The Huntavore

Liver.  An organ we have all encountered along the way.  For some of us, it's a familiar sight and brought into home and enjoyed as a delicacy.  For others, it's something in the way of getting to the prime cuts, and either something that turns our nose or something we have not taken advantage of.  Nick begins the discussion by first explaining “5th quarter” or as the Romans called it “quinto quarto”  given to high nobility.  While today these parts are discarded, their high nutrition has chefs and homesteaders again looking at what lies within.  The Liver has a high nutrition value of many micro nutrients.  And what we discovered is that organisms can only grow as large as their lowest nutrient.  Shouldn’t that apply to us?  Moving on from function we talk form, as in how to prepare the liver.  Vessels, connective tissue, rind, and gall bladder all have to go.  The liver then needs a soak either in milk or in a salty brine.  While I choose the salty brine, others like Jonah Curtis from Hunt to Eat uses milk.  To each their own.  From here I will include 2 written statements from high level wild game cooks on their use of liver.

Jonah Curtis - Hunt to Eat

Absolutely! This was a pig(referring to the image on instagram), but I'm down with most. With pig and deer, I take as much "skin" off as I can. That is more of an issue with deer than pigs. I slice it about 1/4 inch or so and soak it in milk in the refrigerator for a few hours to a day. Drain and toss in dry Drake's mix. Pan fry in cast iron and season after. Simple seasoning with Tony C's or Lawry's seasoning salt. Lots of onions fried in butter.

AJ Fusco - Fork and Hose

So I grew up hating liver, think liver and onions.  When I attended a cooking demo with Chef April Bloomfield I'd say 7 or 8 years ago, I had her chicken liver mousse on toast and it blew my mind.  Fast forward to 2016 and I am a line cook in one of her restaurants and had to make this dish on a few occasions.  We salted the chicken livers with kosher and a touch of pink salt, then vac sealed it.  After dry brining, we cooked it hot and fast with shallots, garlic confit, thyme and Madeira wine, buzzed it up in a food processor with cold butter and passed it through a chinois (super fine strainer).  This was then chilled and served with toast and various pickles.  Delicious!!!!!

Liver Sausage Recipe - Scott Rea, Master Butcher

https://youtu.be/Woss44s_2gk

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Nick called up Jonah Curtis; a local homesteader, Hunt to Eat Ambassador, and care-taker of an extensive garden.  Jonah gives a look into how through years of working the land, he has been able to pull a large harvest and be able to preserve harvest year round.  He gives some tips for starting a garden, and make it productive.  We also dive into his new partnership with Hunt to Eat and how his values align with this company seamlessly.  This was a fun episode to record and surely some great info to gleaned.

Jonah holds quite a few different jobs, including working his homestead down in southern Michigan.  His focus is to be able to grow enough produce and preserve the harvest for the following year.  I know in my gardening experience, this was the missing step.  Jonah uses several techniques; pressure canning, waterbath canning, freezing, and the old art of having a  root cellar.  It seems like a huge undertaking but he has made this his lifestyle.  After many years of working his plots and getting familiar with his equipment, and being joined by the members of his extended family, they are able to put up a whole years worth of produce for later.  I think of it like hunters who kill a deer, and gain several months of venison all to once, the task of preserving it takes effort up front, but in the long run makes the harvest worth while.  

Jonah also has joined the Hunt to Eat team as a brand ambassador.  He and Hunt to Eat have very similar values and pursuits that make this an awesome partnership.  

Tips from Jonah on getting a garden started

1.  Plan now, before it’s time to plant and before snow falls,  clear a plot, throw on a cover crop, get soil samples
2. Start small.  A 10x10 plot or even a couple raised beds can provide a sizable bounty and not overwhelm you.
3. “10 minutes of weeding a day, save you 6 hours on Sunday”
4. Understand, some plants may not work for you, and others work better.  Note what you like, and what doesn’t work to help with planning next years crops
5. Get others involved.  Include family and friends to make the labor easier and the bounty sweeter
6. Don’t plant Horse Radish in your garden, but rather in your neighbor’s ditch.  Wait, maybe don’t do that.

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Located just outside of Freeport Michigan, Alex Fox is a second generation meat processor.  Owner and operator of Fox Farms Processing.  Their outfit handles custom exempt domestic slaughter and butchering, along with processing deer in the fall.  Alex has a background in animal sciences from MSU along with growing up at a processing facility,  his processing job is as much a passion as a profession.  What more could you ask for, from the experts who are charged with caring for your deer.  Touring the facility, efficiency and cleanliness are very apparent.  His openness and transparency encourages his customers to come back year after year.  While rumors and lore surround the profession of processors, like backstrap stealing and mixing of deer parts, these fallacies were put to rest in this episode.  As a hunter, Alex enjoys the job and being a part of memories made, as hunters truck in their trophy deer, take pictures, and even has a check station during the gun opener in Michigan.

The reason for getting your venison processed by a profession could be for a lot of reasons; being new to processing, not having equipment, not having time, or unfavorable conditions.  Alex gives some pointers on helping the professionals give you the best quality venison in return.

1.  Cleanliness is Deliciousness.  Do your best to bring in your deer clean.  The field dress process can be messy, but don’t put the job of cleaning your kill on the processor.  Fully gut, and rinse.
2. Get it all out.  Either it's the taboo or the fact that its “ichy”, but get all the gut out and remove the anus.  While Alex is willing to get the extra mile in getting it out, it might be too late by the time he can get it, and the results is meat loss
3. Soon rather than later.  If the professionals are going to be cutting your deer, save the aging for inside the bag.  An extra day in uncontrolled heat for the sake of aging could result in more gamey off flavors than intended.
4. Ask questions, understand expectations.  Alex loves his job and loves to answer questions and show off the facility.  Approach your cutters with questions you have,  understand that they will do the best job they can to get the 60% return.  Gut, hide, and head are heavy, so know what is usable and going to be returned to you.
5. This is their craft, their service to you.  Appreciate the work.  These processors want nothing more than you love your venison and meat treats.  They want you to come back.  Know your cutters, know their facility, and stifle the rumors.  Ultimately the condition of your venison starts with the release of the arrow, or pull of the trigger. 

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The boys are back together!  Co-host Dustin, and Public Land Warrior, Brock join Nick for a summer catch up.  They talk about archery set up and summer projects getting ready for the fast upcoming Whitetail season in Michigan.  Nick is sticking with his setup from last year that proved to be very effective.  “If it ain't broke, don’t fix it”.  Brock added a new sight to the mix as he and Dustin are headed to South Dakota in early October.  Which has made Dustin get a new vertical bow for the trip.  When asked about the Crossbow, he was adamant about it being used here in Michigan.

Attention turns to walkthrough of what they are going to do after the shot.  So much attention is given to the practice, scouting, and hunting prep (which it should), but here at the Huntavore we wanted to make sure folks were thinking about when the work really begins.  Each hunter provides a bit of  their own unique situation, and their personal approach to: field dressing, hanging and aging, Butchering and Processor relations, CWD precautions, and taxidermy awareness.  Nick also reached out to a taxidermist and processor through text, and got some real info that you should be thinking about.    

A couple helpful resources:

Home Butchering and CWD Podcast

https://sportsmensnation.com/podcasts/deactivation-of-cwd-with-bleach-with-dr-brant-race

Huntavore’s Hindquarter Breakdown

https://youtu.be/KJRBqtxle5k

The Scott Rea Project: Muntjac Deer

https://youtu.be/jhcF9D-z1JU

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Kent Rollins is a true blue cowboy hailing from Oklahoma.  Growing up rustling cattle, Kent had an opportunity to work alongside his family.  Both riding range, and staging a pop-up kitchen, he has seen it all.  His culinary education was chopping wood, fueling fires, and making grub to make feed hungry cowboys.

Kent and Nick open up chatting about Kent’s experience competing on the t.v. show Chopped.  Kent participated in the Grill Masters edition where he went head to head with trained chefs using grills, smokers, and live fire.  Watching that series shows where experience pays off.  Not knowing what some of the ingredients even are, Kent was able to dissect taste and texture and work it into the dish.  Like he said, “I’ve had to cook for 15 or so people who had to eat, and no matter the conditions, I’ll get food for ' em, no matter what”.

Nick showed Kent a photo of his camp chuck box.  Nick has kitted it out himself to work well family camping and for deer camp.  Kent runs a whole chuck wagon, fitted to feed an army.  Kent explains having enough storage is key to having all the elements that you need.  Having it in one compact, easy to use system, makes getting something to eat easier, after a long day in the stand, on a stalk, or casting lines.  In addition Kent goes into some of the misconceptions on cast iron.  If you have a nice seasoned pot or pan, boiling water and strewing acid foods is ok.  Both of those tasks will leach out some of the oil and be hard on the seasoning.  As long as you are continuing to add to your seasoning (rinse, dry, heat, oil) your piece will go unaffected.

In true form, Kent was a great guest, and full of information about cooking on range.  I feel as if we only scratched the surface.  If there is a tidbit about Kent that is a true take away from this episode, that is experience will pay off in the long run.  The more times you cook, the better you will get.  The times that we screw up, we gotta remember those.  And when you're not sure, improvise, and use your gut.

“It's just like bull riding, 90 percent mental, 10 percent physical”

~Kent Rollins

Kent Rollins YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/krollins57

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Shane Mahoney is the CEO of Conservation Visions Inc.  An organization that partners with other like minded organizations and individuals that spurs on conservation for wildlife and wildplaces.  As a scientist, activist, and storyteller, Shane has spent a great deal of his life interacting, observing, and connecting with the wild landscape.  His childhood was spent in the northeastern woodlands, and now as an adult expanding his view particularly on the North American Continent.  

Shane launched in 2017, the WildHarvest Initiative.  A project that is beginning to quantify the amount of wild food harvested by Hunters, Anglers, Foragers, and Trappers.  The aim of this project is to understand the amount of food that is seperate from traditional agriculture, and its importance.  What if this food was gone.  How would this resource be replaced?  How many people would be affected?  Through the North American Model of Conservation, pursuing wildgame and foraging for wild plants has proven to be sustainable.  For Sportsmen, this initiative is a valuable tool for promoting our lifestyle.  Shane also makes a point to say that humans and animals can coexist, but not without forward thinking.  As we encroach on wildspaces, are we thinking about our effect on the wild species already there?    

As we wrap our conversation, Shane shares a very unique dish, what could be described as a Turr Wellington.  A seabird, wrapped in dough and baked in the oven.  The unique part is that only native Newfoundlanders can hunt these Turrs.  His description of the dark, almost black flesh of these birds, wrapped, roasted, and served with vegetables had me looking into how to make a trip just to dine on one of these birds.

Conservation Vision/Wild Harvest Website:  

https://www.conservationvisions.com/wild-harvest-initiative

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On this episode Nick chats with the Sporting Chef, Scott Laysath.  Having a handful of television shows, and an unusual start to his culinary career, Scott creates wildgame dishes that use sound kitchen technique, yet easy enough for even a first timer to grasp.  Nick and Scott play a little game called “Change my mind”  Where Scott will take some of your misconceptions, and get you to try something different.  Cinch those apron strings tight, here we go.

Show Notes

Scott Laysath is host of the Sporting Chef and Dead Meat on Sportsman’s Channel.  His culinary start went from managing a restaurant staff, to filling in as cook and chef.  His approach to know what you are cooking, and “play with your food” mentality has made him a great resource for any sportsman who wants to improve their wild game meals.

Nick is always trying to improve kitchen skill.  He asks about knife work.  Having the opportunity to work in a commercial kitchen, practice cutting dozens of pounds of produce was never far away.  Scott says get a 20 lb bag of carrots, and cut.  Chop, slice, round, matchstick, etc., after all that your knife game will be vastly improved, or at least you’ll have a killer grip.

During the episode, Nick plays a game entitled “Change my mind”.  Nick takes a very opinionated position, commonly held by hunters, and Scott invites us to think outside of those boxes.  Examples include: Big northern cedar bucks don't taste good, skin on fish fillets are worth the time, and “eating crow” might not be that bad.

On a tangent, Scott describes how he is able to put all the extra fresh herbs to work by creating his own herb butter.  He stems all his herbs, and gives them a good mince.  Softening a bunch of butter, he is able to add the herbs into the butter.  Work them in thoroughly, then shape the butter back into a tube or stick and harden in the freezer, and move to the fridge when hard.  Now when you are needing to baste that duck or steak, you have premade herb butter to use.  Tune into The Sporting Chef, or Deadmeat on Sportsmen Channel.  Otherwise find him on youtube or his website:  www.sportingchef.com

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Huntavore has finished another year of bringing you wildgame related material.  What better way to celebrate than with a drink and toast.  To get some inspiration, Nick is joined by Stuart and Colin of Mammoth Distilling in Northern Michigan.  The group discusses the spirits we love to drink when celebrating, contemplating, and carrying on tradition.  So grab a drab of your favorite drink, and enjoy.

Show Notes:

Holy Smokes!  Huntavore is celebrating its second year as a podcast!  Who knew anyone could talk about food and wild game for that long.  It has really been a trip to share my own experience and culinary journey, along with bringing in guests to teach us and challenge us.  I want to thank all of our previous guest and friends i’ve made along the way.  I want to thank Dan Johnson and the whole Sportsmen’s Nation crew.  And of coarse, you the listeners.  Its a real treasure to find folks who are passionate about the outdoors and also serious about their table fare.   So i'm celebrating the accomplishments of Huntavore, and also looking forward to this next year of sharing our hunting and fishing lifestyle through the utilization and consumption of our wildgame.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the accomplishment of this year two, than a raise of the glass with an incredible cocktail.  To talk about celebration and tradition holding cocktails, Nick is joined by Stuart Hikman and Colin Gaudard of Mammoth Distilling.  A distillery located in Northern Michigan making a whole range of spirits.  Colin gives us a basic walkthrough of how making whiskeys differs from beer, along with some the process of refined distilling.  He also sheds light on some misconceptions, like Bourbon being a product only made in Kentucky (Fake News!)  

Stuart talks about making cocktails.  Specifically the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, that uses Jalapeno to make the drink spicy.  It surprises you, and really makes for a enjoyable drink, that isn’t all sugar and sweet.  During the covid pandemic, and the low availability of sanitizer, Mammoth halted spirit production and put their ethanol stores to work by producing sanitizer.  They began bottling and shipping the liquid gold in the amount upwards of 20,000 gallons.  To finish the conversation Nick has Stuart describe another favorite, an ol’ fashioned.  This was a super fun talk with some incredible gentlemen.  Cheers!

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Freelance writer, Sarah Engstrand went on a journey writing an article outside of her normal scope of life.  She wrote the article “Hunters See Their Hobby as a Food Source Amid COVID-19 Pandemic”  Not a stranger to food and the culinary world,  she understands the language of feeding self and others she took the opportunity to talk to several hunters and anglers about their wild food supply.  Noticing the shorter the food chain, the less that these food shortages had an effect.  Join Nick as he talks to a non-hunter who has noticed the bright side of acquiring your own meat.

Show Notes

Sarah Engstrand is a Freelance writer, editor, and Public Relations consultant for restaurants in Hong Kong.  She covers many subjects in her writing, and lots of exotic locations.  She undertook the task of writing about hunters and their wild game harvest.  With the quick development of the covid virus pandemic and soon after, a meat shortage, her story took a slight turn to how the shortage had little effect on folks who are self-reliant when it comes to meat.  Not only was she able to grasp what we do as hunters and why we do it, but that it doesn’t go without a lot thought and concern for the game we chase.  She had understanding of seasons and tags, but was enlightened to how much conservation plays into our lifestyle.  She also found it fascinating, as small of a community that hunters and anglers makeup of the whole population, we are semi separated into our own “tribes” of thoughts on what animals to take.  None of this is news to those who hunt and fish.  However, folks who do not are feeling the effects of these shortages, and are taking notice of that having connection where their food comes from might be something they change in their own lives. 

Sarah’s Article:  https://www.allrecipes.com/article/texas-hunters-have-been-prepared-for-a-pandemic-all-along/

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NIck is joined by friends, Adam and John of the Bowhunter Chronicles Podcast where John gives his exclusive on taking a Tom in the early season.  John also explains how things get complicated when trying to capture hunts on film, along with having to read minds when hunting in partners. Some ideas are discussed on how this bird is going to be prepared.  And how these guys are liking their pellet grill setups.  As always a great back and forth episode that you will enjoy.

Show Notes

Adam and John of Bowhunter Chronicles have taken some large steps this year when it comes to filming their hunts.  Up first was John to take a Tom in the earlier season, and Adam running the cameras.  Not only was teamwork essential on this hunt, having to “read minds” on when birds were in close, but also juggle the new challenge of social distancing.  John recalls his lack of preparedness that afternoon and was surprised by a flock running in.  He was able to connect with one of his arrows that Nick calls “a hatchet with fletchings” (Full length arrow with a 4 inch cutting dia. Broadhead, with a total weight over 600 gr.)

Now that the bird was down and measured, some discussion went into how they were going to prepare this Tom.  Nick shares a tip about using pickle brine that he got from a friend to make moist tender white meat.  John also goes into detail about his experience with a  very nice pellet grill.  He gives some pros and cons and explains the term “buy once, cry once”.  

Bowhunter Chronicles Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqNW_e4utW64Qu-PXuqSU-Q

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