Elk Bourguignon

Way back in 1998, I was passing through Channel Port Aux Basques in Newfoundland.

I stopped for a warm meal in a local restaurant - I think it may have been in a hotel - and ended up ordering the caribou bourguignon. I’d never had caribou before, and it sounded really good on that cold and rainy morning.

Let me tell you, I’ve be dreaming about that highly regional take on traditional beef bourguignon ever since.

Like the classic French dish it was based on, it had tender, melt-in-your-mouth chunks of meat in a rich red wine sauce

Anyway, that meal set me on the path of adoring game meat - it wasn’t something I’d ever been exposed to, before going to Newfoundland.

This recipe is adapted from Julia Child’s original recipe for the traditional stew. I like to think of it as a much more Canadian version of the classic French recipe 🙂

The use of game meat and alternative wine (ideally! More on that in a minute...) bring a great flavor to the dish - I definitely prefer it to beef burgundy / bourguignon!

The winter season may be a ways off at this point - we just turned our air conditioner on for the year - but let me tell you that there is NOTHING better than a hot bowl of elk bourguignon on a cold, snowy day.

Love it!

Anyway, enough fan-girling, let’s get to the recipe!

Note: I designed this as a small batch recipe, as 1. Elk is expensive, and 2. I'm the only one in my house that eats it. It's easily scaled up to make more servings, though!

Ingredients

Aside from the meat, the rest of the ingredients in this recipe are all pretty simple ingredients, and should be easy to find in any grocery store.

A few notes for you:

Elk Meat

I tend to use elk stew meat when making this. The pieces are generally bigger than I like, but it’s easy enough to cut them in half.

You can use whatever elk meat you like, I’d just discourage using a premium cut like tenderloin. The “low and slow” cooking will tenderize the meat in a way that would be a waste of a tenderloin.

This had originally been intended as a caribou bourguignon, but unfortunately I’m unable to source caribou in my area. Boo!

If you have caribou meat, feel free to use it!

This would also work well with other red game meats - venison, bison, etc. Again, try to use the cheaper cuts of meat - stewing it is a great way to use those cuts of meat.

Worst case scanario, feel free to use stewing beef - This is a really versatile recipe!

I’ve used the bulk of the ingredients list, swapped the elk out for some roasted tofu, doubled the mushrooms and made a “husband friendly” version, as mine can’t eat red meat anymore.

He loved it - and it required FAR less cooking time, LOL.

Red Wine

Traditionally, boeuf bourguignon is made from a red Burgundy wine - from the Burgundy region of France.

While you can definitely do that if you’d like - or use another traditional red grape wine, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir - I go a different direction.

When it comes to stewing game meat, I tend to use a berry wine.

I’ve been doing this since I was cooking moose stew with partridgeberry wine, living in Newfoundland 20 years ago.

I just find that certain berries complement the rich flavor of the meat in a way that traditional grape wines do not.

As far as store bought wines go, Blueberry Wine is usually the easiest to find - but that’ll probably vary wildly based on location.

Cranberry Wine is another great option, but can be seasonal / regional.

Partridgeberry wine / lingonberry wine is my FAVOURITE when it comes to cooking moose, elk, or caribou, but it’s also the most regional and hard to find.

Whichever you use, be sure it’s a dry bottle of wine. A dessert wine would taste weird in this dish!

Homemade Wine

Can’t buy any where you are, and are feeling industrious? You can make your own wine - here are some recipes that work well with this Elk Bourguignon recipe:

Blackberry Wine Recipe
Blackcurrant Wine Recipe
Blueberry Wine Recipe
Cranberry Wine Recipe
Faux Lingonberry Wine
Partridgeberry Wine Recipe

As pictured, I used a dry batch of my homemade blueberry wine, as I didn’t happen to have any others readily available in a dry wine.

Bacon

Traditionally, most versions of the OG French beef stew recipe tend to use bacon lardons or salt pork.

For the sake of ease in sourcing ingredients, I designed this recipe using regular old bacon. It gets the job done!

Fresh Onion

Classic beef Bourguignon tends to use pearl onions, but honestly... I can’t be arsed to peel all those small onions.

So, I use regular yellow onions.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Beef broth, homemade beef stock, or bone broth
Crimini or button mushrooms
A carrot
Fresh parsley
White Rice Flour
Tomato paste
Unsalted butter
Olive oil
Fresh garlic cloves
Beef bouillon cube
Dried Summer Savory
Bay Leaves
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

... I just really don’t have anything to add, when it comes to these last few ingredients!

Variations

This recipe can be made a few different ways, depending on your dietary needs and preferences.

As posted, it’s a naturally gluten-free, relatively low carb meal. It can also be made with gluten, or as an even lower carb version:

Lower Carb Version:

Skip the rice flour.

Instead of adding the bouillon and summer savory to the pot with the liquids, mash them together in a small bowl, along with 2 teaspoon Unflavoured Beef Gelatin powder and ¼ teaspoon Xanthan gum.

Be sure to stir well - you want the xanthan gum well distributed over the other ingredients, to prevent clumping.

Add this herb and thickener mix to the pot at the same time as the buttered mushrooms, stir well to combine.

Note: This is the version I made when photographing this particular batch.

Traditional Version / Wheat Flour Version:

If you don’t need this to be a gluten-free bourguignon, you can use all purpose flour.

Simply swap it in, 1:1 for the rice flour. The techniques remain the same.

How to Make Elk Bourguignon

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through.

Before getting started, trim your elk - if needed - and cut into 1" cubes. Pat dry with a paper towel, then season with a bit of salt and pepper.

In a heavy bottomed medium pot over medium high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until almost to the point of being crispy.

Remove bacon from pan - leaving the rendered bacon fat in the pan - and set aside.

Add chopped meat to the pan, searing on all sides. You may need to work in batches - you’ll want to cook the meat in single layers, with space between the pieces.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the seared cubes to the bowl with the bacon, leaving any excess fat remaining in the pan.

Next step: Add the carrot and onion to the pan, turn the burner down to medium heat, and saute until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic, season with a bit of salt and pepper, cook for another minute or so.

Add the meats back to the pan. Sprinkle with white rice flour, continue cooking over medium heat for another 5 minutes or so, until the flour starts to brown a bit.

Add the tomato paste, stirring well to coat. Cook for a few more minutes, until fragrant and starting to brown.

Measure the wine into the pan, using a spatula to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan, incorporating them into the wine.

Once the bottom of the pan is clean - “deglazed” - add the beef broth and stir to combine.

Add the parsley, savory, bay leaf, and bouillon to the pot.

Bring to a boil, then cover pot with a tight fitting lid. Turn the burner down to low heat, gently simmer for 2-3 hours.

Once the 2 hours are up:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the quartered mushrooms and the last garlic clove, seasoning with a little salt and pepper.

Saute for about 5 minutes, then add mushrooms to the pot of bourguignon. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

Taste, season with salt and pepper, if needed. Remove the bay leaf, discard.

Serving

Divide between 2-3 bowls, garnish with additional fresh parsley.

Serve with some good wine and crusty bread of your choice.

If you’d like to stretch the servings, you can get 3-4 servings if accompanying it with a green salad, egg noodles, and/or mashed potatoes. All are great options!

If you’re doing this as a lower carb meal, you can serve it with another mashed root vegetable of choice. I like my Low Carb Cauliflower Mash - it uses a bit of turnip to make the cauliflower taste less like cauliflower, and a LOT more like potatoes!

If you’re saving some bourguignon for the next day, transfer the leftovers to an airtight container for storage in the fridge. It’ll keep well for about 3 days.

More Gluten-Free Main Dish Recipes

Looking for more dinner ideas? I’ve got you covered...

Bison Burgers with Bacon and Caramelized Onions
Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Creamy Mustard Chicken
Gluten-Free Bacon Poutine Pizza
Gluten Free Beef Stroganoff
Gluten-Free Beet Gnocchi
Gluten Free Chicken Mushroom Tourtiere
Gluten-Free Coconut Shrimp
Gluten Free Cod Au Gratin
Gluten-Free Cod Cheeks & Dressing
Gluten Free Crab Cakes
Gluten-Free Creamy Creole Pasta
Gluten Free Creamy Creole Soup
Elk Burgers with Bacon and Sauteed Mushrooms
Gluten-Free Fish Fingers & Custard
Gluten Free French Onion Soup Tart
Gluten-Free Fried Chicken
Gluten Free Perogies
Gluten-Free Sesame Chicken
Gluten Free Spicy Orange Chicken
Gluten-Free Square Root Tart
Gluten Free Tourtiere
Gluten-Free Tuna Noodle Casserole
Mushroom Risotto
Smoky Campfire Chili

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