📖 News | Stale 🍞 Ideas | Smoked Venison

Published: Sun, 02/25/24

Wild Bites #44: 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

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1. What's Hot Now

Smoked venison backstrap is flat out amazing.

Here's what's trending on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook:

Enmoladas are Mexican enchiladas that use a rich mole sauce instead of enchilada sauce. I love using a mole negro, but any moles sauce you want will work. I have links to my mole recipes in this post.
Southwestern style green chile chicken soup is a fantastic supper for cold weather. I use grouse or pheasant, but any white meat will do here.
In some places farmer's markets don't stop in winter, and cauliflower is a big deal now. I like to make pickled cauliflower, Italian style, for later in the year. Obviously, store-bought cauliflower works fine.
Hunters tend to have a lot of odds and ends in the freezer around now, and a great use for rando bits of exotic protein is to make rillettes, which are a sort of rough pate you spread on hearty toast or crackers. Works with most meats. Want a challenge? Make a goose or duck terrine.
Still got venison backstrap? Smoke it! My recipe for smoked venison backstrap is a winner, and who says you can't smoke meats in winter?
Looking for easy? Ground venison ragu is the ticket. Serve it on any pasta you want, or with polenta.

Moving up the list: Cold weather salmon recipes are, well, the reason we all go out and catch salmon -- to tide us over for winter. You can't go wrong with my Pacific Northwest salmon chowder. Works with trout, too.

Love these or any of my recipes? Please rate them while you're there so people searching for recipes know they're worth clicking on!

2. What to do with Stale Bread?

Winter panzanella on a plate in cool light.

Winter panzanella is a great dish that's easy to make.

I bake a lot of bread -- I'm on an extended exploration of rye these days -- and since I am solo, I often don't have time to eat a loaf before it goes stale. What to do? Here are ideas for what to do with any stale bread, not just rye.

Panzanella is a classic. Stale bread cubes and seasonal vegetables, sometimes with some protein. Since it's winter, my recipe for winter panzanella with tinned fish really hits the spot.
Alpine canederli, relatives of the classic, big German dumpling, are easy to make and super tasty on a winter evening.
What's the most common thing that uses stale bread? Stuffing, duh! And no, it's not just for Thanksgiving. I have two great stuffing recipes: Cranberry sausage stuffing, and a wild mushroom stuffing that yes, works fine with store-bought mushrooms, too.
Speaking of those big German dumplings, the Bavarian dumplings in my recipe for roast venison are wonderful.
Finally, many meatball recipes use stale bread, and of my many recipes, the best is my Italian venison meatballs. Classic Italian-American style meatballs will make you want to watch The Godfather!

Make the Meatballs

3. Culinary Hunts Almost Sold Out!

Hunters filling their plates at a culinatry hunt.

We had a great response to our culinary hunts -- they are almost sold out! Check below for remaining openings. A few hunts have already closed.

The first hunt will be at the Pineridge Grouse Camp in Remer, Minnesota, from September 19-22. ONLY 8 SPOTS LEFT
After that, I'll be doing a duck hunt at the Teller Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis, Montana from Nov. 15-17. ONLY TWO SPOTS LEFT
The next three hunts are at Coastal Wings Outfitters near Loveland, OK. The first two are deer hunts, but they sold out fast. We will hunt waterfowl - ducks, geese and cranes - from Dec. 7-10. 10 SPOTS LEFT

If you're interested in the deer hunt, we can get you on a waiting list,

Cost ranges from $1500 to $2750 per person, depending on the hunt, and that includes everything except licenses, transportation and tips. Info on how to sign up and more details are in this link.

You can also use the comment form below to ask me any questions you might have.

More Hunt Details

4. Baja Stories

The sights, sounds, flavors and conversations I had in Baja California were amazing. I recently returned from a long trip there, one of many I've taken to the peninsula. If you've only been to Cabo, this will show you another side of Baja. And if you've never been, this might give you some idea about what it's all about. Baja Stories is my latest article for To the Bone.

To the Bone is where I write about everything from my adventures in the wild world to Big Thoughts to travelogues and more. It would mean the world to me if you'd consider subscribing; you can start with a free subscription, and upgrade to paid if you want to support my work. Thanks in advance!

Read the Essay

5. And, We're Off!

A stack of books and notebooks in Spanish.

I am back from another Mexican trip, this time to Chihuahua (more on that later), and will be home a bit before I head south of the border again. I returned from this trip energized and finally ready to start writing my book!

I've been researching this book for years and years, and finally feel ready to start putting pen to paper... er, fingers to keyboard. The book, tentatively titled Del Norte: The Cuisines of Northern Mexico, will cover all the Mexican states that border the United States, plus Baja Sur, where Los Cabos are.

My plan (hope) is to have this book in print in about a year, so springtime 2025. It will be my biggest book yet, likely close to 400 pages, and will be lushly photographed -- Holly took a lot of great plate photos of plated dishes, and I've taken thousands of photos from Mexico itself.

So while I still have a few trips to Mexico planned this year, I am starting to buckle down and write. Stay tuned, because once the recipes are set, I will need your help to test them. Every recipe in every book I've written has been tested by you, the readers. It's vital to me that my recipes actually work.

Public Events

If you're going to be at Pheasant Fest in Sioux Falls next weekend, March 1 and 2, I will be speaking at the Path to the Uplands stage on Friday at 4 pm, and again on Saturday at 1 pm. I will have a few books to sell if you are interested.

Finally, if you're in Minnesota, mayhe I'll see you at the Minnesota Deer Classic on Saturday, March 9. Look for me at Jamie Rockney's Chick of the Woods booth (No. 610); she's graciously allowed me to join her there. I'll have a few books to sell and autograph if you swing by.

Be well, and know that I appreciate all of you! You make all of this possible.

~ Hank

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Thank you for your support!

~ Hank Shaw

2038 Ford Parkway
PO Box 212
St Paul MN 55116
USA

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