Recipes

Crappie! Love this Fish, Love it!

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Chef Randy King

Fried Crappie with Orange Pineapple Salsa

I have been a pan fish freak of late. Not sure why, but I know that I am enjoying myself. I have a new recipe for the site and hope everyone enjoys. I know that I enjoyed making it! Keep the food real folks!Let’s face it; the yield on pan fish is low. I almost feel bad when I fillet a crappie or a big bluegill. You take the tough fighting little fish out of the water and then end up with barely any meat. To increase yield scrape the spine with a spoon for extra meat, on a big batch of fish this can lead to a whole extra meal for the family. It is the respectful thing to do when harvesting. I normally use my scrape for items like ceviche, tacos, pastas and salads (think tuna salad sandwich with crappie, yeah, it’s good).

YouTube has lots of really good videos on how to fillet pan fish. Watch a few and then take up the act yourself. It’s fairly easy and when you get the hang of it you can pound out the fish very quickly. I scale the fish most times but skinless fish work just fine too. If you’re like me and the catch is almost always limited in quantity than it is a good idea to get the most out of your $50 fish.

Orange and Pineapple Salsa

BLue Gill on the String

Dinner! Dinner!

1 ea large orange, cut into segments¼ pineapple, peeled

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon Chipotle Tabasco or Cholula

Cut the top and bottom off the orange about ½ inch up. This should allow the orange to stand on one end. Set orange on a flat side and then proceed to “peel” the orange with the knife, making sure to remove a little bit of the orange flesh. The goal is to remove the white section of the orange that is bitter and located closest to the skin. When “peeled” you will notice the orange has vertical lines running down it. Slide the knife into those lines and remove the “segments”.

Dice the pineapple. Add orange segments, pineapple, salt, pepper and chipotle Tabasco to a small bowl. Toss and refrigerate until needed to top the fried crappie.

Fried Crappie

10 crappie fillets, scaled and ready to fry

4 cups canola oil

Breading

¼ cup flour

¼ cup corn starch

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Heat a thick pan, such as a Dutch oven, on medium until it reaches 350 degrees. A candy thermometer is handy for this. If you don’t have a candy thermometer use a wooden spoon. When inserted into properly hot enough oil it will throw off bubbles and float in the oil. Don’t let the oil smoke.

Mix the flour and the seasoning in a gallon sized zip top baggie. Wet the fish a little under the sink. Then add the fish, one at a time, to the gallon bag of flour and spices. Shake the bag like a Polaroid, evenly dispensing and coating the fish in the breading.

Remove from breading and lay flat on a lightly floured plate. Slide each fillet into the hot oil very carefully. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Serve with asparagus and orange pineapple salsa.

Categories: Fish, Recipes | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Wild Turkey Cutlets

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Chef Randy King

The total mass of a turkey is always surprising to me. I shoot other big birds like geese and sage hen often but a turkey is just a totally different ball game, and as such needs to be treated that way.

Turkeys consist of 5 cuts of meat in total; the breast, the tenderloin, the wings, the thighs and the drumsticks. Each of these bird parts beg for a separate cooking method. It is not wise to just roast a wild turkey like a butterball. The breast will probably be dry, the drumsticks will be good for dog chew toys and the

Mmmm...Garlic...

Mmmm…Garlic…

thigh meat will require a steak knife.

This month I will concentrate on the breast meat of a turkey, by far the biggest bang for the buck.

Turkey breast meat is not as soft and juicy as store bought, but it has a ton more flavor. Think elk meat vs beef – similar but still different. But like store bought meat it still needs cooked to 165 degrees to be safe to eat. Be careful when cooking meat to this temperature, it can be very dry. To avoid dry meat make sure to remove it from heat a whole 10 degrees before it reaches 165 degrees on the inside. Carry over cooking will finish the job of getting the meat to 165.

Breaded Turkey Cutlets with Oil Poached Garlic and Tomatoes served with Pan Roasted Orange

This recipe calls for turkey “cutlets” AKA  slices of turkey breast. Lay your breast out on the counter. It will make half of a heart shape. Cut across the grain of the meat in about ¼ inch sections. You will get quite a few. It is even a little easier to cut when the meat is frozen a little.

Take those slices and place them between two sheets of clear plastic film about an inch from each other. Use a mallet or the bottom of a pan to hammer the slices into almost see through thin sections. You now have turkey “cutlets” and they are a transformed piece of wild game meat. Bread them and fry them, add a squeeze of lemon, and you have the German classic schnitzel. And that classic dish is what we are having fun with today. Replace the sour lemon with a sweeter caramelized orangeand add the roasted garlic and tomatoes – bang – a whole new take on a classic.

Oil Poached Garlic and Tomatoes

1 cup Olive Oil

1 cup garlic cloves, peeled

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes

In a small sauce pan add the garlic, tomatoes and oil. Turn heat to medium low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Reserve in warm location. This will create more than you need for this recipe. Store them in a mason jar in the fridge, covered in oil and they will last up to a year. Just microwave the jar when you want some roasted garlic and tomatoes.

Pan Roasted Orange

2 ea Oranges, cut in half

1 tablespoon canola oil

In a medium sized cast iron skillet add the oil and then the orange halves, flesh side down. Heat on medium until the exposed orange flesh is dark brown. Remove pan from heat. Reserve.

Turkey Cutlets

8 each 2oz turkey cutlets

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

2 cups bread crumbs

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning herb blend

¼ cup canola oil

Heat canola oil in a large sauté pan or cast iron on medium heat until a wooden spoon inserted into the oil just gives off bubbles and floats. Or head oil to 350 degrees. (This is an old German trick that I learned in Singapore, long story…all I know is that it works. The oil temp will be about 350 degrees)

Gather three small bowls. Place the flour, milk and bread crumbs in separate bowls. In the flour bowl add the black pepper, Italian seasoning and salt. Mix the flour and other ingredients  together.

Place cutlets in the flour and coat all sides evenly. Then place the cutlet in the milk, wetting all sides. Then place the cutlet in the bread crumbs, forcefully pushing bread crumbs into all parts of the turkey cutlet. Reserve the breaded cutlet on a plate. Bread the remaining slices.

Carefully place one cutlet at a time in the hot oil. Cook the cutlet until it is “GB&D”, or golden brown and delicious, on one side then flip. Cook the other side until GB&D as well. Reserve the fried cutlets on a paper towel lined plate.

Categories: Birds, Not Waterfowl, Recipes | Tags: , , , , , | 5 Comments

Pheasant Hunters Corn Cakes

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Chef Randy King

Hunters Style Corn Cakes

When making any recipe it is always important to gather everything that you need before getting started cooking. The concept, in French, is called Mis en Place. It simply means “things in place” and when you have everything in place while cooking, just like hunting, is that much more enjoyable.

Finding a use for the top half of a pheasant is easy. The legs however can be a problem. Large tendons on these running birds render them nearly inedible, but if you cook them long enough they become succulent and tender. For this recipe you are going to need to crock pot the lower half of a pheasant for several hours. I recommend overnight.

Ingredients

Crock Pot Pheasant -  hunter corn cakes

1 each pheasant, breasts removed

1 cup canola oil

2 bulbs garlic

1 ea apple, cut in 1/4

1 ea small red onion, cut into quarters

3 bay leafs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Water

Preparation

Turn the crock pot on low and add the pheasant and remaining ingredients. Add enough water to just cover the bird. Place the lid on the crock pot and allow to cook for 8-10 hours on low heat. Turn off the crock pot and let rest for one hour, for maister meat let rest overnight in the refrigerator. Then remove bird and pick meat from the carcass. Reserve meat for the corn cakes.

You can save the broth created by the pheasant and use that in soups or stews if you wish.

Preparation

Corn Cakes –

1 box instant corn bread mix

¾ cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1 ea Crock Pot Pheasant Meat – picked clean of tendons and bones

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 eggs

Milk

2 Tablespoons Honey

Salt and pepper

Heat skillet or large sauté pan on stove on medium low heat for 4 minutes.  The pan must be warm or the corn cakes will stick.

Mix the beans, pheasant meat, chili flakes, eggs, and honey together in a medium sized bowl. Add the corn bread mix to the bowl and mix through. The mix will be very thick at this point. Add milk as needed to thin the batter to a pancake like consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.

Using pan spray lightly coat the bottom of the sauté pan and pour ¼ cup cakes. Make sure to leave enough room so they do not touch. Cook cakes until golden brown on one side (2-3 minutes) and then flip and brown on the other. Reserve the corn cakes in a warm oven.

Serve Hunters Style Corn Cakes with a squeeze of lime and slices of fresh tomatoes for a great appetizer!

Categories: Birds, Not Waterfowl, Recipes | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Korned Goose!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Chef Randy King

Goose HunterI was lucky to have even been in this cold, snow covered goose blind, or so I kept telling myself. My right boot had a hole in it and I was freezing my toes off. But I had accepted the late night phone call inviting me. Apparently the “normal” guy was out of town and the three man blind had an opening. I had been on the short list for this blind for several years, but had never managed to get in.
The morning started with setting out the decoys and fixing the blind. Our spread is good, about 100 decoys total. All of them facing into the wind and we even have an empty section of the spread for the “kill zone”. I was instructed not to “look up” at the geese as the captain was calling them in. I had always watched my game before, this was weird, I had to simply trust that that goose could be shot when I was told. The suspense was unbelievable.
But this last flock of geese over my head where smart. They can see something about our decoy set up and don’t like it. Maybe they know that we have the bodies of there dead brethren hidden under the hard plastic decoys. Maybe it is the slight skiff of snow that has formed; snow doesn’t stick to the back of real geese. Maybe it is all the human sized foot prints in the snow. They start to circle around but are not committing to the landing. I am having a hard time not looking right at the geese, revealing my face and blowing the cover. I can hear the wing flaps and the honking but force myself to look at my boots. Oddly, I am not cold anymore.
One goose finally locks up to come in for a landing causing a chain reaction among them all. When the honkers reach about 30 yards out I hear “blast-em” from my left side. I jump up and shoot the goose that is farthest to the right, keeping in my shooting lane in mind.
Two geese fall on that volley and it is time to pack up. Its only 10am. We shot a total of ten geese between the three of us. My father in law has limited out having shot four birds and I am going home with three for myself. It was a good morning. I got back in time to watch SpongeBob with the boys and even cook a little breakfast.
Speaking of breakfast, wild game tends to be overlooked for this meal period. It is a shame since most game meat packs more protein per ounce than the commonly consumed pig. Getting a good dose of protein in the morning is a great way to keep focused and healthy. With that I mind one of my favorite breakfasts is a corned beef hash. Cured beef simmered in spices, salt and sugar and served with roasted potatoes. Two eggs on top and nothin’ is better. Filling and a large amount of protein.
However it was only in the past year that I was given a recipe for corning wild game. Remarkably it was very similar to my beef recipe. Well, duh. Anyway, I started with a venison roast and moved onto smaller cuts. Eventually I landed on goose meat. It was a perfect fit.
But for a lot of hunters goose is a tuff nut to crack. Like duck it often ends up in the smoker as jerky. I know why, it has a very gamey taste. I like the taste but understand how it can a little over the top for some palates. An easy way to cure the gamey-ness from goose is to “corn” it. Basically the brine cures the meat and changes the flavor and texture to that of the brine. Not a bad idea for those who don’t want to waste the birds they shot.
To corn the goose I use the McCormick’s pickling spice mix. While purist might call this cheating I find it a heck of a lot easier to adjust a pre-done mix than keep fresh stocks of all the different seasonings that go into corned meat. To be honest the package has a decent recipe for corned beef on it. However, the flavor does not penetrate the meat as well as it could without a curing time.
To cure the goose meat I remove the breasts and reserve the leg meat. I cure only the breasts because they are easier to slice and I do not have to remove the bones. This recipe will work for whatever type of meat that you want to cure. I never simply trash goose legs, they are tasty and it is against most states wanton waste laws to toss the meat.Korned Goose Hash

Recipe – Corned Goose

2 quarts water
1 cup salt, I use kosher
½ cup sugar
1 ounce Speed Cure (Prague Powder or Insta Cure #1 work the same)
3 tablespoons pickling spices

Six goose breasts, or up to one five pound roast

1 large potato per pound of meat, ½ inch cubes
1 medium onion per pound of meat, diced
Fresh sage
Fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Red chili flakes

Bring the salt, sugar, speed cure and pickling spices to a boil. The boiling of the spices will release the oils and flavors that might not otherwise fully develop.
The next step is to cool the brine to room temperature. If meat is added to the hot liquid it will start to cook and that can mess up the curing process. Not being one who likes to wait I have developed several methods of cooling the brine quickly after bringing it to a boil. An easy way is to simply cut the water amount in half that is brought to a boil and then add the remaining amount required in the form of ice at the end. So in this case I ask for 2qts of water. Bring one quart of water to a boil and then at the end add one quart of ice (32oz of ice, measure by weight not by volume on ice).
The method that I use a lot is the ice wand cooling. I have a frozen gel pack that I have vacuum sealed that I toss into brine. The ice pack drops the temperature very quickly and I don’t have to recalculate recipes. The icepack works well with soups and stocks as well. Make sure to vacuum seal it very well, no need to have any of that funky blue liquid in those packs in the brine! When I am done cooling the brine I simply rinse off the plastic and return it to the freezer, easy.
Next place the meat in the room temperature brine and place brine in the fridge, covered. For a venison roast, 5 pounds or so, it takes 5-7 days to cure. For a goose breast, about 1 pound each, it only takes 2 days. So all things equal cure for a minimum of 2 days and then add one day per pound of meat. This is a rough estimate of time needed. Adjust as your own to your taste.
When the meat is cured I rinse it off and let it air dry on a rack. Then I add it to a vacuum bag with a little butter and seal it closed.

Brined and Ready for Sous Vide

Next I place the vacuum packed meat into a crock-pot on low for about 24 hours. The low temperature cooks the meat gently and the yield is typically higher than if the meat is simply boiled.
When the meat is cooked, it should be nice and tender. Cool it down in the bag. This will allow some of the juices to reabsorb into the meat. When cool dice or slice the meat as you see fit.
Next brown the onions in a cast iron skillet with a little oil. Then add the cubed potatoes. Simmer the mix for 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Then add the corned meat and heat. Toss in the fresh thyme and fresh sage. Season with salt a pepper. Add a little heat with a teaspoon of red chili flakes.
Serve with two eggs. This is a little slice of corned goose heaven.
This recipe also makes great meat for Ruben sandwiches. Also, feel free to simmer the goose with some more pickling spice, potatoes, carrots and cabbage for the Irish classic corned goose and cabbage.

Categories: Ducks and Geese, Recipes | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Boy and His Bunny

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Chef Randy King

The 20 gauge looks huge next to my oldest boy. The single shot is his now, a gift from grandpa, and we are trying to get him his first rabbit. Or hare. Or, whatever. The goal is for something that hops, has big ears and eats well.

Ok, so to be clear…the Black Tailed Jackrabbit is a hare, the cottontail bunny is a rabbit and the Snowshoe rabbit is also a hare. The differentiation of rabbit and hares is not at all confusing, especially to my 10 year old. However, the best way that I found to explain the difference is ear size. Big ears that make the bunny look funny, is a hare. Little ears, rabbit.

With that out of the way my boy and I are out seeking the oft shot but seldom eaten black tailed jackrabbit. These are big-ol-bunnies that weigh from 3-7 pounds. For years the moss backs would tell me that a jackrabbit is tough and inedible. I never questioned the wisdom of my elders until recently. I have started eating jacks in recent years and found that they are delicious. The meat on a jackrabbit is dark red and flavorful, not like the chickeny meat on a cottontail. The way I figure it is if I want chicken I can buy chicken. I don’t want my game meat to be bland. A big jack is tough as nails, but the little ones are very tender. I try to only shoot small jacks but field judging a jackrabbit on the run is kind of hard.

My son and I are being less than silent walking through the waste tall sagebrush. We are deliberately trying to spook the jacks into running, or at least moving. It is not possible to sneak on a jack; those ears are custom tuned to locating predators. Unless you are a ninja the rabbit will probably hear you approaching before you see it. That said a running shot on them is not uncommon.

We spooked several from right under our feet and several where seen running at around 100 yards. The nice part about jacks is that they typically only run short distances when they are not being perused. I will normally whistle or clap to try and confuse the jack into stopping. When they stop running I tell the boy to shoot. I always try and keep a close eye on the rabbit when it stops. The coloration on jacks makes them virtually invisible under sagebrush. If they loose you in the brush look for eyes, black dots, not for body outlines. Our brush banging is paying off and we are scaring a large number of rabbits. Safety is the biggest concern, so the total number of shots thus far have been very limited. I don’t let him shoot at moving targets just yet.

The best gun that I have ever hunted jacks with is an over-under .22/ 20 gauge. It had the range when needed and the scatter gun for up-close running shots. Currently I use either a side by side 16 gauge or an open sight single shot .22. The 16 is for when I want meat, the .22 is for when I want to go for a walk.

The boy finally lands a shot on a bunny stopped under a tall bush. The shot rolls the bunny, perforating its ears, hurting it enough for the boy to catch it in the bush with a little effort and some lost skin. The glow in his eyes as he hoists his first rabbit, I mean hare, or whatever, is infectious. I think I just have created the local bunnies’ worst nightmare.

How to break down a rabbit.

Skinning a rabbit is a non issue. The fur literally peals off like a banana. I make a small cut on the back of the bunny and then simply pull in both directions. The bunny is skinned.

However, the fur must be examined for little creatures early in the season. In early fall I tend to find warbles under the skin of cottontails that I shoot. Warbles are larva from a certain type of fly. They lay an egg under the skin of the bunny and a maggot looking creature grows under the skin. I have seen warbles the size of my index knuckle before. Yuck. Now, the warbles are not typically in the muscle of the bunnies but the meat does tend to be bruised under the infected site. I cut away the bruise before eating. Eating bunnies with warbles is safe, according to the NationalWildlifeHealthCenter.

Ticks are also commonly found on all types of bunny. They are typically off the rabbits shortly after the first hard freeze. About October in Southern Idaho. When I shoot a bunny in tick months I make sure to skin and gut them before I place them in my pack. I carry plastic grocery bags with me for just this reason. I have found several ticks latched on to my upland game vest and even a few latched on to me when I forget to remove the skin. It is also a good idea to use an anti tick spray on the dog if using hounds to hunt the bunnies.

Another good idea to cook most rabbits/hares to well done, 150 degrees plus. The reason for this is that rabbits can pack a few nasty diseases with them. The one that I fear most is the Dog Tape Worm, Taenia pisiformis, the concern is not for me but for my mutt. If the gut pile is eaten by the dog it can get a nasty case of worms. Cooking them to well done insures that almost all diseases on the animal are killed. According to the NationalWildlifeHealthCenter rabbits and hares are edible year round, yes, even in the summer.

When breaking down a hare I get four separate cuts of meat. Two front legs, two hind legs, two loins and bones for stock. First, I dearticulate the back legs by first “popping” out the ball joint on the hind legs then sliding my knife above the ball. The leg should come cleanly off with one cut. The front legs are easy as well; they are not even attached with bone. I simply slide my blade into the armpit of the bunny and make a quick cut. The leg should come cleanly off.

To get the loins off I run my knife on either side of the backbone from the base of the neck to the tail. The blade should stop on the ribs of the hare. Then press the meat away from the bone and slide the knife under the loin. It should come off in one large section. Think of it as a tiny little backstrap. The remaining bones and stomach flaps make great stocks and flavoring for soup.

For a rabbit I do the same process except I do not remove the loins. I cut off the ribs at the back bone and then cut “saddle chops”. A saddle is simply the loin still attached to the back bone.

On a rabbit I will fry all the separate pieces like chicken. The meat is white and tender. On a hare I serve each section at different times. They all take different amounts of time to cook. The big back legs I will make soup or slowly roast. The loins I will cube and use like chicken in pasta. The front legs get saved until I have enough for a braised (crockpot) dish with sausage and potatoes.

Chicken Fried Rabbit (or Hare, or whatever)

½ cup milk

½ cup ranch dressing

½ cup flour

½ cup corn starch

1 cup crushed fine cracker crumbs

1 tablespoon Ms. Dash Original Seasoning

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt

Fresh black pepper

½ cup canola oil

1 lime, Juice and Zest

2 gallon Ziploc Freezer bags

In one bag pour in the milk and the ranch, mix together thoroughly. In the other bag add the flour, cornstarch, cracker crumbs, Ms. Dash, Paprika, salt, pepper, and cumin. Mix well.

Rinse the rabbit sections under the tap to wet them down. Add them to the cracker and seasoning mix. Remove to a dry plate. Then add them to the ranch mix.

Remove to dry plate and then add back to the cracker crumb mix making sure to press some of the dry coating onto the flesh. When coated completely remove the rabbit sections. The coating will last for up to three hours. So breading them ahead of time is ok.

In a medium sauté pan add about ¼ inch of oil. Heat the pan for five minutes on medium low heat. Add one section of the coated bunny, if the pan does not sizzle considerably than remove the section and turn the heat up a little.

Brown the bunny sections, about 3-5 minutes, then flip. Most pans will have lost a considerable amount of heat by now so I make sure to turn the heat up to medium when I flip the sections. This will allow even browning.

When brown on both sides turn the heat down to low and pour off the remaining oil. Grab the largest section of rabbit and cut to the center to check doneness. Keep cooking if the meat is pink. The internal temperature needs to reach 150 + degrees to make sure that all food bourn illnesses are destroyed.

Right before serving the rabbit sprinkle on the zest of the lime and then juice the lime over the top of the bunny. This will give the fried rabbit a little extra kick.

Categories: Recipes, Small Game | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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