Wild Bites #36: a 4-minute read that makes you smarter about wild food and tells you what's to come on the website, podcast, YouTube, or To The Bone.

 ~ Hank

1. What's Hot Now

Wouldn't a nice, hot bowl of pozole blanco hit the spot right now? 

2. Ground Venison Recipes

Classic venison meatloaf. 

If you have venison, chances are you have ground venison. Ground deer meat can be exactly like ground beef, or, when it has no fat, can be lean and dry without additions. 

I have plenty of recipes that work with either style of ground venison, ranging from the classic meatloaf pictured above to South African bobotie, a sort of venison casserole. 

Here are some of my personal favorites: 

• I love this recipe for Sonoran style picadillo, which is basically what "taco meat" is in Mexico. Best of all is that this recipe works well with no-fat ground venision. 
• Who doesn't love a pasty? Venison pasties are not only great and fun to make, but they are also awesome stuck in your pocket for when you are hunting more deer... 
• Gotta love a venison burger. My method for venison burgers makes them super juicy and can be modified to fit your personal tastes. Looking for a smashburger instead? Try my Oklahoma onion burgers. 
• Finally, it's getting cold out, which means it's chili time. I am pretty sure my venison chili has won more cook-offs than any other recipe on the internet. You owe it to yourself to try it. (This one works great with fat-free grind, too.) 

3. Eat More Geese

Geese get a bad rap. Unjustly. Truth is, they can be some of my favorite game animals to cook -- even the much maligned snow geese. But you need to know a few things. 

First, here's a primer on how to enjoy the snow geese you bring home. And here is an article on how to cook Canada goose. They are so much bigger than other geese, they deserve a special mention. Got specks? Pluck and eat like a duck.

Here is my gallery of duck and goose recipes, but you might want to start with the reverse seared goose breast recipe pictured above. It's a knockout, and will change your mind about geese. I guarantee it. 

4. Lodge Life

Up before 5 a.m. Work until 8:30 p.m. Long hours, working for tips, which can range from great to, well, non-existent. 

My latest article on To the Bone is a day in my life as a chef at a hunting lodge. It's hard work, but there are little wins to leaven the little losses. It'll give you a sense of what my life's been like this past month.  

If you like what you read, it would mean the world to me if you would consider subscribing to To the Bone. You can start subscribing for free, and upgrade to paid if you want to support my work. Thanks in advance for considering it. 

5. Let My New Chapter Begin! 

I feel like Bilbo Baggins, having gone There and Back Again. My time at the Pineridge Grouse Camp ended today, and I am heading back to St Paul, to my new home, which stands empty and full of boxes. I am eager to start this new chapter. 

Slowly but surely, as my exhaustion wanes, I feel my creativity creeping back. A conversation with my sister sparked this, and I wrote about what lets me be creative in my latest essay over on To the Bone. I'd be interested in hearing about what stokes your creativity.

Over the next month or so I plan on resting, recharging and nesting. I am finally done with adventures. At least for a little while. 

~ Hank

Comments?