Some people might say an image of an animal head is unappealing, down right spooky. What I think is unnerving is the fact that we’re disconnected from where our meat comes from. More and more, and I feel like most Americans just can’t deal with the fact that the meat they eat had a life,…
Carnivore
Acorn Crusted Squirrel with Wild Mushroom-Giblet Gravy
Acorn crusted squirrel is one of the best things I’ve made with tree ninjas. Period. A few years ago, I had Daniel Vitalis of Wild Fed and his entourage out to film an episode for his show. We took a week to hunt things around Minnesota and Wisconsin, and put everything together for a nice…
Honey Mushroom Gulyas / Goulash
Honey Mushroom Goulash / Gulyas has been in the works for years over here, and I’m excited to finally share it with you. It’s without a doubt, one of the best things I’ve had with them, and, it’s pretty traditional, more or less. I know I’ll get some contentious comments about my creative liberties here,…
Bison Stew with Timpsila, Ramps and Hominy
I started cooking with the Thíŋpsiŋla / Timpsila / Prairie Turnips, and they are so, so delicious. I was lucky enough to get invited out near the Standing Rock Reservation by my friend, Native American ethnobotanist Linda Black Elk this past summer, and for two days, I worked hard enjoying the timpsila harvest with them….
Baked Fish with Black Trumpet Crust
When Sitka Salmon sent me loads of fish to cook with this year in preparation for a project we were working on, I started working on a few great ways to use frozen fish, especially white-fleshed fish like black rockfish and cod. Making a topping with dried black trumpets, leeks and tomatoes was one of…
Venison Breast / Brisket with Mustard and Breadcrumbs
I eat a lot of meat, but I’m not much of a hunter. I know plenty about butchery and processing animals though, so when I got my first charity deer year, one of the first cuts I knew I would take out was the breast or brisket, which I’ve never, if rarely seen people mention…
Woodchuck Stew with Garden Vegetables
The giant, beautiful gardens on the farm are home to all kinds of plants and vegetables, and they attract the attention of plenty of critters. If you have a garden that’s ever been visited by a woodchuck, you know they can be very disruptive. How I approach woodchucks is a good example of my approach…
Pork Salo, with Ramp Leaf Rub
Salo is a great piece of pork charcuterie that I found out about from one of the members of Hank Shaws great Facebook Group Hunt Gather Cook when I asked for some ideas for interesting pork cuts to take out of 2 pandemic pigs I butchered. I love cultural specialties and the rabbit holes that…
English Bacon
If you make your own bacon, or process your own hogs, you likely know how incredible homemade bacon is. A while ago, during the pandemic when hogs were a dime a dozen, I got the chance to butcher two whole pigs with my father and some friends, and before I did, I made sure to…
Sochan with Venison Bacon, Ramps and Maple Vinegar
It’s Sochan season, and while I was reminded of it in a big way while hunting morels in a flood plain forest. There were lots of familiar plants (no morels), but most of all I was struck by the Rudbeckia laciniata / Sochan—it was everywhere I turned. The colonies seemed to go as far as…
Spring Venison Terrine with Ramp Leaves
When things are starting to pop up in the spring, my first instinct is to go out and start putting things up and preserving. If you’re like me, you probably have some other things that need to get cleaned out of the freezer too, first. Enter pates, terrines, and all the glorious charcuterie that you…
Scrapple
Do you like bacon? Pancakes? Crispy, browned things cooked on a griddle? Maple syrup? Of course you do, so fasten your seatbelt and come aboard Alan’s organ train, because we’re traveling to scrapple country. if you like offal, shoot, even if you don’t partake in the finer parts (sucks air through teeth) if you’ve never…
Dried Ramp Leaf Venison Jerky
I make sure to dehydrate plenty of ramp leaves when I can during the spring so I can use them in whatever I want during the year–if you have access to them, there just isn’t a reason not to. They’re mild, less aggressive than something like garlic powder, but still have enough kick to flavor…