Boreal Moose Heart Tartare Recipe

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This recipe was born after an unsuccessful moose hunt in Northern Ontario, where I spent several long days quietly observing the boreal forest in the hopes of seeing a moose. When I got home, a friend who had just come back from a successful moose hunt took pity on me and gifted me with some of his moose meat, which included the heart.

I wanted to create a meal that really showcased the boreal smells and flavors I’d observed when I was up there and I feel like I was successful, as a bite of this transported me right back to the mossy log I’d spent so much time sitting on and the environs that had surrounded me. The ingredients in this recipe will obviously be hard to come by if you don’t have access to the boreal north woods but feel free to use it as a template to create something from your own favorite hunting spot.

You could use deer, elk, or antelope heart to replace the moose heart, any dried edible wild mushroom to replace the chanterelles, and you could get inventive with the wild flavorings, replacing the Labrador tea, fir, spruce salt, and wild leek with savory wild edibles that grow in your neck of the woods.

Serves: 2 as a meal or 4-6 as an appetizer
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3oz dried chanterelles
• 1/2 cup good quality white wine vinegar
• 8 Labrador Tea leaves
• 1- 4” sprig fresh balsam fir or spruce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 lb. heart, previously frozen, partially thawed
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil
• 1 egg yolk
• Black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon+ spruce salt (see note)
• 3 pickled wild leek bulbs
• 3 fresh wild leek leaves

Directions:

1. Pour boiling water over the dried chanterelles and let sit for 15+ minutes.
2. Add the vinegar, Labrador tea leaves, fir/spruce sprig, salt, and sugar to a small pot. Gently heat up over medium-low heat, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve. Add the mushrooms to the pot along with 1/4 cup of the mushroom soaking liquid and continue simmering for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Let cool completely.
3. Slice the heart as thinly as possible (this is easier if the heart is only partially thawed). Slice those slices lengthwise into several strips, now mince those strips cutting cross-wise, giving everything a final good chop with your knife. Take the meat and squeeze it hard in your hands over the sink, releasing any leftover liquid from the freezing process.
4. Remove the mushrooms from the pot, discarding the rest of the solids, but retaining the liquid in the pot, and chop them into small, bite-sized chunks. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl, mix the walnut oil, 1 tablespoon of the mushroom cooking liquid, egg yolk, a few grinds of black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of the spruce salt. Add the chopped heart, pickled mushrooms (set aside a pinch for garnish), pickled leeks, and leek leaves, and mix well.
6. Turn out onto a serving platter and garnish with the set-aside mushrooms and some clean forest goodies. Sprinkle with more spruce salt. Serve with bread or crackers and eat immediately. Enjoy!

Note: To make spruce salt, harvest 1 cup of tender, bright green spruce tips in the spring. Add the spruce tips and ½ cup kosher salt to a blender and blend on high until a fine consistency is reached. Spread out onto a plate and let dry for 2 days, then store in an air and lightproof container in the refrigerator.

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