Antler & Fin

Let's face it. If you stockpile venison scraps for stew, burger and sausage, you likely have some random holdings suitable for jerky.  It may be simpler to grind those scraps, but this easy homemade jerky recipe will motivate you to find more value in the scraps or devote more of your deer to a jerky stash.  When it comes to venison, anything including pepper, garlic, Worcestershire and soy can produce magic, and this recipe is no different. A slight salty kick from the soy, tang from the pepper and Worcestershire, and a lingering sweetness from the softened, marinated venison ensures a fresh batch won't last long.  Perfect for a family snack or to toss into your day pack for a hike or hunt, look no further for an ideal, portable protein punch than your freezer and refrigerator doors. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Brad Trumbo Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Beef Jerky: Jerky is a VERY popular snack in Canada and the USA, made primarily of lean beef, which gets cut into strips, marinated, and dried or smoked over low heat, producing a savoury, chewy meat product that is fit to eat without any cooking or preparation.  Due to the way it's made and its protein-to-moisture content, most jerky is shelf-stable and can last unrefrigerated for months.  Though beef is by far the most popular type consisting of about 80% of the jerky consumed in the USA, it can also be made with pork, turkey, chicken, lamb, fish, wild game, mushroom, soy, and even earthworms. Jerky is largely made by industrial manufacturers, utilizing massive drying ovens, chemical preservatives, and vacuum sealing machines to mass produce the snack for sale in walmarts and gas stations, though as Brad will prove later, it is quite easy to make at home too.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These Paddlefish Caviar and Cucumber Bites are easy to create, yet they make an amazingly fantastic hors d'oeuvre for your next get-together with family and friends. I love making these for a party because I can whip it all up from start to finish in just 10 minutes. Store-bought crackers are topped with dill cream cheese, cucumber slices, paddlefish caviar, and fresh dill.  I've lived in North Dakota for 40 years, yet I've never taken advantage of the unique resource of paddlefish and the coveted caviar you can make with its roe. This year, I finally made the 7-hour drive from Fargo to the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence area near Williston where hundreds of men and women line the river beginning May 1 to try and snag a paddlefish with an 8 or 10-foot snagging rod.  It's an extremely challenging experience where you fish from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. throwing cast after cast, yanking a 5-ounce lead weight and large treble hook through the water trying to snag a giant beast and drag it to shore. Sometimes weighing in at over 100 pounds, these long-billed prehistoric looking river monsters are one of the most exciting fish you can attempt to catch in freshwater here in the United States. After spending hours casting and dragging in the hot sun, I finally felt a tug on my line. “Fish on!” I yelled in excitement as my hook dug deep into the fish. The battle was intense, but I was determined to reel it in. As I tried to keep the rod tip high, I could feel the fish fighting back with all its might. Try to imagine the hard-charging tug of the biggest northern pike you've ever hooked into, then multiply that by a hundred! I'm not a very strong and muscular guy, so it was with sheer determination that I finally managed to get the behemoth close to shore so my friend could grab it and pull it up onto the muddy bank. Despite feeling exhausted and sweaty, I couldn't help but feel grateful for this incredible experience. As I sat next to the fish, I took a moment to reflect on the battle that had just taken place, feeling victorious and grateful for the opportunity to catch such a magnificent creature. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Jeff Benda Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Caviar: The term caviar, coming from the Persian for “egg-bearing”, generally refers to salted fish eggs, or roe, from fish belonging to the Acipenseridae family, or the sturgeons. The fancy caviar as we know it actually refers only to eggs harvested from wild sturgeon caught in the Caspian and Black seas of Eurasia, though the term can be used loosely to refer to any of the salted fish eggs that we eat.  To prepare it, fish eggs are gently removed from the membranous sack, or skein, that gets extracted from egg-bearing female fish. They are then rinsed off of any impurities and soaked in a salt brine for a specified amount of time. This curing process helps preserve the eggs and also adds flavour.  Fish eggs will vary in size, colour, and flavour from fish to fish. Caviar, or fish roe, is eaten in different ways wherever cultures tend to catch a lot of fish.  Let's focus on the true form of caviar first, coming from Caspian sturgeons.  True caviar can be split into three different types: beluga, ossetra, and sevruga.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Native American Heritage Month and to honor my ancestors I whipped up some traditional ingredients using some modern cooking methods, even the use of mayo on my steaks. Yes, I used mayo, and it came out great! I have been researching our upcoming podcast pilot episode and recently stumbled upon an exciting food trend. The trend is the use of mayonnaise in place of oil for searing meat. Yes, you can re-read that statement, I said mayonnaise. At first, this struck me as very odd and made me slightly uncomfortable because who would put mayo on a perfectly good piece of meat? I dug a little deeper into the proposed science behind the “why” and I was surprised at the results. An article from the LA Times explains, “Mayonnaise is an emulsion, which means you have small droplets of oil surrounded by egg yolk, and that has a couple of really cool properties.” They go more in-depth, “This emulsion allows the oils in the mayonnaise actually to stick to the food, unlike plain oil. Oil and water don't mix, which is why it's so hard to get the fat to adhere to foods you want to grill, particularly meats.” This process, I learned, is not limited to grilling. I slathered a couple of Antelope steaks in a mayo spice mixture and tossed them in a piping hot cast iron pan.  Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Hominy: Hominy is basically dried corn kernels, also known as maize in much of the world, that have gone through a process called nixtamalization, or an alkaline treatment.  So…. dried corn kernels, that's easy enough; but what is nixtamalization? Nixtamal is a word that comes from the Nahuatl language, a portmanteau meaning lime ashes and corn dough. The process of nixtamalization involves cooking and then soaking dried corn kernels in an alkaline solution, usually lime water, which causes a number of chemical reactions to take place in the corn.  During the process, the cell walls in the kernels, which are full of alkaline-soluble hemicellulose and pectin, begin to break down, softening the outer hull. Starches inside the kernel expand and gelatinize, helping the corn to be ground much easier and hold its shape as a dough.  Many proteins and nutrients are also unlocked in the process, making them available for absorption by the human body.  After treatment, the hulls are removed from the kernels and the corn gets washed to remove any unpleasant flavours. From there, the corn, now hominy or nixtamal, can be dried, frozen, or canned. It can also be ground in order to make corn products like masa, tortillas, grits, tamales, and tortilla chips.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a recent Harvesting Nature Field to Fork wild pig camp in Texas, butcher extraordinaire Adam Steele and I were driving from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport to Jacksboro where the camp was being held. We were both feeling quite peckish, so I had Adam look up a potential spot to stop for lunch along the way. “How about a Texas roadhouse?” he asked. Bingo. We grabbed a table under the watchful eyes of mounted deer and longhorn cattle heads and looked around at walls festooned with Lone Star flags and Texas memorabilia. We decided to get a Texan kind of meal, so we ordered some sweet teas, a big bowl of queso, and some chicken fried steaks. I intimated to the waitress that I'd never had chicken fried steak before, and she let out a big whoop, drawing the attention of the rest of the staff. The thought of a Canadian who had never even tried the dish before tickled them pink, and they all stood there and watched me take my first bite – delicious! The dish I made here is a nod to that lunch and to Texas as a whole. I combined both parts of our meal, the steak, and the queso, and made it wild-based with elk bottom round steaks. I turned the queso into a gravy, which gets poured over the chicken fried elk, replacing the traditional white gravy usually served with it. Feel free to swap the elk out with any lean red meat. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Adam Berkelmans (The Intrepid Eater) Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Chicken Fried Steak Chicken fried steak is a Southern American dish (not a South American dish!) consisting of a cube steak, dredged in flour, dipped in egg wash, dredged in flour a second time, and then fried in lard or oil, ideally in a cast iron skillet. It is most often served in the aforementioned white gravy, with mashed potatoes on the side.  For those listeners unfamiliar with what a cube steak is, it is generally a thin piece of top round or sirloin that has been pounded and tenderized in a process called cubing - so called due to the square indentations left on the meat. This is usually done by a mechanical tenderizer these days.  Cube steak is also sometimes known as bucket steak, named for the cardboard buckets in which the steaks are sometimes sold, or minute steaks, named for the amount of time needed to cook them. Northerners and Canadians like me might be most familiar with the minute steak moniker.  The reason it is called chicken fried steak is due to the way in which it is prepared and cooked - much like southern fried chicken.  You can actually even find chicken fried chicken in the South as well. What could that possibly be??? Chicken fried chicken points to chicken prepared like chicken fried steak, which in turn points to steak prepared like fried chicken. Confused yet? Where normal fried chicken will usually be bone-in pieces of chicken, chicken fried chicken will be a flattened tenderized piece of boneless chicken that was dredged in flour, dunked in egg wash, dredged again, then fried… just like chicken fried steak. Don't worry, it took a while for me to wrap my head around it too.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shawn West - I was fortunate enough to cross a “bucket-list” hunt off my list this past November when I went on a layout-boat duck hunt near Long Point on Lake Erie. Big water diving ducks were birds that I had not had a chance to hunt in the thirty years that I'd been waterfowling, and I snapped at the chance when a friend proposed and organized the opportunity. Being run out to the layout boats at the crack of dawn, I was literally vibrating with nervous energy. Our guide gestured to huge rafts of redheads in the outer bay as we settled into the UFO boats, and despite warning us that a potentially slow, calm, bluebird day was in the cards, I only heard “huge rafts of redheads”. I had always wanted to take a stud drake redhead, and that day looked like the chance to do so. The first group decoyed perfectly just after dawn broke, and we scratched down a drake apiece, and throughout the day we whittled our way through a two-person limit, finishing the hunt as the sun slipped below the horizon behind us and a near-full moon rose in front of us. As we took some photos and packed up back at the wharf, I was already thinking of how to prepare the birds we had on hand. Since I had a handful of redheads, I decided to make one of my favourite “red” dishes; a wild game take on General Tso's chicken. Diver ducks can be dogged by a reputation as tasting “fishy” or “muddy” but I experienced none of that. Instead, I found myself devouring crispy, tender duck bites in a sticky sauce that perfectly balances sweet, salty, and spicy. This dish was immediately addictive, with the duck adding a pleasantly rich, and might I say, more aggressive flavour than just bland old chicken. Serve this with sesame seeds, over rice and stir-fried broccoli, and try not to eat it all by yourself. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Shawn West Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About General Tso's Chicken: General Tso's chicken is an interesting dish. It's named after the Chinese war leader Tso Zong-tang, who grew up in Hunan province.  Strangely, old general Tso never actually tasted this dish, nor can it even be found in Hunan or even China at all!  Although several claim to have created the dish, many point to Peng Chang Kuei, a Taiwanese based immigrant who moved to New York in the 70's, as the originator.  He created the dish at his restaurant and altered it by adding a fair amount of sugar to make it more palatable to white Americans. He named it after the folk hero general tso because he too was originally from the Hunan province.  The dish was a success and quickly became famous, spreading through restaurants all over the States, and eventually the world.  Peng later opened a restaurant in Hunan province in the 1990s, trying to sell his famous dish there, but the restaurant quickly failed. The reason? Locals thought the dish was way too sweet.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are an invasive species in Florida and are not native to our state. They can cause considerable damage to infrastructure, including seawalls and sidewalks.  This species is not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law. So, as long as you harvest them humanely and safely, which we do, then you can take as many as you want.  In addition to damaging infrastructure, the iguanas eat pretty much all plants, fruits, and vegetables available to them.  Personally, I think they taste amazing and should be eaten more frequently just out of principle and to keep numbers around my home low.  This recipe is quick and easy, using tropical ingredients to form a delicious taco. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Dustyn Carroll Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Invasive Iguanas: There are three types of iguanas found in Florida and all are invasive. There's the black spiny-tailed iguana, the Mexican spiny-tailed iguana, and the green iguana. Of the three, the green iguana is the most… pervasive invasive.  Green iguanas are native to South and Central America, as well as Mexico and some Caribbean islands.  Green iguanas tend to be, you guessed green, though some verge on brown, or even black in color. Some may temporarily sport bright orange or pink highlights as well.  They have a row of spikes down their back and tail with black rings. Giant male iguanas can grow up to 5 feet in length and weigh 17 pounds and will often have a large fan or dewlap at the throat which they can puff up to attract mates or scare off smaller males.  Most iguanas come in under 7 pounds and females tend to be much smaller than males.  They didn't arrive in Florida until the 1960s when several were thought to arrive on shipping freighters from the Caribbean.  At the same time, many were bought as exotic pets and released into the wild once they got too big to handle.  Eventually, these stowaways and escapees formed colonies in southeastern and southwestern Florida, where they bred like wild. Researchers estimate that there are well over 20,000 iguanas in South Florida today.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Venison Steak au Poivre is a classic French dish that is popular among hunters and gourmands alike.  Steak au poivre is a classic French dish that dates back to the mid-1800s. The steak is typically pan-fried and served with a pan sauce made from crushed black peppercorns with cream, butter, and cognac, and it can also include garlic, shallots, and other herbs and spices.  The combination of the steak and creamy sauce is a delicious and classic way to enjoy a steak.  This recipe is an excellent meal for a weeknight dinner because it is easy to prepare, has a sophisticated flavor, and is incredibly satisfying. Instead of brandy or cognac in the sauce, I used bourbon because, well, I like bourbon. You can either serve the sauce atop the steaks or put the steaks back into the sauce in the pan for reheating.   I also utilized a method called flambe. Flambe is a cooking method that involves the flaming of food. I like to use this method to bring out more of the natural flavors of the food, especially the black pepper in this case. In order to flambe a dish, you cook the food in a pan until the desired temperature, then add alcohol, and then ignite the alcohol. Then, allow the flames to burn off, which will create a caramelized layer on the food and adds a delicious smoky flavor.  Although flambe can be intimidating, it is actually quite easy to master with practice. Make sure your cooking space is clear of other flammables and ensure safe practices when attempting this method. Maybe keep a fire extinguisher nearby… Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Venison: I thought I'd use Justin's excellent venison steak recipe to showcase all of the types of huntable deer-like animals in Canada and the US that could offer venison meat that would work in this recipe.  When people think of venison in my neck of the woods, people are generally thinking of white-tailed deer meat, but that's not the case around North America! Let's get into all of the different deer-like animals, which I will call cervids, that can be found in Canada and the US. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turkey season has come upon us! Not many things can rival the sound of calling and hearing those big old toms gobble back at you. We had the pleasure this season of being able to hunt not far from the coast of Morrow Bay in California and were able to bag a few gobblers to bring home to the family.  This recipe is a play on a good old chicken piccata recipe that's super quick, easy and doesn't disappoint. If you've never had piccata, you're in for a treat because when you pour the sauce over the top everyone will think you're a five-star chef.  I spiced this one up with some jalapeños and wild turkey bourbon but feel free to use any chili pepper or bourbon; you can also omit the peppers and just use white wine if you'd like to go the classic route. Any way you slice it, you're bound to love this dish. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Ara Zada Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's that time in Pennsylvania!  So while you're out scouting or hunting for turkeys, keep your eyes and nose open for these springtime plants. The pickled leeks go great on a sandwich or make a perfect quick snack.  Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Kory Slye Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Wild Leeks: Also known as ramps, wild garlic, wood leeks, ramson, and even very erroneously as spring onion, Allium tricoccum is a type of wild onion or garlic that can be found over much of Canada and the US.  They appear in the early spring in moist and shady woodlands with rich soil and are usually one of the first spring ephemerals to actually show up.  Popping up around March in Appalachia, you can expect to see them around the Great Lakes in April and in early May if you go further north. The plant can be found from Nova Scotia down to Georgia north to Hudson's Bay, and west to around Iowa and Manitoba.  The plant starts in the spring by sending out one to three broad green leaves from each bulb, which will be shallowly buried under the soil. The leaves are usually around 20cm or 8 inches long and have a red or burgundy section between the bulb and the main leaf. Bulbs tend to grow in bunches of two to six.  Clusters of bulbs will usually put out just one flowering stem once the leaves die back and the plant will flower as early summer progresses. The flowers, a white umbel much like many other allium flowers, give way to shiny black seeds before the plant disappears again until springtime.  Ramps will always smell strongly of garlic when lightly crushed, which is a great way to tell them apart from poisonous look-alikes like lily of the valley, or less dangerous plants like trout lily. If it doesn't smell oniony or garlicky, then it's not a ramp! Both the leaves and the bulbs of ramps are edible and they have a very interesting flavor that is somewhere between garlic, leeks, and onions, but with an added woodsiness that's hard to explain.  Extremely versatile in the kitchen, they can be inserted into basically any recipe using onions or garlic and will amp up the flavor beyond what either onions or garlic could have done.  First Nations peoples would often use them medicinally, with the Chippewa using the roots in a preparation that would induce vomiting, the Iroquois using a ramp tonic to treat intestinal worms, and the Cherokee using a similar tonic to treat colds, and the juice from the bulbs to treat earaches.  They were eaten as food as well, usually boiled or fried on their own or with meat as a flavourful and healthy springtime delicacy. The Ojibwa people would dry the plants out for use in the winter. I bet the burst of flavor the dried plant would add to winter stews was highly prized! It's said that the name for Chicago actually comes from the Me-nominee Nation's word for the plant, shika'ko. Apparently, wild leeks used to be very abundant where Chicago now stands.   The people who settled into the Appalachian mountains quickly took to the ramps that covered the forest floor there. They would often fry them in animal fat, but would also use them raw in a salad, or cook them up in potato or egg dishes.  There would often be springtime festivals celebrating the ramp in Appalachia, and the plant was once known as a bit of an Appalachian vegetable even though it grew in many other places.   About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently watched a film that was shot in South Florida which depicted a family hunting rabbits as the sugar cane was being harvested. The rabbits would run out of the cane as the thresher mowed down the stalks. As they ran out, the kids would chase them and strike them down with large sticks.  This may seem a little rough, but there is a long tradition of harvesting rabbits with sticks. Many Southeastern American Indian tribes would use bulky throwing sticks to kill or knock rabbits out while hunting. This film also got me thinking about pairing Florida ingredients with the Florida rabbits that I harvested. Those thoughts culminated in this delicious recipe. I combined local mango, habanero, and a local Florida Spiced Rum called Righteous Rum and Spice from Old St Pete Distilling. The resulting flavors were spicy and sweet with a beautifully tender texture of the rabbit meat. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Rum History: Eventually, a pattern emerged in the sugar business; a triangular system of buying and selling. Processed sugar, in the form of molasses, would be shipped from the Caribbean to New England where it would be made into rum. Proceeds would be used to purchase American manufactured goods, which would then be shipped to Europe. Profits would be invested into enslaved Africans, who would be shipped to the Caribbean to replace all of the poor people who had died making the sugar in the first place.  This triangle: from Africa to America to Europe, would stay in place for quite some time, making many European investors rich. It wasn't a pretty scene.  In the New England corner of the triangle, rum production became big business. Once molasses began (slowly) pouring in from the Caribbean, distilleries began popping up in places like New York and Boston, turning molasses into rum and shipping it out to Europe.  Rum quickly became New England's largest, and most prosperous, industry, bringing in skilled laborers like coopers, metalworkers, distillers, and others who specialized in the nitty-gritty of the business. Soon rum accounted for 80% of New England's exports and it is said that before the Revolution, every New Englander drank at least 3 gallons of rum per year.  Rum today can be split into several different grades.  White, silver, or light rums are heavily filtered rums made from sugarcane that have not been aged. They have a light flavor and are generally used in mixed drinks. Puerto Rico is the source of much of the world's white rum.  Gold or amber rums have been aged in charred white oak barrels that have already been used to age bourbon. This gives the liquor a pretty gold color and more flavor than white rum.  Spiced rum is generally made with a gold rum base, with caramel and spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and pepper added. Dark rums, which can be brown, black, or red, are made from dark molasses and have a much deeper and more pronounced flavor. Dark rum is also aged in old bourbon barrels, often for much longer than gold rum. Many dark rums come from Jamaica and Haiti.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I removed a vacuum-sealed bottom round roast from the freezer from the buck my wife harvested this past fall and allowed it to thaw in the refrigerator.  I planned to wet age the roast for around 28 days, removing the meat every two weeks or so to drain any blood before resealing. This process allows enzymes to break down connective tissue while vacuum sealing removes oxygen which can increase bacterial growth and can lead to spoilage. When the roast was finally ready to hit the smoker, mother nature had other plans. By the time the weather had improved, the roast had aged an extra week and was around 35 days. The combination of the Tacticalories rub and sauce I used was delicious, and the roast was as tender as any backstrap I've eaten. The dusted roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli were the perfect compliment. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by John Vile Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Wet Aging Any beef you purchase at the grocery store has probably been wet-aged to some degree. The process works best with hearty red meats like beef and lamb, and less so with things like pork and chicken, though even these meats still get aged to a small degree.  To commercially wet age, animals get broken down into large sub-primal cuts like loin, tenderloin, sirloin, rounds, etc., and get vacuum sealed into plastic bags. Those bags are refrigerated at a temperature below 41 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 5 days, up to 14 days, and in rarer cases, sometimes for much longer.  The meat sits in its juices, where endogenous proteo-lytic enzymes begin breaking down and weakening the structural protein fibers in the meat.  Wet aging can do a fair job at breaking down fibers and the industry likes it because it can be done quickly, can happen during transport, and because there is no weight loss during the process.  Because of this, wet-aged meat tends to be considerably cheaper than dry-aged.  There are a couple of drawbacks as consumers though.  Wet-aged meat has an environment where lactobacilli, the same bacteria that sours fermented foods, can flourish, which will sometimes leave a sour tang to the meat.  There's nothing inherently wrong with meat like this, but it isn't ideal.  Even those pieces of meat that didn't develop lactobacilli all have an insipid and slightly metallic flavor to them. Since most of us only eat wet-aged meats these days, we've come to associate this flavor with all meat.  When given a dry-aged steak or some wild game, many find the flavors to be overwhelming compared to grocery store meat.  Still, wet aging does make the meat tastier and more tender than if eaten fresh, and meat definitely benefits from it.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gado gado is an Indonesian salad of mixed cooked and uncooked vegetables served with a peanut sauce dressing. Gado gado means “mix mix”; a fitting name for a salad with as many ways of making and mixing it as there are families in Indonesia. Although this salad is most often made with tempeh, tofu, long beans, chayote, bitter gourd, shrimp crackers, and other hard-to-find ingredients, I made mine with what I had available on hand. I also replaced the soy products with pheasant, braised in a rich sauce, which adds so much amazing flavor to this dish. Use whatever you have on hand to make yours. Feel free to replace the ingredients I listed with more traditional ones, or with things like green beans, potatoes, rice noodles, cabbage, spinach, corn, etc. When it comes to the sauce though, I won't be allowing so many substitutions! Make your way over to an Asian grocer, or find one online to supply yourself with the red curry paste, chili paste, and kecap manis. If the kecap manis (an Indonesian sweet soy sauce) proves to be too hard to find, substitute 2:1 good soy sauce and brown sugar. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Adam Berkelmans Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Pheasant History: The common pheasant, or ring-necked pheasant as it is known in North America, may just be the king of all game birds. It's even the State bird of South Dakota. But did you know they're not native to North America? Pheasants are actually native to Southeastern Europe and Asia, with a historic range from the Caucasis in modern-day Georgia, down through China, up into Siberia, and all of the way to Korea.  In ancient times, they were brought over (or moved over naturally) to northern Greece, Turkey, and the Balkans, where the bird's very last truly wild population exists.  Western Europeans first encountered it while trading in modern-day Georgia. This can be seen in the Latin name for the bird, which is Phasianus colchicus. The Roman name for Georgia at the time was Colchis.  The Romans were thought to have helped spread the bird around Europe, introducing it to wherever they conquered. It was probably the Romans who first introduced pheasants into modern-day Great Britain during their occupation of the region 2000 years ago.  By 1059, the bird had basically become naturalized in Britain, but its population eventually dwindled down to very few by the 1700s.  Gamekeepers began importing and introducing birds again in the 1800s to build up populations after a renewed interest in hunting them.  The first birds to appear with the Romans were Caucasian varietals, but these newer birds being brought in were Chinese varietals and had the classic white band around the neck. Nowadays, over 30 million pheasants are released each year on hunting estates across Great Britain. Those that don't get harvested tend to die off within the year, fending for themselves in the wild.  Pheasants were introduced into North America in the late 1700s but didn't really develop a footing until the 1800s. Although both the Caucasian (aka The Old English) and the Chinese varietals were introduced, only the Chinese ring-necked pheasants were strong enough to survive the harsh climate here.  There were multiple efforts at introduction in the States and at different times. The pheasants introduced from British game farms seemed to do the best and were the original breeding stock for most modern birds.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I think chicken marsala was one of the first dishes I ever made for my mom when I was a kid. I remember taking her the meal while she was working at the local hospital. I am not sure why I never thought to make this as a wild game dish before. The meal is slightly sweet, savoury, and comforting. This meal is also a one pan meal, minus the pasta or starch. I use a stainless-steel pan for the recipe because it gives the steaks a great crispy brown crust. You can use a non-stick pan but you will not get the steaks as brown.  Don't worry about the flour sticking to the pan because you are going to deglaze it with stock and wine while making the sauce. This method captures all those delicious brown bits you get from browning the meat.  Enjoy this meal over pasta, creamy polenta, cheese grits, or mashed potatoes for a great dinner any day of the week. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Venison: Today we're going to explore why the venison you tried that one time and hated, tasted so bad, and why the venison we're making here at harvesting nature tastes so good.  Now there's no one rule or reason for this phenomenon, so let's break it down.  Many people's first exposure to venison seems to be from some deer meat cooked up by their uncle, or a friend, or maybe even by their parents when they were children.  It was probably dry, and tough, and grainy, and chewy, and livery, and that bad “g” word we don't like to hear around here; gamey.  Most people politely choke it down, internally swearing to themselves, “NEVER. AGAIN.” Well, there were probably several reasons your uncle's venison roast tasted like crap.  1. Age 2. Diet 3. Sex 4. Processing 5. Storing 6. Cooking For those of you who may be listening who haven't tried venison since that first awful experience, maybe it's time to try it again, but this time from someone who knows what they're doing with it. Maybe it's time to try out hunting so you can take control of the entire process yourself! There are many resources available for you to help you out with your first hunting, processing, and cooking experience. Look no farther than the Harvesting Nature or the Intrepid Eater websites to start!  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The confluence of the foothills of the Rockies and the western edge of the Great Plains is a magical place where two ecosystems literally collide, that I look forward to hunting every year.  Whenever I'm there, I can't help but imagine the millions of bison that once roamed freely across the plains. The antelope that reign king there today are a captivating and unique animal in their own right, but they are missing their plains brethren, the bison. I decided to reunite them, with a take on a hearty, satisfying meatloaf. With hints of sage to complement the two meats, it's perfect on a crisp winter day after returning home from a late-season hunt. Enjoy! Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by A.J. Fick Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About the American Bison: Through conservation efforts, relocation, new responsible farming techniques, and help from a large number of organizations, the American bison (commonly referred to as the buffalo) is slowly being restored to the Great Plains.  Prior to European settlement in North America, the plains bison roamed the prairies in the tens of millions.  Within 100 years of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, the bison had nearly disappeared from their historic range.  Conservationists have since brought the American bison from near extinction to a population of about 20,000.  Limited bison hunting does exist in Canada and the US today, with tag sales going towards conservation efforts. Many private lodges and ranges also offer hunting opportunities, and over 500,000 bison are raised commercially on farms for meat, so the average consumer can easily obtain some if they'd like to cook with it.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year for Valentine's Day, Ryan and I try to get out of our comfort zones and try a new recipe for supper that night. It's kind of became a Valentine's tradition that one or both of us cook a crazy meal that we would normally not try. This year, we went with Axis Wellington using backstrap from an axis deer. But, we're not a mushroom eating family. I absolutely hate them, and Ryan mainly lives without them because of me, so I decided to sub mushrooms with bacon because, well, who doesn't like bacon?! Two days later, below was the delicious result. So if you're looking for a rewarding challenge in the kitchen, give this recipe a go. You won't be disappointed. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Emily Long Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Axis Deer History: The story of Axis deer in America starts in the 1860's, when Hong Kong gifted the King of Hawaii with three bucks, four does, and one male faun which were shipped to the island of Molokai. From there, they were brought to the island of Lanai, and by the 1950s they had made their way to Maui, brought over for hunting opportunities. The deer quickly spread out as an invasive force, decimating farmer's crops, competing with local animals, destroying important ground nesting bird habitat, and even stripping bark off of sacred ohia trees. Axis seem to enjoy everything that farmers grow in Hawaii, including fruits, vegetables, and even sugarcane. Axis deer are not only a Hawaiian problem, they were also introduced to Texas in the early 1930's. Brought over as an exotic meant for enclosed game farms, the animals quickly escaped and started breeding in the wild. By the 1980's, self-sustaining herds were found to be roaming the countryside, competing with native cervid populations. About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many of us, the end of the spring wild turkey season means the beginning of backyard gatherings with family and friends and the smoky aroma of your favorite barbequed meal. This Jamaican Jerk inspired dish is a great option to add to your wild game backyard barbeque repertoire and has the perfect balance of both heat and sweetness. This (wet) marinade consists of a blend of spices/seasoning including garlic, brown sugar, thyme, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, green onions, and my favorite hot pepper to both grow and eat, the scotch bonnet. It can be easily modified to adapt to your preferred flavor profile or used for your fresh-caught fish/shrimp or other seasonal game. Personally, I like mine spicy and will add an additional hot pepper (or two) and let it marinate for 24 hours because the longer you marinate, the tastier your dish will be! Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by LC Hunter Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Jamaican Jerk Jamaican jerk is a fiery marinade consisting of ground allspice berries and Scotch bonnet chili peppers, as well as other seasonings and aromatics.  Traditionally used to season wild pork that was cooked in pits over pimento woods, modern jerk now comes in myriad forms and can be used to flavor wild game, fish, chicken, tofu, seafood, vegetables, etc.  The jerked protein is most often cooked over a flame to create the smoky flavors associated with it, and true Jamaican jerk is most often cooked in specially modified oil barrels and sold on the street. The most common ways to enjoy jerk are as domestic jerk chicken and pork.  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.  Follow Adam on Instagram  Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I've taken the classic French Dip sandwich and updated it with some venison backstrap. The signs of a well-made French dip are easily distinguishable from the bad ones. The bread-to-meat ratio must be correct. The cheese must be melted, the bun toasted, and the meat a beautiful medium rare. The au jus must be flavorful and complement the meat as well. I believe I hit all those marks here for this sandwich. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Gunnar Emberg Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Sous Vide Sous vide is French for under vacuum and points to a low-temperature-long-time cooking method that employs a gentle water bath to bring food up to temperature. The under vacuum name comes from the fact that for sous vide, food usually gets vacuum sealed in plastic bags before being immersed in a tightly controlled heated water bath to cook. This results in a perfectly cooked item, controlled to the very degree you want it to be. About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This growing season has been somewhat of a nightmare for me. I've done everything in my power to stop these gophers but nothing seems to work! From traps to gas to poison, I'm at a complete loss. On top of that, it's been so hot that even my tomatoes have decided to call it quits by dropping every flower. The one thing I can always count on though is my peppers! With an abundance of peppers, the best thing to do is make a hot sauce! Similar to pickles there are two types of hot sauces, fermented and vinegar. I love fermented hot sauces as well as fermented pickles. The microbiomes that are created are nothing but good for you and as we all know gut health is very important. Plus the fermentation process is very easy and makes everything delicious. So if you've never tried to ferment anything yourself this is a quick simple way to dive into the fermentation world. Just remember you can do this with other peppers as well if you don't want it to have the fiery kick. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Ara Zada Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This recipe finds its inspiration from a South African warthog potjie recipe. Potjiekos is translated to mean, “small-pot food.” This method of cooking became popular in Southern Africa with the arrival of the Dutch settlers. The Potjie was a commonly used cooking vessel, made of cast iron with three legs. As people traveled throughout the wilderness, they would shoot animals for food and use the potjie to prepare evening stews commonly made up of venison, warthog, rabbit, and other tasty animals.  I did not have the traditional potjie on hand so I used my dutch oven in the oven to prepare this meal. You could easily prepare this dish in a slow cooker or even over the open fire. I always keep the shanks of animals, but if you need, you can always use stew meat or cut up roasts to make this dish.  For seasoning, they would use a wide variety of flavors. In this dish, I used a spice blend from northern Africa to season the stew. Duqqa or dukkah is a nut and herb seasoning commonly found in Egyptian and Middle Eastern cuisine. This mixture can add great flavor to a variety of wild game so be sure to save the excess from this recipe. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it's al pastor time and you don't have a shawarma spit, it's time to break out the reliable pellet grill. Now if the words “al pastor” are new to you, then all I have to say is that I'm sorry you've missed out for so long. But we are about to change your life. Al pastor is marinated pork cooked to perfection on a shawarma spit or vertical rotisserie. In Harvesting Nature fashion, this Mexican Lebanese fusion dish got reinvented with some boar meat and some smoke. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Daniel Kenworthy.  Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deer season has come to a close, and many of us are looking to make room in our freezers – perhaps by tackling that large “special occasion” cut that's eluded cooking since last year. In my case, that cut was a hind leg from a small doe. Using Hank Shaw's Smoked Venison Roast as inspiration, the leg was coated in salt and sugar, vacuum-sealed, and refrigerated for about 10 days before a long, slow smoke over hardwood charcoal and applewood from local pastures. There are plenty of tasty uses for the leftovers, but this recipe pays homage to a regional Virginia specialty: the country ham biscuit. Country ham is a cured pork creation that takes months to prepare, but the diminutive size of the venison leg allows the rub to penetrate and result in moist, exceptionally smoky meat that's not unlike country ham. The key to this recipe is maintaining temperature to ensure a beautiful smoke ring without drying out or overcooking the meat. The biscuit sandwiches are served with carved slices of smoked venison, honey butter, and green tomato jam – harvested just in time for our first frost. The flavors of the sweet, rich butter and tangy jam pair nicely with the salty, lean venison. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Heidi Chaya.  Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Growing up with an Italian mom, from New York who worked a lot, you can say pasta was on the menu more than a couple times a week. We ate it so much that I stay away from the pasta as much as possible now. This definitely helps when we are hiking the hills, to skip those extra carbs 4 days a week. Of course there is always an exception to this rule, for me it comes in the delicious form of stuffed manicotti. It's similar to lasagna, but what manicotti actually translates to is little muffs. They are large pasta tubes that you stuff with meats and/or cheeses and bake until the mozzarella is bubbling. It looks so good coming out of the oven that you can't help but burn your mouth on that lava hot goodness! Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Daniel Kenworthy.  Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since moving to northern Virginia, I have noticed there is a large amount of eastern cuisine around me serving Indian, Afghan and Pakistani dishes. There are a lot of new plates to try and so far, I have yet to find anything I don't like. One of my favorite dishes is curry; Indian or Thai. Indian curry is usually darker than its Thai equivalent due to the different herbs and cooking time. Although liver is one of the highest sources of nutrients providing iron, copper, vitamin A, B, folic acid, and CoQ10 which helps heart health, it is not always common to find someone who loves liver. There is a common misconception that the liver stores all of the toxins, when in fact it has been scientifically proven the liver has no higher toxin levels than the rest of the body. This recipe is an attempt to educate those on the fence about eating liver; because with the right preparation, anyone can enjoy the taste of venison liver. This is my take on Kaleji Masala which means liver cooked in spices. TIP: If liver is too strong, try soaking in milk for up to an hour before preparation. This will neutralize the flavor; however, it will remove a lot of the nutrients. Curry can be made multiple ways, with red meat such as lamb or beef, light meat such as chicken or even with shrimp. The curry we will be preparing in this recipe will serve one person, so multiply the ingredients accordingly. This curry will be prepared over a bowl of white rice garnished with cilantro and enjoyed with wheat pita bread or a fork. Some ingredients can be substituted for taste so I will notate that in the ingredients list. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Dustyn Carroll. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm a mushroom lover and foraging for them is a new favorite pastime. I recently packed up my wife and daughter and traveled from Fargo, North Dakota to Olympic National Park in Washington for 10 days of tent camping, hiking, and foraging. Oyster mushrooms were easy to find and easy to identify, growing on trees and logs right along many of the hiking trails. The most abundant spot was in the Hoh Rain Forest near Forks, Washington. Within minutes, we had filled a quart-size bag to take home. This recipe is perfect for your next Taco Tuesday. It has traditional taco ingredients, but also lets the mushrooms shine, turning them crispy and meaty. When our daughter tasted them, she swore it was chicken. Just a note – you want to fry them longer than you think – for about 6 or 7 minutes. For the Chipotle Mayo, you'll see I used a little Taco Bell Chipotle Sauce instead of opening up an entire can of Chipotle peppers. That's because I don't like opening an entire can of peppers if I only need a little bit, and then see the remaining peppers go unused and moldy in the back of the fridge. I've tried freezing what's left in the can. But then I just find the tiny bag of peppers 2 years later, hidden under a package of deer shanks. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Jeff Benda. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am not really sure what cuisine category this dish falls into. Maybe International Fusion? It is part German, part Italian, and part Tunisian. Whatever you label it, it is delicious.  For the beer, I recommend using a beer that is not too bitter or hoppy. Those flavors will come through heavily in the sauce. If the sauce does end up a little bitter you can cut it with more honey. I served it all over pasta, but you could easily serve it over mashed potatoes or even a bed of French fries. Get creative! This is the world of international wild food fusion, right?  If you love pork as much as I do then you need to sign up for one of our Wild Pig Field to Fork Camps down in Texas. Click here to learn more Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This take on an iconic American dish is the perfect combination of sweet and savory. The double-dredged fried dove breasts are extremely crispy, have a hint of Jalapeno heat and pair fantastically with the soft and fluffy cinnamon-infused Belgian waffles. Finally, the spicy bourbon maple syrup adds a bold and flavorful finish to this comfort food classic. Dove is a lean meat that is high in protein, tastes great and is fun to hunt. If dove hunting is still something on your to do list it doesn't require a long list of special equipment and is a simple as getting out and finding a location where doves feed or congregate such as corn silage fields, sunflower fields or hay fields/pasture that are stocked full of grass and weed seeds. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by LC Hunter. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Chinese inspired shredded duck recipe can be as simple or as in-depth as you'd like. Depending on how much time you have, this dish can work as an easy midweek meal with tortillas, or it can be a fun couple of hours in the kitchen getting a little bit messy and trying something different with the bao buns. Either way, the simple but aromatic Asian flavors that explode from this dish will have you craving even more time at the duck blind stockpiling provisions. If you're making the bao buns, which I highly recommend doing at least once, you'll want to start a little ahead of time to allow the dough to rise. You'll also need a large bamboo steamer basket, which can be found at most Asian supermarkets. If not, you can use small flour tortillas as a substitute and skip ahead to the duck prep in step 5. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Trevor McDavid. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This recipe is an absolutely delicious way to enjoy those goose gizzards you brought back from the hunt and puts those gas station chicken gizzards to shame. Simmering them for 3 hours (or overnight in the crockpot) will result in tender meat that bears no resemblance to the chewy gizzards you may have tried in the past. Frying them until crispy and smothering them in sausage gravy only makes them better. I served them with a vinegary coleslaw laced with horseradish to cut through all of that savory richness, but you could do something like mashed potatoes instead. After trying this recipe, you'll not only be sure to bring every gizzard home with you from now on, you'll be begging your friends for theirs too! Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Adam. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did I really just suggest fish on grilled cheese? Yes I did! Now wait a moment before you leave this recipe and just hear me out. I too was hesitant and distrusting of this notion of fish on a grilled cheese sandwich. Fish and cheese has never been a pairing that comes to my mind, but this Smoked Trout and Pear Grilled Cheese Sandwich is amazing! The use of mascarpone for the cheese in the sandwich is the perfect canvas to start your creation on. And what smoked fish is complete without some dill to add that bite of fresh? The smoked trout is just the slightest bit sweet from the white wine and brown sugar glaze that is smoked to a satisfyingly slightly chewy but still firm state. The pears also enhance that subtle sweetness just a tad more. Add the kick of heat from the horseradish to balance out that sweet and you have one delicious sandwich in your hand. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Lindsey Marshall. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These bagels make for a hearty handheld meal and are truly delicious. If you're into a high stack of meat on your sandwich, allot ½ lb of venison per person. If you'd prefer a normal amount of meat, do ¼ lb instead. If you're going to be making a bagel sandwich this special, it is well worth it to find a bakery that sells freshly made bagels. I find the smoky wood-fired Montreal-style bagels go particularly well with the venison, but it's up to you. A meat slicer would be very helpful with this recipe, but if like me you don't have one, just strive to slice the meat as thinly as possible. If you happen to have some flaky finishing salt around, knock some over the venison after you've shaved it to amplify those meaty flavors even more! Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Adam Berkelmans. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are worse things in life than kicking back on the boat on a gorgeous spring morning while the downriggers troll a small squid bait in the vicinity of a kokanee school. Birds are nesting and singing. Trees and flowers are in full bloom, casting brilliant hues from the lake canyon walls. You notice a sizable blob appear on the depth-finder and prepare for the strike. Moments later, you reel up a kokanee, chrome-bright and destined for the cooler. You can already taste that bold blend of curry-like flavors, coriander, chili pepper, with a sharp hint of lime. Paired with a crisp rose or chardonnay, the complexity of flavors puts this recipe at the top of the list to share with friends and family, or not, as kokanee are a prize not to be squandered. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Brad Trumbo, Field Staff Writer at Harvesting Nature Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I once laid over in London while traveling to Morocco and spent the night in a lovely cottage that had an amazing pub downstairs. It was something you have seen in the movies. A dark room with stone clad walls and a crackling fireplace. I am pretty sure it was lit only by candle and oil lamp. I grabbed a fresh pint of beer and sat at a table next to the fire. I squinted in the firelight as I read each menu item line by line. The one item that caught my attention was a beef and ale pie, aka pot pie or meat pie.  I ordered the pie and happily sipped my beer staring into the abyss of the cozy tavern. Within just a few minutes the server bounced over and served me my pie. I was very happy to crack through the crispy crust and dip my spoon into the rich dark gravy beneath. As I spooned in the first bite, I was consumed by this dish. Perfectly cooked vegetables, firm but tender meat, rich hoppy gravy. I was in love and ate the whole meal without breaking for a breath.  This dish is inspired by that moment and has hung around in my mind since that night. Feel free to use Phyllo dough or puff pastry for this meat pie. I also cooked mine on the smoker which added some smoky flavors to the entire dish. If you don't like ale then sub a dark porter or stout. I would lean away from hoppy beers for this dish. Think rich, balanced, and comforting… more cozy British tavern and less summertime BBQ. Cheers! Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend, Editor-in-Chief at Harvesting Nature Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This recipe combines separate classic techniques to make an ultra-crispy delicious meal, reminiscent of your favorite Chinese take-out dishes, but even better. Venison strips get fried until crispy, then dressed in one of my favorite condiments – Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp. This sauce is basically a not-too-spicy chili oil full of delectable crispy bits. It is insanely tasty and addictive and is magical when paired with venison. Find it in any Asian grocery store, or order it online. The crispy venison then gets piled onto fried chow mein noodles nests, doubling the crisp factor and making it a fun meal for the whole family. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Adam  Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is my take on the classic South Philadelphia Hot Beef Sandwich, except I'm using beaver. Yes, that's correct, beaver. Beaver is often an overlooked wild game meat, but trust me, as long as you avoid the castor glands when skinning and butchering, it is excellent. Among the game meats I've used for this recipe, it ranks up there with bear and is far superior to venison. I smoked the meat for about 1-1/2 hours and then put everything in a cast iron Dutch oven and slowly braised it on the pellet grill until the meat fell apart, which took an additional 3 hours or so. This is a delicious, but sloppy, sandwich so be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Field Staff Writer John Vile Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recipe originally prepared by Field Staff Writer Jason Thornton. Shepherd's pie originated in the mid-1800s. In its original form, it consists of a red meat cooked in a gravy topped off with mashed potatoes and baked to form somewhat of a casserole. My version utilized ground venison stuffed into a mashed potato “ball” and fried to a golden brown. The ingredients are easy enough, the process is the tricky part. Regardless, this ultra-comfort food is not only unique but extremely satisfying. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Field Staff Writer Jason Thornton. Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recipe originally prepared by Field Staff Writer Shawn West There is just something about stew that appeals to me as a hunter. Warm, soothing comfort food, with complex and layered flavours built through the alchemy of slow braising, stews are how I imagine the earliest hunters rewarded themselves. Some will argue that primal cuts roasted over an open fire represent the origins of wild-game cooking, and that is probably right from a technical sense, but I like to imagine our hunting ancestors started doing what many of us do when we cook; they began experimenting. I picture chopped meat slowly simmering and the hunter and their families adding in whatever else they felt would enhance the taste, only to discover that it made for an amazing meal. Roasted meat was protein procurement. Stews were culinary. As proof, I offer to look no further than every literal food culture in the world. They almost all universally have some kind of staple stew. They go by many names and preparations across cultures: ghoulash, birria, stroganoff, curry, tajine, or in this case, rogan josh. Yet every one of those dishes can be distilled down to simply meat, regionally available vegetables, and spices, all of which are boiled and simmered until delicious. Stews are truly a unifying human cultural symbol. I made this dish out of a large, rectangular hip roast carved from the young whitetail buck that I was fortunate enough to shoot this past November. On a deer, the legs do the work and those cuts can sometimes be tough, which is why I opted to go with a stew. As I cubed the meat, though, I was simultaneously pleased and disappointed that the knife was gliding so smoothly. This was no tough hip muscle from a wily old bruiser, but a quite tender chunk of meat from a one-and-a-half-year-old deer that was cruising after a doe when my crosshairs found his shoulder. I could have just as easily breaded and chicken-fried these cuts, and they likely would have been amazing, but the payoff after a long braise in spices, onions, garlic, and ginger was melt in your mouth venison with a richly spiced, aromatic gravy. Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Field Staff Writer Shawn West  Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Check out our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This was honestly the best fish sandwich I've ever eaten.  Using a slightly modified take on the now-classic Nashville Hot Chicken recipe, I subbed in pike fillets (tasty and tender, yet firm), and put it all on a bun. I used sorrel instead of lettuce because I like the way the tartness cuts through the richness of the fried fish and sauce, much like the lemon or vinegar you get with fish and chips, but you can use regular iceberg or romaine lettuce instead. This isn't a healthy recipe by any means, so make it a treat and go all in for the heavy oily goodness of the hot sauce that the fried pike gets smothered in! Read the written version of this recipe Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Visit the Intrepid Eater website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This hearty and delicious soup was inspired by Japanese miso ramen, one of the three types of basic ramen soup in Japan. I made my version by adding white miso paste (available in most large grocery stores these days) to venison bone broth along with aromatics, and water used to reconstitute dried shiitake mushrooms. Dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid add something special to the dish but if you can't find them feel free to use fresh, though you'll have to sauté them first. I must say, the flavour of rich meaty venison broth mixing with the freshly seared venison steak was phenomenal and a nice change from the more common braised meat you find in soups. Have fun with the garnishes. You'll definitely want a jammy egg in there, but customize the rest of your ramen by adding any or all of the garnishes I've suggested, or you can come up with some of your own! Read the written version of this recipe Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work About Adam Berkelmans: Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food. Follow Adam on Instagram Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This meal is straight up comfort food. Its cheesy and creamy and oh so delicious. The meal reminded me of eating hamburger helper as a child, but so much better. I would certainly recommend serving this meal to your entire family as it is filling and easy to make. My 8-year-old crushed the plate you see in the photo. Don't worry about those jalapenos. Once they are roasted, they lose much of the spiciness. I just roasted mine on the stovetop in a pan, rotating them once the skin became blackened. If you wanted to add some extra flavor to this meal then you could substitute the stock for beer and stir in a little German mustard. Enjoy! Click here to get the written form of the recipe Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work

The sweetness of the mango, the spicy habanero and fresh yellowtail really bring a perfect balance of flavors in this ceviche. Whip up a fresh batch of tortilla chips or baked pita chips and you can have it as a salsa or you can put it inside a fresh tortilla and have Ceviche tacos. We have also placed it on top of a bed of lettuce and had an amazing ceviche salad. With so many ways to eat it, it’s bound to be a hit at your next party. Click here to get the written form of the recipe Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work

As hunters it’s our responsibility to utilize as much of the game we harvest. Most of us would like a deer made up entirely of back straps and tenderloins but unfortunately that is not the case. There is plenty of good eating on a deer from nose to tail; one of the highly overlooked but incredibly tasty parts of the animal is the heart. We have been making a conscious effort to save more of the animal, to include the organs. This recipe is a great way to showcase the heart in a delicious and visually appeasing method. Click here to get the written form of the recipe Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work

Don't be nervous about trying new methods of cooking wild game. This delicious goose recipe by Kory is a prime example that you just have to pull the trigger sometimes and go for it. The goose was so good that he sliced it thin and ate it like steak right off the smoker. The leftovers he put on a sandwich with avocado, grilled peppers, lettuce, and some Assault sauce. Click here to get the written form of the recipe Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work

Egg rolls are basically little fried burritos and we absolutely love them! Enjoy Justin’s wild version of the classic egg roll recipe using venison instead of pork. Click here to get the written form of the recipe Listen to our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great work

Welcome to our first ever wild food audio cookbook. We invite you into our kitchen to cook our favorite wild game recipes as we go like by line and item by item. You can pause, play, and repeat as needed to ultimately prepare a delicious wild meal for your family and friends. Check out our other podcasts here Buy us a cup of coffee to say thanks for the great content!