Cheesy Elk Choripán

As a hunter, there's honestly nothing more satisfying than opening up the deep freeze and seeing it chock full of game meat. Year to year the contents of it change, the cuts of meat change and the overall capacity flexes based on the success of the season. And, for the last couple of seasons, I've been blessed with lots of elk meat and naturally, that's taken up quite a bit of space, but you won't hear me complaining about that. As the freezer level declines over the course of the year, I often think about how I want to process future animals to better suit my needs in the kitchen. Without a doubt, I love keeping large primal cuts, though depending on the size of the animal, I also tend to grind a fair amount. In my early days of wild game butchery and cooking, I kept more whole steaks, roasts and chops and very rarely had a large amount of meat ground. Over the last few years, that's really changed for me and I'm not mad about it. As someone that eats wild game each week, I've found that I can turn ground game meat into so many more things vs. a whole steak or roast. And, though I still keep all of those delicious cuts, ground meat has become an easy go-to for several great recipes.

In Argentina, "Choripán" is a type sandwich that's made with split chorizo sausage, melted cheese and often topped with chimichurri. It has just the right amount of fat, meat and freshness from the chimichurri for an afternoon meal. So, why not give it a little wild-game makeover, right? This recipe blends ground elk with ground chorizo, jack cheese and a beautiful crusty baguette that gets grilled over hot coals, then finished with a heavy dose of chimichurri. Cut this creation into large bite size pieces and you have something that rivals the best of the best game day snack foods out there.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground elk

1 lb ground chorizo

1 fresh baguette, sliced in half with the guts removed

1 bunch of fresh cilantro, washed and finely chopped

1 bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, washed and finely chopped

1 1/2 cups of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup of red wine vinegar

8 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped

1 small jar of chopped pimento, with juice

Your favorite SPG seasoning to taste, I'm a little partial to Roaming Fire(get it here)

Recipe:

Yields, 2 whole open-faced sandwiches

Before you start, you're going to want a medium heat fire to work with. For this recipe I'm using my Mill Scale Amigo with a bed of hot coals and some mesquite. To start, thoroughly mix the ground elk and ground chorizo in a large bowl. I tend to not season this mixture, due to the chorizo being nicely spiced. If you want to test out the seasoning of this mixture, you can place a small amount of it on the grill, cook it quickly and taste. Cover and place in the fridge to chill while you continue. Next it's time to make the chimichurri. For this, I like a 1:1 ratio of parsley and cilantro, finely chopped. Add these to a small mixing bowl with the chopped garlic, pimentos with juice and vinegar. Slowly stir in the olive oil and finish with a good seasoning of SPG. Cover and set aside.

Now, it's time to make this baguette ready for grilling. Slice off the top of the loaf, lengthwise. The higher up that you can cut it will allow you to stuff it with more elk! Once sliced, remove as much of the inner guts of the bread as you can. Lay down a heavy base of cheese, then follow with ground meat mixture from the fridge. It is totally ok to over-stuff these things, in fact, I think they come out even better that way. Once the baguette is stuffed, carefully invert it, meat-side down onto the grill and firmly press into the grate. This recipe benefits from a medium fire to cook the meat and yet slowly toast the baguette at the same time. After about 15-20 minutes, I like to check the underside, which should begin to brown and ooze with oil and cheese. Once browned, flip and toast the bottom of the bread. After another 5-10 minutes, carefully slide off the grill and top with chimichurri. Slice into handheld pieces and serve on a cutting board.