Now that I’m an adult I look back at those dinners and read whats in it and cringe and can’t believe I used to crave it so much. Well, I still crave it on those cold winter nights, crave the tomato sauce, meat, noodles and that cheese goodness. So I decided I needed to recreate this dish and put a wild game spin on it. My whole family was surprised how much it tasted like the boxed version. I was excited that I knew what went into our dinner and that my craving for the helper had been met.

GameBurger Helper 

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground game meat (venison, elk, moose, turkey, pheasant, dove)
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley

• 2 teaspoon garlic powder

* 3 cloves, crushed
• pinch to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder (if wanted heat)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups Venison broth (or beef broth)
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni
• 1, 6 oz can tomato paste
*1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1 .In large skillet or dutch oven heat oil over med-high heat. Add onion and brown, add garlic and cook additional two minutes.

2 .Add ground game meat and brown, add paprika, parsley, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Still until blended

3. Stir in milk, broth, pasta and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med-low and cook 10-12 minutes until pasta is cooked, stirring often so not to burn.

4 .Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese. (this is key, if you try adding cheese while on heat, cheese can start to separate.)

5. Serve and enjoy.

( This can be used as a base recipe, add any vegetable, spice or seasoning your family enjoys.)

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.

______________________________________________________________________________

Recipes:
______________________________________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________________________________
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.

______________________________________________________________________________

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]

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

Pizza is one of my families favorite meals. Not only do we love eating it but, we love making it as well. One of our favorite style of pizzas is what we call “leftover pizza” this is as simple as it sounds. We make our dough and top it with our leftovers. We’ve come up with some fun ones like…

Venison Taco pizza

Pulled pork pizza

Avocado and roasted pheasant pizza

And the list goes on & on…

Recently we smoked half of our spring wild turkey and it was amazing. I found myself with a little smoked turkey left after our meal, it wasn’t enough for a giant leftover dinner, but just enough to make a small meal with. I got thinking and decided it was time for a leftover pizza night.

I made some fresh dough ((see recipe below)) chopped the onion, cilantro and decided it was time to create “Smoked BBQ turkey pizza.” Using a smoked BBQ sauce, mozzarella & smoked Gouda I created one of my families favorite leftover pizzas to date. I also decided to try a new method “ to me” which had me cooking our pizza in our cast iron skillet. This created a deep dish style pizza that added to the perfection of our dinner.

Below you’ll find my dough recipe and cooking methods, but as for toppings, sauces and creativity that’s up to you. Make leftover pizza night a weekly dinner in your house and get the kids involved with the creativity and cooking. We have a saying in our household.

“Everything is better when wrapped in a tortilla or topped on a pizza.”

So get creative and have fun!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:2]

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza:

• preheat oven to 450F
• grease your cast iron skillet with oil, butter or lard
• place your dough in skillet and shape and mold to fit
• bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Fire Grilled Pizza

• heat grill to medium heat
• brush olive oil on one side of pizza dough and place on grill
• brush the other side as one side cooks
• flip dough after 2 minutes cooking.
• add toppings and lower heat to low
• grill until cheese is melty and yummy.

I’ve cooked this recipe with Venison, elk, bear and wild sheep. The slow cooker breaks down the meat and it becomes tender and juicy. Also for those of you worried about the beer that goes into this dish, don’t. All the alcohol cooks off during the cooking process  and  leaves you with nothing but the huge flavor. So this dish is perfect for the whole family.

 Wild Game Drunken Fries

Ingredients:

2 lbs wild game steaks or roast

2 cans Guinness

1 cup game or beef broth

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 white onion roughly chopped

½ cup soy sauce

¼ Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Ingredients Gravy:

2 cups stock from cooking

¼ cup flour

5 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons Worcestershire

½ tablespoon cracked pepper

 Directions:

• Start by trimming fat from your game steaks or roasts. Season with paprika, celery salt, garlic powder and pepper flakes
• In slow cooker add broth, beer, onion, soy sauce, Worcestershire and garlic. Place meat in the middle and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4-5 hours
• In medium sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Once melted whisk flour in until smooth
• Add stock, Worcestershire and pepper and whisk until blended.
• Simmer gravy until it thickens, stirring often, remove from heat and set aside
• Pull your game meat from slow cooker and shred with two forks
• Plate your favorite fries, I love making my own, but store bought works just as well.
• Top fries with meat and gravy and enjoy.20

Pheasant Tortilla Soup

From Field to Plate

 Ingredients:

1-2 whole cooked pheasants, meat pulled off bones

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 jalapenos, chopped

1 poblano pepper, chopped

Directions:

1. 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 and green chilies cook for another 3 minutes stirring continually.
2. Add stock, pheasant, spices, corn, beans and remaining 4 tortillas. Bring soup to a boil and reduce heat to simmer
3. Simmer for 1-2 hours allowing all the flavors to develop and the tortillas to fall apart.
5. Pour into your favorite bowl and top with your favorite toppings like cheese, avocado, sour cream or tortilla chips  
6. The tortillas act as the binder, this soup is 100% gluten free for those looking for a delicious soup they can make at home.

In this podcast we will cover two more species of small and upland game. We will hear about hunting and cooking squirrels and pheasant. Dive deeper into what it’s like hunting with dogs and hunting parties. Working the fields as a team to spook and flush these two tasty game animals can be some of the most challenging and rewarding upland game hunts. Youth hunting usually starts with these either of these two species. I know many states run youth pheasant hunts for youth straight out of hunter safety courses. Pheasant and Squirrel teach youth about taking the time to make a perfect shot. Teaches them to hunt with others, zones and dogs. Below you’ll find two delicious recipes. Enjoy the podcast and stay tuned for a special episode next week titled “Female Hunters”

Squirrel & Dumplings

Joel Lickliter

Home Cookin Hunter

Ingredients:

3 Squirrels

1 can of biscuit dough

2 cloves garlic

4 cups water or chicken broth

Directions:

1. Add squirrels and liquid to large stock pot and boil for 2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bones
2. Remove squirrels from broth and pull meat off bones
3. Put meat back in broth
4. Open biscuit dough, cut each biscuit in halve, add to pot
5. Allow the biscuits to rise, after rising remove one and test it. You will want them to be slightly doughy
6. Pull from heat and salt & pepper to taste
7. BOOM enjoy.

Orange Chicken Style Pheasant

From Field To Plate

Ingredients

2 pounds pheasant (can use turkey, chicken or chukar)

1 cup flour

¼ cup corn starch

1 egg

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ginger powder

1 teaspoon cracked pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

½ cup cooking oil

(I love avocado oil, it has the highest flash point and doesn’t burn or smoke until 500 degrees)

Directions

1. Chop pheasant into 1 inch cubes, nice bite size pieces
2. In plastic bag mix all dry ingredients, close bag and shake to mix
3. Add egg to medium bowl and beat until yolk in mixed with whites
4. Add pheasant and coat with egg wash
5. Add pheasant to bag in batches and shake to fully coat, remove and set aside until all pheasant has been coated. Let rest for 5-10 minutes
6. While chicken is resting add oil to wok or skillet and heat over medium
7. Once oil is hot add the pheasant in batches, cooking fully and crispy about 4-6 minutes per batch.
8. Once all pheasant has cooked set aside and start on your orange glaze

Orange Glaze Recipe

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

Directions

1. 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
2. Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok or skillet
3. Next add ginger and garlic, Sautee for 30 seconds
4. Stir in crushed red pepper and rice wine stir for 15 seconds to mix
5. Add orange juice mixture to wok or skillet and bring to a boil, stirring often so not to burn sauce
6. Once sauce comes to a boil add cooked pheasant and stir until evenly coated
7. Remove from heat and place on a bed of brown rice then garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

The voices you hear

Joel the Home cookin Hunter

Chef Randy King

Justin Townsend: Harvesting Nature

John Wildgame creations

Holding a small single shot shotgun or .22lr we would stand next to our Dad or Mom and absorb every word spoken. The knowledge we learned while waiting for a Pheasant to flush or sitting still watching and listening for a squirrel jumping limb to limb, made us better hunters.

Listen to the podcast by searching Tasting Wild on the following apps

iTunes:

Stitcher

Tunein Radio

Below you’ll find the three recipes heard in the podcast, each recipe was created by our very own Tasting Wild chefs. Let’s go ahead and look at those recipes.

John Wallace

Sweet Savory Spicy Sugar Glazed Dove Rumaki

Submitted by: John Wallace

Wild Game Creations

Instagram @wildgamecook

FACEBOOK /wildgamecreations

Marinade: 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce (low sodium preferred)

3 tbsp. Teriyaki Sauce

3 tbsp. Honey

½ tbsp. Lime Juice

½ tbsp. Ginger Powder

½ tbsp. Garlic (Minced)

1 tbsp. Green onion (Finely Chopped)

1 tbsp. Light Brown Sugar (optional)

1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

½ – 1 tbsp. of Crushed red pepper flakes or 1 Jalapeño (diced or sliced) (Seeded for Mild…not for HOT!)

1 Dash of Salt & Pepper

Place dove and marinade into Ziploc bag and place into refrigerator for several hours (10 hours or more is recommended) TIP: Stir well to incorporate honey and sugar (10 seconds in Microwave may be helpful) _____________________________________________________________________________________ Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°. Open package of bacon and slice pieces in half. Drain marinade in colander. It is recommended to pick jalapeño seeds off of each breast before wrapping it with the half piece of bacon. Feel free to stuff a piece(s) of jalapeño into each wrap. Once wrapped, thread a toothpick through the top of the bacon so that it goes down to the breast and then bring it back up through the top of the bacon to secure it around each piece. Place “poppers” on a cooking rack (so that drippings fall away from bacon and onto cookie sheet). Place toothpick side down.

Cooking:

Place in oven for 12-15 minutes checking often for crispness of bacon, additional minutes may be necessary (a few minutes on broil may speed up process). Once bacon is at desired crispness on top, pull the rack out of the oven. *Place oven on Broil (if not already). Flip the poppers over so that the toothpick side is now up. Align all poppers in a straight line, so that they are touching one another. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top of the poppers. Use as little or as much as you would like (“a pinch a popper” is recommended). Place the cooking rack back into oven until brown sugar is melted thoroughly and bacon is crisp. Pull the poppers out of the oven and place them on a serving tray. Allow a minute or two to cool down (if you can wait that long!). Remove toothpick and enjoy!! Remember to share… *This step should be watched carefully, as each oven may broil differently and chance of burning the poppers is high. It is recommended to crack open the oven door when broiling.

John is a mastermind when it comes to re-creating and elevating the traditional recipes. Give this recipe a try and let him know what you think of it.

Next we talked about Quail and Justin brought us an amazing Recipe that’s not only simple but absolutely delicious.

Quail: Justin Townsted

Harvesting Nature

Roasted Quail with Sage and Squash Cornbread Dressing

To celebrate the opening of quail, dove, and other game bird hunting seasons, I wanted to share a delicious recipe that can be prepared with any upland game bird. For this recipe, you can also substitute store bought quail, Cornish hens, pheasant, etc. Dove and Quail seasons are usually pretty popular amongst hunters for three reasons. One, dove season is the first hunting season to open of the year so many are itching to get back into the field. Two, birds are in greater numbers in comparison to larger game. There is a definite adrenaline rush when you are out hunting and there are birds flying all around.

Personally, I love the flavor of dove and quail. They have similarities in taste but are slightly different depending on the area they reside and the food they eat. Usually they have a mild earthy flavor with hints of a butter and nuts. Pheasant, to me, tastes like a higher quality chicken that has lived a wilder life. Upland game birds are pretty popular to eat for many because they lack the heavy “gaminess” that many people fear.

This recipe require an additional step prior to cooking which is to semi-debone the bird. This can be a little difficult as the birds get larger but it is totally worth it once you sink your teeth into the finished product. Basically, to semi-debone the bird you will use some scissors to cut on either side of the backbone. This will leave you with a now “U shaped” bird. You will then remove the wishbone and use your fingers to separate the meat from the rib cage. You will then snap the thigh bone at the joint. After this, feel all around the mead to make sure you don’t have any little shards hanging around. If you are completely unsure of this process then you can search the internet for many resources and video on how to semi-debone quail.

Ingredients:

6 semi-deboned quail, dove, chukar, or pheasant

Cornbread from 1 box of jiffy corn muffin mix (prepared following ingredients and instruction)

½ white onion, minced

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced squash or zucchini

2 cups of chicken or turkey stock

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp minced fresh sage

1 tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Preheat a large cast iron pan on medium high heat
3. Melt the 1 tbsp butter in the pan
4. Add the onion, celery, squash
5. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently
6. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vegetables to a large mixing bowl
7. Crumble up the cornbread in the bowl
8. Add the stock, sage, and half of the seasonings
9. Stir until thoroughly mixed
10. Use the remaining seasoning to coat the outside of the quail pieces
11. Use the remaining 2 tbsp of butter to coat the inside of the pan, if not too hot
12. Add the mixture the pan, top with the quail pieces, and bake for 20-30 minute or until the quail and the bread are a nice golden brown color.

(For larger birds, cook to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This may require partially cooking the larger bird first then adding the dressing)

I love Justin’s classic and rustic take of his meals. Simply amazing.

Next let’s change gears and talk about Rabbit with our very own Chef Randy King

Chef In The Wild

Rabbit:

Canned Rabbit Meat

Confession Time – I shot three jackrabbits on a Sunday, forgot about them in the fridge and got on a plane to Denver. This resulted in a problem. Bless my wife but she sure as heck is not going to gut and skin a rabbit. Nor are my boys, yet. But they could freeze them. As instructed my oldest son grabbed the bag the rabbits were in, and set them in my chest freezer.

And there they stayed for six months. I know, terrible. But the skin actually acted as a protective barrier and kept the meat quite nice. When I did get around to clearing out that part of the freezer I thawed the rabbits for a few days; they were perfect.  I was thrilled to get the sizable amount of space the rabbits took up back.

In order to get my freezer “fall ready” I make it a goal to utilize all my scrap from the previous season. I’ll make sausage or jerky or even confit stuff. But this time my goal was to get “camp meat” for the fall. I wanted a “no refrigeration needed” meat that I could haul into the backcountry with me. Something other than jerky. I knew about canning meat, or jarring meat to be more specific, but I had never done it. It requires a pressure canner – something I did not own.

Luckily for me a quick look on craigslist and I came up with an inexpensive pressure canner. The variety I ended up with is a “Victory Model” from World War 2. It is simply amazing. Sure, a new canner would be cool but this old school model was all a guy needs.

With thawed rabbits and a new to me pressure cooker I set out to make meat. First I deboned the rabbits, then I cubed them, then I browned them in hot oil, then I tossed them in “taco” seasoning. Next I added them to jars with a little stock and canned them. It was super easy, I was pleasantly surprised.

As with all preserving – keeping sanitary is a must. Clean hands, clean jars, clean lids – clean everything. With canning, and all preservation really, you are trying to defeat the forces of nature that rot food. A hard project and one that if not done right is downright dangerous.

When I was don canning the meat I could not wait to try it out. The next afternoon I opened a jar and made myself a quick quesadilla out of the meat. Unreal, I basically had shredded rabbit meat in a jar ready to eat whenever I am hungry. I am going to be canning meat a lot more in the future.

Canned Rabbit

2# cleaned rabbit meat, diced

¼ cup canola oil

1 packet “taco seasoning”

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ onion diced

1 cup chicken stock or water

Place a 12 inch heavy bottomed pan on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add half the canola and carefully add the rabbit meat a little at a time. Do not overcrowd the pan, the meat will not brown properly. Add more oil as needed to keep the pan from being dry bottomed. When all the meat is brown add it all back to the pan and toss with taco seasoning. Remove meat from pan to a plate. Add garlic, onion and chicken stock to the pan.

Bring the pan to a boil, scrape the bottom for all the good chunks of brown. This is called “fond” by the way. Remove pan from heat.

Next pack the meat to clean wide mouthed jars. Then add the pan drippings to each jar, distributing them evenly. But make sure to leave at least a ½ inch of head room on the jar. Top each jar with a clean lid and clean ring. Place into pressure canner and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure to follow all instructions for canning very carefully.

Who else thinks randy knocked it out of the park with this dish?

Stay tuned for part two of upping your Upland game where we will hit ya with more recipes, tips, tricks and of course all the knowledge we have.

In the meantime remember to get outdoors and start Tasting Wild for yourself.

Jeremiah Doughty

From Field To Plate