture in. Don't forget stock -- if you can grab some elk bones like I did, they can be used in your favorite beef stock recipe.

To find elk near you, try the state-by-state directory at Deer Farms.com. To see how wonderfully juicy it can be, hit the jump for a picture of one of my elk steaks, mid-meal.

I think it's safe to say that Slashfood readers like food, and for the most part, like making it. But do you consider yourself a cook? And, more specifically, if that answer is yes -- what made you decide that you were one?

When I went to one of my local farmers' markets over the weekend (where I found the shaker pitcher), I was there for something specific -- elk bones. See, I'd made a brown stock eons ago, but it didn't turn out so well, so I wanted to try again. When one of my elk guys, John Rietkerk of Second Wind Elk, gave me a recipe for elk stew over the summer, I wanted to try it from scratch. There was no way I'd buy some local elk and then destroy it with boxed stock, so I asked him about elk bones.

Fast-forward a couple months, and I found myself walking through the market with a HUGE box of elk bones. Free. It was a revelation for two reasons. One: It taught me the benefit of talking to your food producers. I have enough bones to make a number of quarts of stock, and it'll only cost me the vegetables I have to use. Second: I felt like a real cook. I wasn't only toiling with a recipe or buying better equipment -- I was getting a huge box of bones from my supplier, so to speak. My food passion suddenly seemed all the more real.

Those bones above are my turning point, but what about you? What marks your changes in culinary efforts?

After a number of months of hemming and hawing, I finally bit the bullet and joined an organic home-delivery fruit and produce service. It's awesome, and completely worth it. However, it means that I have to keep on top of my cooking. With this week's box scheduled to arrive this afternoon, I needed to clear out the remaining pieces of last week's score. That meant finding a use for some broccoli.

Seeing that I was also craving one of my super-delicious elk burgers, I decide to pair the two. I somehow knife-wrestled a patty from the frozen pile without losing a finger, and then grabbed the green stuff. The broccoli was fried until soft, and then set on the cheeseburger with some Kozlik's blonde mustard (so good), tomato, and mayonnaise. Teamed with some fries seasoned with ground anardana (pomegranate), smoked paprika, salt, and pepper, and this was the best burger and fries that I've had in eons.

What's your favorite unlikely burger topping?