Bullwinkle for Dinner

No, seriously. Saturday night, I cooked moose for the first time. I have cooked venison in the past, in fact, I used this recipe, modified to make a roast. However, since I had the proper cut of meat, I decided to make the stew for my father and my friends from Australia. There's something romantic about cooking food you know the exact origin of, and the path it took to your table. The moose I prepared was killed by my father this past fall, and I was anxious to try some. And, since his moose was over 675 pounds, he had plenty of meat to spare.

I made some adjustments to the recipe, mainly in the mushrooms and the seasoning. I couldn't find dried porcini mushrooms, so I chopped up crimini mushrooms, and added extra stock to make up for the mushroom liquid. I also substituted herbes de provence for the cloves and the rosemary sprig (I used 2 teaspons of dried herbes de provence rather than the 2 cloves and the fresh rosemary), and instead of 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, I used the whole small can. These minor tweaks enhanced the flavor and made a beautiful rich, red sauce, very French in feel, and paired with a lovely Cotes du Rhone wine, was an excellent food wine combination. Here are some pictures of the fun:
Moose in process of cooking. Notice the bay leaf. Moose has a very mild flavor, similar to beef, and an almost sweet aroma when cooking. I could have sworn I smelled vanilla.
Finished dish on the table. Very savory and French, as noted. A Chateneuf de Pape would have also gone nicely with this dish.

All in all, a successful evening. I would definitely eat this again. For those of you adventurous foodies out there, try it, using the tweaks I described. You won't be disappointed.