Once again, I’m drawn – more like pushed – out of my comfort zone. But I guess that is why they call it “Daring Cooks”. When I was young, I just loved a good dare. Dare me and I’ll do it. The same holds true for me as an adult. Yes, I claim to be an adult. At least 50% of the time. The rest, well, we won’t talk about. The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale. Pierogi by any other name could be dumplings or empanadas and even remind me of potstickers. Fortunately, MM went elk hunting last December in New Mexico with our friends Doug and Roy and was able to bring home some elk steak and ground elk meat. Now here’s an idea I can get into! I thawed a package of the ground elk and decided on a dough recipe perfected and published in The Mennonite Cookbook and adapted for this recipe. 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup whipping cream 3 arge egg whites 1 tsp salt 3 cups all-purpose flour Mix flour and salt, add other ingredients, and knead dough until you have a smooth dough. This is a GREAT dough and was very pliable, but held up well with the filling. On a floured surface roll out the dough to a fairly thin thickness (is that correct English?). About 1/8″. Cut into 2″ rounds and fill with 1 tsp of filling. Now, for the filling. I’ve already mentioned the ground elk meat. In keeping with a southwestern flair, seeing as I’m from the southwest and all, I choose to spice it up a bit with some Chimayo Red Powdered Chile, medium hot, and a Texas 1015 sweet onion. Southwestern Elk Filling 1 pound of ground elk 1 medium Texas 1015 Onion, diced 1 whole egg 1 Tbsp butter Dry breadcrumbs – just enough to hold mixture together Salt and Chimay Red Powdered Chile to taste Combine elk and onion in large cast iron skillet and cook on medium high heat until meat is done and crumbled. Remove from heat and put into mixing bowl. Let cool slightly. Add egg, butter and breadcrumbs and stir until ingredients are mixed thoroughly. […]
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