The Hunter Is Called On To Cook
If you have succumbed to the call of the wild and want to get out and hunt for your own consumption, there are few things healthier to do in this life. Hunting is outdoors exercise at its best, and the meat is lean, tasty and nutritious.
But you must understand that hunting the animal down is only one aspect of the whole process of harvesting fresh meat. Once you kill it, you will have to grill it. And before you grill it you will have to cut it up. Field dressing game animals is an art all its own, and would be dealt with better elsewhere. Here we are discussing those quartered pieces on the way to the kitchen.
After the initial dressing of the animal, with any luck you will have a large quantity of meat pieces to deal with, and larger ones at that. At this stage you can forget about the usual kitchen knife set you use at home. You will need something substantial in order to convert the big chunks of meat in to smaller and more manageable chunks.
When chopping up the big pieces into little pieces you will want a much larger and heftier knife set. Sporting goods stores and butcher supply shops may have what you will need. This is serious work, cutting a quartered animal into steaks and chops and loins and roasts. You will need serious tools for the task. Set aside some fresh tidbits for your first banquet and freeze the rest.
For your first foray into the culinary delights of wild game, try your hand a cooking up a simple stew. This is a very tasty dish, and it can be doctored up for almost any taste. It is incredibly simple to do, too. Get yourself a large roasting pan and place the chosen meat morsels in to it.
And some solid root vegetables, like potatoes and carrots. You can add green things if necessary, but it will not be necessary. This is simple and hardy fare, and too much vegetation in it may ruin it. Cover the mess with water and set it to boil. Add plenty of pepper, a wee bit of salt, and as much spicy hot goodness as you can stand.
After getting it up to full boil, drop the heat down for a nice long simmer. Let it sit there for a good while, and enjoy the smells of it all cooking. Keep the water level high enough as it will reduce down over time. Stir it up once and again, and when everything is tender, it is good to go. Chase it all down with plenty of cold brew, and that is living country style.
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