Give your turkey the year off!

Ok, so we all serve turkey for our Thanksgiving meal.  It's what our Mom did, it's what her Mom did. You get the point.  Since we're big game hunters, why not serve up a Thanksgiving feast that shows our true colors?  That's why the Thanksgiving dinner table at our house this year will feature...drum roll please: elk roast!

Just because the cardboard cutout pilgrims you paste on your walls show paper turkeys, that doesn't mean you have to follow suit.  If you're a hunter and have delicious elk, deer, antelope, moose or any large game roast in your freezer then you are already half way to the best Thanksgiving meal you've ever had. 


We typically use anywhere from a 2-4 lb. roast.  Thaw your roast in the refrigerator for a day or two, and put it in your crock pot 5 or 6 hours prior to dinner time.  We recommend keeping it simple like they did in colonial times.  Exact measurements are not necessary.  Turn the crock pot heat level to "high."  Pour a few cups of hot water in the crock pot as a start for your stew base.  Next we like to add a few tablespoons of Wishishere sauce along with garlic powder, salt and black pepper.  Finally, we add a few diced yellow or white onions, put the lid on the crock pot and walk away for 60-90 minutes.

Remove the lid about 60-90 minutes into the cooking time.  At this time, it's probably a good idea to add a cup or more hot water to continue building the stew/gravy base.  Add several washed, peeled, and chopped potatoes.  We like to make them decent sized...about the size of Jell-o jigglers.  We're talking big bites, not pathetic morsels like they give you in the cans of Chunky at the store!  Next, add several washed, peeled, and chopped carrots.  Sprinkle on some more of the spices to account for the fact that you now have all the veggies in the pot and put the lid back on.  Continue cooking on high heat checking on it once ever hour or so.  Make sure you add more water every time you check on the roast.  The more gravy the better. 

You can use a meat thermometer if you wish, but we recommend cooking the roast until it's the right tenderness for you.  If your roast is done and your guests aren't arriving for another 2 hours, simple turn the crock pot to "warm" and let it sit until they arrive.  Worse case scenario, if your guests have arrived and the roast seems to be an hour away from being done, pour the contents of the crock into a roasting pan and pop it into your oven at a temp greater than 400 degrees for 20 minutes or more until the roast is finished. 

Serve the roast on a platter, meat in the middle, veggies piled high in a circle around the outside and pour the gravy on top.  Make sure you have plenty of crusty bread (French bread, Sourdough rolls, etc.) on hand for gravy dipping.   Enjoy the best Thanksgiving feast you've ever had.  Let other people eat those water-filled, hormone pumped, steroid infected store turkeys.  As Uncle Ted would say, you've got the original Whole Foods in your freezer.  Use them and enjoy them!

God bless!

-Todd