Moosterpiece

Well, Bobby's first moose roast is a done deal. Or should I say well done? The Sunday night meal turned into a Saturday night meal on account of a party we are attending tomorrow. How was it? It was good but it could have been great. I learned a lot tonight. Once again I stole ideas from several online moose recipes. Honestly don't have a lot of friends with moose cooking experience.

The first thing I did was soak the roast in milk for two hours to tenderize and rid it of any gamy flavor. 

All good.

I removed the roast from milk, patted it dry and seasoned it with thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Cut slits in the ends of the roast and added large garlic slivers to the body of the meat.

I seared the roast in olive oil on the cooktop. It came out nice. 

I then pulled out the dutch oven and filled it with my organic potato assortment, carrots and mushrooms.

I added a whole bunch of garlic and a large onion. More herbs. Worcestershire sauce. Bone broth.

All good. Stuck the roast in the middle and slathered it with duck fat and dijon mustard. Added a couple bay leafs.

Looked something like this.

Dave said that I could have prepped the carrots smaller and done a better job cleaning the mushrooms. 

Fair enough on the latter point, I like the large carrots, they were smaller when I made my recent pot roast. 

The mushrooms were a last minute buy, Leslie said they were not optimal, honestly they tasted great!

So I cook the dish for 20 minutes at four hundred, then added wine and more herbs and reduced down to 250.  

I had various recipes telling me different things, some people cook for up to six hours, some go for two. Hard to get a bead on the thing. 

I cooked for three and the moose, while delicious and flavorful, was overcooked to our taste. 

I took it out at 150 degrees internal temperature, the proper range is 125 to 160.

Chef friend Melissa says cook to 130 and then let it rest for 20 minutes. Next time.

I melted butter and flour in a sauce pan and whisked in the broth from the pot, made my first gravy. Seasoned it, quite good.

There you have it. Roasted moose with champignons, carrots and purple potatoes and moose gravy. It was not a beautiful dish but it was delicious. I really like the taste of this meat, nothing off putting whatsoever. More beef taste than elk, at least to me. Leslie says it is like neither. Definitely lean. 

If I am ever lucky enough to get gifted moose again it will be cooked rare. Leslie said I made an error and over seasoned the dish, to hold back on the thyme a tad. Also said not to mix dry and fresh rosemary. I was afraid I overdid the Worcestershire but she said it was fine. I probably used too much broth, there was much more than I expected at the end.

What do I know? I'm a rookie.

All in all I think it was a good effort. I generously give myself a seven. Thanks to Jeff and Gina for providing the moose. We paired it with the lovely meritage wine from Debbie and Jim, so delicious!

Moose sandwiches tomorrow!