Elk Burgers with Stone Fruit Chutney

1 Lb Ground elk Meat
¼ cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, minced
2 peaches, peeled and chopped
2 nectarines, peeled and chopped
1 mango, peeled and chopped
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs sugar (optional depending on the sweetness of the fruit)
salt and pepper

For the Chutney:
Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.. Add garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 30 seconds Add onion and sauté for about 7 minutes until the onions are translucent and begin to caramelize (turn golden) around the edges. Add tomato paste, and stir for about 1-2 minutes until the tomato paste begins to turn brown. Add stone fruit and cook until the fruit is hot and begins to decompose, about 7 minutes. Turn off the heat and add vinegar, cinnamon, and sugar. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

For the Burgers:
Season the elk meat with salt and pepper. Form into 1/3 pound burgers. Over hot coals cook on each side about 3-4 minutes. These burgers cook fast, so be careful not to overcook!

Recipe notes: I chose not to heavily season the elk meat because I was pairing the burgers with a very flavorful chutney. If you don’t make a chutney, I would suggest adding ¼ finely minced onion and 1 clove of garlic as well as salt and pepper to the elk meat. You can really use any combination of fruit in the chutney. If I had made a solely mango chutney as I originally intended, I probably would have added 1 Tbs of freshly ground ginger, substituted 1 tsp of Chinese five spice powder for the cinnamon, and used rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.

If you have any leftover chutney, mix with Balsamic vinegar—it makes a fabulous salad dressing!