The Free Press, Mankato, MN

John Cross

November 22, 2009

Cooking strategies welcome for hunting harvest

By John Cross

It’s always about this time of the year when a few vocal non-hunting wags in the daily morning coffee klatch take great delight in claiming that, along with the necessary items that we hunters stock up at the beginning of the hunting seasons — like ammo, licenses, etc. — we also purchase a case of cream of mushroom soup and plenty of bacon.

The implication is that the aforementioned ingredients are what it takes to make the game that we bring to the table edible.

Not that the hunters in our group take these frequent tirades very seriously.

We just consider the source: None of them are endowed with particularly discerning palates.

Domestic meat, a pile of mashed potatoes, a burger and a beer at the local legion, that’s about all it takes to elevate them to home-cookin’‚ hog heaven.

And while you’re at it, please pass the ketchup. Thank you.

But I grudgingly agree that they do have a point.

When I’m feeling lazy or if I’m cooking some tough, old rooster, I’ll admit to resorting to the old standby of pheasant breast simmered lovingly in good old cream of mushroom soup.

Feeling a little bit adventurous, I’ll toss in a few more mushrooms if I have some, a bit of whatever wine I have — a dash for the dish, a sip or two for the cook.

Simple but tasty.

And darned if the old soup trick hasn’t endowed even a few rather unconventional wild game species I have sampled — muskrat and raccoon come to mind — a degree of palatability, as well.

Likewise, a bit of wild fowl or venison marinated in whatever kind of seasoning happens to beckon from the refrigerator, then wrapped in bacon and grilled to just chase the pink away, makes an enticing and even elegant appetizer.

But otherwise, the wild game that winds up on our tables or in our freezer at this time of the year lends itself to all sorts of imaginative ways of preparation.

And since it’s been a while since we’ve solicited readers’ favorite wild game dishes, maybe it’s once again time to troll the Free Press readership for their favorite ways to prepare the fruits of their hunting labors.

And to prove my skeptical non-hunting friends wrong, the only ground rules will be this: no cream of this-or-that soups or bacon can be part of the recipe.

Main courses, appetizers — send your favorites to me at the e-mail address listed below. Points will be earned for simplicity.

At a later date, we’ll share the best ones with readers.

Why, I might even share some of the best ones with my skeptical friends.

Even they can’t complain about the food when their mouths are full.



John Cross is a Free Press staff writer. Contact him at 344-6376 or by e-mail at jcross@mankatofreepress.com.

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John Cross