Thursday, June 14, 2012

June 14th - Meat


June 14th

Bison patties.  My youngest daughter Chaney hunted a bison back in January of 2012..... Tonight the meal is on her!


Ah the things I’ve eaten.

As a hunter there is a moral imperative to consume what you have harvested.  Well…at least there is for me.  That said,  I will be the first to admit this is a sliding scale….I might “Hunt” a rat with a trap or shoot a coyote that is destroying livestock…both animals that I would have no intention of consuming.

Still, when I hunt the end result is usually a freezer full of protein, and a wardrobe full of skins and fur.

(Antlers, horns and skulls go on the walls)

Being married to a gourmet cook has its advantageous as well.

Most hunters rely on a crock pot and some seasoning to make “deer tacos”.  I get some truly exotic creations that far exceed the culinary repertoire of the fying pan or microwave oven.    

Sandy, (my wife) took to my sport with an enthusiasm a husband can only dream of.  Once the meat hits the freezer is ceases being “my deer” and becomes hers.  She has produced amazing entrees with what some would say are truly bizarre meats.  One of the chief tools in her arsenal is the cast iron pots and skillets.  These she wields as an artist, mixing sauces and spices to recreate traditional dishes designed for wild game, to more elegant concoctions replacing the recipes call for Beef or Chicken with whatever exotics happen to be in the freezer.

Sandy's weapons.  (I blacksmithed the pot rack...so I get some credit here)


I made this coffee...the extent of my cooking talents...though I did drink it while watching Sandy cook.




A partial list of our culinary adventures:

·   Deer (of course)
·   Elk
·   Moose
·   Bison
·   Rabbit (you would be amazed at what can be done to these guys)
·   Antelope
·   Muskox
·   Bear (hands down one of my favorite)
·   Pheasant
·   Chuckar
·   Duck
·   Snow Goose
·   Wild boar
·   Goat
·   Impala
·   Wildebeest
·   Nyala
·   Zebra
·   Oryx



Wild game has a taste far richer and deeper than domestically raised meats.  One of the chief benefits of consuming wild game is the knowledge that what you have on your plate is the ultimate in free range.  That said…what excites me the most is knowing that an employee of the pharmaceutical industry had no hand in fatting up our filets or speeding up their aging process in an effort to get them to market quicker.

When I eat an elk, I’m eating an Elk….not the US food industries' idea of what an elk should look and taste like.

I remember the first time I took a wild boar and watched as my guide skinned it.  What surprised me was how deep and red the muscle was.

“I thought a pig was white meat”, I said while inspecting the shoulder muscles.

“It is, once the food color people get to it and color it white.” My guide said, splitting the boars’ pelvic bone.

What the hell?

Now I’m not one to put on my tie-dyed shirt and Birkenstocks and start rallying against the evil corporate food interests.  Most people outsource their killing to professionals who find it far easier to process their quarry with fattened confined domestic animals.  

Ok, I get it…it’s more efficient and ultimately cheaper for the masses.  Delicates who like their filet mignons but don’t like to think that the cow was not thrilled about donating it, can dine once removed from the unpleasantness.

Still….colored meat???

Sorry…that just doesn’t sit right by me.   

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