Well Hank, you've done it again. Proved your mastery. When I saw your post, first thing I thought was "more offal" and second thing I thought was "wild game as ingredients." Then I pulled out BBM sitting 10 feet from where I'm typing, and sure enough - you've got heart, tongue, kidneys, caul fat and livers. Then you also have plenty of "game as ingredients", ie, dishes that would otherwise be made with cow, veal, lamb etc, but substituting that for game. So how do you improve on perfection already (besides having Holly do the photography?) Here's thoughts, and I guess most of this are suggestions for techniques (mostly in the field)
1) offal - any new offal recipes gladly accepted.
2)But also, maybe a little tutorial on how to approach a gut pile from the start - I deer (and waterfowl and turkey) hunt on two farms that I lease. So I have the luxury of having private hunting and a trailer and garage to keep supplies. One key one is the large plastic processing pans that you use for grinds. If I'm really in the mood, after I shoot a deer, I'll bring one out, hang my deer over it before I field dress it, let all the guts fall into the pan, then sort through the pile to get the parts I want to save. (Never tried to save the blood for blood sausages, but there's ample.) It just makes it cleaner (no leaves and pine needles) and easier. At the least, I always have zip lock bags in my pack to put those pieces in right away. So maybe Include descriptions of a gut pile, what's what, what's where etc.
3) venison sweetbreads? Where are they if they're there? I've half looked. And caul fat- the hidden gem of a gut pile. I've wrapped skinned wild turkey with deer caul fat- it just melts into it and creates a skin of its own. And I know you have it for the meatballs in BBM, not sure if for country pate loaf. But caul fat should always be taken, washed and frozen.
4) tongue - next to heart, my favorite. But it's a pain in the ass to get to it. And best to cut it out almost immediately, when hopefully the tongue is hanging out and you can reach back with a thinner knife and cut it at the base. Otherwise, cutting jaws open is required. (I like your tongue recipe in BBM. But Corning (a few) deer tongues at a time and serving with horseradish, maybe as a sandwich, would make any Jewish grandmother cry.
5) speaking of cutting out tongues, the use of a reciprocating saw is a newly discovered luxury for me for shanks, detaching legs from body, sawing bones for stock etc. I've never tried to harvest the brains but if I did, I suspect a reciprocating saw would be my tool. And I usually take my backstraps whole, but I would suspect a reciprocating saw would work nearly as well on chops than a butchers band saw.
6) a lecture on properly handling game immediately after its harvested. Like getting it field dressed, washed, quartered and on ice within 1 hour of it being killed. That's always my goal. When I'm with guys who take their deer to a butcher, we still field dress it immediately, get it hosed off and get ice packed inside the cavity. I bet you'll agree - the taste of (and positive reaction to) cooked game meat first starts the minute the animal dies, through to your recipes you provide to it being served. You need to do both. Can't tell you how many bloody deer carcasses I've seen laying in the back of a pickup truck from morning when it's shot to after dark when it's taken to a butcher - all in 50 degree + temperature. The minute I shoot a deer (I mostly shoot doe but even with bucks) I turn from a hunter to a cook, knowing I'll feed this animal to friends and family. I take responsibility for their safety and enjoyment of my harvest. And nothing I kill never, ever, sees a can of cream of mushroom soup, but I digress.
7) I agree with a comment below - corned and pastrami, pound for pound, minute by minute preparation, has a lot of bang for its buck. People love it."I can't believe this is venison." (Yes because it's not putrid deer cooked with cream of mushroom soup.) I do things like make Reuben's with corned and pastrami deer (and geese), I'll make a variety of cabbage rolls or potstickers from corned deer and venison like venison and mashed potato cabbage rolls, venison and horseradish, venison and coarse mustard, Reuben rolls etc. So maybe you could expand on those recipes.
8)Ham in Hay? I've done it many times with a whole corned deer ham. Idea came from Fergus Henderson's book. The hay that I use is organic rabbit hay from Petsmart - I use Timothy hay and alphalfa hay. Need to sift out a lot of the dust/fine hay, then wrap the ham in cheesecloth. But there's such a distinct, herbal tone in the flavor. Delish and distinct.
9) Other old time recipes, think Escoffier, Bocuse, English recipes, old time U.S. (post revolution) recipes etc.
10) re the Hank pantry suggestions, with which I agree, maybe a Hank's toolbox also - I'll start with a Jiquard, I find it indespensible for any cut of meat, your knives and for what use (from field dressing to butchering to cooking to serving), reciprocating saw? hand butcher saw? Heavy butcher twine, plastic wrap & vacuum seal bags (how I do it) or butcher paper, cheese cloth, spice satchels . . .
Well thank goodness it's deer season and waterfowl is about to come back. I'm getting hungry and itchy to be arms deep inside a deer carcass. Appreciate everything you do and I'll always buy whatever you create. Good luck.
Exciting news...can't wait. You're correct this book completely changed how our family cooks wild game. Some thoughts I have to share:
~Incorporate more wine reduction
~craft brew types that pair well with recipe. ie. India pale ale, (types not brands)
~Share suggestions of what mainstay spices and herbs should be in a Hank Shaw Cupboard. (If your cooking a Hank Shaw recipe, during the dead of winter, it might save a trip to the store lol)
I would love to see some recipes for a way to take a single pound of ground meat, venison, elk, pork…. And make loose sausage, especially breakfast sausage. My wife is not a huge wild game fan. But we often cook together. And having a way to make one pound of ground wild game into breakfast sausage, or Italian sausage, to add in to recipes would be something we would use weekly. Specifically what spices/ seasoning to add, and tips for making it in smaller batches.
I think your greatest recipe in the book is your corned venison. But one venison roast is never enough. I cook multiple at a time because it is just that popular with the family. I did three (approx 2 lbs. each) roasts this last time and struggled a little with how to increase the brine/water quantity and soak time. I ended up with a small circle of meat in the middle that didn't get brined. Maybe I just needed more time or maybe I didn't triple the brine and that was the issue. Anyway, just know that at least this reader (and my brother who is obsessed with this recipe), always make multiple roasts, so any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks for all you do to inspire my hunting and my cooking. I enjoy your writing and really enjoy your recipes. And I will for sure buy an updated book when it comes out.
Ha, I remember joining in the kickstarter campaign for 1st ed. How amazing that all turned out! It's the most dog-eared of all your cookbooks on the shelf. Looking fwd to v2.0 and will try to come up with some useful ideas.
P.S. Careful with those acronyms, at first glance of your post these old man eyes saw BBW, not BBM.
Our favorite recipes -- with the caveat that we're mostly using beef or lamb for convenience -- are the Swedish Meatballs, Kefta Kebabs (and tzatziki!), Bobotie, Jagerschnitzel, and Tunisian Braised Shanks. Keep those!
I agree with other requests for a breakfast sausage recipe. I think it would also be interesting to include a pot pie/Aussie meat pie type of recipe, and empanadas (I am on a big pie crust kick right now, apparently).
You need to include a Cuban Ropa Vieja recipe (great for shoulder meat) and/or picadillo for ground meat. I'd also like to see addressed how best to cook the belly meat - I like to make a roulade and braise it. The only recipe I tried and could do without was the Icelandic stew. Winners were chilindron, barbacoa, Cajun sauce piquant, stifado, and posole!
I use your Glace de Viande on every deer-critter I shoot, but I add a nod from your dry-aging section. the 'bark' after dry aging is gold when you add it to the pile of silverskin. Just don't roast it with the bones or the cologen is wasted away.
Missing is a good mushrooom risotto with venison. My go-to on that comes from a D'Artagnan wild game cookbook using loin tips, Risotto con Cervo. I use the whole loin and just add back in some the sauce to the risotto. You have great risotto recipes on your website, incorporate one in with the venison.
Ribs, I saw a turkish butcher take the meat off a goat ribcage in one piece and used it as a wrap for the loins. I used the venison "rib wrap" around a loin with olive oil/Italian herbs/garlic/and a hefty layer of caul fat in the wrap. It's labor intensive like a turduken but really good. I never kept caul fat until I read it in your BBM. PM me if want more details on that one. You have my email from the Borderland's testing.
I cannot speak to your Buck Buck Moose book - I do not have this book of yours. But I did just purchase your Borderlands - which is an extraordinary cookbook of recipes!
Since I still work full time - I would appreciate if you could extend my day from 24 hours to 28 hours so I have more time to try the recipes in Borderlands.
I think a brief section on sous vide would be useful, especially with recs for which cuts benefit most from it. Maybe also include SV time & temp recs in recipes.
I am not a hunter, but I am a farmer, and occasionally raise a lamb or two. I bought BBM for my UPS driver, and also for myself, because, well, I love your books. I figured I could use the recipes with lamb or goat, which I also have raised. I was right. They cross over very well. While I know not a lot of people raise or eat goat regularly, maybe mention that it's not strictly for the wild ungulates...
Thanks for all your books, instruction, and bringing the wild into our homes.
Only a couple of comments as I generally find the book very useful and clear.
1. A breakfast sausage recipe would be very nice.
2. The venison sauce piquant recipe could use some clarifying. The recipe currently calls for 3 lbs venison diced “small”. You definitely don’t want this to be too small as it then becomes a chili recipe. I find about 1” cubes or slightly larger to be best. Also, I think you’d find that using canned tomatoes with chilies such as Rotel would be a benefit. Depending on the hot sauce used, the dish can become pretty vinegary and using the Rotel provides spice without the vinegar risk.
3. Also, in the sauce piquant recipe, you call for bringing 6 cups of water to boil in another pot but never refer to it again. I assume you add the hot water to the roux? Could use clarification.
4. I sear the venison in the pot before making the roux and then adding it to the sauce piquant and find that the fond helps develop the flavor. I also add a pound or so of smoked venison sausage.
I usually have to go elsewhere to find my favorite Hirschgulash recipe. Also, maybe a collaboration with Sean Sherman (in MN, owner of Owamni restaurant) to put in a few indigenous recipes.
An additional thing that I think is missing is what to do with the tallow that's floating at the top of the broth. I cool the broth in the fridge and collect the tallow from on top. Then I purify it(clean it) and use it for soap and lotion. Could you use it when making a roux or for frying the the parmigiana? I use beef tallow for cooking so I'm not sure if the deer tallow being waxier wouldn't work for cooking.
Well Hank, you've done it again. Proved your mastery. When I saw your post, first thing I thought was "more offal" and second thing I thought was "wild game as ingredients." Then I pulled out BBM sitting 10 feet from where I'm typing, and sure enough - you've got heart, tongue, kidneys, caul fat and livers. Then you also have plenty of "game as ingredients", ie, dishes that would otherwise be made with cow, veal, lamb etc, but substituting that for game. So how do you improve on perfection already (besides having Holly do the photography?) Here's thoughts, and I guess most of this are suggestions for techniques (mostly in the field)
1) offal - any new offal recipes gladly accepted.
2)But also, maybe a little tutorial on how to approach a gut pile from the start - I deer (and waterfowl and turkey) hunt on two farms that I lease. So I have the luxury of having private hunting and a trailer and garage to keep supplies. One key one is the large plastic processing pans that you use for grinds. If I'm really in the mood, after I shoot a deer, I'll bring one out, hang my deer over it before I field dress it, let all the guts fall into the pan, then sort through the pile to get the parts I want to save. (Never tried to save the blood for blood sausages, but there's ample.) It just makes it cleaner (no leaves and pine needles) and easier. At the least, I always have zip lock bags in my pack to put those pieces in right away. So maybe Include descriptions of a gut pile, what's what, what's where etc.
3) venison sweetbreads? Where are they if they're there? I've half looked. And caul fat- the hidden gem of a gut pile. I've wrapped skinned wild turkey with deer caul fat- it just melts into it and creates a skin of its own. And I know you have it for the meatballs in BBM, not sure if for country pate loaf. But caul fat should always be taken, washed and frozen.
4) tongue - next to heart, my favorite. But it's a pain in the ass to get to it. And best to cut it out almost immediately, when hopefully the tongue is hanging out and you can reach back with a thinner knife and cut it at the base. Otherwise, cutting jaws open is required. (I like your tongue recipe in BBM. But Corning (a few) deer tongues at a time and serving with horseradish, maybe as a sandwich, would make any Jewish grandmother cry.
5) speaking of cutting out tongues, the use of a reciprocating saw is a newly discovered luxury for me for shanks, detaching legs from body, sawing bones for stock etc. I've never tried to harvest the brains but if I did, I suspect a reciprocating saw would be my tool. And I usually take my backstraps whole, but I would suspect a reciprocating saw would work nearly as well on chops than a butchers band saw.
6) a lecture on properly handling game immediately after its harvested. Like getting it field dressed, washed, quartered and on ice within 1 hour of it being killed. That's always my goal. When I'm with guys who take their deer to a butcher, we still field dress it immediately, get it hosed off and get ice packed inside the cavity. I bet you'll agree - the taste of (and positive reaction to) cooked game meat first starts the minute the animal dies, through to your recipes you provide to it being served. You need to do both. Can't tell you how many bloody deer carcasses I've seen laying in the back of a pickup truck from morning when it's shot to after dark when it's taken to a butcher - all in 50 degree + temperature. The minute I shoot a deer (I mostly shoot doe but even with bucks) I turn from a hunter to a cook, knowing I'll feed this animal to friends and family. I take responsibility for their safety and enjoyment of my harvest. And nothing I kill never, ever, sees a can of cream of mushroom soup, but I digress.
7) I agree with a comment below - corned and pastrami, pound for pound, minute by minute preparation, has a lot of bang for its buck. People love it."I can't believe this is venison." (Yes because it's not putrid deer cooked with cream of mushroom soup.) I do things like make Reuben's with corned and pastrami deer (and geese), I'll make a variety of cabbage rolls or potstickers from corned deer and venison like venison and mashed potato cabbage rolls, venison and horseradish, venison and coarse mustard, Reuben rolls etc. So maybe you could expand on those recipes.
8)Ham in Hay? I've done it many times with a whole corned deer ham. Idea came from Fergus Henderson's book. The hay that I use is organic rabbit hay from Petsmart - I use Timothy hay and alphalfa hay. Need to sift out a lot of the dust/fine hay, then wrap the ham in cheesecloth. But there's such a distinct, herbal tone in the flavor. Delish and distinct.
9) Other old time recipes, think Escoffier, Bocuse, English recipes, old time U.S. (post revolution) recipes etc.
10) re the Hank pantry suggestions, with which I agree, maybe a Hank's toolbox also - I'll start with a Jiquard, I find it indespensible for any cut of meat, your knives and for what use (from field dressing to butchering to cooking to serving), reciprocating saw? hand butcher saw? Heavy butcher twine, plastic wrap & vacuum seal bags (how I do it) or butcher paper, cheese cloth, spice satchels . . .
Well thank goodness it's deer season and waterfowl is about to come back. I'm getting hungry and itchy to be arms deep inside a deer carcass. Appreciate everything you do and I'll always buy whatever you create. Good luck.
Exciting news...can't wait. You're correct this book completely changed how our family cooks wild game. Some thoughts I have to share:
~Incorporate more wine reduction
~craft brew types that pair well with recipe. ie. India pale ale, (types not brands)
~Share suggestions of what mainstay spices and herbs should be in a Hank Shaw Cupboard. (If your cooking a Hank Shaw recipe, during the dead of winter, it might save a trip to the store lol)
Many thanks for taking on this project! Cheers
I would love to see some recipes for a way to take a single pound of ground meat, venison, elk, pork…. And make loose sausage, especially breakfast sausage. My wife is not a huge wild game fan. But we often cook together. And having a way to make one pound of ground wild game into breakfast sausage, or Italian sausage, to add in to recipes would be something we would use weekly. Specifically what spices/ seasoning to add, and tips for making it in smaller batches.
I also recommend including some guidance on using a sous vide, which are much more popular than when you wrote the book. Look forward to the update.
I love this idea.
I think your greatest recipe in the book is your corned venison. But one venison roast is never enough. I cook multiple at a time because it is just that popular with the family. I did three (approx 2 lbs. each) roasts this last time and struggled a little with how to increase the brine/water quantity and soak time. I ended up with a small circle of meat in the middle that didn't get brined. Maybe I just needed more time or maybe I didn't triple the brine and that was the issue. Anyway, just know that at least this reader (and my brother who is obsessed with this recipe), always make multiple roasts, so any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks for all you do to inspire my hunting and my cooking. I enjoy your writing and really enjoy your recipes. And I will for sure buy an updated book when it comes out.
Ha, I remember joining in the kickstarter campaign for 1st ed. How amazing that all turned out! It's the most dog-eared of all your cookbooks on the shelf. Looking fwd to v2.0 and will try to come up with some useful ideas.
P.S. Careful with those acronyms, at first glance of your post these old man eyes saw BBW, not BBM.
Our favorite recipes -- with the caveat that we're mostly using beef or lamb for convenience -- are the Swedish Meatballs, Kefta Kebabs (and tzatziki!), Bobotie, Jagerschnitzel, and Tunisian Braised Shanks. Keep those!
I agree with other requests for a breakfast sausage recipe. I think it would also be interesting to include a pot pie/Aussie meat pie type of recipe, and empanadas (I am on a big pie crust kick right now, apparently).
You need to include a Cuban Ropa Vieja recipe (great for shoulder meat) and/or picadillo for ground meat. I'd also like to see addressed how best to cook the belly meat - I like to make a roulade and braise it. The only recipe I tried and could do without was the Icelandic stew. Winners were chilindron, barbacoa, Cajun sauce piquant, stifado, and posole!
3 comments:
I use your Glace de Viande on every deer-critter I shoot, but I add a nod from your dry-aging section. the 'bark' after dry aging is gold when you add it to the pile of silverskin. Just don't roast it with the bones or the cologen is wasted away.
Missing is a good mushrooom risotto with venison. My go-to on that comes from a D'Artagnan wild game cookbook using loin tips, Risotto con Cervo. I use the whole loin and just add back in some the sauce to the risotto. You have great risotto recipes on your website, incorporate one in with the venison.
Ribs, I saw a turkish butcher take the meat off a goat ribcage in one piece and used it as a wrap for the loins. I used the venison "rib wrap" around a loin with olive oil/Italian herbs/garlic/and a hefty layer of caul fat in the wrap. It's labor intensive like a turduken but really good. I never kept caul fat until I read it in your BBM. PM me if want more details on that one. You have my email from the Borderland's testing.
Ted
Hank,
I cannot speak to your Buck Buck Moose book - I do not have this book of yours. But I did just purchase your Borderlands - which is an extraordinary cookbook of recipes!
Since I still work full time - I would appreciate if you could extend my day from 24 hours to 28 hours so I have more time to try the recipes in Borderlands.
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
Tad
I think a brief section on sous vide would be useful, especially with recs for which cuts benefit most from it. Maybe also include SV time & temp recs in recipes.
And more sausage recipes!
I am not a hunter, but I am a farmer, and occasionally raise a lamb or two. I bought BBM for my UPS driver, and also for myself, because, well, I love your books. I figured I could use the recipes with lamb or goat, which I also have raised. I was right. They cross over very well. While I know not a lot of people raise or eat goat regularly, maybe mention that it's not strictly for the wild ungulates...
Thanks for all your books, instruction, and bringing the wild into our homes.
Only a couple of comments as I generally find the book very useful and clear.
1. A breakfast sausage recipe would be very nice.
2. The venison sauce piquant recipe could use some clarifying. The recipe currently calls for 3 lbs venison diced “small”. You definitely don’t want this to be too small as it then becomes a chili recipe. I find about 1” cubes or slightly larger to be best. Also, I think you’d find that using canned tomatoes with chilies such as Rotel would be a benefit. Depending on the hot sauce used, the dish can become pretty vinegary and using the Rotel provides spice without the vinegar risk.
3. Also, in the sauce piquant recipe, you call for bringing 6 cups of water to boil in another pot but never refer to it again. I assume you add the hot water to the roux? Could use clarification.
4. I sear the venison in the pot before making the roux and then adding it to the sauce piquant and find that the fond helps develop the flavor. I also add a pound or so of smoked venison sausage.
I usually have to go elsewhere to find my favorite Hirschgulash recipe. Also, maybe a collaboration with Sean Sherman (in MN, owner of Owamni restaurant) to put in a few indigenous recipes.
Recipes I need to find somewhere else:
Breakfast Sausage
Italian Sausage
Pepper Steak Pie
Venison Parmigiana
Fajitas
An additional thing that I think is missing is what to do with the tallow that's floating at the top of the broth. I cool the broth in the fridge and collect the tallow from on top. Then I purify it(clean it) and use it for soap and lotion. Could you use it when making a roux or for frying the the parmigiana? I use beef tallow for cooking so I'm not sure if the deer tallow being waxier wouldn't work for cooking.
Suggestions coming forthwith