Cooking With Game

 

My husband and I love this. It sounds odd, but the tomato really compliments the salmon and keeps it very moist and flavorful. This recipe is a fast, grab from the pantry style, but it would not be difficult to replace with your homemade sauce, fresh mushrooms, fresh vegetables and cheeses, for a more natural, organic meal.

Salmon Spaghetti
Combine in a microwave safe bowl
1/2 - 25.5 oz bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup of water
1 - 4.5 oz bottle of sliced mushrooms - drained
1 tablespoon of dried onion flakes
1/2 tablespoon dried garlic flakes
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (Kraft container type)
Heat in the microwave until warm enough to eat, but NOT steaming hot.

Put on pasta water and bring to a boil

Preheat Oven to 375

Spoon a thin layer of warm sauce on bottom of a 7” x 10” dish
Place 4 skinless salmon filets (4 to 6 oz - 1” to 1 1/2” thick) on top of the sauce.
Put the thicker pieces outside edges, and in a single layer.
Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the fish, and level out.
Put in the oven and bake for 15 minutes - NO longer (unless you forgot to heat the sauce - then 18 to 20 minutes)
Remove from oven and lay foil over top until ready to serve.

While salmon is baking, cook
1/2 Box Dreamfields Spaghetti (or any Brand)
with 1 tablespoon of salt added to the boiling water.

Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water, then drain.  Dress with:
3 to 4 tablespoons lite butter (or regular butter or margarine)
3 to 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (Kraft box type is fine)
Stir in the hot pasta water so spaghetti doesn’t stick together. It also helps the butter and cheese coat the pasta.

Serve by heaping some pasta on a plate, then place a piece of salmon on top, spoon some sauce over. Optional - Top with additional parmesan cheese - grated or shredded.

Posted by Gamekeeper at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

POACHED SALMON WITH LEMON-CAPER HERB SAUCE
Serves 4
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1 leek, trimmed, well washed, cut into 1/4-inch rounds or 1/4 slice onion
1/2 lemon, cut into 1/4-inch rounds (zest first for sauce)
1 tsp. dried dill
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 dried bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole coriander (or fennel seeds)
2 tablespoons coarse salt (or 2 chicken boulion cubes)
3/4 cup dry white wine
4 - 6 to 8 ounce salmon steaks, cut 1-inch thick
3 Tbsp soft butter

Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the pan by tracing around the lid.
Combine carrots, leeks, lemon slices, dill, powders, bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander, salt or boullion, and wine in a 12" pan. Add enough water so the liquid reaches a depth of 1 1/2 inches. About 6 cups.

Bring to a boil; lower to medium, cook for 5 - 10 minutes; reduce heat to barely simmering. Add salmon, cover with the parchment paper. Put the lid on over that. Remove from heat and let sit in hot liquid 8 minutes and cook until flesh is firm but still moist and red in the center. Transfer the fish to a plate and spread on the butter (use lite butter if you want, but do not skip this step or the fish won’t be as good and moist); cover with plastic wrap. Let sit 5 minutes.
Serve with Lemon-Caper Herb Sauce.

LEMON CAPER HERB SAUCE
1/2 cup sour cream
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon (or a tad less)
2 tbsp (or more) capers, drained, coarsely chopped ***
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped parsley (or 1 Tbsp dried)
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped tarragon (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
 
In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use.

***The capers make it salty. If you are making this sauce in the morning or the day before, use less capers. It gets saltier as it sits. You can also rinse the capers before using to reduce saltiness.

Posted by Gamekeeper at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sturgeon can be a difficult fish to cook. It doesn't have much flavor on it's own. It also gets very tough quite easily. One very positive aspects is that it has NO bones!!
Today I am marinating a batch in a soy sauce mix and a different batch in an oil and vinegar dressing. Then I am going to wrap it in bacon and pan fry until the bacon is crisp. We'll see what I get!Well here are my results: I wasn't happy with the oil and vinegar dressing marinade. It tasted okay, but the fish was dry and tough, strangely enough. My husband thinks the vinegar in the dressing is what toughened it. The soy sauce marinade was really good. The fish was firm, but not tough. Wrapping it in the bacon made it very flavorful, though I can see that some might find it a little salty. An argument could be made for using a lower sodium bacon and low sodium soy sauce.

Posted by Gamekeeper at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cheddared Elk Steak
Serves 6 to 8

4 pounds elk steak cut about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 in thick
flour
salt and pepper
1/4 cup oil
14 oz can chopped tomatoes (or about 2 cups chopped tomatoes)
2 medium onions, sliced
I cup (or more) grated Cheddar cheese

Poke steak with tenderizing fork. I use a many pronged, spring loaded ones. Season steaks with salt and pepper, then pound flour into the meat on both sides. This is a messy, but necessary step. I sprinkle the flour on the meat, then use a kitchen towel held above it while pounding in the flour with a toothed mallet to try to keep the flour from going all over. Shake off the excess. Brown the meat in the oil, then remove and set aside in 9 x 13 casserole dish. Add the sliced onions to the same skillet and saute slowly for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lift the meat to lay some onions under it, then put the rest on top with a little more salt and pepper if desired. Break the tomatoes up with a fork (mash around in the can) then pour over meat and onions, cover with foil and bake at 275 or 300 for 2 or 3 hours, or until tender. (This is best done the day before, then refrigerated, then reheated before serving.)
Before serving, remove the meat and slice. Pour off some, not all of the liquid. Put the meat back in the casserole. Cover with the grated cheese and return to oven long enough to melt the cheese.
To prepare ahead of time: This is best in flavor and in texture if done a day ahead (except for the cheese topping) and reheated the following day as above.
To freeze: Yes, by all means, this freezes, but don't add the cheese topping. Add that just before serving.
Other meat that works well is: Swiss or round steak.

Posted by Gamekeeper at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

To make wild duck, like Mallard, Shoveler (Spoonie), Pintail, Widgeon or Ringneck taste less gamey, I brine them overnight (or do the morning before cooking), in a solution of water, salt and sugar. Approximate amounts would be 8 cups of water, 1/4 cup table salt and 2 tablespoons sugar. You need enough water to fully cover the bird. Cut the amount in half if you are just doing one or two birds. You can put it all in a large glass dish, or in plastic bags, but if you use the bags, put them in a dish because they may leak. Warm a small amount of water using the microwave, then add the sugar and salt and stir to dissolve - then add the rest of the water. Pour the mixture over the birds. Let sit in the refrigerator over night or for 8 hours. Before cooking the meat, rinse in cool water to remove salt residue and pat dry.

You can look up brining and find a lot of different information. Brining can make the meat taste too salty for some. The amount I use (stated above) accommodates my husband’s tastes. He doesn’t like the food too salty. A saltier mixture will make the meat moister (or so the experts say), but my goal is not to make the meat moist, but to make it taste “cleaner” and less gamey. It may indeed add some moisture to it as well.
There is also the issue of which salt to use. I use regular ‘ol table salt. Remember, my whole outlook is keeping it uncomplicated, making it easy and ending up with something a family would eat.

Here is some information about salt I found at this web site:
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brining.html
Which Salt To Use
Kosher salt and table salt are the most common salts used in flavor brining. I use kosher salt most of the time because it dissolves quickly and it's what most professional cooks use in their kitchens, but I also use table salt on occasion.
Sea salt can be used for flavor brining, but it tends to be quite expensive. If you have a cheap supply available, go for it; otherwise, stick to kosher salt or table salt.
Some people say that kosher salt tastes "cleaner" than table salt because it does not contain the anti-caking agents added to table salt. Some people prefer non-iodized table salt over iodized table salt, believing that potassium iodide creates an off-taste. However, these flavor differences melt away when salt is diluted in water.
In an article about salt in the September/October 2002 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine, taste testers felt that "all nine salts tasted pretty much the same" when dissolved in spring water and chicken stock, whether it was $0.36/pound iodized table salt, $0.66/pound kosher salt, or $36/pound Fleur de Sel de Camargue sea salt from France.
Salt Equivalent Measures
Table salt and kosher salt do not have the same saltiness in a flavor brine when measured by volume--but they do when measured by weight.
Table salt weighs about 10 ounces per cup, while kosher salt weighs 5-8 ounces per cup, depending on the brand. If using kosher salt in a brine, you must use more than a cup to achieve the same salt flavor you would get from a cup of table salt.

Posted by Gamekeeper at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bacon Wrapped Marinated Sturgeon 

1 pound sturgeon sliced into pieces about 3/4” thick
1/2 pound bacon *

Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 clove garlic minced or smashed
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 Tbs. lemon juice

Place fish pieces in a plastic bag. Pour in the marinade. Seal and mix well.
Place in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Remove fish from bag and let marinade drain off, but do not rinse. The flesh will have darkened from the soy sauce, so don’t be alarmed.
Wrap each piece in bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Fry in a very hot pan until the bacon gets cooked *, turning often.
Remove from pan to paper towel lined plate.

*The bacon will just barely be cooked, in order to not overcook the fish. If you want crisper bacon, place the bacon on a baking sheet and cook in the oven at 400 degrees until it is partly done, but is still flexible enough to easily wrap around the fish. This also removes some of the bacon fat, but does add an extra step and an extra pan to wash!

 

 

Bacon Wrapped Fingers                               In the Pan 

Posted by Gamekeeper at 04:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

 
Pan Fried Sturgeon Sticks 

1 lb Sturgeon - sliced in 1/2” strips
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp onion powder (optional)
1/3 - 1/2 cup Pride of the West
1/2 - 1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs - beaten
vegetable oil

Place sturgeon slices in a container, or plastic zip loc bag. Pour just enough milk (any fat content) over the fish to cover. Add onion powder (if using). Put in the refrigerator to soak for 2 to 4 hours. Note: The original recipe, which I modified, says to soak for 24 hours or overnight. Set up a dish for each; dry Pride of the West mix, beaten egg and panko bread crumbs. Remove the fish from the milk, but don’t rinse. Roll each piece in the Pride, then in the egg and finally in the panko crumbs, coating well. Place on a plate and let sit for 30 minutes to let the egg/flour/panko set up.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, or electric skillet (my preference) until very hot (425 degress in electric skillet). When the oil is ready, place all the coated fish in the pan. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes until brown. Flip over and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes until nicely brown. Do not over-cook. Remove from pan and put on paper towels to drain. Cook a second batch if necessary. Let sit for 5 minutes, then eat ‘em up!

Serve with ketchup, mayonnaise, or my favorite, cold spicy applesauce. The fish sticks will be nice and crunchy, especially if you used the panko. You probably could use regular dry bread crumbs, but they probably won’t be quite as crispy.

I got the idea for this recipe from www.ifish.net. They have a number of recipes for sturgeon you may want to try.

 

 

Crosswise slices                                           Milk bath

 

Panko coated

Posted by Gamekeeper at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)