Fall is the best time to cook, hands down. The gardens are giving and it's harvest season. Through it all, a grouse feast is hard to top.
Before you get into the whole cooking the Risotto part, you really should harvest as many grouse as you can/want for this dish. I managed to get six on the weekend I cooked this recipe and all of them went to this project.
In your pursuit for grouse, we recommend taking a fine working dog with you afield. Not only will your time in the woods be spent being distracted by whether your dog is pointing or not, but you'll have some help finding your dinner and share in few victories.
After downing a few birds, clean them up and remove the breasts. Keep the legs and any bones you can for making stock. I ended up using this grouse stock right in the risotto recipe.
For grouse stock, simmer grouse bones and legs, onion, carrots, celery, bay leaf and any herbs (I used thyme for the fall but would be equally happy with some dill) for at least 45 minutes. As the stock simmers, scrape off any film that persists and add salt to taste. I'm not going to tell you how much of everything to add, because you'll figure it out.
I also won't lie about this whole risotto recipe. I adapted this version from Ricardo Cuisine. A few notes on adaptations:
Use the above points and some of your own intuition to work through the stock recipe above. Overall this was a fun and rather easy recipe to put together. Just be sure to take it slow when adding the broth to the rice mixture at the end and stir regularly.
Finish with some parsley and parmesan and try not leave any wine on the table.
]]>We had duck hunter and waterfowl guide Barry Good on the podcast for episode 159. He was kind enough to share his famous Duck Gumbo recipe with us!
Make sure to let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
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We had duck hunter and waterfowl guide Barry Good on the podcast for episode 159. He was kind enough to share his famous Duck Gumbo recipe with us!
Make sure to let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
Wild Duck Gumbo
Ingredients:
2 wild ducks, cut up
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced (andouille or chorizo preferred but any smoked sausage works)
2 cups chopped onions
1-1/2 cups chopped green peppers
1-1/2 cups sliced celery
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 quarts water
Hot cooked rice
Directions:
In a Dutch oven over medium heat, brown duck in batches in oil. Remove and set aside. Discard all but 2/3 cup drippings. Add flour to drippings cook and stir over medium heat until brown, 12-14 minutes. Add sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, parsley and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add next eight ingredients mix well. Add duck bring to a boil. Reduce heat cover and simmer 60-75 minutes or until duck is tender. Remove duck. Cool. Debone and cut into chunks return to pan. Simmer 5-10 minutes or until heated through. Remove bay leaves. Serve with rice.
]]>Ingredients:
Instructions:
Enjoy your delicious Morel cream sauce with the rich flavors of onions, garlic, and earthy Morel mushrooms!
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Prepared by Tristan
Cook Time: 8.5 hours
My brother has recently started to incorporate the “tougher” cuts of venison into his cooking. Think necks and shanks, meat that typically has more connective tissue. The cool part of all that connective tissue is when cooked slowly, it will melt down, leaving you with both a tender and flavorful dish. While I love this idea, in practice I have been slow to adopt it into my routine. The thought of having to cook this whole chunk of meat requires some planning and exploration.
The cold snap finally provided me with the impetus to concoct a dish I had been thinking about for a while, Venison Vindaloo. Vindaloo is a traditional tomato-based curry and was my first foray out of the “Butter Chicken Realm” of the curry world. I remember the extremely savory and earthy dish because it almost melted my face off, and being a spice lover I was immediately infatuated. This dish has significantly less heat, but if you are interested in the real deal, I got my first taste at the Kings Head pub in Winnipeg.
This recipe below is an adapted version1 and comes out of my aspiration to recreate that flavor-packed curry and merge it with our harvest, venison. I chose the venison shank, as I thought this dish would stand up well to the low and slow method, and the already flavourful mixture would get even more added depth by using the bone-in cut. Overall, I’m happy with how it turned out and look forward to continuing to find creative ways to share our venison.
Recipe:
3-5 tbsp Kashmiri Chili Powder2
2 tbsp Coriander Seeds3
4 Clove
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
3 Green Cardamom Pods
10 Black Peppercorns
1 tsp Cumin Seeds (or ½ tsp ground cumin)
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
10 cloves Garlic chopped
1 tbsp Vinegar
1.5 tbsp Tamarind Paste
½ cup water
4 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 Onions (chopped)
1 Venison shank (trimmed - make sure it also fits in the crock-pot!)
1 quart Stewed Tomatoes4
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp Sugar
Cilantro
Naan bread
Instructions:
Toasting the spice blend in a cast iron skillet
The brand of Kashmiri chili powder purchased
Venison shank and onions pre-sear
Post-sear
Garden canned tomatoes