Category Archives: Cooking

Creamed Venison Rumbledethump

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An easy hearty innovative wild game meal that adds a fun Scottish flair of Rumbledethump potato. I discovered Rumbledethump here in New Hampshire and served at the Highland Games in Lincoln, NH. Venison has been a staple of the Scottish Highlands for centuries as it is here in New England. Rumbledethump uses mashed potato, cabbage and turnip and topped with oven roasted cheddar cheese.

Creating creamed venison can be done by shaving a venison steak like creamed beef or made with burger of any wild game you like such as deer, moose, elk etc. This meal can be made ahead and refrigerated too for easy preparation. The secret ingredient is white vermouth!

Ingredients:

1 lb shaved or burger venison

1 white or yellow onion diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup all purpose flour.

1/4 cup butter

1 cup beef broth

1/4 cup white vermouth

2 to 3 cups – half and half cream.

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp thyme

1 1/2 cups cooked broccoli florets

1 cup cooked sliced carrots

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Cook the venison shave or burger in a large frying pan and onion in olive oil and a dash of salt and ground pepper, and 1/2 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp garlic powder till lightly browned and the meat is just done and set aside in a dish so you can reuse the frying pan.

Cook the broccoli and carrots and set aside. (You can use already cooked peas and carrots here as a fast alternative).

Create a roux in the large warmed frying pan with all purpose flour and butter. Slowly add the 1 cup broth,2 cups ± half and half cream, 1/4 cup white vermouth bring this sauce to a slow boil. This should be creamy and thick. Now add the cooked venison, drained cooked broccoli and carrots and stir the creamed venison with the vegetables.  Salt and pepper to taste. The vermouth adds a bit of Ooo’la’la to the sauce….

I found a great recipe for Rumbledethump here. You can use mashed potatoes if you like instead to make the dish easier. https://www.thespruceeats.com/rumbledethumps-recipe-435824

Serve a scoop or square of the oven hot rumbledethump and ladel the warm creamed venison over the top.

Some sliced warm corn bread and butter would make this dish a WOW!

Enjoy!

Good Hunting! And Good Eating!

© 2020 Creamed Venison Recipe.

 

 

Venison Stew with Modern Electric Pressure Cookers

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There is nothing more inviting and satisfying than to come in from the cold outdoors and eat a warm venison stew for dinner. Pressure cooking cuts time and allows you to tenderize the meat to your satisfaction. Tender meat is the key!

Here, I am using  modern conveniences that I have access to.  But you can use a crock pot or Cast Iron Pot out on an open fire and slow cook it all day if you like till the meat is tender 

Today’s Electric Pressure Cookers are very easy to use and designed to brown meat as well as to pressure cook (high pressure) your venison such as deer, moose, elk or even bear meat.

Cuisinart ® 8-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker

All you need to feed 4 is 1.5 lbs meat cut into 1 inch or so cubes (not over 1.5 inches). 

You can brown the meat in today’s cookers by selecting the browning setting. Time for prep 15 minutes. Cook Time total 28 minutes in two steps.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs meat
  • 2 to 3 sliced raw carrots cut to 3/4 inch thick.
  • 4 medium cubed pealed potatoes (you can leave washed skins on if you like) I used mini potatoes in the photo above (12 or so should do-skin on).
  • 2 medium white onions quartered. (if you want to get fancy you can do pearl onions (12 to 15)
  • 1 or 2 turnip quartered (if you like)
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 2 to 3  minced cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt ( I like kosher salt)
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper (fresh ground if possible)
  • 2  bay leaves
  • 2 to 4 slices of bacon (uncooked or cooked)
  • 1 tbsp parsley (fresh chopped is best)
  • 2 tbsp all purpose flower
  • 1 tsp thyme

Step 1- To brown,use 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Chop up 2 to 4 slices of raw bacon and add in with the oil. When you hear the oil and bacon sizzle then add the cubed venison. Begin the browning and add 2 tbsp flower in with meat and mix with the meat while browning, no more than 10 minutes or so to brown. Then add 2 cups water and 1/2 cup wine and all the spices and fold together for 30 seconds. Now select High Pressure on your Electric Pressure Cooker to cook the meat first for 20 minutes following the instructions on your cooker. More time may be needed for tougher cuts of meat. 

When your cooker shuts off you can often release steam with the weighted device that holds the steam on my cooker, but to be safe follow the directions on your pressure cooker.

Step 2- Once you can open your cooker you can test for tenderness of meat. If you approve of the tenderness then add the vegetables to the meat and cook for 8 minutes more. Your stew can then be folded or tossed to mix meat and veggies. If liquid is needed add remaining water or more beef broth. To thicken you can make a roux by mixing 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp butter and saute in a frying pan till mixed. Add 1/2 cup warm water or the stew broth to the roux and mix till absorbed and add to the stew with 1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley. The stew broth should not be thin but have some body and some thickness. 

Salt and Pepper and Herb to taste.

You can put your cooker on warm and serve with bread and butter. A french baguette sliced with butter works for me along with a beer or a glass of your favorite red wine such as a Cabernet or Merlot.

Enjoy! You will go back for seconds for sure! It is even better on the second day if you keep it refrigerated overnight. 

 

© Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved.

Meat Scare translates to Hunting With Your Family

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I have lots of wild meat in my freezer, but even I felt the domestic meat shortage in my gut at a recent visit to the supermarket. It is not really a shortage as it is workers who have contracted COVID-19 and shut meat plants down. It is that sense of loss though that gets families thinking of hunting for their own meat/protein in the wild. I grew up in a hunting family because my mom and dad lived and grew up in the depression era where meat was scarce.  My dad in his 20’s was skinny as a rail as was his father. Baked beans was the protein supplement with whatever meat you could get. We are in fact omnivores but require protein for part of our diet.  Meat provides the bulk of that protein. 

The easiest game to learn to hunt, cook and eat is the Squirrel, particularly the grey squirrel. Hunting them with shotgun or .22. I prefer to hunt them with a .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Later you can hunt deer, moose, bear, ducks, geese etc.  as many do and get lots of delicious meat for the table.

I was at the supermarket yesterday amid shopping during the Pandemic and the pork section 20 yards of meat was totally empty, and beef was picky. Woke yet! Those that are woke, are looking to get Hunter Education Certified so they can hunt and harvest for meat.

The whitetail deer, is the animal most sought for food here in America and there are families who consume it as nearly 100% of their meat diet. 

Processing a Deer for food? From the hunt to the table, read below.

Do it Yourself Processing New Hampshire Deer at Home

© Copyright 2020

 

Bored? Make Some Moose Cabbage Lasagna

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I was banging away on my keyboard this morning 4/19 and at the same time watching the news about COVID and how China lied to the world and continues today. Ok don’t get me going! But I was bored!

On my computer, I ran across an interesting delicious foodie immune supporting anti-oxidant ideas for moose dinner for me and Mrs. , but alas, I had to go to the store and get some ingredients in order to be creative. It uses giant size savoy green cabbage leaves.

Wirsingkohl.jpg

Courtesy Wikipedia.

Red Bell Pepper for color, two carrots, Onion, Garlic, (got to have garlic) rice and ground meat, in this case Moose burger, cheese and one egg.

We are making Moose Cabbage Lasagna! It has more anti-oxidants and anti-viral minerals such as Zinc that you can shake a stick at. And it tastes delicious!

You can never go wrong with garlic and tomato sauce either.

Mask on, and undaunted, wiping down my shopping cart to kill the bas..well, the little creepy viruses.  I endeavored to purchase a large green savoy cabbage, the kind with all the visible branches in each leaf. I chose the green savoy cabbage because it has dozens of minerals and anti-oxidant supporting Vitamins like A,B1,2,3,4,5,6, C, K, E, and immune support minerals galore.

I grabbed a pound of Moose burger, a venison that has little fat, so lots of Protein, B12, B6 and selenium, Zinc(anti virus).

Sitting in a house for a month can make you b-ass fat, so good for the great protein with lots of flavor and far less fat and little carbohydrate compared to real lasagna

The Recipe.

Ok blanch 8 to 10  whole green cabbage leaves so they wilt a bit but keep their color. Put aside. Then fry up the pound of venison in a little EVO Oil put aside in a bowl. Also cook a cup or so of rice. I like Basmati rice.

Yes this takes a bit of multi-task monitoring but remember, your bored!

Dice 2 carrots, (watch your fingers the carrots being round are not easy to dice), dice one medium onion, one medium red, yellow or green pepper(your choice) and two cloves of garlic minced. Saute for 5 to 10 minutes in oil add some salt and pepper.

Add the sauted veggies and 12 oz. of cooked rice, 12 oz of tomato sauce, ( I used a  marinara sauce) a half cup grated Parmesan cheese (I had flakes) and 1/2 cup mozzarella grated), a pinch of herbs ( your choice like fresh basil- very aromatic) and a raw egg to the burger to help bind the ingredients. Mix it together.

Now to make the lasagna out of the cabbage leaves. Find an 8 to 10 inch oven proof pan with at least 4 to 6 inch inch sides. We are now going to add a few drops of oil to the pan and spread 2 to 3 large wilted pretty green cabbage leaves on the bottom. Now add a thin layer of the mixture and another large leaf, and so on till the pan is full or near full. Cover with another blanched cabbage leaf or two to seal.

Cover and Bake at 300 F for 45 minutes. Let it cool for 10 or 15 minutes and turn the pan over onto a plate. It looks like a green cake. Drizzle with the tomato sauce add ground parmesan cheese. OMG Good! You can slice it like a cake in wedges and it stays together. Wow! This is my first one! Will make more!

If you want some pasta as a side dish go for it. I had this for breakfast the next morning with eggs. You could make a delicious rich Benedict sauce to it but that is adding lots of fat and calories. Maybe later…

Good Eating! Try it! Thia cake like lasagna added some fun to this dinner and my wife went crazy for it!

 

 

 

 

Eating Russian Boar – Best Pork Chops on the Planet

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Recently I hunted boar again in Maine as you can see from recent articles. These were mixed breeds that are part Russian Boar.

A few years back I took a larger boar (female) that was said to be Russian.

Below the meat of the Russian boar was more beef like with fat marbled throughout.

These Russian pork chops when grilled were the finest tasting meat my wife and I have ever experienced in our lives. OMG, my wife went bananas over the meat which is why she sent me off to get another one. The meat of the latest boar was not as fatty as this one and it tastes great but not quite as good as the first.

We think that it is the fat marbling that drove our taste buds insane when fire grilled to a blackened crust below.

For my wife and I, pork will never be the same. This wild boar meat was a true culinary experience.  My latest boar meat is still over the top as compared to domestic pig. So I will go hunt one up instead of the pork at the grocery store. Just shoot a fat one!

Good Hunting

© 2019

Florida Getaway and Fishin’

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It was hard to take, loads of sunshine, time with the wife at the Naples Bay Resort. Not too shabby where you can step onto your boat within feet of our bedroom suite with kitchen. (yes a bit pricey but we wanted luxury). Wow!

We rented this seven passenger pontoon boat at Rose Marine on Marco Island for the day ($300). All smiles we got our fishing license and headed to sea. We were restricted to shoreline areas and not open ocean but I was happy with that. I was the Captain you see.

My wife was gleeful as she tanned on the bow.

We caught some weird fish like this  2 foot bonnet head shark and released them. We thought they were young hammerheads until we were educated by locals.

But finally hit on a Pompano below with a bucktail hook and a small piece of shrimp on the hook.

You can see the sunshine on my smiling face and this keeper Pompano (must be 11 inches to the inside of the tail fork). This one was around 12.5 inches. Good fighting fish too!!

We dipped the fillets in egg and fish batter and fried them up in our resort kitchen. Sides of Tartar Sauce and Lime for garnish. A nice chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc made it spectacular. Wow!!

Later in the week we did an Airboat Ride in a Mangrove swamp with Captain Jack. down Hwy 41 to the Everglades. Spectacular!! Can you say fast!!

And some Alligators…

We did stop at a local resturant serving alligator and blue crab. The gator was fried and tasted like chicken with an ocean flavor. Nice! The crab serves as a crab cake did not do service to the crab.

While grocery shopping I found the fish was expensive to buy but found some lesser expensive grouper cheeks (small nuggets of grouper) an fried them up to top our pasta dinner with Parmesan cheese.

I like to cook as you can see. Fried Grouper Cheeks Marinara. Wow were they good!!

Coming back home all smiles and sunshine!

Copyright 2018 All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

 

Wild Game – Partridgeberry Cumberland Sauce

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Ok now you’ve got some game meat that is tender and juicy but you want to heighten the palate to a new level as I do. You want to serve it to your finest guests and to family and make the meal memorable without question. That is how I feel when I am cooking, if it is worth doing for your guests it is worth doing it so it is memorable.

I found such a sauce. It is entitled Cumberland Sauce, named after the Duke of Cumberland in the late 1800’s also known as Crown Prince of Hanover. It’s derivation however is not English, it is of German origin. It has a puckering wine-citrus sweet-sour fruit bouquet that enhances any wild game to a whole new level by tingling your taste buds. Great with wild boar, venison, duck, goose or wild turkey.

Cumberland Sauce traditionally uses red currant preserve (not easy to find) as its fruit base but here I am going to substitute lingonberry or partridgeberry Preserve with Blueberries as the Newfoundlanders do.  Partridgeberry is a low bush cranberry found in the maritime provinces of Canada and Newfoundland and identical to the Lingonberry of Denmark and Sweden. My wife and I love the partridgeberries of Newfoundland where her family originated. Accordingly we will call it Partridgeberry Cumberland Sauce

Image result for partridge berry of newfoundland

Partridgeberry Cumberland Sauce

Ingredients:

Rind from 1 orange zested or sliced and julienned

Rind from 1 lemon zested or sliced and Julienned

1/2 jar (6 oz) of Lingonberry or Partridgeberry Preserve.

Or 6 oz cranberry sauce

 

2 TBSP of Blueberries (fresh or frozen) Wild Newfoundland blueberries are better

1/2 cup of Port Wine

The juice of 1 large orange (approx. 1/4 cup)

The juice of 1 lemon (about 1/8 cup)

1/2 TBSP Dijon Mustard

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.

Directions:

Cook the rind, boil the orange and lemon zest or julienned rind over high heat in 1.5 cups water and boil/blanch for 2 minutes for zest and 5 minutes for the rind. (Save a pinch of zest or boiled rind for a garnish at the end.) Strain and toss out the water. The resultant rind and residue will retain citric kick but tender.

 

To an empty pan add port wine, blueberries, Lingonberry/Partridgeberry Preserve, orange juice, lemon juice ( I used a hand operated squeezer to make the juice) mustard and ginger and brought to a boil. Once the blueberries burst they added the bright red color I desired (about 3 to 5 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve or cheese cloth.

Simmer with cooked orange and lemon rind until thickening appears on a spoon.

 

 

Serve in its own dipping cup with garnish. It can be served hot or cold. I like mine warm for dipping.

Makes just over a cup for a meal for 4 as a dip. The recipe can be doubled if desired. Refrigerate any remaining…you wont want to lose a drop.

Variants of berries can be substituted to create your very own Cumberland Sauce.

Have some fun! A cookbook may be in the works….

Wow!

© Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

Carving My Russian Boar at Home? How’s it Going? by Ed Hale

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If you have butchered your own game then making the jump to a large skinned and quartered wild boar is just simply more to cut-up but you need refrigerator space or a very cold garage to store meat while cutting.

I have stored the quarters of meat in my cooler in very cold February winter garage at around 15 to 20 degrees F until I got to them to cut up. Below are the ribs laying on the large rear leg roasts. Look at the fat on the base of the ribs!

I have had the meat home for one week and have literally just one piece left to cut up, a rear leg,and I might just leave it whole and freeze it. Below my LEM Grinder.

I have created nearly 100 pounds of vacuum sealed meat such as Chops, Stew meat, Roasts, Steaks, Boar Burger, Breakfast Sausage, Italian Sweet Sausage, Chorizo Sausage, and mild Apple and Leek Sausage.

I used the book “Home Sausage Making” 3rd Edition by Susan Mahnke Peery and Charles G. Reavis by Storey Puiblishing. It is a simple straight forward book. I like it!

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Sausage-Making-How-Techniques/dp/158017471X 

below breakfast sausage patties on left, Italian sausage links on right and coarse grind meat below.

I have grilled a few chops, they are soooo good and the sausage is fantastic!.

 

Made a boar stew that was so good that I shared it only with my family.

 

My wife loves the Apple and Leek sausage perhaps the most but the breakfast sausage patties are fabulous too. Much of the sausage I did in 2 pound increments so if I liked it, could make more or didn’t like it, I lost 2 pounds meat in the test.

My boar burger is rough ground and works “the nuts” in my Chili Recipe. Honestly, I have been a hunter for over 50 years and this Russian Boar, a female, is the best eating game animal I have ever experienced so I am taking care to vacuum seal every morsel.

I have yet to use any tenderizer methods on this meat! Wow!!

Good Hunting and Good Eating!

© 2017

A Good Hunter Can Butcher Too!

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In the cycle of Hunting, you get your hunting skills, rifle or bow and kill a game animal… and then turn around and send it to a meat cutter? Ok there are times when sending your game to be butchered by a trusted source is the smart thing to do, but can you do it if there were no butcher around? Secondly, has your meat cutter done the job you expect? There are lesser meat cutters that pool meat, not necessarily of your deer and give you packages. Yes, there are some very good ones but the best meat cutter is you the hunter. Why? Because you handled every piece that you are going to eat and you know where it came from and how it was handled.

I have used “meat cutter” folks and find them on the whole to be acceptable but the hunt, in my book, is best when you do the job from beginning to end “if” possible. The end part is that you butchered it and served it on a platter to your family and friends. In the case of deer, you find them, shoot one, butcher it, grind it etc., then package it for freezing. The best packaging is to vacuum seal your meat. With this method some meats can store for years. I am a believer in FoodSaver Vacuum Sealers. Below is the V2244. Check it out on the internet.

The advent of the Internet allows us to become students of butchering your own game. Once you find a video to your liking, study it. Here is a few examples:

A new trick I learned is to drain off as much blood as possible by icing your meat in a cooler and letting it melt over the meat and it will drain that blood out. It is blood that often carries gamey flavors. You can fast forward as you need to see some steps you already know.

Cooking tip: Never cook game meat well done. Medium or medium rare is what I do for deer steaks and chops.

Pressure cooking can create the most tender meat from cuts that are naturally more tough such as front leg meat. Grinding meat that is off the front legs and neck is a another way to create better eating for chili or sausage. For most deer, the fat should be trimmed away as it is not very flavorful. Below is a video How to Butcher a Wild Boar.

I found a video of Boar Sausage making that you may like as much as I do.

See you soon! I am getting hungry! Aren’t you?