Elk Roast

I found a good recipe for Elk Roast on the Internet and made some adjustments. This turned out to be a delicious meal. The orange-cranberry-bourbon sauce is a rich, syrupy concotion that would be delicious with other meats, too. So, if elk isn't to your liking, or you don't have access to it, try it with a pork or beef roast!

Okay, here's what you'll need for the marinade, which, when reduced, becomes the sauce!

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/3 cup bourbon
4 large garlic cloves, halved
Freshly ground black pepper

Cut slits in the roast and stick the 8 pieces of garlic into it. Then, put the roast (elk, pork, beef, whatever you like) and other ingredients into a zip-loc bag and shake it up. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
Remove the meat from the bag and put into a roasting pan (save the marinade!) Since elk doesn't have as much fat as beef, I covered the roast with a few strips of bacon to keep it moist. Into the oven it goes at 275 degrees for about 1-1/2 hours.
In the meantime, put the marinade in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the marinade has reduced and is thick and syrupy.

I thought some roasted tomatoes would be good with the elk. I sliced up some roma tomatoes and put them in a baking dish. I added a few whole, peeled garlic cloves, some black pepper, parsley and olive oil. This is what they looked like before...And here they are in all their deliciousness after two hours in a 275 degree oven. The tomatoes were rich and smoky and the garlic had carmelized and tasted like candy! Ring the dinner bell! Here it is... sliced elk roast over mashed potatoes, drizzled with the orange-cranberry-bourbon sauce. The roasted tomatoes were a nice accompaniment, along with some glazed carrots.