Growing up, we cooked wild game one way: bread and fry. Squirrel was divided into four pieces, breaded and fried, and a white gravy made from the drippings. Deer was cut into small steaks and breaded and fried. Trout was either left whole or, as I got older, filleted and…you guessed it…breaded and fried. While I still love fried fish and fried deer steaks, there are a plethora of ways to prepare that freezer full of meat so that it does not become monotonous. Here are some examples.
Make sausage. Electric grinders are not expensive, and an even cheaper option are handheld grinders. I cut up a deer roast, mixed in about 30% pork fat, and made hatch chili sausages. You can either order pork casings online or acquire some from a local butcher who makes their sausage in house. The first time making sausage can be a little unnerving, but once you learn how to apply the right amount of pressure, you can make an even-filled link.
Get you some rolls, fry some peppers and onions, and make some venison brats!
Another good use for a grinder: pheasant burgers. Remember, when grinding anything lean you need to add an appropriate amount of fat. I prefer pork fat. But beef fat will do in a pinch. And if you can get oxtail fat, holy Jesus God will that turn out amazing.
Nashville hot pheasant burgers with blue cheese and arugula.
A spicy Mexican soup made from picking the leg quarters of pheasants. Be careful when you pick a pheasant leg, though. The birds have what I describe as two “pin bones”—these thin bones in the leg between the meat. Make sure you remove those. They are easy to miss. Also with this meal, I cooked and picked about 8 quail and made a quail salad. Almost any recipe that calls for chicken, you can substitute quail or pheasant.
Cooking and picking the tiny bodies of quail and pheasant can be tedious, but very rewarding. I usually separate the breast and dark meat for separate preparations. Here I picked pheasant breasts and made an Indian dish: pheasant vindaloo over basmati rice.
On my hunting weekend, we caught a fair amount of blue and channel catfish, including one that was a good 15 pounds. I love fried catfish. I really do. But I wanted to do something different. I’ve probably eaten my weight in fried catfish over the years. So I tried catfish Oscar: baked catfish topped with crabmeat, hollandaise, and asparagus. To this day, probably my favorite thing I can cook even though I didn’t present it very well in the photo.
Street tacos are a great choice for Taco Tuesday. In the top picture, I prepared deer backstrap. In the bottom, pheasant breasts. Simple ingredients: cilantro, maybe some salsa, avacado, oaxaca cheese (true street tacos don’t include cheese, my boss scolded me. But I like it), corn tortillas.
Something not so novel: venison chili. Definitely a good choice for a cold, winter afternoon. I entered my chili into a cook-off at my parent’s church. I didn’t win, but it was highly regarded. They nearly cleaned the pot. I like chipotle chilis and poblanos and plenty of beans: black, navy, red, great northern. Top with sour cream, jalepanos, cheddar cheese, and chives.
“Hipster Pizza”
Deer backstrap, pickled red onions, and arugula on a whole grain mustard base and drizzled with garlic aioli.
Air-fried deer tenderloin, marinated…FOR BREAKFAST! Sides of home fries and poached eggs with hollandaise. I still have not mastered the poached egg fully yet. And yes, I know it’s that easy. But noooooo…not me.
Deer cube steak bulgogi with kimchi.
Bluefish gets a bad rap. I practically lived off them my first year in Myrtle Beach. I didn’t have a lot of money, so I went to the pier and fished. I caught a lot of blues and Spanish mackerel. The trick to preparing bluefish is to cut out the mud vein running along the center of the fillet. I mix the meat into a processor and make Thai fish cakes with sweet chili sauce. You don’t taste that hard-to-miss strong, fishy flavor common in bluefish.
Whenever I have leftovers, they go onto a pizza. Pheasant vindaloo pizza (top) and venison pizza (bottom). I am a firm believer that pineapple BELONGS on pizza! You’ll never change my mind.
Ok, so something fried. Deer cube steak with country gravy and poached eggs.
All that deer meat started out as this. About a 100 pound doe I shot after about 30 minutes in the stand on my first day in the stand.
Moral of the story: get creative with your wild game. There’s no telling where you can take it. I survived over two months simply eating game that I hunted without having to purchase meat from the grocery store. With few protein options to choose from, I had to be creative with my preparations. I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with new and inventive ways to prepare my meals. Now, hunting season is over. I’m almost out of meat save for two or three rolls of venison burger. I am forced to shop for store-bought meat now. And it’s just terrible.
Comments
Post a Comment