Monday, March 1, 2010

After the Challenge: Caribou Marsala

After I made the tiramisu, I had some leftover mascarpone that I certainly didn't want to throw away. I also had some caribou chops in the freezer, courtesy of Uncle Ron and his hunting trip to Labrador. I didn't want them languishing in the freezer for a month while I was away, so I decided on a caribou marsala. This has to count as one of my wisest decisions ever. It was lick-your-plate delicious and I can't wait to make it again.


I made the sauce by searing the caribou in a hot pan, removing it and cooking some chopped shallots. I added marsala, reduced it, and then added some reduced beef stock. To finish, I swirled in some butter and garnished it with a bit of chopped parsley. Make this sauce! It's old-school, but delicious. 

On the side I served polenta with mascarpone, Parmesan and black garlic. Black garlic? I've been seeing lots of blogs about this stuff, so when I saw it on sale at my local grocery store I picked some up. It's got a funky smell, but a mild flavour, and the texture is a bit like that of roasted garlic: soft and sticky. I don't believe the miracle properties ascribed to this stuff, but it's an interesting ingredient, and certainly a dramatic-looking one. Oh, and roasted Brussels sprouts. I love Brussels sprouts:)


The black garlic.

7 comments:

judy said...

Mary, once again I've made a bit of a mess at my desk - no thanks to you and your delicious (except for The Vegetable) looking posts.

j

Eyes Bigger Than Belly said...

Oh WEIRD!! I have never even heard of black garlic before - when I saw the pics I thought it must have been truffles! Looks delicious though :)

Angie said...

Love it Mary!!! I have never seen the black garlic, but will keep my eyes out. It is truely a unique garlic, or just regular garlic processed differently? Hmmmm..... I'll have to google that!

vibi said...

This is so cool... although I'm not a great fan of caribou (like moose better), I find it so refreshing to see something really, really different on the culinosphere! Nice!

TeaLady said...

Caribou?? Interesting. But it looks delicious.

Ms. Meanie said...

Wow. What an unique dish. Great use for the mascarpone. I've wondered about the black garlic myself. Looks interesting.

Andrea said...

Holy moly, caribu? That is pretty cool that you get to work with such an unusual meat. I don't think I've ever had it, but I'd certainly be willing to try this beautiful version. Thank goodness for the leftover mascarpone!