Here it is, the answers to my second “Ask Me Anything.” The way this works is that paid subscribers get to ask me stuff, but I publish the answers to everyone. I love these sessions because it helps me get an idea what’s on your minds, and, well, I just like interacting with y’all.
Here we go!
Stephanie asks about venison bone marrow. Worth it? Yes and no. Marrow is super nutritious, and I have several marrow recipes in my book Buck, Buck, Moose, but you should know that venison fat is high in stearic acid, which coats your mouth when it cools. (I wrote a whole article on this here.) So eat it hot.
I do like harvesting the marrow from the femur bones of deer regardless. I use a Sawzall to remove the caps of the bones, then saw cylinders, which I then roast. If you see that the inner marrow is red, you can brine the cylinders in salty water overnight in the fridge. That cleans things up.
Jericha asks about thoughtful and useful gifts for a hunting friend. It really depends. You have to know the person as well as what and how they hunt. A great example was when an acquaintance of my ex, Holly, gave her a fantastic lanyard for small birds — unlike most lanyards, which have maybe 8 or 10 loops, this one had 20. She hunts doves and quail a lot, so it was a perfect gift, beautifully made.
Chances are they don’t need a knife. Or a thermos. But maybe they do? If so, those are great gifts. I love my Yeti coffee mug and the Outdoor Edge knife I use to skin animals with, and for mushrooming. (I paid retail for both.)
A good tip would be to find someone who hunts like your friend, i.e., a duck hunter if that person is a duck hunter, and ask. Really cool duck blind snacks are always welcome, for instance.
Jeff wants to know the best way to preserve chanterelles. Definitely not drying! Rehydrated chanterelles are woody and lack aroma or flavor. I almost always saute them with olive oil and salt until they’re more or less done, then vac seal them in small bags and put in the freezer. This method allows you to pop one out of the chiller and add to a soup, or simply reheat and put over, say, jaegerschnitzel.
The other excellent method is my pickled chanterelle recipe. But I’ll be honest. I personally would only eat maybe 2 quart jars of this a year, which would take care of about 4 pounds of chanties. So if you get lots and lots, do the saute method, too.
Charles wants to know about preserving hen of the woods. You absolutely can dry hen of the woods, but they don’t rehydrate like normal. So I use them to make mushroom stock, or in very long-simmered stews.
Better to do the saute-then-freeze method I mention for chanterelles above. But there’s another great method that works for hens: IQF freezing. Basically lay out chunks/pieces on a cookie sheet in the freezer until solid, then put them in bags. This allows you to take them out of the freezer, toss in oil and roast in a high oven — right out of the freezer.
And yep, hen of the woods pickles well. Use my chanterelle recipe above.
Bill wants to know the best ways to cook lingcod. I am a little surprised at this one, because lingcod is meaty, white, firm and fat free. I find it easy to cook. You can sub lingcod in any halibut recipe, and it works as a good stand-in for snapper or codfish, too. Big ling pieces sear well, are good in stews, and make a damn good fish fry. Lingcod curry is really fantastic, too.
Ben asks me about hunting dogs. Why don’t I have one? Easy answer is I travel too much. Just not fair to the dog.
I will also be very honest: The idea of walking a dog every day just isn’t my thing. I like dogs, and hunting with them is usually a good experience — but I’ve had more than my share of hunting trips with dogs that mangle your birds, don’t help you find downed ones, or run off somewhere. The idea that that could be my dog is not comforting. What’s more, I’ve become a very good dogless hunter. I can kill as many ducks or grouse as a hunter with a dog, if I choose my spots well.
Mike be like: So much on gathering, small game and whitetails! Don’t I put in for tags in the West? Well, Mike… I’ve put in for tags in Arizona, Utah, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico and Wyoming each year since about 2019. I have yet to draw anything. So I guess I am cursed. [sad trombone] I did kill a nice Coues deer in Arizona in 2018 though... but I’ll keep trying.
Billy wants to know my plans for hunting Minnesota this year. I don’t have anything set, but I do plan on hunting here. Definitely grouse and woodcock, rabbits and squirrels. I don’t really have a place to hunt deer, and the rifle season here is short, so I might miss that. I would like to hunt Canada geese, though.
John wants to know about eating diver and sea ducks. I have a whole article on eating “off” ducks here. Generally speaking, yes, a brine is a good option; see my brine for smoking a turkey breast below. And get all the fat off! All of it. Fat in sea ducks and many divers will be gross and fishy. Trimming that goes a long way towards a better experience.
That said, canvasbacks, redheads, ringnecks, and sometimes ruddy ducks and even bluebills can have “sweet” fat. I’ve encountered this repeatedly. So sometimes you may be surprised! It will depend on your region and what those birds were eating.
Heather is growing chiltepin chiles, and wants to know the best ways to use them. Traditionally, chiltepins — round, wild chiles — are dried ripe and ground onto things like tacos, or in pozole, or made into a chiltepin hot sauce. You’ll find them dried on the table in Sonora, where they are most popular, as a way to add heat to any dish.
Bret wants to know about cooking venison hanger steaks. Well, to be honest I never use them from deer because I think they’re awfully small. But then again, on a real serious buck they might be big enough. I do love hanger steaks from elk, moose and nilgai though.
If you’re not familiar, the hangar steak is essentially the diaphragm of an animal. It is muscle that separates the heart and lungs from the rest of the innards. It is super tender and very flavorful; possibly my favorite cut of beef.
Should you have one, cook it like any steak, but simply, and never past medium-rare. Can’t go wrong with a classic steak au poivre.
SciAggie is wondering why I chose to live in Minnesota when I love Mexican food so much? Welp, there are a lot of reasons. You should know for starters that there is a vibrant Mexican community here in the Twin Cities. But one important reason why I moved here is because when it’s nice to be in Mexico, e.g., the winter, it’s miserable in Minnesota. Had I moved to a place like Texas, that would be essentially the same climate, and I rather like having summers where it rarely gets above 90 degrees.
Mark is wondering about hacks on cooking brisket without a smoker. Pretty difficult if you are gunning for a Texas-style brisket. You really need smoke. My obvious answer is to 1) buy a smoker, or 2) switch to a Jewish-style brisket pot roast. No matter what you do, because you’d mentioned the issue of the brisket being dry, I’d recommend you keep the fat cap on the brisket, and that you cook it fat side up. That way the fat renders down, basting the meat.
Another good practice is a long resting time. If you’re doing it in a pot, just keep everything in there for an hour or longer before you serve. Jewish pot roast is better the second day — to the point where I will cook it the day before and reheat it for my guests. For a BBQ style brisket, wrap the meat in butcher paper or foil (or both) for at least an hour after you think it’s done. (Here’s how I do brisket.)
Doris is looking for tips on cooking boneless wild turkey breast that are healthy and gluten free. Healthy is a subjective term. But I am guessing you mean with little fat and not fried. I’ll set aside an argument that properly fried foods are nowhere near as unhealthy as people think, but if you went that route, use a gluten free coating, like cornmeal.
Poaching the turkey breast is probably closer to what you’re thinking. Once the turkey breast is poached, you can shred it, dice it or otherwise eat it. Smoked turkey breast is another option; this makes fantastic sandwich meat.
Grilling works well, too. Brine the turkey overnight in 1/4 cup kosher salt and 1 quart of water. Then let it come to room temp while you get the grill hot. You can then eat it any number of ways, but I love me some turkey tacos.
Michael asks why I use egg white and not yolk in my salmon patties. This one is simple: Because egg white is a stronger binder than is egg yolk. Yolk is fat, white is protein. You can use whole eggs, but the whites are a better binder solo.
Here’s that salmon patty recipe.
Dan wants to know if I am interested in doing one of my culinary hunts/fishing trips in Florida’s Panhandle. Sure, why not? I love fishing that part of Florida. I just don’t have the contacts there to set it up.
B2Bdna wants to know about preserving lots and lots of pears. To be fair, I’ve never had to. I’d look up to see how they do it commercially. My guess is you’ll need to set them in one layer or something like that in a cool, dark place.
You can also preserve pears in syrup, dry them like apple rings, make pear butter…
Jesse wants to know the best way to get prepared for one of my culinary hunts when you aren’t an active hunter and don’t own a gun? This is an interesting one. So we do prefer it when people already know how to hunt when they join us. We’ve had some tough experiences with total newbies who didn’t take the hunt seriously.
But, we’ve also had some great experiences when the person works with us in the months before a hunt. You’ll need to go through a hunter education course, then learn how to shoot a shotgun or rifle. The first time you shoot cannot be at our hunts. I can help you through this process remotely, and can advise you on gear and on potential starter hunts before you come to us.
It can be done, but it requires commitment on the part of the new hunter. As for not owning your own gun, we have had people borrow friends’ guns to practice at home, and then gave them a loaner at the culinary hunt. It’s rare, we don’t love it, but we’ve done it.
Chuck asks why such big life changes, adding that I don’t seem like the Hank everyone has “known” over the years. Big question. Short version is that I split with my ex in February 2023 and left California. Last year was very much a transitional year. I traveled around the country and Mexico, looking to recharge — and for a place to live. I settled on Minnesota. All of this will change a person. It changed me.
In terms of who I am now versus the person I was before, well, I’ve done a lot of work on myself, as best I can. I’ve allowed myself to be vulnerable in some very public ways here on this site. It has been good for me, and, I hope, has shown readers that they’re not alone in facing some of these big life changes. I am not the only one who has gone through them.
Anyway, I have settled in here in Minnesota pretty well, I’d like to think. It’s still a work in progress, but then, so is life.
Thank you for answering my question! I love making hot sauces, so I’ll definitely give your recipe a try, and then dehydrate any leftover peppers.
I too have taken the path of upland hunting without a dog after having one for 35 years for the same reason you have, traveling so much is not fair to the dog. However there are so many times I wish I could have a dog for a companion in a solo hunt. On another note, I hope you might think about bringing a culinary hunt out west sometime! Or even to the Dakotas.