Slightly Embarrassed
Last June I received an email from Georgia Pelligrini. The email simply said:
Hi Dennis, I have a book coming out this fall called Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time
, which chronicles my experiences going over field and stream in search of the main course. Can I send you a copy of my book when it comes out later this year? If so let me know your address!
Hope all is well.
Cheers,
Georgia
I had never heard of her before and passed it off as some sort of spam. In my experience, bloggers are always being spammed for free/cheap advertising for some unnamed, unknown, possibly unpalatable product. Two days ago, I learned that at least one recipe in Pellgrini's book is far from unpalatable.
Then, a week ago, fellow blogger,
Deer Passion, posted links to Pelligrini's book. Well, faux pax on me! I dug back through emails, found Pelligrini's and asked for a copy of the book so I could join the feast. We received it yesterday. When my wife and I have read it a review will be posted here.
In the meantime, Lindsey Triebel, one of the staff promoting Pelligrini's work, sent me some links and a recipe for Moroccan Elk Stew that comes from Pelligrini's book, Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing The Way We Eat, One Hunt At A Time.
Here it is:
Moroccan Elk Stew
Serves 8
Also try: beef, lamb, bison, venison and other antlered game
4 pounds elk shoulder or haunch, cut into cubes
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons grape seed oil or butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 medium-size onions, roughly chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium-size turnips, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2/3 cup dried apricots
2/3 cup prunes, pitted
3 to 4 cups beef or antlered game stock
1. Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot with oil. In a bowl, toss the elk cubes in the flour. Shake the cubes well and place them in the pot in batches, being sure not to crowd them. Brown them on all sides and transfer to a plate or rack.
2. Put all of the browned meat back in the pan and sprinkle it with the salt, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. Then add the vegetables, garlic, and dried fruit. Pour in enough stock for the meat to be three-quarters covered, and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat so the bubbles percolate. Cover and simmer gently for 2 hours, until tender.
Of course, I couldn't post something that I hadn't tried, so I immediately made Pelligrini's Moroccan Elk Stew with only two changes to her recipe. (Are there elk in Morocco?) One change was planned; the other an "oooops." During winter in the Carroll household we don't cook on the stove top; instead we cook our stews, pot roasts, chilis, spaghetti sauces, etc in our Tulikivi.
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| Our Tulikivi with Pelligrini's Moroccan Elk Stew (before I covered the Dutch Oven) |
A Tulikivi is a Finnish fireplace. It heats the entire house with one-two hour fire per day--even here on the Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. (Yes, the wind is howling today, bringing tonight's snow!) The fire heats 5000 pounds of Finnish soapstone during that two hour period and then radiates it throughout day and night. With all the leftover heat, we simply insert a stainless steel rack in the firebox-after the fire is out--and place a dutch oven with the day's delectables on the rack. Add a little water throughout the day and presto; meal fit for a royalty and no added expense for cooking--or hassle, for that matter.
The "ooops," came from my idea on "beef or antlered game stock." I just made it like I normally would, but when I got Pelligrini's book, her recipe for stock was radically different, and possibly tastier than mine. OK, it would be better than mine.
Regardless, or irregardless as some say, Pelligrini's Moroccan Elk Stew was the best stew I have made. Even the smell was delicious. The mixture of cinnamon, ginger, onions, and garlic caused a Pavlovian response before, during and after it was cooked. Do I have to wait all day to taste this?
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| A stew for two. |
If Pelligrini's book, Girl Hunter: Revolutionizing the Way We Eat, One Hunt at a Time, is written as well as her Moroccan Elk Stew tastes, she will have a best seller.
TTFN
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