Your favorite “eating” game, and how you prepare it

[Magungo1066]

Some awesome recipes everyone! I hate when people refer to ANYTHING as gamey. I invariably say, "someone cooked it poorly for you". NOW I agree that there are certain things where special care has to be taken while preparing it but ANYTHING cooked poorly stinks haha.

 

[tenngun]

I think there is a ‘wild flavor, or gaminess’ to wild meat.
but I think 90% of gaminess is slow to clean the game. So the meat is starting to turn before it’s in the freezer

 

[Billy Boy]

Wild swamp rabbit spitted whole over a bed of coals slowly roasted with a can of 'Wolf Brand' hot dog sauce for basting. Smaller white potatoes roasted under the coals and accompanied by whole ears of corn in the shucks with the silks removed and the ears rubbed with butter, salt and pepper, also a whole pineapple cored and stuffed with a banana and wrapped in foil. Served with roasted Jalapeno peppers or chilis petines and warm tortillas with frijoles refritos y cerveza bien fria. (with refried beans and cold beer}

Would you be offended if I brought along some Pepto Bismol?

 

[Treestalker]

Would you be offended if I brought along some Pepto Bismol?

You might try drinking milk or eating bread to help offset the heat of chilis; of course we gringos cannot take too much, LOL!

 

[stephenprops1]

Tom A Hawk, the best way to cook a carp is bake it on a pine board then throw away the fish and eat the board.

Regarding the carp: If you cut out the mud-streak along the spine, before cooking it, a carp actually can taste pretty good.

 

[bud in pa]

I like butter fried venison steak.
You simply use salted butter to cook the venison steak medium rare.
Venison is very lean, and the residual fat that remains on the steak as you move it from skillet to plate helps a lot, and the salt in the butter is just right.

I also like venison meat balls. I mix a pound of ground venison with a cup of unseasoned bread crumbs. I'm allergic to oregano, so I use the plain bread crumbs. Then I add salt, pepper, garlic, and a whole, raw egg. I mix this by hand, then roll out the meatballs, and boil them. Yes, not baked but boiled. Again venison being lean, I found when they are baked, the crust you get when you make beef meatballs is much harder when venison is used, and I find that an undesired hardness.

You can make the meatballs any size of course, so I make them about golf-ball sized if they are for Italian meatball subs, or with a sauce for Swedish meatballs..., BUT normally I make them about the size of a .58 round ball, and then I can do Italian Wedding Soup, or Pho, OR put them in brown gravy with mushrooms, over rice.

Lastly I brown ground venison with olive oil and onions, and mix it 50/50 with refried beans from a can, and then add garlic, cumin, salt, and sriracha sauce for taco/burrito meat. (If I have the time I will cook red kidney beans and mash them myself instead of the canned refried beans) I hate the "taco sauce" packets, as the flavor isn't as good as using good quality spices that I mentioned, AND the packet costs more than doing the spices yourself..., I don't see the need to spend more money for lesser results.

LD

Dave we cook our meatballs right in the spaghetti sauce. I add a little of the sauce to the meatball mix before rolling out meatballs. we cook them in the sauce for an hour. the sauce would have been cooking for 3 to 4 hours before hand.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Out of season quail. Like the one that flew into the window, broke it's neck. and died. I could have just tossed it into the garbage can which would have been a wanton waste of game. That's a sin so I breasted it out and fried it up for breakfast. Wish there would have been a couple of others who followed it into the window.

 

[GregCSarver]

Without question it's elk meat for me. It doesn't matter how I cook it I love it. I can and do eat it everyday if I have enough to do that.

I hunt and eat mule deer but i'm not a fan. My dog is my only family and he has to eat too. He gets the bear meat and loves it..

I shot my first and only mule deer two years ago. From the time I pulled the trigger until the time we had him skinned and hanging was leas than an hour. It was cool if not cold outside. That deer was the foulest most rank animal I've ever smelled or tasted. I simply could not eat it. It was not spoiled but had the most gamey / musky taste and smell imaginable. Our dog who is part beagle and will eat ANYTHING wouldn't even eat this deer. I felt horrible but most of it went in the trash.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Dave we cook our meatballs right in the spaghetti sauce. I add a little of the sauce to the meatball mix before rolling out meatballs. we cook them in the sauce for an hour. the sauce would have been cooking for 3 to 4 hours before hand.

Yes that is excellent for meatballs used with spaghetti for sure. I do the boil part as I make a bunch ahead of time, and then decide what dish to put them in. They go into the freezer or the fridge depending on when I plan to use the rest.

LD

 

[Loyalist Dave]

OH I forgot, Parboiled Small Game ..., which is not that accurate a recipe name....

You take squirrels, skinned, cleaned, head, feet and tail removed,
Then I put 'em in a rolling boil of water for like five minutes. I bring the water up to a boil, then add the critters, and then start the timer when it returns to the rolling boil...
Then I remove them and wrap 'em in bacon, and lay 'em on the grill, or more often skewer it on a squirrel fork or a pair of wooden skewers, and slow roast 'em.
When the bacon is nice and crispy the squirrels are done.
The trick is to have the fire down to coals and enough space between the squirrel and the coals to give you a moderate cooking time, so the squirrel is 100% cooked, which is why I parboil them for five minutes first.

For upland birds like quail, dove, grouse/partridge, you clean and pluck the birds, and do the same procedure.
The bacon adds fat and flavor to the lean critter meat.

I especially like to do this with squirrels when I'm at a Living History Event, and the tourist will come along and see what I'm cooking. I like to have a good amount of squirrels so I can eat one and start cooking another, and watch the reactions.

DOG
YES that's the recipe name.

You find a butcher someplace that will sell you a large eatin' rabbit. I get mine from the Amish Market. They ain't cheap, but I think they are worth it from time to time.

So I take the rabbit, and brine it like a chicken overnight, before I go to a Living History Event. I add a good amount of garlic to the brine.
At the event I put the rabbit on a spit, and I bring some plain, sweet butter along to baste it. It's a slow roast, as I will start at about 10 for an event that's open from 9-3, and plan on eating at 2 p.m. The rabbit has no skin so the basting helps.

Most suburbanites have not seen a rabbit cooked, and if they have seen a wild rabbit being cooked, a large, domestic eatin' rabbit is much larger than they've seen. SO as I cook the rabbit, if they ask what it is, I tell them "dog". When they scoff, I tell them to count the drumsticks (most suburbanites seem to be poor at observation so they miss the fact that the "turkey" I have does not have wings but four legs ) Then I tell them "Dog makes a fine meal"....

A lot of the tourists for some reason are taken aback by that...

So I've done this a few times, and the rabbit is tasty, and only once has a tourist pulled me aside and quietly asked, "Hey, where did you get a rabbit that big?"

LD

 

[Blaze]

Having done alot of hunting over years and eaten everything I've shot including, deer, bear, moose, elk, antelope, wild boar, various other anilmals and just about all small game.
I do have a favorite, Savory Squirrel. Actually, ground hog was the best but don't have a great recipe for it. I think you'll like the savory squirrel recipe.

 

[R.J.Bruce]

Elk, moose, caribou, whitetail deer top my list of wild game. If it's prepped properly after being killed, and the meat not full of adrenaline, there isn't a bad way to eat any of the above four. Fried, grilled, roasted, braised, slow cooked, pressure cooked, baked, pressure canned, made into summer sausage, smoked sausage, jerky, freeze dried, etc. They're all good.

 

[Red Owl]

Squirrels, Dove, earl Grouse. Cooked any way.

 

[Hermit Tim]

Hands down, ruffled grouse. Haven't had a bad way to fix them yet.
Robby

I'm a bit jealous of you guys. Here in Tennessee grouse hunting is closed West of I-65. And unfortunately I live about fifteen miles west of 65. Never even seen a grouse. One day it will happen......

 

[Hermit Tim]

Mexican elk steak. In a large deep electric skillet ya layer sliced onions, carrots and HOT peppers (I use jalapenos, habaneros and serrano's). Smother with hot red tomatoes sauce or diced with green chilis etc. etc. Whatever I find. Next, after searing chicken fried steak style in HOT skillet with spiced flour dusting (I use Cajon spice in the flower), place yer elk ROUND steaks in a single layer over the vegi's. Cover with sauce, repeat till near the top. Now simmer all day as low as possible to get a bubble or two. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes. If ya have an issue with heartburn get ya an alternative, this is HOT. Best meal EVER after a hard day in the cold hunting!

That sounds awesome. My wife makes a fantastic Cajun sourdough bread that would go great buttered and skillet toasted under a pile of that.

 

[Stony Broke]

Whitetails......I try to stock up every year as my wife and I love them. She is very adept at making the meals I love with it, like breaded cube steak, meatloaf, etc.... I have hunted a lot in my lifetime, but it is my favorite meat...Period !! I managed to stock up 4 of them in the freezer this last season and if my old body will stand it, I would love to do the same thing again next season. I actually prefer whitetails over beef !!

 

[Walkingeagle]

Whitetails......I try to stock up every year as my wife and I love them. She is very adept at making the meals I love with it, like breaded cube steak, meatloaf, etc.... I have hunted a lot in my lifetime, but it is my favorite meat...Period !! I managed to stock up 4 of them in the freezer this last season and if my old body will stand it, I would love to do the same thing again next season. I actually prefer whitetails over beef !!

I preferred Mule Deer over all other big game meats, plus beef. However now my guts are having a hard time with most meats. Sigh....
Walk

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Fav, thats easy Bisson stew, but then Ill naw on any part

 

[Kansas Kid]

Frog legs and Bison top my list.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Fried frog legs, fried okra, french fries and hush puppies all with a good splash of your favorite hot sauce, GOOD EATING there.