Jason and Ashley picked these ingredients. I pretty much knew right away what to do with the elk, which is from the elk I shot December 31, 2009. I knew I would make elk stew with the carrots. I thought about incorporating the apple into the stew but I didn't. Instead I combined it with the popcorn because I didn't know what else to do with the popcorn. Why my family insists on coming up with some crazy ingredients is beyond me. They can't seem to pick things that would obviously go together. I don't recall saying I wanted to be creative with food. Okay, maybe I did. And apparantely my family is taking it very seriously! Remember, I cannot use a recipe. This has to come from my head. I can have inspiration from watching food network or the cooking channel, but I can't write down a recipe or look one up on the internet. I can't make something I've made exactly before, but I can use similiar techniques. So here is what I made:
Elk Stew with Carmelized Popcorn and Apples
STEW:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 lb canadian bacon, chopped
1 lb elk sirloin steak, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups baby carrots
1 pkg white pearl onions, peeled but left whole
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp dried sage
6 oz tomato paste
1 bottle Hoyt Cellars Plum Malbec (this is my red cooking wine)
1 cup beef broth
1 tsp dried parsley
POPCORN:
1/4 cup corn kernels
2 tbsp popcorn butter oil
1 tsp cinammon
1 tsp sugar
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add canadian bacon and cook until browned, stirring occassionally, about 5 minutes. Add elk steak pieces and cooked until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Add onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add thyme, garlic salt, caraway seeds and sage. Stir until combined with meat and vegetables. Add tomato paste, wine and beef broth and cook until bubbly, about 3 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover stew with lid and finish cooking in oven for 1 1/2 hours. Top with parsley before serving.
Heat popcorn oil, 1 tsp cinammon and 1 tsp sugar over medium-high heat in popcorn popper. Add kernels and cook until completely popped. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in chopped apples.
Heat 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup water in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until slightly brown. Add vanilla.
Pour over poporn and apple mixture, stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle with a little more cinammon and sugar.
Serve stew with multi-grain bread. Enjoy!
Okay, so the popcorn part didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. It really threw me off and all I could think about was serving it in a large bowl. I'm pretty sure I burned the carmel too. That stuff is tricky!
The stew was excellent though! Probably the best dish I've made with these challenges, by far. It's funny though. I've already thought of how I can make the previous dishes better, so I will be revisiting them. I've already figured out how to make the apple and popcorn better, besides not including them next time.
Once again, I have ultimate respect for those professional chefs who can come up with something fabulous on the spot. It is really difficult! I'm getting a little better each time I do this. I can't say it is totally fun. I have gotten a little stressed out and even a little hurt if my family doesn't really like it. But I'll keep doing it. I'm providing great entertainment for my family apparently!
Want to get in on the action? Got any ideas for my next food challenge?
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