Elk and Their Ilk

There are few things left in the pantry, except for a surplus of flour and sugar. I decided to make a sourdough starter, since I've never tried before, which seems a little over ambitious considering the circumstances. It sat on the floor for three days getting sour. Something about the whole process of purposely spoiling something seems a little strange. I mixed in the rest of the flour to make a dough and let it rise. It was beautiful. The dough was perfectly soft and plyable. Then I pounded it down and shaped it to rise again. An hour later, it had not risen at all. Somehow I killed it. I had intended on making sourdough buns and a loaf of Sourdough Bread. The buns were crispy, yet still airey, more like a sourdough biscuit.

We used the "buns" as a foundation for Elk Burgers. I was given a pound of ground elk and I did not want it to go to waste. I don't think that I've ever had ground elk before. I did not find it any different than lean ground beef. There was no gamey taste or anything. The burgers were juicy and flavorful and were actually nice in contrast to the overly crispy buns. Since the sourdough bread was basically inedible, I used some of it for bread crumbs to hold in the moisture in the burgers. We topped them with the usual condiments; cheese, ketchup and bacon.