Caribou Steaks with Whisky Pan Sauce
Four lean steaks, one skillet, and a sauce built from a splash of Scotch and a spoon of jelly.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 35
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 30 ml cold
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Caribou steaks | 4, about 3/4 inch thick | venison or elk works the same way |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 2 tbsp | split between sauce and steaks |
| Shallots | 1/4 cup, finely chopped | chop at home, carry in a small jar |
| Scotch whisky | 1/4 cup | a flask pour is plenty |
| Orange juice | 3/4 cup | shelf-stable boxed juice, no cooler space needed |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | bottled |
| Red currant jelly | 2 tbsp | |
| Dijon mustard | 1 tsp | |
| Cornstarch | 2 tsp | |
| Cold water | 2 tbsp |
Method
- Melt 1 tbsp butter in a small pot. Add the shallots and cook gently until they go soft and translucent. Keep the flame low so they do not color.
- Pour in the whisky and let it come up to a simmer. Stand back if you are cooking over a campfire; it can catch.
- Add the orange juice, lemon juice, jelly, and mustard. Stir until the jelly dissolves, then bring it to a boil.
- Stir the cornstarch into the 2 tbsp of cold water until smooth, then pour it into the pot. Cook another minute until it coats the spoon. Pull it off the heat and cover it.
- Melt the last tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Lay in the steaks and cook about 5 minutes a side. Lean game goes dry fast, so pull them while the center is still pink.
- Plate the steaks and spoon the sauce over. Eat now; the sauce sets as it cools.
Caribou is lean enough that it punishes you for looking away. There is almost no intramuscular fat to buy you time, so five minutes a side and off the heat is the whole technique. The sauce exists to put back the richness the animal does not have: butter for fat, jelly for sugar, citrus and mustard for acid to cut through it.
This is a cooler recipe, not a backpacking one, but the sauce side of it travels well. Boxed orange juice and bottled lemon replace fresh with no real loss once they hit a boil, and the shallots can be chopped days ahead in a sealed jar. The cornstarch slurry has to go in with cold water or it clumps, which is why the 2 tbsp is listed as its own ingredient.
Packing
Chop the shallots and premeasure the cornstarch at home. The jelly, mustard, and both juices ride in the food bin. Steaks and butter live in the cooler on ice, wrapped so nothing leaks onto them.
Variations
- Swap the currant jelly for any tart preserve on hand. Cranberry or lingonberry both work.
- No whisky? A quarter cup of strong black coffee with a pinch of brown sugar gets you a similar bitter backbone.
- On a grill grate, sear the steaks over the coals and build the sauce in a pot at the edge of the fire.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/caribou-steaks-with-whisky-sauce