By Colin Kearns

Regular readers of the Wild Chef might recall that when it comes Scotch whisky, I’m not exactly a connoisseur. I’ve always had trouble getting past the smoke (most of the Scotches I’ve tried have been on the peaty side), and I’ve just always been a bourbon guy.

I’ve been trying to keep an open mind about Scotch, though, and I’m starting to come around. It started earlier this year, on a winter trip with friends. I had a glass of Highland Park 18, neat, and loved its spice and warmth. And just a couple of weeks ago, I got to try two whiskies from Grant’s distillery. First, I tasted a sample of their Family Reserve, the brand’s wildly popular flagship blend. Then came the Scotch surprise—a bottle of Grant’s ultra-limited Stand Fast.

By David Draper

My girlfriend, T. Rebel, tried to kill me once.

Her weapon of choice? Exploding meatloaf. She claims it was an accident, but I know better. The whole scene went down like this.

She offered to cook me dinner, which should have tipped me off from the start. I do most of the cooking, so this was a rare occurrence indeed. As the meal was coming together, I was in the kitchen helping out, which generally consists of me saying, “That’s not how I would do it.” (I never said she didn’t have a good motive.) She pulled the meatloaf from the oven, sat it on the stovetop and asked me to stir the risotto simmering on the back burner. I started to lean over the meatloaf when I realized there wasn’t a spoon in the pot.

By David Draper

I’m just a few hours removed from an amazing trip to Cordoba, Argentina, where I spent the week wingshooting at one of the best lodges I’ve ever had the (let’s face it) dumb luck of visiting: Guayascate. I’ll fill you in on more of that trip sometime soon, after I recover from a week of over-eating, over-drinking, and if it’s possible, over-shooting. But right now, I just want to pass along a little reminder about how to treat your meat that I re-learned last Wednesday.

By David Draper

As I mentioned Monday I’m the new owner of an infrared grill from Saber. Though I’ve had the thing for more than a month, the hulking, shiny beast sat untouched for weeks. It was so new and shiny that I hated to get it dirty. Plus, I was a little intimidated by the thought of grilling at such high heat. Finally, this past weekend, I screwed in a new propane tank and fired the thing up.