el Alce con Nopalitos (Elk and Prickly Pear)

In our travels to Mexico I have fallen in love with nopalitos.  I first had them in a tortilla with farmer cheese and a yummy different salsa.  They're supposed to be really good for you.  I went searching for the farmer cheese here and found some at the local grocer, but it was more aged, what I found in Mexico was more like a fresh cheese.  But I found nopalitos, in a jar.  Today I had elk steak thawing and Stan asked when we were going to eat the nopalitos.  The wheels started turning and this is what I came up with.  This goes really fast-the longest part was waiting for the rice to cook.

el Alce con Nopalitos

1 1/2 pounds elk steak, cut in small cubes

3 Tablespoons potato starch

1-2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 chipotle pepper, chopped

10-12 ounces chicken stock

12 ounce jar nopalitos, drained and rinsed (the jar I found had serrano peppers, cilantro and onion-bonus!)

Combine potato starch, salt and pepper; dredge elk in mixture. Brown in oil.  Add cilantro, chipotle and chicken stock.  Cook over medium heat until elk is done-5-7 minutes.  The combination of stock and potato starch make a nice sauce.  Add more stock if it gets more thick.  Add nopalitos and heat through.  Serve over rice, or in my case I served it over bean threads.  Stan had the rice and loved it, his exact words were, "Yeah, you can make this again."  High praise for Mr. Cool.

I think I can make it again, too!