Sous Vide Elk Steak

closeup of sous vide steak with blueberry sauce and asparagus

*Sous Vide Elk Steak
2 pounds elk steak
salt and pepper, to taste
1 sprig rosemary
1 clove garlic, sliced
2 pats butter

Balsamic Blueberry Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 ounces blueberries
1/4 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cognac
1/2 lemon

Sous Vide Elk Steak
Set sous vide pot to 130 degrees for medium rare and let it heat up as you prep your steaks. Trim elk steaks of any silverskin. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the elk steaks and add to your sous vide bag. Do not overlap the steaks; use multiple bags if possible. Add a rosemary sprig and sliced garlic clove to the bag(s).

If you’re using a vacuum seal bag, vacuum seal the bag and put it in the heated sous vide pot for 1 hour; add 30 minutes to the time if you’re cooking from frozen.

If you’re using a Ziploc bag and doing the water displacement method, slowly start to lower the bag in the water, remove the air inside the bag, seal it up, and let it cook in the sous vide pot for 1 hour; again, adding 30 minutes to the time if you’re cooking from frozen.

After the 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cooking, the steaks will be reddish-pink when you remove them from the sous vide pot. Heat a cast iron skillet to sizzling hot. Add a little olive oil to the pan to help prevent the elk steaks from sticking. Add the elk steaks and its contents to the skillet; add a pat of butter to the top of each elk steak. Cook the elk steaks on one side for 2 minutes, flip, and cook on the other side for 1 minute. Remove the seared elk steaks to cutting board and tent with foil for 5 minutes.

Balsamic Blueberry Sauce
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant; about 2 minutes. Pour in the balsamic vinegar, and then add the blueberries, rosemary, honey, brown sugar and cognac.

Zest a lemon into the pot. Slice the lemon open, and squeeze one lemon half of juice into the pan. If you don’t have a lemon/lime juicer, juice the lemon over a bowl to prevent the seeds from going in the pan.
Simmer sauce for 30 minutes to reduce down and make balsamic reduction. If you want to speed this up, just turn the heat up to medium-high and cook, but remember to check on the sauce often to ensure it doesn’t overcook.

When the blueberries get soft, use a spoon to squish the berries against the saucepan. The sauce is done when it’s thick enough to stick to the back of a spoon. Serve over steaks or alongside steaks as a dipping sauce.

*Sous vide (pronounced sue-veed) is the process of sealing food in an airtight container and then cooking that food in temperature-controlled water.
Recipe provided by mountaingirl.camp