Elk Bourguignon

5 from 1 vote

This Elk Bourguignon is easy to make & full of rich flavour. This tasty stew is gluten-free and can be made either traditional style or low carb, if needed!

Prep Time15

Cook Time2 30

Total Time2 45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Canadian, French

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Lactose

Servings: Servings

Calories: 634kcal

Equipment

Medium pot

Ingredients

3 strips Bacon chopped
1 teaspoon Olive oil
1 lb Caribou or Elk cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Small Carrot Sliced into chunks
1 Medium Onion chopped
2 cloves Garlic peeled and pressed or minced
Salt and Pepper
1 Tablespoon White Rice Flour Or regular flour, if you don’t need it gluten free
2 teaspoons Tomato paste
⅔ cup Partridgeberry wine Or cranberry wine, blueberry wine, or Burgundy wine
1 cup Beef Broth
1 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley finely chopped, plus more for garnish.
2 teaspoon Dried Summer Savoury
1 Bay Leaf
½ Beef Bouillon Cube mashed
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
8 oz Crimini mushrooms quartered
1 clove Garlic peeled and pressed or minced

Instructions

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 elk meat to the pan, searing on all sides. Transfer browned meat to the bowl with the bacon, leaving any drippings remaining in the pan.
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 cube 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 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.
Divide between 2 bowls, garnish with additional fresh parsley

Notes

For a 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.

Nutrition