DOVE EGG ROLLS

Name: DOVE EGG ROLLS
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: For Marinade; 1 Cup Soy Sauce; 1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger; 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder; 1/4 Cup Sesame Oil; 1 Tablespoon Sugar; For Egg Rolls; 1 Package Egg Roll Wrappers; 1 Bag Shredded Cabbage and Carrots; 1 Bunch Green Onions; 1 Can Waterchestnuts; 1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil; 1/2 Cup Soy Sauce; 1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger; 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder; 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil; 6 Dove Breasts Removed from the Bone; Oil for Deep Frying

Published on February 4, 2019February 4, 2019 by a12gaugegirl Category: Upland Game Hunting, Wild Game Recipes

Dove meals can become “same old, same old” for me. I am a dove popper zealot through and through. It is really the only way I prepare dove. So, when someone suggested I try something different, I first laughed in their face and said: “I don’t need something different. The dove popper is perfection. What I need is more dove poppers!” Then I started to think maybe I should quit being so stubborn and broaden my horizons. So, in attempt to grow as an eater of dove, a lover of the dove popper, and a human being in general, I gave dove egg rolls a try.

The egg roll is a popular Chinese American appetizer. Contrary to what the name implies, egg rolls usually do not contain egg. They instead are filled with a shredded cabbage mixture that can contain a variety of other ingredients and flavors. They are deep fried (insert drool here) and typically dipped in a sweet plum sauce, hot mustard, or other condiment (wipe drool here).

After reading about how to make an egg roll, dove egg rolls suddenly sounded like a brilliant idea. They sounded quick, fairly simple, and a very good template for using dove meat. Dove can be a difficult meat for some people. It is a very dark and lean meat, which means it can have a very overpowering and intense flavor. This is why the dove popper is my go to meal, the bacon adds fat to the dove and cuts down on the richness of the meat.

The dove egg roll is a nice twist for using the meat because it doesn’t try and hide the flavor of the dove. As I said with the popper, the bacon masks some of the flavors that make dove taste like…well, dove. With the egg roll, there is no added fat to try and prop up the dove. The dove gets to mingle with cabbage and carrot flavors, but it still will taste very much true to the taste of just dove.

The Dove Egg Roll

For this recipe, the dove breast should be removed from the bones. I marinated the breasts whole and then sliced them afterwards. For the marinade, I put about a cup of soy sauce in a medium size glass bowl. Add a tablespoon of ground ginger, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a quarter cup of sesame oil, and a tablespoon of sugar. Let the dove breasts marinade in the mixture for at least one hour, longer if you like.

The wonderful thing about egg rolls is you can add basically anything you like and create a fun little bite with the flavor of practically an entire mine. I kept things pretty traditional and simple for this dove egg roll: cabbage, carrots, green onions, and water chestnut. I even made it easy on myself by purchasing the pre-shredded cabbage and carrot mixture used to make coleslaw.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and carrot mixture with a bunch of sliced green onion. Slice the water chestnuts into slivers and add to the cabbage mixture. Remove the dove breasts from the marinade and slice into thin slivers. Set aside.

Preheat a wok or large skillet to high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan. You need a high heat oil like canola, vegetable, or avocado. Once the pan is good and hot, add in the shredded cabbage mixture. Cook for a minute and then add in the sliced dove breasts. Cook for three or four minutes, stirring continuously. Next, add a half cup of soy sauce. I also sprinkled in some of the other flavors from my marinade at this point, like a teaspoon of ground ginger, some more garlic powder, and a tablespoon of sesame oil. Cook everything for two more minutes and remove from the heat..

Making the Dove Egg Rolls

I wish I could say I was amazing enough to make my own egg roll wraps, but I’m not. I use the premade ones and they are delicious! Anyway, lay out a wrap onto a clean surface. Position the wrap so it looks like a diamond. On the bottom corner about a third of the way up the wrap, place two tablespoons of the dove and cabbage mixture. Fold the bottom of the diamond up and over the filling. Next, bring the sides in to the center. Finally, roll the filling up until the top corners fold over the egg roll.

A trick to making egg rolls with a little integrity to them is keeping things pretty. Make sure all the folds and rolls are tight and just look nice. The prettier the egg roll the less chance it will fall apart.

Dip your finger tips in a little cold water and wet the top fold on the egg roll. This will help keep things in place. You can also brush it with a little egg wash if you would like.

Frying the Dove Egg Rolls

Once all the dove egg rolls are wrapped you are ready to start frying. There are two tips to frying. First, make sure to let the oil come up to temperature before you start frying. Second, don’t overcrowd the pan or the oil temperature will drop and you’ll end up with sad, soggy rolls.

Fill a large dutch oven or deep fryer with a high heat oil, like vegetable oil. You could also use canola, avocado, or even coconut oil. Vegetable or canola are going to be your more economical choices though because this requires a significant amount of oil. Bring the oil up to 350 degree Fahrenheit. I used a thermometer to make sure I reach the required temperature.

Once the oil is at temperature, add about three or four egg rolls to pot at a time. Cook the rolls for about two minutes, and then roll them over and cook the second side an additional two to three minutes. Set the cooked dove egg rolls on a paper towel to drain off the excess grease and continue frying the rest of the rolls in small batches.

Serve the dove egg rolls with a sweet and sour dipping sauce or soy sauce.

Happy Hunting!

DOVE EGG ROLLS

Category: Appetizer

Cuisine: Chinese

DOVE EGG ROLLS

A wild game twist on egg rolls using dove breasts. Filled with cabbage, onions, carrots, water chestnuts, soy sauce, garlic and ginger.

Ingredients

For Marinade

1 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 Cup Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon Sugar

For Egg Rolls

1 Package Egg Roll Wrappers
1 Bag Shredded Cabbage and Carrots
1 Bunch Green Onions
1 Can Waterchestnuts
1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
6 Dove Breasts Removed from the Bone
Oil for Deep Frying

Instructions

For Marinade

In a large glass bowl, mix together soy sauce, ginger, garlic powder, sugar, and sesame oil. Place full dove breasts into marinade.
Cover and refrigerator at least one hour up to overnight.
Once dove is finished in marinade, slice into thin slivers and set aside.

For Dove Egg Rolls Mixture

Heat the tablespoon of oil over high heat. Once oil is hot, add shredded cabbage and carrots, green onions, and water chestnuts to the pan. Cook for one to two minutes.
Add sliced dove breasts and cook for three minutes. Remember to stir things continuously.
Add soy sauce, ground ginger, garlic powder, and sesame oil to pan. Cook one to two more minutes, Remove from heat.

Rolling the Egg Rolls

Lay egg roll wrapper in diamond shape on flat surface.
Place two to three tablespoons of cabbage and dove mixture on bottom third of wrapper.
Fold bottom corner of wrapper completely over mixture. Fold the two sides over and then roll once.
Make sure things look pretty and tight, then continue rolling. Seal final flap with a touch of water.
Heat a large dutch oven or deep fryer to 350 degrees.
Once oil is up to temperature, place three or four egg rolls into hot oil. Cook for two minutes, flip in oil, and cook additional two minutes.
Serve with a tasty dipping sauce!!!!

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Antelope Kabobs: Antelope, Cantaloupe, and Pumpkin Pie

Published on January 21, 2019January 21, 2019 by a12gaugegirl Category: Pronghorn Recipes, Wild Game Recipes

One of my favorite things about hunting is the little bits of memories we hold onto. Well that and recipes like antelope kabobs. Anyway, those little moments that stick in your head for years and each time you think about it or share it with someone else a little smile crosses your face. Spending time outdoors by ourselves, with our dogs, or our friends and family always results in these little moments.. For the most part, although there are definitely exceptions, we don’t make those memories while scanning our phones or watching television, but head outside and the little stories write themselves. This is a little anecdote about antelope, cantaloupe, and pumpkin pie.

Antelope Kabobs Scenery Shot — “You aren’t wealthy until you have something money can’t buy.” ~ Garth Brooks

Antelope, Cantaloupe, and Pumpkin Pie

My father-in-law is probably the best sport I know. We drag him everywhere, and while he never says much I am pretty sure he doesn’t always wants to go. I can usually tell by the look on his face. When we point to a ridgeline 500 feet up and say, “I am pretty sure the deer are up there.” I can always tell he is less than thrilled. But he never says it. He just starts walking.

We basically forced him into putting in for the limited entry pronghorn hunt. He is a deer hunter through and through, and pronghorn hunting did not appear to be on his list. But he put in for the draw and of course pulled a tag. His face said “Now what?”

My face was much more excited. My pronghorn hunt was one of the most memorable hunts I had ever been on. Pronghorn are actually fascinating animals. Those doe eyed, white rumped animals have a closer relationship to giraffes than the other North American animals that surround them, like deer and elk. And they are fast. Faster than you can imagine. Fast like you have to see it to really understand what people say when they call pronghorn fast.

Pronghorns are second in speed only to cheetahs, but can maintain a faster speed for a longer distance. For example, pronghorns have been clocked at 35 miles per hour and held that for over a distance of four miles. They can reach max speeds of 55 miles per hour!

Why are pronghorns so fast? There isn’t much to run from at those kinds of speeds out in the flats of the desert. The theory, which is one of my favorite little tidbits on pronghorns, is North America used to have its own cheetah, which is now obviously extinct, and this is what the pronghorn is running from.

Anyway, back to my story. So my father-in-law is gearing up for his pronghorn hunt and all I can do is tell him stories of speed and the dust left behind by the racing pronghorns. At that point I can tell he was developing an interest in hunting the old “speed goat.”

We spent a few weeks prior to the hunt heading to the desert and scoping out bucks. We found several possibilities and by the morning of the hunt, I could tell my father-in-law had changed his mind about pronghorn hunting. He was maybe even a little excited.

By the break of light on opening morning, we had drove out to the desert and settled in to a good hiding spot. The sun peeked over the mountain tops and as it started to slowly illuminate the landscape around us, we could see this buck about 100 yards out. He is just standing there and staring at us. A few does are also with him. They catch our scent and bolt, but he continues to just stare.

“So, um, what should I do?” my father-in-law said.

“I guess shoot.”

“But he’s just standing there,” he replied.

“I don’t know. I guess shoot.”

Normally a clean, clear, safe shot is every hunter’s dream, but I think all the previous hype about the astounding speed and flying bullets of pronghorn hunts past, had made harvesting one just staring at you just plain weird.

My father-in-law stood up, and took a few steps forward. Still nothing.

“Maybe he’s fake!” I said.

He took a few more steps. The pronghorn didn’t even blink.

So, after a drawn out stand-off, my father-in-law took the shot and filled his tag. The hunt was over in about fifteen minutes. Our boots were barely even dirty.

As we cleaned the animal, my father-in-law said he would really like some “antelope, cantaloupe, and pumpkin pie.” Besides the fun little rhyme, it sounded like the most awful combination I could imagine. But I liked the way it rolled off my tongue, and my father-in-law said it enough times that it became somewhat of a song you can’t get out of your head for me.

Antelope, cantaloupe, and pumpkin pie became a personal challenge for me. I have spent the entire fall season trying to figure out how to create something that was edible yet true to the mantra. I hope this antelope kabob recipe fits the bill.

Antelope Kabobs

Kabobs are a great meal. They are simple, quick, and allow you to mix foods you maybe normally wouldn’t, like pronghorn and cantaloupe. While they are easy, they are also a great chance for developing some wonderful flavors. Marinades offer a perfect opportunity to play with herbs, spices, and other flavor enhancing devices.

Pronghorn Kabobs Ingredients — Marinade ingredients: honey, apple cider vinegar, garlic, pineapple juice, ground ginger, coconut aminos

To start your antelope kabobs, cut your pronghorn into bite size pieces. I used a little bit of the backstrap for this meal, since the meat is tender and doesn’t need to be slow cooked. In a large bowl, add a can of pineapple juice, ⅓ cup honey, ⅓ cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce if you can’t find the aminos), three tablespoons apple cider vinegar, two teaspoons ground garlic powder, and two teaspoons ground ginger. Give it all a good stir, add the pronghorn, cover, and let sit in the fridge for at least two hours.

When I started working on how to pair pronghorn with cantaloupe, I knew I would have to get creative. I decided the best way to make a relationship exist, that clearly was not there between the two, was to marinade the pronghorn in something a bit sweet.

While the antelope kabobs meat is doing its thing in the fridge, prepare the dipping sauce. I will be honest, this is definitely an odd dipping sauce, but putting pumpkin pie on an antelope kabob did not seem to be something I could do. So, I figured I would dip the antelope kabobs in the pumpkin pie!

To a small saucepan over medium heat add a tablespoon of olive oil. Saute two cloves of minced garlic in oil, taking care to not let them to over cook and turn brown. Add three tablespoons of dijon mustard and mix well. Pour in a can of pumpkin, a tablespoon of minced fresh rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Remove from the heat and add ¼ cup of mayonnaise. To finish it off, add a teaspoon of allspice to give it a pumpkin pie finish.

Once the meat is done marinating, it is time to grill! Heat the grill to a medium high heat. Thread the antelope kabobs onto their own sticks. Do the same for the cantaloupe and onion. It isn’t nearly as fun or pretty, but I always thread each kabob ingredient on its own stick. Cantaloupe takes longer to cook than antelope, and onions take even longer. If you thread everything on one pretty stick you end up with either overcooked meat or undercooked onion.

Cook the pronghorn for three minutes per side. Cook the cantaloupe for four to five minutes per side. The onion needs ten minutes.

To eat your antelope, cantaloupe, and pumpkin pie I would suggest dipping only the antelope kabobs in the pumpkin dipping sauce as the cantaloupe did not blend well with pumpkin. Well, I hope you enjoy this fun twist on antelope kabobs. I had a really great time working with the flavors and coming up with the idea.

If you like this recipe for antelope kabobs, you might also check out this one for Pronghorn Carne Asada. It is another great use of pronghorn meat.

Happy Hunting!

Antelope Kabobs: Antelope, Cantaloupe, and Pumpkin Pie

Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Category: Entree

4 people

Antelope Kabobs: Antelope, Cantaloupe, and Pumpkin Pie

Antelope, Cantaloupe, and Onion Kabobs with Pumpkin Dipping Sauce. Antelope steak is marinated in sweet coconut aminos and pineapple to pair with fresh cantaloupe fruit. Dip the steak kabobs in a pumpkin pie inspired dipping sauce.

Ingredients

1 pound pronghorn cut into bite size chunks
1 cantaloupe, cut into bite size chunks
1 onions, sliced into large chunks

For Marinade:

1 6 oz can pineapple juice
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup coconut aminos
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 cloves fresh garlic minced
2 tablespoons ground ginger

For Dipping Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
15 oz can pureed pumpkin
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh minced rosemary
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup mayonaise
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Mix all marinade ingredients in large, glass bowl.
Add pronghorn steak bites and cover with plastic wrap
Allow meat to marinade for at least one hour but up to overnight
If using wood skewers for kabobs place in water to soak for at least half an hour
Once meat is ready, thread onto skewers
Thread cantaloupe and onions onto their own skewers as well
Preheat grill to medium high heat
Cook pronghorn three minutes per side, flipping once
Cook onions six to seven minutes per side, flipping once
Cook cantaloupe six to seven minutes per side, flipping once
While kabobs are grilling, prepare dipping sauce
In a small sauce pan over medium heat add olive oil
Sweat garlic in olive oil for three minutes
Add dijon mustard and rosemary and cook additional minute
Add can of pumpkin puree, all spice, and tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, heat thoroughly
Remove from heat and add mayonaise and salt and pepper.

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TROUT EGGS BENEDICT

Published on January 8, 2019January 8, 2019 by a12gaugegirl Category: Fish Recipes

When someone suggested we use the rainbow trout from our latest fishing trip for a breakfast meal, I was less than thrilled. I am not a fan of fish for breakfast. I know, I know, there is lox and cream cheese bagels, which is okay in my book, but I still prefer them more for brunch or later. I just have a problem with fish for breakfast. But I pushed aside my perceived notion that fish was for dinner, put on my fish thinking cap, and am proud to share this recipe for Trout Eggs Benedict with a Dill Béarnaise.

Trout Eggs Benedict Final Dish — “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions of happiness.” ~ John Buchan

Why the Benedict?

I find eggs benedict to be one of the most diverse meals a person can make. Trying to impress your friends but not really much of a chef? Make eggs benedict! Everyone will be in awe of your homemade béarnaise sauce, but you will be amazed at how easy and quick you can throw it together.

Wanting a lazy weekend morning with comfort food? Make eggs benedict! The rich and savory flavors of the benedict classify it as textbook comfort food, but it is so easy to make that it is also textbook lazy morning food.

Looking for the perfect breakfast for dinner meal? (I think you know the answer now) Make eggs benedict! You can dress up eggs benedict to cover any meal of the day. Switch up the vegetables or protein and the entire dish changes. I even have a different twist on the benedict on the blog already: Deer Steak Eggs Benedict with Tarragon Béarnaise Sauce.

A traditional eggs benedict, first concocted in New York City, is composed of a toasted English muffin topped with ham or Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and a hollandaise sauce. The dish can spread in every direction from there. The ham can be switched out for steak, fish, or even chicken. The muffin can be switched to sourdough, white bread, wheat bread, rye bread, or whatever kind of bread base your heart desires. The sauce can be whipped up into a béarnaise or béchamel even. You can add different herbs and spices, even play with the heat level. The possibilities are endless.

Trout Eggs Benedict Recipe

For my lazy Saturday morning, but still keeping things a classic, eggs benedict, I decided to use trout for the protein base. I have seen eggs benedict made with smoked salmon before, and I have even tasted it with Wahoo fish in Hawaii (which is amazing if you get the chance), but I have not seen or had a trout eggs benedict. I can tell you after eating this meal that trout eggs benedict should become a thing in your daily life. The trout is light and flaky, adding the perfect texture and flavor to the dish.

Trout Eggs Benedict Filet — This particular rainbow trout had some of the reddest meat I have experienced. Most rainbow has a light pink color, but this almost resembled salmon meat.

For this recipe, I start the trout first, since it takes about fifteen minutes to cook. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, or you can turn your outdoor grill on high heat. Season the trout with salt and pepper. I leave the trout on the bone for this and remove the meat once it is finished cooking, which is a little easier than trying to remove the filets from the bone first, but do whatever is easiest for you. When thinking about how much fish per egg benedict to make, I usually do half a filet per serving. Using a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around the fish, add a tablespoon of butter on top of the fish and tent the foil around the fish creating a small packet. Make sure to seal all the edges so you won’t lose any moisture during cooking. Cook the packets for about 15 minutes. When finished, the fish should flake easily off the bone.

Trout Eggs Benedict Asparagus — Since the fish is cooking at such a high temperature it is the perfect opportunity to multi-task. Add the asparagus to the same cooking sheet and complete two cooking tasks at once!

For this trout eggs benedict, I like to add asparagus. It is a great opportunity to heat up the asparagus while the trout pouches are cooking. You will want to trim the asparagus before cooking. About the bottom third of the vegetable is very tough and has a woody texture. Trim this part off. Drizzle the asparagus with a little olive oil and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Place them on a baking sheet and in the oven for about fifteen minutes. The fish is already at 400 degrees, and this temperature will also work for the asparagus. They should still be crunchy and firm when ready.

For the béarnaise sauce, melt two sticks of unsalted butter, or one cup, and let it cool just slightly. You want it warm so it will emulsify the eggs in the sauce, but you don’t want it so hot that it actually scrambles the eggs. Add three eggs yolks and the white wine vinegar to a blender. To the blender on a medium speed, and once the yolks are broken up a bit, slowly drizzle the warm butter into the running blender. Allow the butter and yolks to continue mixing and working together in the blender until the sauce starts to thicken, about one minute. Once the sauce is thick, add in a tablespoon of fresh dill and a teaspoon of smoked paprika. Season with salt and pepper. Blend the sauce for a minute more, and then leave covered so the béarnaise will stay warm while you make the rest of the trout eggs benedict.

PoachedEggs Download

Things are getting close for finishing up this trout eggs benedict! After cooking the fish and preparing the béarnaise, it is time to poach the eggs. There are lots of different techniques for poaching eggs, but I find this to be the easiest one for me. (I learned it watching a Ree Drummond cooking show. Click here to see how she pulls together a quick and easy eggs benedict.) Bring a large pot of water, about six cups, to a gentle boil. I have my egg cracked and ready to go in a small bowl for the next step. Use a large wooden spoon to create a whirlpool with the boiling water. Once the water is moving at a fairly decent speed in the pot, careful lay the broken egg into the water. You can add several eggs to cook at one time, I usually can get in about three before the water stops spinning. Allow eggs to cook in the boiling water for about two and a half minutes and then remove with a slotted spoon.

Trout Eggs Benedict Toast — I like to use different bread types on my eggs benedict. You can change the entire flavor profile my switching up just one ingredient.

Trout Eggs Benedict Pouches — The trout should be light and flaky once finished cooking in the pouches.

It is time to assemble the trout eggs benedict! Butter a lightly toasted piece of sour dough bread. Lay a few pieces of asparagus on the bread, add a serving of the trout, and finally balance a poached egg on top of the stack. Drizzle everything with a healthy serving of the dill béarnaise sauce, garnish with a little dill, and dig in!

TROUT EGGS BENEDICT

Category: Entree

4 people

TROUT EGGS BENEDICT

Delicious Trout Eggs Benedict in a Savory Dill Béarnaise Sauce. Filled with a punch of flavor from the asparagus and béarnaise sauce served over a lightly toasted slice of sour dough bread.

Ingredients

For Trout Eggs Benedict

2 Trout Fish – Skinned and Still on Bone
2 Tablespoons Butter
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 Bunch Asparagus
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
4 Eggs
4 Slices Sourdough Bread

For Béarnaise Sauce:

1 Cup Melted Butter
1 Tablespoon White Wine Vinegar
3 Eggs
1 Tablespoon Fresh Dill, Minced
1 Teaspoon Sweet Paprika

Instructions

For Trout:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Salt and pepper the two trout, which are skinned but still on the bone.
Place a few thin slices of butter on the trout, about a tablespoon per trout.
Wrap each trout in a foil packet, taking care to seal all corners so the steam cannot escape during cooking.
Place the trout packets on a baking sheet.
To the baking sheet, also add the asparagus. Rub the asparagus with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Place entire baking sheet in oven. Asparagus and trout packets bake for about fifteen minutes.
Asparagus should be tender to the bite and still a bit crunchy.

For the Béarnaise Sauce:

Melt the two sticks of butter and let cool slightly. You don’t want the butter bubbling hot, but you want it to still be warm.
Place the egg yolks in a blender and pulse a few times to break them up.
With the blender running, add the white wine vinegar and mix for a few seconds.
With the blender running, slowly stream in the warm butter. Once all the butter is added, continue to blend for a minute.
Add the fresh dill, paprika, and salt and pepper. Blend for another minute. Keep the sauce warm with the lid on the blender.

For Poached Eggs:

In a large pot, bring to a light boil about three cups of water.
Once the pot is gently boiling, use a large spoon to create a whirlpool in the water. With the water spinning, drop the cracked eggs, one at a time, into the pot.
Allow the eggs to cook for two to two and half minutes. Remove using a slotted spoon

To Assemble:

Brush the sour dough bread slices lightly with olive oil or butter and toast on a griddle until golden brown.
Place a few asparagus spears on the toasted bread.
Pile on a serving of cooked trout.
Gently rest the poached egg to the stack.
Cover generously with dill and paprika béarnaise sauce.
Enjoy!

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PHEASANT GROUNDNUT STEW

Published on January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 by a12gaugegirl Category: Upland Game Hunting, Wild Game Recipes

Yesterday I planned for a true “bloggers” day to make pheasant groundnut stew. I heard about groundnut stew the week before and it sounded interesting. It is a staple meal from West Africa, but is popular in other parts of the world as well, and it usually contains peanut butter, hence the name “groundnut.” Most the recipes I looked at were for chicken, and this made me think that groundnut stew sounded like a great twist for a pheasant recipe.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Bird Dogs — That little chocolate lab deserves all the credit for this pheasant groundnut stew. Without her hard work, there wouldn’t be this bowl of soup!

I spent the week planning in my head how this was going to pan out, and finally yesterday morning set to work preparing, cooking, and photographing my pheasant groundnut stew. I spent most of the day working out any kinks, playing with spice levels, and taking lots of photographs.

The best part of ending a “bloggers” day is sitting down to actually eat the dish. The pheasant groundnut stew smelled amazing. The kitchen had a slight hint of almond butter and coriander in the air. I had taste tested the stew all day, and was really excited to share a bowl with my family. And then the phone rang.

My dad had shot a cow elk and needed help getting it to the truck. Dinner plans were changed, and I was a bit disappointed. I put away the bowls and spoons, found my boots and gloves, and went to the truck. In a last minute decision, I decided to pour some of the stew into a thermos and grabbed a few plastic spoons.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Bowl — Even though I haven’t gotten to the recipe yet, this is what was sitting on the table before that call to go help pack out a cow elk in the snow and cold.

The Cow Elk

Two hours later we reached my dad. The ground was covered in several inches of snow, it was dark, and the temperature was quickly dropping to zero. I stepped out of the truck and gasped at how quickly the cold air hit my face and filled my lungs. This was definitely a new, and not necessarily good, experience in my books.

We hiked the relatively short distance up a snow covered hill to where my dad was cleaning the cow. I laughed out loud as he turned to greet us and his lengthy grey beard was dripping with long, dangling icicles.

“Oh my gosh! You must be freezing!” I said.

“Nope. I am not even cold, it’s crazy,” he replied.

He already had the elk quartered, so I grabbed a hind quarter, threw it over my shoulder, and headed back down the snowy slope to the truck. Usually hauling animals builds so much heat that I am wishing I could take my coat off, but packing out animals during January nights is a much different story. I could feel my feet and hands getting colder as I walked. This might have been a much shorter pack than I had done in the past, but it was definitely one of the harder ones.

A few trips later, and the cow was loaded in the truck bed. I let out a big sigh, stretched my arms above my head to create a little relief for my back, and looked upward. The sky was amazing. Standing out there in the pitch black night, no sounds or lights around, and just looking up was breathtaking. The stars were huge. And so bright.

“Soup! Let’s have soup,” I said.

And so we stood in the cold snow, under that beautiful sky, eating pheasant groundnut stew from a thermos. Now that was a good bowl of soup.

The Recipe for Pheasant Groundnut Stew

Well, let’s go over how to make this stew! Pre-heat a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium high heat, and add in a few tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil. I generally like to use olive oil for browning meat, but I actually used avocado oil this time. It worked great.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Browning the Bird — Brown the pheasant on each side for three to four minutes.

Pat dry the pheasant. I used an entire bird for this pot of stew. I actually just skinned the bird and left it on the bones to cook. When slow cooking meat like for this stew the bones will add flavor to the base of the stew, but if you already removed the meat from the bones you can still use that meat. Separate the bird into four quarters, salt and pepper, and add the meat to the hot oil for browning. Cook the pheasant in small batches so the oil will stay hot. Brown each side three to four minutes, then flip and do the other. Set the pheasant aside, but leave the drippings in the pot to create even more flavor for the stew.

Reduce the heat to medium and add one large diced onion. Cook for three to four minutes, and then add five cloves of chopped garlic. Cook an additional two minutes. To the onions and garlic, stir in two tablespoons tomato paste, a tablespoon of coriander, a teaspoon of ground ginger, and a teaspoon of mace. Also add a half teaspoon of ground cayenne. I started with a half teaspoon of the cayenne and then added more at the end, adjusting it to my personal heat level preference, which is fairly hot. A half teaspoon is a nice mild heat and a great place to start.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Spices — Spices for this pheasant groundnut stew include coriander, ground ginger, ground cayenne, and mace.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Mace — Mace, a peppery flavored spice, is actual found on the outside of the nutmeg pod. It pairs great with meats.

Also add a can of crushed roasted tomatoes and a quart of stock. I have this weird quirk where it bothers me to add chicken stock to pheasant or turkey recipes. If you aren’t weird like me, chicken stock works great for this recipe. If you are weird like me, I added a quart of vegetable stock. I usually like to do pheasant stock with my pheasant meals, but I didn’t have any on hand so vegetable it was. You could also add water, but you won’t have quite the flavor profile from water.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Simmering Pot — Add the pheasant back to the pot and simmer until tender and flakes easily off the bone.

Bring the pot to a rolling boil for a minute, reduce, the heat to a simmer, and add back in the whole pieces of browned pheasant. Cover the pot and allow to cook for 90 minutes. At the 90 minute mark, check to see if the pheasant is tender and falling off the bone. If not, cook until it is.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew — The pheasant should easily shred from the bone. This is how you will know it has simmered long enough in the soup pot.

Pull the pheasant from the pot and shred the meat. Add the pheasant, a half cup of almond butter, and the okra to the pot. Cover and cook for an additional ten minutes. If you so desire you can serve this over rice, but it is thick and tasty enough to eat without.

Pheasant Groundnut Stew Final Bowl — Yum!

So, that is how you whip up this pheasant groundnut stew. It is a very savory dish with definite comfort food highlights. The almond butter adds a silky texture to the stew, the okra is refreshing and pairs great against the tomatoes. And of course the pheasant is tender and delicious! Enjoy!

Happy Hunting!

PHEASANT GROUNDNUT STEW

Category: Entree, Stew

Cuisine: West African, Wild Game

6 people

PHEASANT GROUNDNUT STEW

This wild game pheasant groundnut stew is savory and definitely a bowl of comfort food. The almond butter gives the stew base a silky texture, while the cayenne adds a little spice.

Ingredients

2 lbs pheasant, still on the bone
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon mace
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne, plus more as desired
2 tablespoons tomato paste
15 oz can roasted crushed tomatoes
1 quart stock of choice, chicken, vegetable, water, wild game…
1/2 cup almond butter, creamy
12 oz bag frozen okra

Instructions

Heat heavy bottomed soup pot over medium high heat. Drizzle in oil.
Pat dry pheasant, still on the bone, and separate into four quarters. Season with salt and pepper.
Brown the pheasant in small batches in the preheated oil, about three to four minutes per side. Set pheasant aside. Leave drippings in pot.
Reduce heat to medium on pot and add diced onions. Cook for three to four minutes.
Add chopped garlic and cook additional two minutes.
To onions and garlic, stir in tomato paste, coriander, mace, ginger, and cayenne.
Add the can of tomatoes and stock to the pot. Bring to a rolling boil then reduce to a simmer.
Add the pheasant back to the pot, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes. Check pheasant at 90 minutes. If not falling off the bone, cook until meat is tender.
Pull pheasant from pot and shred.
Add shredded pheasant, almond butter, and okra to pot. Cover and cook ten minutes.
Serve over rice if desired.
Enjoy!!!!

http://box5431.temp.domains/~huntint9/pheasant-groundnut-stew/

All photos copyright of huntingandcooking.com

Happy 2019!

Published on January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 by a12gaugegirl Category: Hunting

I woke up this first morning of a hopefully happy 2019 with one thing on my mind: my blog. The last post I published was in August. I have thought a lot about recipes, taken many photos I would like to share, had an entire fall hunting season filled with stories, successes, and failures, eaten some amazing wild game meals, and yet none of it made it on to the blog. It might be a happy 2019, but I didn’t immediately feel that it was related to my blog.

Looking back, I started this blog back in 2014 with one purpose: to teach myself to harvest my own food. While I can’t say the blog had a successful fourth quarter, I will say I have stuck to main purpose, which is a rewarding feeling and should definitely make for good 2018 and hopefully a happy 2019. After I finished my hunter’s education course, which was like pulling teeth to even get me to do it for some reason, I kind of figured I would be the person who carried a gun around for a half hour, following slowly behind the other hunters, and eventually headed back to camp early for a nap (don’t get me wrong, I still like mid-hunt naps as much as I did before).

Somewhere along the way I harvested my first turkey. It was probably the ugliest hunt anyone has seen. I shot a branch out above the turkey, scared him off, and then ran back into him while loading the gun in the truck. At that point a pathetic foot race ensued and I somehow ended the entire situation with a successfully harvested turkey.

I went on a muzzleloader elk hunt where even though the results were empty handed, I had more fun than I could have ever imagined. I crawled in the mud, sat shivering in the snow as the sun set, engaged in an elk calling war, ran into a couple of bears, and returned to camp each night so exhausted I could barely pull my own boots off.

I eventually did have a successful hunt for a pronghorn. I have never felt so excited, frustrated, thrilled with myself, and sad as during that hunt. Finding bucks and taking shots was so exciting, but missing over and over (and over more than I should probably admit) was the most frustrating time of my life. When I finally did drop the buck, I cried. I still can’t describe what you learn about yourself, life, respect, death, and appreciation during a hunt. It is something you can truly only learn by experiencing yourself.

I won’t say that I am still not that person who wanders behind the group slowly and thinks about the mid-hunt nap, but I definitely have grown past that point somewhat. There’s still work to do though.

I have also learned to cook, something I never thought I would enjoy. During college, I could barely boil water. I thought making a box of mac and cheese was cooking. The link between harvesting something yourself, learning to care for and clean it, and taking the time to prepare something just so is a gift. I enjoy opening that gift every meal.

If I had to pick a favorite meal from the blog, I would probably choose the blueberry balsamic reduction over elk steaks. Hopefully in my quest for a happy 2019 I can create a new favorite meal for the blog.

So, when I woke up this morning and the blog hit my mind first, I knew it was a sign to keep working. Here’s to another year, and more hunting, stories, photos and recipes to come!

Chipotle Pike Stew

Published on August 29, 2018September 30, 2020 by a12gaugegirl Category: Fish Recipes

Playing with the heat in dishes is one of my favorite ways to take an old recipe and create something new. This Chipotle Pike Stew recipe was the perfect specimen to see what a little spice could do to a basic fish soup recipe. I think the results were delicious.

Pike is one of my absolute favorite eating fish. It can be a turn off to many people because the outside of the fish is very slimy. I hate to even bring that up when talking about a recipe using pike, but I think it’s important to put it out there and say: “Hey, pike is gross to handle but it’s what’s on the inside that counts!” I really enjoy the texture of the meat for pike. It is very robust and holds up well in sauces or when grilled. The flavor is also amazing. It reminds me a bit more of chicken than fish, but it really has a unique flavor that is hard to pinpoint without just giving it a try.

Handling is also very important to ensure your pike I always tasty. Pike are a cold-water fish and bacteria will quickly go to work if your fish get warmed up. So, in the summer, do what we do and take a cooler full of ice and throw your pike on ice right after they are caught. To deal with the ick factor of doing this, we keep a cooler marked “fish only”.

Back to the food. Changing the heat in a dish can be accomplished a number of ways, such as through adding red pepper flakes, hot peppers such as jalapenos or habaneros, cracked black pepper, hot sauce such a Tapatio or Cholula, or with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Which route you decide to go depends entirely on the other ingredients in the dish. For this chipotle pike stew, I thought I would use chipotles in adobo because the peppers not only add heat to the dish but also mingle really well with the tomatoes.

Start the Chipotle Pike Stew Base

To a heavy bottomed pot, add a couple swirls of olive oil. Heat over medium and drop in four diced stalks of celery, one medium diced onion, and three cloves of minced garlic. Let the mixture sweat for about ten minutes, or until the onions are translucent and soft. Take care to keep the heat at an appropriate level where the garlic will not start to brown. Browned garlic adds a very bitter taste to dishes and it happens very quickly.

While the onions and garlic are cooking, add three to four chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and a whole jar of oyster sauce to a blender. Blend well. If you are a super spicy person, you can add more peppers. I found three to be quite hot in this dish. If you aren’t such a big fan of spicy, you might consider only adding one or two peppers.

Meanwhile, returning to the onions and garlic, deglaze the pot with ½ cup white wine. Stir everything so you break up all the good flavor pieces that have developed but might be sticking to the bottom of your pan. Let the wine cook for a few minutes and then add a 28oz can of roasted stewed tomatoes. I used stewed tomatoes because I wanted to have the chunks in my soup, but you could also use diced or crushed to create a different texture.

Heat the soup for five minutes and then add in the oyster sauce pepper mixture, two teaspoons dried oregano, and one teaspoon of dried thyme. Stir and let the chipotle soup base simmer for five more minutes.

Cut the pike filets into bite sized pieces, and take this opportunity to make sure everything is bone free. Add the pike to the chipotle soup base, cover with a lid, and simmer for five minutes. The pike should be flaky and white when it is ready.

Chipotle Pike Stew Fish — *You need to remove the “Y” bones from the pike before dicing into bite size pieces.*

Ladle up some nice big servings into bowls, serve with a slice of fresh lime to squeeze over the soup, and a piece of crusty bread to sop up the bottom of your bowl!

I am a huge fan of tomato based soups, especially with seafood, and so the idea of using pike in a tomato based broth with the heat of chipotles makes my mouth water just talking about it. This soup is very rich in sweet flavors that the pike really soaks up. I hope you enjoy this meal of chipotle pike stew as much as I do! If you are looking for other pike recipes, consider this one from my website for Pike Skewers.

Happy Fishing!

Chipotle Pike Stew

Category: Fish Recipes

Chipotle Pike Stew

Ingredients

1 pound pike fish, diced into bite size pieces
4 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
28 oz can roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
12 oz bottle oyster sauce
3 chipotles peppers in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Add three chipotle peppers and the bottle of oyster sauce to a blender. Blend until peppers are broken down into a paste. Set aside.
To a large, heavy bottomed pot, add the olive oil and heat over medium high. Add the celery, onions, and garlic. Cook for ten minutes. Watch to not let garlic brown.
Deglaze the pot with the white wine. Allow to simmer for five minutes.
Add the can of roasted tomatoes, the oregano and thyme, and chipotle mixture to the pot.
Allow to cook for 10 minutes.
Add the pike and cook for five minutes with the lid on. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve with lime wedges.

http://box5431.temp.domains/~huntint9/chipotle-pike-stew/

All photos copyright of huntingandcooking.com

Basil, Fennel and Rosemary Grilled Trout Recipe

Published on August 28, 2018 by a12gaugegirl Category: Fish Recipes

I tried my hand at rainbow trout fly fishing this past weekend. I would not call it a success in the sense that I did not catch an actual fish, but I would not call it a failure for a handful of other reasons. Besides the fly fishing, I also got to dine on this Basil, Fennel, and Rosemary Grilled Trout.

First, no one actually showed me how to cast. Our little group of four piled out of the car in the late afternoon, everyone who had waders (which did not include me) pulled them on, tied on their flies, and took off in different directions.

Someone had tied a fly on my rod, but I can’t tell you if it was a dry or wet fly. I can’t even actually tell you the difference of a dry or wet fly. Two of the group headed downstream and one headed upstream. I stayed by the car. Turns out wading the stream in Chaco sandals is not easy.

I spent about an hour flipping my pole back and forth, in what I decided was a ten-to-two motion, which by the way is the only fly fishing term I actually know. I don’t know that term from an experienced point of view, but rather I know it from hearing it in movies. Basically all my fly fishing knowledge stems from reading A River Runs Through It and watching a few movies.

After an hour or so of whipping my fly around in the air and trying to not create giant knots, a member of our group stopped by to share some advice. They showed me a quick roll cast and explained I should try to gently land the fly in to the stream and then let my fly follow the weaving current downstream a bit before pulling my line back up and starting again.

I practiced my roll cast for another hour before deciding I was fly fished out for the afternoon. But as I said before, the day was not a complete failure for me. I never popped my fly off my line. I didn’t fall in the mud. While I got stuck under a few rocks, I never had to take the walk of shame to pull my fly out of a tree top. I had a magnificent time just spending some time with my feet in the cool stream and mountain air filling my lungs. And the rest of my group did catch fish, so I got to experience this delicious basil, fennel, and rosemary grilled rainbow trout recipe!

The Anchovy Butter

I think what really makes this dish is the anchovy butter. It seemed odd to add fish to fish, but in the end the dish would not have worked without the anchovies. I used the anchovy filets packed in oil that come in the little tins.

Set out a stick of unsalted butter to soften to room temperature. You want to make sure to use unsalted butter because the anchovies are very, very salty. Using a fork, mash up the butter a bit, add in three anchovy filets, and continue breaking up the fish into the butter with the fork.

Once you have broken the filets up and evenly mixed them into the butter, place the mixture in the fridge to harden back up a bit. And there you have it: Fancy Anchovy Butter. I think this butter would be amazing on salmon or even steak. In fact, as I am typing this I am realizing I need to make a steak with this butter right now!

The Herbs

One of my favorite reasons for working with fish is you can dress up a dish with the simple addition of just herbs. Many meals are drenched in sauces or gravies, require lots of seasonings or additional fats, or have many ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, I love all those dishes too! But sometimes it is refreshing to create a very simple meal with very few ingredients and have something that begins and ends with simple flavors. Something where you can actually taste the delicate deliciousness of the meat. This basil, fennel and rosemary grilled trout recipe is very much one of those dishes.

For this meal, I used fresh basil, fennel tops, and rosemary. I did not mince the herbs, and instead created a foil packet for grilling the fish. Cut a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the entire fish. Lay down a few pieces of the fennel tops and a couple sprigs of rosemary. Rip the basil leaves up a bit, this helps release their flavor, and place them on top of the other greens.

To the herb pile, add the fish. I left my fish whole but with the skin removed. I also stuffed a few more twigs of rosemary inside the fish. Slather on a generous spoonful of the anchovy butter to the top of the fish.

Cooking the Grilled Rainbow Trout

Wrap the foil around the fish bundle, creating a little packet. Make sure that the foil is sealed really well and there aren’t gaps for steam to escape. I find folding the foil rather than crumpling it helps to create really good seals.

Put the packets directly on the preheated grill and allow to cook for fifteen minutes. The packets will puff up, which is a great indicator that the fish is done cooking.

Once finished grilling, rip open those packets, take in a deep breath and enjoy all those beautiful aromas put off by the grilled fennel, rosemary, and basil, and plate your fish up to enjoy a delicately simple, but flavorful, dinner.

It is amazing how much flavor the herbs add to the fish through just steaming in the foil packets. The anchovies also create a great salty addition to the fish. As I said in the beginning, I found adding fish to fish kind of an odd concept, but this dish has changed my mind. I will be adding anchovies to many more dishes. I hope you enjoy this basil, fennel and rosemary grilled trout recipe as much as I do. Enjoy!

Looking for other trout recipes? Check out a few other trout treats, such as grilled orange and herb or foil packet trout.

Happy Fishing!

Basil, Fennel and Rosemary Grilled Trout Recipe

Category: Fish Recipes

Basil, Fennel and Rosemary Grilled Trout Recipe

"Things fishermen know about trout aren't facts, but articles of faith." ~ John Gierach

Ingredients

4 rainbow trout, skinned but still on bones
4 to 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
Handful fresh basil leaves, slightly torn
4 to 5 leafy ends of fennel bulb
One stick softened butter, unsalted
3 to 4 anchovy filets

Instructions

Preheat outdoor grill to high heat.
Take stick of softened butter and, using a fork, mash the anchovy filets with the butter. Continuing working until filets are evenly mixed into butter. Set aside.
On a large piece of foil, place the sprigs of fresh herbs. Tear the basil leaves slightly, as this helps to release the flavors of the leaf.
I created one large packet to cook all of my trout at one time. You could also individual wrap the trout in their own packets, using two sprigs of fresh herbs per packet.
Slather the fish with generous portions of the butter.
Carefully fold the packet closed, taking care to ensure there are no holes for the steam to escape from.
Place packet directly on grill and cook for 15 minutes. The packet should puff up and you can hear the butter boiling when the fish is done.
Enjoy!!!!

http://box5431.temp.domains/~huntint9/rosemary-grilled-trout-recipe/

All photos copyright of huntingandcooking.com

Ciopinno and Tarragon Pesto Kokanee Salmon Recipe

Published on August 27, 2018 by a12gaugegirl Category: Fish Recipes

Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon and Tarragon Pesto Final Plate — “My life is what a salmon must feel like. They are always swimming upstream, against the current.” ~ Laura Schlessinger

I’m still wrapping my brain around the idea of jigging for fish. I can’t seem to quite get the technique down, and for some reason not being able to properly execute the simple idea of rhythmically bobbing a weighted lure up and down is breaking down everything I thought I knew about fishing. However, I am not having a difficult time with is wrapping my brain around is the idea of this Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon Recipe.

Living in the mountainous western part of the United States, most of the fishing consists of stream or flatwater trout. And most of the techniques revolve around fly fishing (also a new “adventure” I have decided to unsuccessfully embark on recently), lure fishing, or using bait such as worms or grasshoppers. I have trolled and bottom fished many of the lakes around my home, and I have bait fished the streams. I have not jigged anything.

Floating in the large pod of fishing boats this past weekend on a beautiful Colorado lake watching everyone pull up Kokanee salmon after Kokanee salmon made me want to jig so bad it almost hurt a little. We had spent the morning slowly trolling around the outside edge of the cluster of fishermen jigging off their boats. Trolling was slow, and while we caught a few fish, it was definitely not the way to catch a limit for the day. We headed to the local bait shop and started interviewing the store clerks for tips and tricks to pulling in the Kokanee, and everyone offered up the same advice: you have to jig for them right now.

I left the store with a heavy, bright pink spoon, a small flashing light that attached to my line, a can of white shoe peg corn, and the “secret” depth to jig at. I raced back out to the Kokanee fishing crowd, rigged my pole up, dropped it down to 85 feet, and then started “jigging.” Nothing happened.

The boat next to me couldn’t move the net fast enough between people to grab up their fish. I should have offered them my net, because it was just sitting and waiting on my boat. Attempts were made to copy the motion of the poles from the boats around me, but nothing seemed to work. I adjusted the depth up for awhile, and then down for awhile more, but still nothing. As the wind started to pick up, floating in place became impossible and everyone started to pack up.

It was an unsuccessful day of jigging, but as often happens with unsuccessful days of fishing the desire to overcome only grows. So, while I cannot offer up any advice for how to jig for Kokanee salmon, I can share this super delicious Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon Recipe! And maybe next time I will have a more productive fishing story to share.

The Recipe

Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon and Tarragon Pesto Ingredients — Ciopinno base ingredients including fennel, onion, shallot, and garlic.

Traditionally compiled from the “catch of the day,” Ciopinno is an Italian-American style dish filled with fresh seafood such as shrimp, craps, mussels, and ocean fish. The base for the stew broth is a combination of tomatoes and white wine. I decided to take the sweet tomato base of Ciopinno stew and create a stew for the Kokanee salmon we caught.

Kokanee salmon are a landlocked version of an ocean sockeye salmon. Their meat is very hearty and oily, and is a lively shade of bright red. The flaky but firm texture of the salmon makes it a great fish for this stew.

One of my favorite things about Ciopinno is it often contains fresh fennel. I love the licorice flavored bite that fennel adds to dishes. For this stew, I decided to enhance the licorice flavor even more by topping the fish with a tarragon pesto.

The Cioppino Base

To start the dish, I slow cooked the stew base. To a large ceramic pot, I added a tablespoon of olive oil and then sautéed over medium high heat one diced medium sized onion, a minced shallot, four cloves of minced garlic, and a bulb of fennel, which I diced into bite size pieces. I let everything cook until the onions were softened and translucent, or about ten minutes.

One of the things I enjoy most about cooking are all the flavors that fill the kitchen. And one of my favorite smells in the world is onions slow cooking in olive oil. I don’t know why, but it gets me every time. I am already excited for a dish when it starts with a big pot, some oil, and diced onions. Add to that the bittersweet hints of fennel and things are really starting to look good in the kitchen!

Anyway, after ten minutes, deglaze the pot with a cup of white wine. I like to use a dry white wine, such as chardonnay. You can play with the flavors a little in your base by switching up the wine you use. You could even create a more robust flavor by adding a red wine, such as cabernet sauvignon. If you aren’t a wine person, you could also deglaze the pot with a cup of chicken stock.

Let the wine cook off for a few minutes and then add the roasted stewed tomatoes, two cups of seafood broth, a bay leaf, and two teaspoons of allspice. Simmer everything for at least thirty minutes. The base should reduce down so it is a bit thicker than soup.

The Tarragon Pesto

Pesto is a very quick and easy sauce that can enhance even the simplest dishes. My favorite thing about working with pesto is how it can be adjusted to fit a variety of flavor profiles. Looking for more recipes with a pesto twist? Check out my recipe for elk tenderloin in a sticky tomato sauce with basil pesto. For the Ciopinno Kokanee Salmon Recipe, I decided to move from a traditional basil pesto to a tarragon pesto. Tarragon has a similar essence to fennel, except it tastes a bit more minty.

To make the pesto, add a large handful of fresh parsley, a large handful of fresh tarragon, two cloves of garlic, and a ½ cup of cashews to a food processor. Pulse everything a few times to break up the garlic and cashews.

Add a few glugs of red wine vinegar, about two tablespoons worth, and a quarter cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. I also zested the lemon before juicing it and added about a tablespoon of the zest to the food processor. Once again, give everything a few pulses to mix it up.

Finally, with the food processor running, slowly stream in the olive oil. It should take around a1/3 cup, but I just keep an eye on it and wait until it reaches the consistency I desire. Sometimes I add a little extra oil if it is something I want to kind of drizzle the pesto on, and other times, like for this recipe, I quit adding oil right as the pesto starts to develop a creamier more spreadable texture. Season with salt to taste.

Grilling the Fish and Putting it all Together

I contemplated a lot on how to cook the fish for this dish. I wanted to keep this kokanee salmon recipe simple without creating too big a mess in the kitchen, but I also really wanted the fish to have a very specific texture. The thought of just adding to kokanee salmon to pot as the ciopinno sauce reduced crossed my mind, but I was afraid the fish might develop a bit of a mushy, broken down texture. Instead, the decision was made to grill the fish.

I created tin foil packets to lay the fish, added a little splash of oil, seasoned the filets with salt and pepper and threw them on the grill for about seven minutes. One nice little trick to cooking the fish perfectly is you can tell when it is done by the foil packet. It will puff up and the fish is finished at the same time. Fancy little trick there!

Cioppino Kokanee Salmon and Tarragon Pesto Fish Packets — Be sure the packets are tightly sealed so the steam does not escape while grilling

So, to plate up this meal, get a shallow bowl and ladle in a hearty scoop of the savory and slight sweet ciopinno base. Lay on a grilled kokanee filet, and top with a healthy spoonful of the tarragon pesto. I like to get a fork full with all the components on each bite! You don’t want to miss how beautifully the flaky but meaty salmon pairs with the ciopinno sauce and pesto. Each bite is very flavorful with sweet hints of tomato, hidden tastes of licorice, and a lemony, minty finish. I hope you like this Cioppino Kokanee Salmon Recipe as much as I do. Enjoy!

Happy Fishing!

Ciopinno and Tarragon Pesto Kokanee Salmon Recipe

Category: Fish Recipes

Ciopinno and Tarragon Pesto Kokanee Salmon Recipe

Ingredients

Four filets kokanee salmon, deboned and skin on

For the Ciopinno Base

One fennel bulb, diced
One medium onion, diced
One medium shallot, minced
Four cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil
One cup white wine
28 ounces can stewed tomatoes
2 cups seafood broth
One bay leaf
One to two teaspoons of all spice (taste and add more if needed)

For the Tarragon Pesto

1/2 cup cashews
2 cloves garlic
Handful fresh parsley
Handful fresh tarragon
Lemon, juiced and zested
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Ciopinno Base

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, drop in the diced fennel, onions, shallot, and garlic. Cook for ten minutes, watching that the garlic doesn't start to brown. Onions should become soft and translucent.
Deglaze the pot with a cup of white wine, your choice. Let simmer for two to three minutes.
Add the two cups of seafood broth, the stewed tomatoes, a bay leaf, and the all spice. Let simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes.

For the Tarragon Pesto

To a food processor, add two cloves of garlic and pulse a few times to chop up.
Add in the half cup of cashews and pulse a few times.
Add the parsley and fresh tarragon. Pulse.
Squeeze in a quarter cup of lemon juice, add the zest, and the red wine vinegar.
Let the food processor run and slowly stream in the 1/3 cup of olive oil. The pesto should be a creamy texture. Add more oil by the tablespoon if desired consistency is not reached at first.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Fish

Season the filet kokanee salmon with salt and pepper.
Drizzle a little olive oil over the filets and seal tightly in aluminum foil packets.
Place the packets directly on the grill over high heat and let cook for about seven minutes. The packets should puff up when finished.
Carefully remove the fish filets from the skin.

To Plate

Add a large scoop of ciopinno stew base to a shallow bowl. Lay a piece of grilled fish on top of the stew base. Top with a heaping scoop of the pesto tarragon.

http://box5431.temp.domains/~huntint9/ciopinno-kokanee-salmon-recipe/

All photos copyright of huntingandcooking.com

Cajun Elk Sausage Hushpuppies

Published on August 6, 2018 by a12gaugegirl Category: Deer Recipes, Elk Recipes, Wild Game Recipes

Cajun Elk Sausage Hushuppies Final Plate — Cajun Elk Sausage Hushpuppies!

I feel a bit foolish admitting there was a time I had no idea what a hushpuppy was, and it wasn’t that long ago either. Growing up, the small town I lived in had a limited number of restaurants, and of the few in the area, they were mostly diner style menus filled with burgers, fries, and milk shakes. Occasionally, “exotic” foods, like the steak finger or a fish sandwich, might pop up as a weekly special, but for the most part things were the same, day-in and day-out. And I certainly never had heard of elk sausage hushpuppies.

I actually had my first hushpuppy at a Church’s Chicken in Texas during a trip to visit college campuses and was instantly a fan of the small, savory bites of deep fried cornmeal dough. I kind of felt cheated in life for a moment. “How come the exciting world of hushpuppies is something I am just discovering now? I have been missing out on the good things in life!” I said to my fellow diners.

Anyway, if you are silly like me and don’t know what a hushpuppy is, I will tell you. Hopefully, you aren’t like me and have had the pleasure of the hushpuppy being a permanent fixture in your life. Hushpuppies are spoonful sized balls of deep fried cornmeal, flour, eggs, milk, and baking soda. Often times, they also have bits of garlic and onion in them. Some versions also include corn. They should be fluffy, light, crunchy, and a bit salty.

A funny little tidbit about hushpuppies is legend says they were named during the Civil War by Confederate soldiers. Soldiers would feed the little fluffy fried balls to the dogs in order to “hush” them. I don’t know how true the legend is, but I liked the story and thought I would share it.

Hushpuppies are typically served as side dishes to a variety of meals. They are often found at barbeques and also, in the completely opposite direction, can be found complementing a seafood dish. For these Cajun elk sausage hushpuppies, I went the barbeque route and served them along-side smoked ribs.

My hushpuppies featured a little twist, the addition of a spicy Cajun homemade elk sausage. The recipe for the sausage can be found here: Cajun Elk Sausage.

The nice thing about working with hushpuppies is they are basically a blank canvas for developing flavor. The base, cornmeal and flour, is essentially just a building block that brings texture to the dish but not much else. This allows one to create a hushpuppy flavor profile that can trek in any direction the preparer desires.

The Cajun elk sausage added a really great heat to the hushpuppy. These little fried balls were salty, spicy, and just a little bit sweet from the onions.

The Recipe

To start, over medium high heat, completely cook half a pound of the homemade elk sausage and one medium diced onion. Be sure to break the sausage up into as small of pieces as possible.

Cajun Elk Sausage Hushpuppies Sausage Bites — This recipe would also work great with deer, moose, antelope, or any other wild game sausage you might have around.

You can also start heating the oil for frying the hushpuppies. I used a 10.5 ounce ceramic dutch oven for cooking my hushpuppies. You need about three inches of frying oil to cook in, so this size is nice because you can cook a few pieces of dough at a time without using a lot of oil. For frying, you need a high heat oil. People typically use vegetable oil for frying, but you can also use canola or coconut oil (if you are looking for a little healthier frying options). I actually ran out of my usual frying oil and had to resort to using peanut oil. It smelled like roasted peanuts in the house, which was weird, but oddly enough the peanut fragrance did not carry over to the actual food. Anyway, heat the oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and hold it there.

Cajun Elk Sausage Hushpuppies Dry Ingredients — Add the cooked sausage to the dry ingredients and coat well. This will keep the sausage from sinking to the bottom of the ingredients once the liquids are added.

For the dough, in a large bowl mix together 1 and a half cups of cornmeal, ¾ a cup of flour, two tablespoons of baking powder, a teaspoon of salt, and the cooked elk sausage and onions. Give everything a quick mix, being sure to cover all the sausage with the dry ingredients, and continue to the next step.

To the dry ingredients, add one lightly beaten egg, 2/3 cup of your favorite beer, and 1/3 cup of buttermilk. Lightly combine everything, there is no need to over mix this batter, just stir until the dry ingredients are moistened. Let the bowl stand for 10 minutes.

Cajun Elk Sausage Hushpuppies Wet Ingredients — For this batch of elk sausage hushpuppies, I added a golden ale. You could add any type of beer you wanted. A different beer, say a porter or a pilsner, will create a totally different flavor profile for your hushpuppy and all you are doing is changing one simple ingredient.

After ten minutes, the dough should look light and fluffy. It is now time to start frying!

Frying the Hushpuppies

I used an ice cream scoop to portion out my hushpuppies. This helped keep everything the right size and made the cooking time even between all the batches I did. Drop a scoop of the dough into the hot oil and allow to fry 1 and half to two minutes, you should see the sides peeking out of the oil browning. Flip the puppy to get the other side and allow to cook an additional 1 and half to two minutes.

Cajun Elk Sausage Hushpuppies Scoop — It helps to use an ice cream scoop to make sure the hushpuppies all turn out the same size. Having them all the same size means the cooking time won’t need to be adjusted per batch.

I added about four dough scoops to the pot at a time. This was a good number for each batch size because it didn’t cause the oil to drop too much in temperature. You want to try and keep the oil as close as possible to 375. If you overcrowd the pot and drop the heat too much, your puppies will cook slower and be a lot greasier and possibly soggy. If you have the oil too hot you will wind up with a burnt outside and a raw inside. So, keeping the oil at the ideal temperature is key to a good hushpuppy.

Working in batches, continue to cook the hushpuppies. Allow the grease to drain off by placing them on a wire rack when they are done frying. You can keep them warm in the oven by putting it to a low 200 degrees.

This Cajun elk sausage hushpuppy was easy to make and very quick to throw together. It also made a delicious side dish to my smoked rib dinner. The spicy, savory crunch of the hushpuppies paired great with the smoky sweet ribs. Give these puppies a try and let me know how it goes for you!

Happy Hunting!

Frisco Sausage Spices: A Sausage Experiment

Published on August 2, 2018 by a12gaugegirl Category: Deer Recipes, Elk Recipes, Wild Game Recipes

One thing I find difficult to find at the grocery store is a good, solid sausage. There just aren’t many options when it comes to sausage spices. Sure, there are the traditional go-to sausages, like Jimmy Dean or Johnsonville, and don’t get me wrong, those are fine and they definitely get the job done when necessary. But they are just that: fine.

Frisco Sausage Seasonings and Spices — Frisco Sausage Spices and Seasonings!

I guess you could call what I am talking more about is a specialty sausage. Sure it might be labeled as Italian or chorizo, but it is a specialty sausage because it has its own unique twist. And while I think you can go to a butcher’s shop and find a great selection of sausages, you often times can’t beat simply mixing up your own batch of sausage.

And so, in the quest to have a good, solid sausage, I decided to start the adventure of making my own, home ground and blended elk and deer sausage. I think I will call it the Sausage Wars, and will include a couple of different posts on my blog with all the different varieties and tactics I am going to try over the next month.

Sausage Spices being mixed in grinder — I like to coarse grind the sausage once through and then add the fat and spices to the mixture.

Sausage spices in bags — Freeze the sausage in portion sizes appropriate for your needs!

To start this quest, I decided to start with pre-packaged mixes I ordered from different companies. The first…mmm…victim is Frisco Spices. Frisco Spices is located in La Vista, Nebraska and started in the garage of E.G. Fransiscus in 1928. They carry spices, cures, marinades, mixes, and more at the stores and are easy to purchase on-line as well.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I purchased four spice mixes from Frisco: Italian, Hot Italian, Chorizo, and Cajun. For this round of sausage making, I followed the instructions and recommendations on the package, just to keep things easier on myself when deciding if I liked the mixes or not. For my sausage base, I ground elk chunk with bacon ends. I like to use the bacon ends because it adds a good fat flavor to the sausage, but it doesn’t come out quite as greasy as using just pork fat.

To create the sausage, I used a Cabelas meat grinder with a #8 plate and quarter inch holes. I wanted to have an even playing field, so I ground a large batch of meat and then rationed the spices. I ground nine pounds of elk, eight pounds of deer, and three pounds of bacon ends and pieces to make a burger of roughly 90% lean meat if you count the meat in the bacon. I like my sausage and burger lean as it is easier to use in different recipes without having to drain a bunch of fat oil. Also, I use the Wright brand 3-pound pack of bacon ends and pieces because it is cheap and has a very high fat content. I then mixed the hole batch by hand.

After that I mixed four five pound batches of sausage following the instructions on the packages.

Loved This! Give me More!

The Italian Sausage mixture was my favorite. The mixture contained what I consider to be the defining flavor of Italian sausage: fennel! I could really taste the fennel in the mixture and it gave the sausage a subtle sweetness but also that great black licorice punch that is so good in many Italian dishes. I also thought this mixture was not too salty, which can be a big turn-off with many sausages. I plan on using this Italian Sausage to make meatballs, lasagna, and a really big pot of zuppa!

It’s Growing on Me

Eating the Cajun Sausage was one of those experiences where at first I didn’t think much of it, but the second bite actually changed my mind. I didn’t really feel like I was chewing on a mouthful of Cajun flavor at the first bite, but I did immediately notice the heat. It was a good heat, the kind that lingers for just long enough but not the kind of heat that ruins your ability to taste other foods. By the second bite, I was becoming a much bigger fan of the Cajun seasoning. It is not an overly salty sausage, in fact I would consider even adding a little salt to this mix if I made it again, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing either. The flavors are subtle, not overpowering, but it actually seems to work when combined with the heat in this mixture. I know it would be great in a breakfast scramble or burrito you were looking to kick up a notch. I added it to some homemade hush puppies, and it was a fantastic little bite!

I Could Take It or Leave It

The Chorizo Sausage didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The sausage came out extremely salty, and behind the salt flavor I could pick up hints of chorizo flavors. There were small flecks of spicy heat mingled in with a touch of light smokiness, but overall it just wasn’t quite right to me. It was not a bad sausage, but something just wasn’t quite right for my liking. I do think the sausage I made will work well in a breakfast burrito though.

Not my Cup of Tea

The sausage I won’t be making again is the Hot Italian. The mixture was very uneventful. It didn’t really have a significant amount of heat to it, nor did it really have much of an Italian sausage flavor as they didn’t add the fennel. Nothing really popped with this sausage. I will use it as a filler in recipes where the sausage plays a minor roll.

a 12 gauge girl

From Forest to Food

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The Recipe for Pheasant Groundnut Stew

Happy 2019!

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