I was one of those attendees at Pheasant Fest, front and center. I wanted to chat after, but as you say, you were inundated. This post is appropriate, because I truly feel like your wild game distance pupil (as I’m sure most do). Hunter Angler Gardener Cook was there to help butcher the first deer (rigged from a truck hitch in our Midwest neighborhood😅). Those recipes taught me how to turn our pheasant and deer into our daily fare; weeknight meals and something-not-deep-fried (which is all I knew of game). Over 7 years of hunting for sustenance, Hunter Angler is still there when I want to elevate a meal because I treasure an animal (the bird dogs first grouse, the one antelope we’ll get), or impress family and friends. Thank you for speaking and carrying the culinary wild game torch!
I blame you Hank for my buddy about to eat the eye of fish that I had grilled whole following the instructions in "Hook,Line, and Supper." Wobbly bits are one thing but he only stopped when threatened with the prospect of puking dining partners.
You might not be the entirety of the movement but from where I am sitting, well beyond the other side of the pond, Hunt, Gather, Cook was with a good margin the first modern game and foraging book I ran into which I would wager says something about penetration and impact in any market. I had Swedish books before that but they were never written by hunters or if they were hunting chefs that had the express goal of conveying a 360 perspective.
Hi Hank, I'm a......er, rustic fan When i harvest an animal, i give thanks to its spirit and for all the meals it will provide, the more successful i am the more likely i am to experiment with new recipes. I have noticed thru my life a definite change of perception for anew, well-made game recipe, a growing acceptance of game overall and appreciation for 'a good cook ' I haven't cracked a can of mushroom soup for probably 10 years. I'm always trying new recipes and hit or miss, it adds to the overall experience of being a hunter.
My cooking, and my children's cooking has improved mightily thanks to your work. We're in perch, whitetail deer, walleye and salmon country. We now make stock out of fish and venison bones and they are incredible improvement to the base of our recipes....especially when coupled with fresh vegetables from our lasagna garden Next, after listening to your recent podcast on pressure canning, we are going to get into this so we can enjoy our improved cooking year round.
Very early on, I learned how to cut up a whole rabbit from one of your posts. And then lately, how to make REALLY GOOD salmon stock. I knew how to cook before I started reading your stuff, but your deep geeky dives into this territory have broadened my knowledge base. Many thanks. BTW I’m baking my way through The Rye Baker.
On top of this, you are just talking about culinary uses. People are out here making quill pens, a mutual acquaintance of ours (George Hedgepeth) uses antler when flint knapping. I have friends that tan all the hides they can get their hands on. I'm even told George made a bunch of corncob dolls when he was in high school-and dressed them all in clothes he made from squirrel hides he tanned. I have tied streamers from squirrel tails.
We're conditioned in North America to see success as being "The Best" at whatever we do. This idea stunts both our personal growth and that of people around us. All growth and learning is success. That success should inspire a desire for more success, not as a selfish goal but as an opportunity to improve everyone's life.
Thanks Hank great article. It to is a part of me, as I am a part of it, yesterday having prepped a speckle belly for pot roasting I unwrapped from the pickers I was dismayed to not find both the heart and gizzard inside I use it all. But the sting only lasted until the goose was finshed and topped with a port wine and mushroom reduction which typically soothes most hurt.
Venison stew tomorrow night -- tonight is Taco Tuesday (broadly anything Mexican-influenced and homemade tortillas) CANNOT wait for your next cookbook.
I grounded some my elk without additional fat for use in experiments. One such experiment was as this combination of ingredients: ground elk, 100% pumpkin in a large can, green chili salsa, onions, garlic, carrots, hominy, black beans. I paired with my Einkorn Sourdough Bread. It was pretty good. Unfortunately, I do not use any canola oil, cold-pressed or not, as most canola is highly glyphosated. I hope you’re using Organic Canola if there is such a thing.😅
I came on to the quote below by coincidence just now rereading John Thorne’s Outlaw Cook. This chapter is dedicated to stock which, as an aside, he opens by referencing classic painting as a tool to transition into the modern consumers disconnect to the whole animal.
It was first published in 1992. I was thinking this might be the low point from which what you’re describing is now rebounding.
“This kind of intimate connection between eater and eaten has almost vanished from our cooking, despite the scattered remnants that remain behind to hold its memory. Today’s young chefs may be trained in stocks and sauces, but as much as they draw on personal experience their culinary instincts flower most easily at the grill, with its focus on drawing flavor from a particular piece of meat. Theirs is no longer a cuisine of the carcass; it is the cuisine of the cut.”
The community involved with cooking and using wild food in new (and old) ways that you helped open up is definitely easier to approach and more accepting of new and adult-onset hunters, which I appreciate. Sometimes approaching a group of stalwart traditionalists with new ideas or a different worldview can be intimidating, but this community's acceptance of new things and change is downright welcoming - important for keeping hunting alive I think.
One day I'd love to make it out that far! I have books from you, Steven Rinella, and copy down recipes from the wider Meateater franchise (Kevin Gillespie, Jean Paul Bourgeois, Danielle Prewette, and my most used non-game cookbook, The Food Lab). As you mentioned, there is plenty of room for everyone, and as a home cook and consumer of media/recipes, it's certainly nice to try various takes of the same dish. I'm also kind of old school at heart and like to have physical recipe books, especially ones that are unique, look nice when still sitting on the coffee table after meal planning, and are just plain enjoyable to thumb through while my wife catches up on her Bravo shows.
My parents weren't (still aren't) all that much in the kitchen, so I had to learn how to cook on my own, save like 4 or 5 recipes that I enjoyed growing up.
That reminds me, time to open up Buck Buck Moose to the sauerbraten recipe and make a shopping list...
I was one of those attendees at Pheasant Fest, front and center. I wanted to chat after, but as you say, you were inundated. This post is appropriate, because I truly feel like your wild game distance pupil (as I’m sure most do). Hunter Angler Gardener Cook was there to help butcher the first deer (rigged from a truck hitch in our Midwest neighborhood😅). Those recipes taught me how to turn our pheasant and deer into our daily fare; weeknight meals and something-not-deep-fried (which is all I knew of game). Over 7 years of hunting for sustenance, Hunter Angler is still there when I want to elevate a meal because I treasure an animal (the bird dogs first grouse, the one antelope we’ll get), or impress family and friends. Thank you for speaking and carrying the culinary wild game torch!
I blame you Hank for my buddy about to eat the eye of fish that I had grilled whole following the instructions in "Hook,Line, and Supper." Wobbly bits are one thing but he only stopped when threatened with the prospect of puking dining partners.
You might not be the entirety of the movement but from where I am sitting, well beyond the other side of the pond, Hunt, Gather, Cook was with a good margin the first modern game and foraging book I ran into which I would wager says something about penetration and impact in any market. I had Swedish books before that but they were never written by hunters or if they were hunting chefs that had the express goal of conveying a 360 perspective.
Hi Hank, I'm a......er, rustic fan When i harvest an animal, i give thanks to its spirit and for all the meals it will provide, the more successful i am the more likely i am to experiment with new recipes. I have noticed thru my life a definite change of perception for anew, well-made game recipe, a growing acceptance of game overall and appreciation for 'a good cook ' I haven't cracked a can of mushroom soup for probably 10 years. I'm always trying new recipes and hit or miss, it adds to the overall experience of being a hunter.
My cooking, and my children's cooking has improved mightily thanks to your work. We're in perch, whitetail deer, walleye and salmon country. We now make stock out of fish and venison bones and they are incredible improvement to the base of our recipes....especially when coupled with fresh vegetables from our lasagna garden Next, after listening to your recent podcast on pressure canning, we are going to get into this so we can enjoy our improved cooking year round.
I love your work. I don’t hunt but I forage wild plants and herbs in upstate New York. Thanks for everything. Erica De Mane
Very early on, I learned how to cut up a whole rabbit from one of your posts. And then lately, how to make REALLY GOOD salmon stock. I knew how to cook before I started reading your stuff, but your deep geeky dives into this territory have broadened my knowledge base. Many thanks. BTW I’m baking my way through The Rye Baker.
On top of this, you are just talking about culinary uses. People are out here making quill pens, a mutual acquaintance of ours (George Hedgepeth) uses antler when flint knapping. I have friends that tan all the hides they can get their hands on. I'm even told George made a bunch of corncob dolls when he was in high school-and dressed them all in clothes he made from squirrel hides he tanned. I have tied streamers from squirrel tails.
We're conditioned in North America to see success as being "The Best" at whatever we do. This idea stunts both our personal growth and that of people around us. All growth and learning is success. That success should inspire a desire for more success, not as a selfish goal but as an opportunity to improve everyone's life.
Your dirty rice recipe, using liver, gizzards and heart has become one of my favorites after when I've taken waterfowl or turkey.
Thanks Hank great article. It to is a part of me, as I am a part of it, yesterday having prepped a speckle belly for pot roasting I unwrapped from the pickers I was dismayed to not find both the heart and gizzard inside I use it all. But the sting only lasted until the goose was finshed and topped with a port wine and mushroom reduction which typically soothes most hurt.
Venison stew tomorrow night -- tonight is Taco Tuesday (broadly anything Mexican-influenced and homemade tortillas) CANNOT wait for your next cookbook.
I grounded some my elk without additional fat for use in experiments. One such experiment was as this combination of ingredients: ground elk, 100% pumpkin in a large can, green chili salsa, onions, garlic, carrots, hominy, black beans. I paired with my Einkorn Sourdough Bread. It was pretty good. Unfortunately, I do not use any canola oil, cold-pressed or not, as most canola is highly glyphosated. I hope you’re using Organic Canola if there is such a thing.😅
I came on to the quote below by coincidence just now rereading John Thorne’s Outlaw Cook. This chapter is dedicated to stock which, as an aside, he opens by referencing classic painting as a tool to transition into the modern consumers disconnect to the whole animal.
It was first published in 1992. I was thinking this might be the low point from which what you’re describing is now rebounding.
“This kind of intimate connection between eater and eaten has almost vanished from our cooking, despite the scattered remnants that remain behind to hold its memory. Today’s young chefs may be trained in stocks and sauces, but as much as they draw on personal experience their culinary instincts flower most easily at the grill, with its focus on drawing flavor from a particular piece of meat. Theirs is no longer a cuisine of the carcass; it is the cuisine of the cut.”
The community involved with cooking and using wild food in new (and old) ways that you helped open up is definitely easier to approach and more accepting of new and adult-onset hunters, which I appreciate. Sometimes approaching a group of stalwart traditionalists with new ideas or a different worldview can be intimidating, but this community's acceptance of new things and change is downright welcoming - important for keeping hunting alive I think.
One day I'd love to make it out that far! I have books from you, Steven Rinella, and copy down recipes from the wider Meateater franchise (Kevin Gillespie, Jean Paul Bourgeois, Danielle Prewette, and my most used non-game cookbook, The Food Lab). As you mentioned, there is plenty of room for everyone, and as a home cook and consumer of media/recipes, it's certainly nice to try various takes of the same dish. I'm also kind of old school at heart and like to have physical recipe books, especially ones that are unique, look nice when still sitting on the coffee table after meal planning, and are just plain enjoyable to thumb through while my wife catches up on her Bravo shows.
My parents weren't (still aren't) all that much in the kitchen, so I had to learn how to cook on my own, save like 4 or 5 recipes that I enjoyed growing up.
That reminds me, time to open up Buck Buck Moose to the sauerbraten recipe and make a shopping list...