The 'Quaker Oats' meatloaf recipe made with lean, protein-rich ground elk meat and oatmeal, topped with a tomato-onion sauce. Can substitute beef, bison or even ground turkey for the elk.
Everyone's heard the one about the man who stopped by the grocery for milk but loaded up with milk, cream, sour cream, yogurt and two gallons of ice cream. So let me tell you about the guy who contemplated hunting up an elk roast during a business trip, then returned with big news, “I bought an elk.”
An elk, an entire elk, raised free-range on a ranch in northern Missouri. You think I could make this up? Hardly.
Good news, however. Elk is gorgeous meat. Its flavor is robust but not at all gamey. Its flesh is lean, in fact, lower in fat than beef and pork and even chicken. It’s also a red meat that’s low in cholesterol. Elk is a particularly good choice for Weight Watchers folks, since a quarter-pound serving has only two points. (In contrast, chicken has three points.)
THE QUESTION IS Aside from the flavor, my first and indelible impression about having a whole animal custom-processed at a butcher’s is that you bring home fewer loins, steaks, roasts and hams than you’d think -- and a whole lot more ground meat than you can imagine, let alone know what to do with. If this is the typical supply-demand scenario, it makes me wonder why a grocery store’s premium cuts aren’t even more expensive than they are, its ground meats less expensive. What’s happening to all that ground meat?
RECIPE CALL! If readers have elk recipes to share, especially recipes for ground elk, this elk-overrun cook would be most appreciative. With a little help, I’ll collect recipes to attack an abundance of ground elk meat.
SHARE YOUR STORY What’s the most unusual food you’ve brought home and then wondered what to do with it all? Share your story!
This recipe doesn’t require ground elk. Substitute ground bison (which Whole Foods carries and is excellent), lean ground beef or even ground turkey for the elk meat specified in this recipe for meatloaf. This particular elk was ground without added fat so the meat is extra lean for ground meat, too lean to use in meatloaf by itself. I used 2:1 elk:ground pork but use your own judgment based on how much fat is in the primary meat. I usually cook meatloaf on a ridged pan that lets the fat drip into the bottom. This time, I used one ridged pan and one plain Pyrex pie plate without ridges. Still, with such lean meat, the meatloaf gave off so little fat (only about 3 tablespoons) that it was easy enough to siphon off with a turkey baster from the pie plate.
ELK MEATLOAF
but bison, beef, even turkey work fine too
Time to table: 1-3/4 hours
Serves 12 (easily halved)
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MEATLOAF
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats (uncooked oatmeal)
- 1 large onion, chopped fine (see TIPS)
- 2 pounds ground elk (see TIPS)
- 1 pound ground pork (smoked, if possible)
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SAUCE
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped fine
- 1 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two glass pie pans or a large baking dish (see TIPS) with cooking spray.
MEATLOAF In a two-cup measure or bowl, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt and pepper. With your hand, mix the oats, onion and ground meats in a large bowl. (Don’t squeeze the meat to condense, you want to keep it as loose as possible.) Add the ketchup mixture and combine well, still without squeezing. Form into one or two round discs about 2-1/2 inches tall. Bake for about 30 minutes.
SAUCE While the meatloaf begins to bake, mix the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a bowl. Let simmer slowly.
COMBINE Spoon sauce evenly over top of partially cooked meat. Return to the oven for another 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160F. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes before slicing.
More Recipe Ideas for Elk
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Oops, wrong blog LOL!
I love grinding up leftover veggies and stashing them in my meatloaf. I can get up to almost a 1:1 ratio of ground meat to ground veggies, and anything goes.
Even okra.
Meatloaf sounds yummy to me these days-thanks for the idea, and enjoy your elk!
Family favorite: dip elk round steaks in beaten egg and bread crumbs seasoned with parsley, garlic & parmesan, pepper, salt. Brown and put in a roasting pan. Saute potato wedges to just brown alittle and place on top of meat. Then saute onions until they lose their "bite" and stir in canned, chopped tomatoes and their juice and pour over all. Bake about 30-45 minutes. (I forgot--I usually roll potatoes lightly in any bread crumbs left before sauteing)
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