It’s the first week of June. Like every year, I’m watching the lambs quarters get bigger, and waiting for the purslane to show. The cattail shoots are perfect, and, hidden in the marshes nearby, another annual tradition, one that’s been taking place for roughly 90 million years in more or less the same fashion, is…
Carnivore
Trout with Spring Shoots and Pheasant Backs
Last week we had a couple over for dinner and the woman, a friend of my girlfriend I’d met many times before, was, unbeknownst to me, a fly-fishing apex predator. I still have trouble catching anything but rocks with my rod, but she showed up with an entire cooler filled with 8 whole brook trout,…
Grouse Scaloppini with Watercress and Bacon Vinaigrette
Here’s one of the most perfect dishes I know of for a warm summer evening: a scaloppini of grouse (or any other light-colored poultry like pheasant, partridge, etc) grilled quick over a hot fire and tossed onto an extra large salad of watercress (or whatever greens you like) with a warm vinaigrette and fresh herbs. …
Rabbit Ragu with Wild Herb Gnocchi
I love small game, and I have plenty of rabbit recipes on this site, but most of them are for the whole creature cut into parts, or maybe stewed. One thing I’ve been meaning to put up is a solid rabbit pasta sauce like I used to make working under my chef from Rome, Angelo,…
Wild Goose Eggs
Where I live, and around the country, wild poultry are just about everywhere: ducks, turkeys, quail, swans, pheasants, woodcock, grouse, and many more. One species I’m acutely aware of right now in the spring, as much for the honks and flying Vs, is our native Canada Geese, Branta canadensis. One thing geese and all the…
Venison Osso Bucco with Dried Mushrooms
There is possibly nothing more satisfying than eating an entire venison shank, and one of my favorite ways to cook them is a simple braise with dried mushrooms, herbs, stock and wine. Cutting down the shanks Venison osso bucco or cross cut shanks need some preparation during butchery to look as they’re pictured here. I…
Venison Flank Steak
Venison flank steak is a cut of meat that every deer hunter should know. This cut is one of the more under-used cuts on the deer, and it’s easy to see why. During butchery and gutting, it’s easy for it to get bloodied and unattractive, but more specifically, I think one of the reasons this…
Blackened Venison Tips
Blackened venison tips are a secret of fine meat cutting and butchery, and a perfect example of things I squirrel away for myself when butchering deer with friends. When you cut out a venison backstrap / loin there’s some trimming involved. Before you remove the silverskin, you remove another muscle called the chain, a sort…
Dried Morel Pilaf
I’ve been craving some comfort food and hurrying to use up my stash of dried morels before the next season gets here. Dried morel-venison was one of the winners I’ve been working on lately, and if you like things like Rice-A-Roni like I did when I was a kid, I think you’ll really like this. …
Eggs de Gaulle with Morels and Shrimp
Baked eggs with dried morel mushrooms and shrimp is one a great recipe I’ve borrowed from the Legendary Jacques Pepin, and a favorite of a number of people I know in the mushroom hunting community, including myself. Technically, the dish has two names, the first is Eggs en Cocotte, which basically means eggs steamed or…
Venison Tenderloins “en Colère”
Venison Tenderloins en Colère is more of a fun kitchen hack for cooking the inner loins of a deer than it is a specific recipe. Story goes that one day after butchering deer with a friend, I came home and didn’t have any plans for dinner yet. If you butcher you’re own deer, you know…
Grilled Venison Trip-Tip
If you like alternative cuts of venison like I do, than you owe it to yourself to cut and grill up a venison tri-tip steak. Tri-tips are a cut of beef from the bottom of the leg made famous by chefs from California. If there was such a thing as a state cut of meat,…
Moroccan Brains with Eggs, Tomato and Harissa
There’s lots of ways to cook brains, but Moroccan brains with tomato and harissa are definitely one of the most famous. If you like dishes of spicy tomato-y business like shakshuka or eggs in purgatory, you’ll love it. Seriously. I’ve been doing lots of research on craniaphagy (if that’s a word) and reaching out to…