May 12, 2009
My husband is a hunter, so wild game is plentiful in our household. We love to forage in our area for all that Mother Nature has to offer. In the springtime around Mother's Day - you can find us out in the poplar forest near the river searching for the elusive morel mushrooms. Determined, we trudge around in the forest until we find some. Then in midsummer - it's huckleberry time! The anticipation of finding these gems is wonderful as we think of all the huckleberry treats that we enjoy such as huckleberry cake, huckleberry sauce for pancakes, huckleberry fudge, huckleberry wine (only if the harvest is plentiful) and, of course, the huckleberry marinade for elk roast. The method for preparing this elk roast is very easy. The hard part happens before. My husband and his hunting group usually spend a week in the upper Elk Valley on a horseback hunt, depending on where the elk is, the packing out of the elk meat can take up to a day. The huckleberries are usually found on steep mountainside terrain, and climbing up to them is quite challenging. Also, on one occasion, my sister and I encountered three grizzly bears - but that is another story best left for another time. All you need to know is that when running back to the truck, we were careful not to spill our berries. I usually serve with my Elk Valley elk roast, a cream of morel mushroom soup, potatoes and a huckleberry cake. All of the ingredients are found in our Elk Valley in the southeast corner of British Columbia. This recipe would work well for any wild game such as elk, venison or moose.
