With dove season in full swing lets look at two new recipes that will be sure to get you excited to go out and shoot some more of these tasty birds. You’ll notice that some of these doves are breasted and some are plucked. The birds that were to shot up got breasted, the others were plucked. 

Lets start with the BBQ Teriyaki Dove shall we?

Teriyaki Sauce :

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

1 Cup Water

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

2 Tablespoons Crushed garlic

4 tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Honey

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch

1/4 Cup Water

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all but cornstarch and 1/4c water in a sauce pan and begin heating over Med .

Mix cornstarch and water and dissolve. Add to pan.

Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness.about 4 minutes

Once you’ve made the sauce put in the fridge to cool down, once its cooled add dove to sauce for 1-2 hours.

Orange Glaze:

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced 

2 teaspoon garlic, minced 

¹⁄₂ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 

¹⁄₄ cup water

½ teaspoon sesame oil 

1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons soy sauce

5 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons white vinegar 

¼ cup fresh orange juice 

1 tablespoon orange zest 

Direction

Mix together in small bowl orange juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, white vinegar and zest until sugar is dissolved, add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and mix smooth, set aside

Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok or skillet

Next add ginger and garlic and Sautee  for 30 seconds 

Stir in crushed red pepper and rice wine and still for 15 seconds to mix 

Add orange juice mixture to wok or skillet and bring to a boil, stirring often so not to burn sauce 

Once sauce comes to a boil reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes

Remove from heat and chill in fridge 1-2 hours

Once you’ve made the sauce put in the fridge to cool down, once its cooled add dove to sauce for 1-2 hours.

Cooking: Both Ways

While dove is marinating preheat Traeger, grill or any other smoker to 260-275. 

Remove dove from sauces sauce and place breast plate bone down on grill. I cooked mine in the Traeger, but they can be done in any smoker or on any grill. so follow the recipes and temps, just know tat cook times will vary depending on cooking method. 

Cook 10-15 minutes and flip, breast should be down now. Feel free to use some of your left over sauce and baste as it cooks. 

Your internal temperature goal for the doves are 135-140 keep a quick read thermometer on hand so you can pull. if you over cook dove they tend to get that wild flavor and dry out drastically. 

Once your dove have reached temp, pull and let rest 5-10 minutes, serve and enjoy! 

FromFieldToPlate Recipe 

Jeremiah Doughty 

I tend to use the back straps and hams off coyotes because I do the gutless method after skinning. The front shoulders don’t yield to much meat and most times are pretty damaged after the shot placement. If your coyote meat has a pungent smell, you can soak for 12-24 hours in salt, ice and water. This will help pull the blood and funk from the meat and leave you with a much milder flavored meat.

I run my coyote meat through the course ground plate on my grinder for a thicker ground.

Coyote Fire Cracker Chili

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds coyote ground

2 cans chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can dark kidney beans
1 can navy beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can 8oz tomato paste
2 tablespoons homemade Chili Mix*
1 sweet onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalapeños, minced, if want hotter leave seeds

1 habanero, seeded and minced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons cooking oil
12 Oz liquid Beer or water

Directions:
In Dutch oven or skillet heat oil over medium heat, add onions heat until onions become translucent. Next add garlic, peppers and cook additional 1-2 minutes not burning the garlic. Next in same pan add ground meat, Worcestershire, ½ tablespoon of chili mix, salt and pepper to taste. Brown the meat and enjoy the smell!
If you’re using a Slow Cooker add the meat mixture to crock pot and follow the next directions. If using Dutch oven or large pot follow directions below.
Open and drain all bean except for the chili beans, do not drain them.
Add beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, remaining chili mix and liquid, stir everything mixing with the meat mixture.
(At this point you can add any other ingredient you see fit. Corn, pepper, chilies, celery anything you want to add for more flavor of family favorites.)
If using a Slow Cooker set to low and cook for 7-8 hours or 5-6 hours on high
If using Dutch oven or large pot bring chili to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours or more

Now comes the fun part..
Add chili to bowls and top with your favorite toppings. Sour Cream, Onion Straws, Peppers you name it.
Share with me your favorite toppings or added ingredients, because I’m always down to try new things.

Secret Chili Seasoning:

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (don’t add if you don’t want spice)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (don’t add if you don’t want spice)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika
1 ½ tablespoons cumin
2 teaspoons sea salt
4 teaspoons cracked pepper
1 tablespoon dried garlic
1 tablespoon dried onion

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in small bowl and store in air tight container
When ready to use add 2 tablespoons of Chili mix to 1 pound of meat.
Sometimes I add more depended on how strong I want the flavor.

Heart

After posting an instagram post on eating heart and offering to give out recipes I decided to write this post just for you all. The first day of posting the pictures I had over 250 direct messages asking for recipes and how to’s on cooking heart. Before we start cooking we need to understand the benefits of eating heart, also where to get and how to prepare it.

Heart is one of those muscles that is over looked when it comes to the butchering process. Most hunters I talk to don’t even take it from the gut pile, let alone cook it. But lets take a look at the heart and some benefits from eating it and other parts as the Offal, whats offal you ask?

Lets look at the word Offal, offal literally means “Off Fall” these are the parts of the animal that fall off the carcass during the butchering process.This includes the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, pancreas and all other abdominal organs, as well as the tails, feet, brains, tongue, and even the testicles. Yes, I know what you are thinking, I can eat all those things? But then why do I leave them in the gut pile. This is the question we need to answer. Taking a look at nature especially predatory animals, they go for the organ meat first and leave the main muscle groups for later. Reason being, the Offal meat is packed full of everything they need to keep running strong.

Organ meats are packed full of high protein, omega-3 fats, vitamin E, B, B12, D, A, K2, Amino Acid, choline, CoQ10, Iron, copper, zinc, and chromium. All of these are necessary for a healthy lifestyle and many Americans are lacking in these elements because of our western diets. Because organ meat has become an Eww factor for many of us, we have to substitute with pills and shakes to get our daily doses of these incredible life giving vitamins and minerals

.

When it comes to eating the Offal many are turned off not only by the idea, but also the flavor of these incredible food items. The flavor is greatly effected by how they are cared for from the field to the kitchen and eventually the plate. I could spend days talking on each of the listed above edibles but, Ill focus on my favorite cut… The heart.

The heart is a muscle just like every other muscle in the body, its a muscle that is always working and pumping life to the other muscles. When cooked correctly heart can be melt in your mouth delicious, but when cooked wrong it can be tough as boot leather. Ive won more people over to eating heart by simply cooking it for them and doing it well, then I have ever done by explaining the benefits of eating it. So lets get right into it shall we?

Heart Removal:

This is simple, once you’ve removed the guts and cut through the diaphragm wall, you come into the chest cavity. Placed directly between the lungs you will find the heart, its sitting there in a protective sack. Simply cut the top of the ventricles and remove the heart from the sack. If you’ve ever hunted with me you know I always bring a couple ziploc bags for the organ meats.

Cleaning:

Start off by rinsing the heart in cold water, pushing water through each vent and forcing out the clotted blood and other undesirable parts. I like to shove my fingers down each vent to make sure I am cleaning it out to the fullest. Rinse until the water comes out clear and all blood is removed.
If you’re eating it whole there are a couple ways to clean it further if you want or need to. One simple way to remove the spiderwebbing from inside the vents is to get a baby bottle cleaning brush (Yes I have one just for this) and shove it down each vent. You can twist the bottle brush down each vent this will remove the webbing without having to cut the heart open. “”This does not need to be done, some people just don’t enjoy eating it, it can be rubbery when cooked””.

If your going to make a recipe where the heart is sliced before cooking you can simply cut the spiderwebbing off when you get into the heart itself (See attached Photo)

Cooking the heart:

I feel like Bubba in Forrest Gump when I say, you can sauté it, boil it, bake it. You can grill, smoke and grind it. You can make heart tacos, heart gumbo, and on and on. I have come to find my favorite way to cook heart is with a nice smoke on it, smoked med-rare and sliced thin… Drool….

Recipes:

Smoked Heart:

Ingredients:

1 heart
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cloves garlic whole
4 sprigs rosemary
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions:

Clean and rinse heart
In small bowl or ziploc add all ingredients and mix, add heart and cover in fridge fro 2-6 hours.
While heart is marinating start smoker with any fruit, oak or nut wood. I avoid mesquite because it add a very bitter taste to game meat, especially heart.
Remove heart from marinade and stuff each vent with a clove of garlic and sprig of rosemary
Smoke heart at 180 degrees f until internal temp reaches 130-145
Remove heart from smoker, and allow to rest for 10 minutes
Remove garlic and rosemary, slice thin and enjoy

Heart Schnitzel:

Ingredients:

Heart
1 large egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Oil

Directions:

Clean and rinse heart
Open heart like a book and remove webbing, cut in half.
Pound each half out till 1/2 the width of original or 1/4 inch thick
Season heart with pepper, salt, garlic and thyme
Dredge each piece as follows: flour, egg wash, bread crumbs
Heat oil to med-high heat, enough oil for the meat to float but not submerge. Oil should be around 330 degrees.
Cook around 3-4 minutes each side until breading is golden brown and crispy
Remove from oil and drain
Squeeze a fresh lemon over and enjoy

Stuffed Heart:

Ingredients:

1-2 hearts
1/2 cup button mushrooms
1 bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup cooke rice or quinoa
1 can black beans
1 cups corn
1/2 cup salasa
1.5 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can green chilies

Directions:

Clean and rinse heart
Cut out center of heart leaving a pocket
Mix all ingredients and stuff each heart
Using a cupcake pan or any other dish the heart can stand up in bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes (if you want heart cooked more, cook additional 10 minutes.)
Remove heart from oven and enjoy

Cast Iron skillet heart

Ingredients:

Heart
1/2 brown onion
4 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
Olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
Cracked pepper and sea salt
Smoked paprika

Directions:

Clean and rinse heart
Starting from the bottom, slice heart thin
In hot cast-iron skillet bring oil to temp over med-high heat
Season steak with salt, pepper and paprika and set aside
Add onions and sauté until soft,
Add butter, garlic, rosemary and steak to skillet
Cook 4-6 minutes browning each side of the heart rings
Remove from skillet along with onion and garlic and enjoy
( you can add to rice, mash, pasta or eat just like that)

Heart Tacos
( Ground or sliced)

Ingredients:

2 hearts
2 tablespoons Taco seasoning*
1 small red onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic minced
1 jalapeño, diced
1/2 cut cilantro, rough cut
1 tomato, diced
1/3 cup water

Directions:

Clean and rinse heart ( if grinding, cube and de spiderweb and grind with large grind plate)
In skillet add onion, garlic and 1 teaspoon oil, brown until soft 2-3 minutes
Add jalapeños cook 1 min
Add meat and cook until done, season with taco seasoning and 1/3 cup water
Add tomatoes, cilantro and cook 1-2 minutes
Remove from heat and add to your favorite taco shells and top with favorite toppings

(if slicing heart, slice lengthwise, thing and cook same way)

(* DIY taco seasoning)

Taco Seasoning
From Field To Plate

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
(If you need or want a little more kick add ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and store in airtight container
Use 2 tablespoons of seasoning per 1 pound of meat
Brown meat sprinkle, seasoning over meat add 1/3 cup of water
Mix into meat and simmer for 5 minutes or until most of the water is cooked off

I decided to take all those flavors and rework them into a meal rather than an appetizer. It takes as long to create your typical poppers as it does these subs, so why not give it a try. Below you’ll find a step by step recipe, and remember recipes are meant to be tweaked, so get crazy and enjoy.

Dove Popper Meatball Sub

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

1 pound ground dove (20-30 doves)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup onion minced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees
Add all ingredients to small glass mixing bowl, using your hands kneed all ingredients together.
Take a spoonful of meat mixture and roll into small meatball
Place in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until meatballs are cooked and temp reads 165

Cream Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

In small sauce pan add cream cheese and milk over medium heat and whisk until blended
Add remaining ingredients and whisk until blended and smooth
Simmer on low stirring frequently so not to burn for 1-2 minutes, remove from heat

Build your Sub:

Take your favorite sub roll and add cheese sauce to top and bottom, add bacon. Add meatballs, top with more sauce and fire roasted Jalapeños. Most of all Enjoy.

Starting September 1st your social media feeds will be flooded with popper recipes and popper pictures so staying true to my never making a popper, ill guide you to 5 dishes, to wow your friends and family that aren’t wrapped in bacon. (Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wrapping your dove in bacon, i’m just showing you there are more options then this one recipe.)

I also hear that many folks don’t like the taste of dove and one big reason is they are over cooking them, which dries them out and creates a very wild flavor to the meat.

Plucking:

Every year I hear from people that they breast out their doves because its easy and its all they’ve every known. They don’t have the time to pluck, well pluck that…. Plucking is really allot easier than you think, and best of all the kids love doing it.

Simply grab your dove with the breast up and start the pluck, grabbing the feathers and pulling opposite of the direction they grow in. Yes, it’s that simple and once you’ve pluck them remove the feet and guts.

To remove the guts take your knife and make a small incision right below the breast plate and shove your index finger it and Hook it out. Make sure you save the dove hearts and gizzards. A real treat for the kiddos once they’ve spent the morning retrieving and plucking.

Skinning:
Skinning is a another option you can do to make sure you keep all usable meat and those tasty bones. Yes tasty bones, I use the bones to make a killer dove bone broth or add them to the upland game bird stock I make.

Just pull the skin off like you would a sock, it’s that easy. I start at the legs and pull towards the head, then gut and rinse. You’re now left with a little skinned looking chicken.

Breasting:
Not my favorite, but is the fastest way to get the most used meat off the bird. Find the Breast plate, shove your thump under it and pull off. The guts and legs go on way as the breast and wings go another. From there remove skin and feathers, rinse and get ready to cook.

Grinding:
Yes you can grind your doves and all upland game birds. This method opens so many doors for recipes. Like tacos, spaghettis, meatballs and so many more. Just
skin your doves and remove all usable meat, breast, legs & wings. Run all the meat through the fine or course grinder plate and enjoy.

Boiled/slow cooked:
Take whole skinned doves and add them to a crockpot, pressure cooker or stock pot with water and cook them till the meat falls off the bones. Use pulled meat for soups, stews, wraps and many other dishes. (Add veggies and herbs while cooking to add flavor to the meat)

I will do a video this year on all these options so you can see the method and what the finished product should look like.

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Recipes:
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Stuffed Grilled Dove
Ingredients:
10-15 whole plucked dove
2 hatch chilies, Fired Roasted & diced
2 ears corn, fire roasted & removed from ear
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Red Onion, sliced and fire roasted then chopped

1 cup black beans
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1 teaspoon dried garlic
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup cilantro, minced

Directions:
fire roast your chilies, corn and sliced onions. Once chilies are charred on the skin remove and place in a large bowl full of ice water, skin will peel off easy. Remove all skin. Cut corn from ears and chop the roasted onion slices.
In mixing bowl add onions, chilies, corn, black beans and cilantro, mix with 1 tablespoon paprika
Stuff each dove with 1-2 tablespoons of corn and chilies mixture.

Mix remaining dry seasonings and dry rub each dove
Grill on med-high heat until doves are med-med rare.
Remove and serve with your favorite sides
Doves can also be baked at 350 for 15-20 minutes until med-med rare

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Ground Dove Lettuce wraps

1 lb ground game bird
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tbsp ginger, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
5 green onions, chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
salt and pepper to taste
½ head iceberg lettuce, cut into half

Add olive oil to a large skillet and heat until oil is very hot. Add ground bird and cook until no longer pink and starts to brown, break it up with a wooden spoon as necessary. Should take about 3 minutes.

Add soy sauce, ginger, garlic, peppers, coleslaw mix, and stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Add hoisin sauce and green onions, and toss. Transfer cooked mixture to a bowl. For more flavor add 1 cup of homemade teriyaki sauce.
Serve by placing spoonfuls of mixture into pieces of lettuce, fold lettuce over like small tacos, and eat.
Top with homemade teriyaki sauce

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Cup Water
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
2 Tablespoons Crushed garlic
4 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Honey
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Water
DIRECTIONS:
Mix all but cornstarch and 1/4c water in a sauce pan and begin heating over Med .
Mix cornstarch and water and dissolve. Add to pan.
Heat until sauce thickens to desired thickness.about 4 minutes
Add water to thin if you over-thicken it

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Game Bird Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded game bird meat
1 cup chopped cilantro
8 corn tortillas, roughly torn into pieces
8oz canned diced chilies
1 can fire roasted tomatoes with juices
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can sweet corn, rinsed
1 medium red onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
½ teaspoon salt
8 cups pheasant or chicken stock
½ teaspoon cumin
For that extra kick you can add
2 jalapeños, chopped
1 poblano pepper, chopped

Directions:
In large stock pot or Dutch oven add olive oil, onion and garlic cooking over medium heat until onions start to sweat. Add cilantro, 4 torn tortillas, tomatoes and green chilies cook for another 3 minutes stirring continually.
Add stock, game bird meat, spices, corn, beans and remaining 4 tortillas. Bring soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer
Simmer for 1-2 hours allowing all the flavors to develop and the tortillas to fall apart.

Pour into your favorite bowl and top with your favorite toppings like cheese, avocado, sour cream or tortilla chips. Try a dash of lime for a sweetness to the heat.

The tortillas act as the binder, this soup is 100% gluten free for those looking for a delicious soup they can make at home. ________________________________________________________________________

Bird Stock

bird carcasses
1 onion sliced
3 carrots roughly chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
Bulb of garlic, peeled and rough chopped
1 tablespoon peppercorns
2 sprigs thyme
Parsley
2 rosemary branches
2 bay leaf
(Any other herbs you’d like to add, be creative)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, add all veggies and bird carcasses in casserole dish. Roast for 20 minutes (This adds depth to the stock) remove from oven and add to large Dutch over or pot.
Put all ingredients in a large pot and fill with water till bones are 2-3 inches covered.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat so that it stays at a very gently simmer. You don’t want it to keep at a boil as it will make the stock look dirty. It won’t affect the taste but it won’t look as nice and clear.
Continue to simmer gently, uncovered, for about 4 hours.
Remove from heat and strain though a colander into a large bowl. Place a fine mesh sieve over another bowl and strain once more to remove any small particles. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.

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Game bird & Dumplings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 pounds skin-on, bone-in upland game bird pieces (all thighs or a whole cut up game birds or a mixture of light & dark meat)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups diced carrots
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme)
3 bay leaves
½ cup flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
5 cups broth

FOR THE DUMPLINGS:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

Directions
In a large, deep pot set over medium-high heat, melt together olive oil and butter. Generously season bird pieces with salt and pepper. Brown the birds on both sides, working in batches so as not to crowd the pot (about 4 to 6 minutes per side). Transfer birds to a plate and set aside.
Add the celery, carrots, and garlic to the pot. Cook the vegetables in the drippings until they begin to soften, stirring and adjusting the heat as necessary, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the browned pieces, thyme, bay leaves, garlic powder, onion powder, and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook until the birds are cooked through, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove and discard the thyme stems and bay leaves. Transfer the cooked bird to a plate. Remove and discard the skin and bones, shred the bird, and return to the pot.

Ladle 2 cups of the cooking liquid into a large bowl or quart-sized measuring cup. Whisk in 1/2 cup of the flour until smooth. Continuously whisk the contents of the pot while slowly pouring in the flour mixture. Simmer and whisk until slightly thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes.
To make the dumplings, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in the melted butter, buttermilk, and minced parsley until just combined. With heat reduced to low, drop rustic, tablespoon-sized balls into the simmering broth. (dumpling dough should be slightly sticky) Gently add dumplings one time and then simmer, covered, until the dumplings are firm, about 12 to 15 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately, sprinkled with additional minced fresh parsley.

Now that you’ve got these dishes be creative and tell me what you’ve made using the methods above.
Go out there and get your hands dirty for dinner and go From Field To Plate.

– Jeremiah Doughty

If there is a recipe you’ve been wanting recreated wild style, just ask and ill do my best. Enjoy!!

Nashville Hot Ditch Chicken

Ingredients:

4 pheasant breasts or 2 pheasants quartered

Nashville Spice:

1 tablespoon seasoning salt

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

1 teaspoon dried crushed oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon ground red cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Marinade:

1.5 cups butter milk

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons *Nashville Spice

Egg Mixture:

2 eggs

1 cup butter milk

1 tablespoon *Nashville Spice

3 tablespoons Nashville Hot Sauce

Flour Mixture:

2 cups flour

Remaining Nashville Spice

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 tablespoon baking powder

Nashville Hot Mop Sauce:

3 tablespoons hot sauce

2 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon ground red cayenne pepper

2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon Nashville Spice

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Nashville Spice: mix all ingredients and set aside to use in other areas of the recipe.
2. Marinade: Whisk butter milk & Nashville spice in glass bowl until mixed, add bay leaf, pheasant, and cover. Place in fridge for 3-12 hours.
3. Heat oil to 300 degrees
4. In two bowls mix flour in one and egg mixture in second.
5. Remove pheasant from fridge and marinade, discard marinade
6. Start out by dredging each piece of meat in flour, egg, flour, then place in hot oil
7. Fry each piece until crispy and cooked fully, around 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from oil and drain
8. While pheasant is cooking start working on the Nashville hot mop, mix all ingredients until blended, taste and add more spice if needed.
9. After each piece of pheasant is fried, brush on 3 coats of hot mop mixture.
10. Build each plate with white bread, homemade slaw and top with dill pickles then drizzle with Nashville Hot Mop.

(Slaw mixture: 2 cups mixed cabbage, ½ cup mayo, 1 tablespoon Nashville spice. )

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:8]

Irish Black Bear Stew

Ingredients:

1 pound Bear stew meat, cubed

4 cups homemade Venison stock (or store bought beef stock)

16oz Guinness or other stout style beer (or 16oz red wine)

4 large carrots, roughly chopped

1 large brown onion, sliced

2 celery stalks, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

6 potatoes, quartered

2 bay leaves

1 can 6oz tomato paste

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sprigs rosemary

3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Mix flour, pepper and salt. Toss the stew meat and lightly coat, shake off excess flour and brown in skillet with 3 tablespoons butter. Lightly browning the meat helps keep the meat whole while cooking. The browning process is not meant to cook the meat but just brown the outside.
2. In Dutch oven add stock, beer or wine & tomato paste, mix together.
3. Add veggies, bay leaves, rosemary, garlic and browned stew meat
4. Bring your Dutch oven to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-6 hours until meat is tender.
5. If you would like to make the stew thicker take 3 tablespoons of flour and three tablespoons of water and mix until flour has dissolved, then add to stew.
6. Season stew to taste and enjoy.

With fast food being easier for many of us to grab as a quick dinner, we are allowing ourselves to ditch the dinner table for a drive thru window. One thing I love to do is recreate some of our old favorites from the drive thru window using fresh and wild ingredients. This wild turkey Mexican pizza is on of those dishes. It takes as much time to make as you’d spend driving, ordering and driving home from your favorite south of the border quick meal restaurant. I used ground wild turkey but you could use any wild game meat you’ve got in the freezer. Let’s get into how I create a healthier version of this delicious dish

Ingredients:

“Meat”

1 pound ground wild turkey (or any game meat)

¼ cup taco seasoning (see my homemade recipe)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

¼ cup water

“Beans”

You can use canned retried beans or make mashed beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can black beans

2 tablespoons tacos seasoning

“Toppings”

Jalapeños

Tomatoes

Cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Guacamole

Chives

Salsa

Corn or flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. You can bake or fry your tortillas. I enjoy baking mine at 350 until crispy

3. In skillet add garlic and Worcestershire and start to brown garlic over medium heat. Add wild game meat and brown. Once meat has browned add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes. This allows the seasoning to soak into the meat.

4. While meat is cooking add your beans to a medium pot along with seasoning. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, summer 4-5 minutes. Using a potato masher mash them until smooth

5. Chop all your toppings, use any your family like, you don’t need to use mine at all. Be creative

Assembly:

1. Take a crispy tortilla and add beans, spreading all over the top. Add meat next.

2. Place next tortilla on top of meat, beans and bass tortilla. Cover top with salsa, tomatoes and cheese

3. Add any other remains dry toppings

4. Place in oven for 5- 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly

5. Remove and top with sour cream, guacamole and any other toppings you’d enjoy.

6. Now dig in!!!

Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with this dish, it’s been as my friend says a “Red Neck Staple” forever. I find a couple problems with this dish though and here they are.

1. It takes forever to cut the meat, jalapenos, and wrap them in bacon
2. The wild game meat tends to become overcooked and masked.
3. It’s an appetizer not a meal

So, after posting a confession that I’ve never made poppers I got slammed with statements like.

“But, the flavors all meld so well”

“I make this dish for people who hate wild game and they love it.”

“It’s what we’ve always done”

“You’re missing out, you need to wrap it in bacon dude.”

After listening to everyone talk I had this idea to deconstruct the Popper and create it into a meal. I decided to take all those flavors from the cream cheese, bacon, jalapenos, and grilled flavors and rework it into a meal that will not mask the flavor of the game meat, but enhance it.  Again I want to say I have nothing against the poppers, I just want to show people there is another way to get those flavors you love so much.

Venison Steaks with Bacon Cream Cheese Gravy & Fire Roasted Jalapenos

Ingredients:

4 Venison steaks

4oz Cream Cheese

½ pound bacon, diced

2 Jalapenos

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon cracked pepper

1.5 tablespoons flour (can remove to make gluten free)

1.5 cups milk

¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Get your grill nice and hot
• Season your steaks with simple salt & pepper or any of your favorite steak seasonings
• Grill your venison steaks and jalapenos. I tend to grill my steaks for 3-4 minutes per side and serve med-rare. The Jalapenos you’ll want to char the skin on all side
• Remove steaks from heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes, place jalapenos in a bowl of ice water
• Take the jalapenos out of the water and rub your fingers over the skin and it will peel off. Dice them and set aside
• While steaks are resting let’s start the bacon and cream cheese gravy
• In skillet add bacon over medium heat cook until crispy, remove from bacon grease
• Add flour to bacon grease, whisk and brown flour cooking 2 minutes
• Add cream cheese,milk, pepper, salt, paprika and garlic whisk until it starts to thicken. If gravy is too thick for your liking add ¼ cup more milk.
• Plate steaks and smother in gravy, top that with fire roasted jalapenos and crispy bacon
• Enjoy

Jeremiah Doughty

From Field To Plate

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There is this misconception that we can’t or shouldn’t eat bobcats, coyotes and other such animals because they are predators and meat eaters. I’m here to tell you we can eat such animals and should if you kill them at least try it. I always respond to fellow hunters or negative naysayers when they say “Don’t eat that because it eats meat.” I ask the simple question. “Do you eat fish? chicken or turkey? do you eat pig?”. All of these creatures eat meat. It’s been said that if fish had legs we would all be doomed because they are such aggressive predators.

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Another misconception is that Bobcats are a scavenger animal, which is true in some cases, but for the most part they are opportunist hunters. They prefer to stalk and kill its in their DNA. If they are found scavenging a kill it will be within the first 24 hours of its death. This is why so many hunters who are trying to manage game on property kill coyotes and bobcats, because they HUNT! They eat eggs, quail, turkey, deer fawns, fish and other creatures. We need to get beyond the EWW factor and eat what we kill.

In India they don’t eat cows because they have risen them to a level of godhood. They place them on a higher playing field than human life. While visiting India I was told you go to prison for 3-7 years for killing a human, but could go to jail for 10-life for killing a cow. Though here in the states we raise, slaughter and grill them up med-rare with a side of mashed without even thinking of what that cow looked liked.

In the same way in the US we have placed many species on this very same field that India has placed their cow. We view them as pets and as equals. There was a study done were more people helped an animal that was in trouble over a human in the same situation. He have cats and dogs as pets, they sleep on our beds and eat better food than most in third world countries. Yet in other parts of the world cats and dogs are raised to be eaten just like we do cows, sheep and pigs.

I’m not here to preach I am simple here to show you that if you kill it, you eat it. Meat is Meat and it’s that simple.

Let us get down to the real reason you are here and some helpful tips on cooking up that Bobcat.

Brine:

Why should we brine bobcat?

Bobcat can tend to be a very tight muscled meat. This firmness can cause it to be super tough when cooked. By brining you are allowing the meat to rest and the muscle tissue itself to loosen with the introduction of liquid.  Another reason we brine them if to help leach out any blood that is still in the meat. Again being such a stiff muscular animal they blood tends to linger and in turn can give the meat a “Wild” taste to it, much more so then you’d like.

Below is a simple brine i do on most of my game animals.

• Fill ice chest with 50% ice and 50% water
• add 1/4 cup salt to every gallon of water
• submerge meat in mixture and brine for 12-36 hours.
• if brining longer than 12 hours change mixture every 12 hours to introduce clean liquid and remove blood from water.
• I do my bobcats and coyotes for 36 hours and it works beautifully.

Here is a killer recipe to create using any wild game animal especially your Bobcat and Coyotes.

Bobcat Barbacoa

Ingredients:
2 Bobcat hams (hind ends)
½ cup cilantro, chopped
1 cup red onion, sliced
3 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped
2 cups game stock or chicken
2 jalapenos, chopped
2 limes, juiced
8 oz of green chilies
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cracked pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of salt
4oz can tomato paste
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Mix pepper, cumin, oregano, salt and red pepper. Rub mixture evenly on all sides of Bobcat roast
2. Turn crockpot to high and add remaining ingredients, mix together
3. Add bobcat to mixture and put lid on and walk away for 8-10 hours
4. Enjoy the amazing smell from your kitchen every time you enter the house
5. After 8-10 hours of cooking remove bobcat and place in large glass bowl, with two forks shred meat
6. Add meat back to liquid in crockpot and mix together
7. Remove from crockpot place on your favorite tortilla and cover in your favorite toppings