Colin Kearns

Food Fight Friday - Reader Edition: Pot Pie vs. Reuben

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:00:28 -0500

by David Draper

We’re starting December off right with a food fight between two Wild Chef readers and seasoned wild-game cooks. Professional chef Tristan Russell faces off against food blogger Susan Rose with two great looking dishes. I haven’t decided which one is my favorite, so help me pick this week’s winner by voting below.

Wild Bird Pot Pie Vs. Venison Rueben

Wild Bird Potpie

Tristan Russell, of Portland, likes to get away on his days off to hunt and fish, and when he cooks for himself, he enjoys cooking comfort food, like this wild bird potpie. In it, he includes quite the assortment of birds, including three quail, two chukars, one ruffed grouse, and one blue grouse. “Pot pie sounded really good with the weather so I decided to give it a little love with wild birds, wild chantrelles, and bacon,” says Russell. “I know adding bacon to everything is getting old, but it really holds in the moisture for roasting the birds and we only added some to the pie so it wouldn't be overpowering.”

Venison Rueben

Susan Rose is a serious home cook married to a serious hunter. She chronicles her cooking adventures on her blog, Great Venison Cooking. Here’s what she has to say about her tasty looking reuben. “Reubens are Rick’s favorite kind of sandwich, but I can't stand corned beef,” Rose said. “So I thought I’d try corning some venison to see if it was better. It was. In fact, I love it. Our neighbor makes homemade sauerkraut every fall, so we layered that along with the corned venison, Swiss cheese, and homemade thousand island dressing on the pumpernickel-rye bread, slathered it with butter and fried it up. The sandwich was a nice rainy day treat.”

I’d love to see each of you featured on Food Fight Friday, so let’s keep the reader submissions coming. Send in your wild fish or game photos to fswildchef@gmail.com.

VOTE HERE!

Recipe: Wild Turkey Bourbon Glaze

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 10:09:30 -0500

by David Draper

With the exception of wine, I don’t often use alcohol as an ingredient in my recipes, unless the wee nip I sip on as I cook counts. Instead, I generally prefer to save the hard stuff for after the meal. But, this high-octane glaze recipe sent to me by the distillers at Wild Turkey Bourbon sounds too tasty not to try. And the best part is, if you sip on the rest of the bottle as your turkey roasts, come dinnertime, you’ll be as half-baked as Aunt Mabel’s pumpkin pie.

Wild Turkey Bourbon Glaze

Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cups pecans, finely crushed
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon

Directions:
- While the turkey is cooking, prepare the glaze by melting butter in a 1- to 2-quart pot set over medium heat. When the butter just starts to foam, add the pecans, brown sugar, and honey, stirring until the mixture forms a syrup. Add cider and Wild Turkey 101, briefly raise just to the boiling pot, then remove from heat and let cool.
- About 15 minutes before the turkey is ready, apply half the prepared glaze to the bird with a basting brush.
- When the turkey is done, remove it from the oven and brush on the remaining glaze. Let cool 15 to 25 minutes before carving.

Recipe: Maple Cranberry Sauce

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:37:31 -0500

by Colin Kearns

If you haven’t seen the Wild Chef column in the new December-January issue of F&S, you’re in for a treat. Our food columnist, Jonathan Miles, takes a staple tailgate cooking technique (beer-can chicken) and refines it for the home kitchen with a terrific holiday recipe—Christmas Beer-Can Goose. And because holiday feasts are as much about the side dishes as the main course, Miles also prepared the perfect side for the goose: maple cranberry sauce. We hope you enjoy.

Maple Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
-2/3 cup brown sugar
-1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
-1/3 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine the brown sugar with 1 cup water, stirring to dissolve. Add the maple syrup, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the cranberries, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the berries pop, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Food Fight Friday: Reader Faceoff

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:45:55 -0400

by Colin Kearns

This week we’re feature two Wild Chef readers facing off with a couple of delicious looking food photos. It’s a tough call on who’s going to win this one, as they both look fantastic. On the one hand, tacos are a personal favorite of mine, so maybe Andrew gets the nod. On the other hand, Michael from Texas hits a trifecta with elk in sausage form, served with beer at a college football game. I just can’t decide, so it’s up to you guys to pick a winner.

Andrew's Chile Colorado

Vs.

Michael's Elk Sausage

Andrew’s Chile Colorado:
I just cooked that Chile Colorado recipe with some leftover crock pot pork roast. Stuff tasted so good. I lightly fried some corn tortillas in a pan with a little oil and made some tacos. Yum! Thanks for the recipe.

Michael’s Elk Sausage:
Jalapeño elk sausage at Baylor vs. Iowa State tailgate this weekend, complete with Trout Slayer ale.

And don’t forget to send us your best food photo to fswildchef@gmail.com for a chance at your own Food Fight Friday faceoff.

VOTE HERE!

Step-by-Step: Making Bacon-Infused Bourbon

Online Editors — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:22:59 -0400

By Colin Kearns

I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and it’s been a month since I spent a weekend at home. So this past weekend, with nowhere to go, I took it easy. I slept in. I watched football. And I had fun in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes. I cooked a venison curry that I’ve never tried before (more on that to come later this week), and I also infused a bottle of bourbon—with bacon fat.

The bacon-bourbon was not my idea. Earlier this year, one of my best friends was here in New York City for business and we met up for drinks. One of the bars we visited, an out-of-the-way joint called PDT, listed a “Benton’s Old Fashioned” on its cocktail menu. Unlike a traditional Old Fashioned, this drink called for maple syrup instead of sugar and was made with—you guessed it—bacon-infused bourbon. We both ordered one and really enjoyed it. It’s not an everyday, or even every weekend, kind of drink—but still, pretty good. Since that night I’ve been looking for an opportunity and excuse the make the cocktail at home. So this weekend, with nothing to do and an unopened bottle of Wild Turkey 101, I decided to experiment.

Now I know what some of you are probably thinking: Bourbon is perfect just the way it is. Why mess with it? And you’re correct. Sort of.

Look, I love bourbon—more than any libation. I love sips of Pappy with a thick book in a comfortable chair, and I love swigs of Old Charter between laughs around a campfire. I celebrated with bourbon the night after I shot my first deer, and at camp after I landed my first steelhead. I love bourbon neat, on ice, or mixed into a Manhattan or Sazerac. (I don’t love it, however, with Coke. That just spoils the spirit.) And I love it most of all in an Old Fashioned—the most essential cocktail. Anyway, my point is: I love bourbon just the way it is, too. But sometimes it’s fun to experiment with new flavors in the kitchen. Just so you know, this bacon stuff tastes really good. But then, how could it not? It’s bourbon and bacon!

Click here for a step-by-step photo gallery on how to make bacon-infused bourbon—and the Benton’s Old Fashioned.

How to Make Bacon-Infused Bourbon

Online Editors — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:49:34 -0400

Food Fight Friday: Is Deeter a “Shore” Thing Again?

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:27:18 -0400

by Colin Kearns

Not to take away from Draper’s delicious-looking caribou loin, but I never thought he had a prayer against Kirk Deeter’s even-better-looking shore lunch. (Why do you think I let Draper take that fight?) Of course, I don’t like my chances much better this week—with Deeter now in the champion’s corner.

Here goes nothing…

Lake Trout Cooked Over Birch Fire

Vs.

Sausage Over Rice and Beans

Deeter has served up another shore lunch. This one is called “Fire Fish,” which is lake trout cooked over a birch fire. Baked beans, onions, and fried potatoes were the sides.

My dish isn’t exactly “wild,” but it’s a camp staple nonetheless. I enjoyed this monstrous plate of rice and beans with sausage last weekend at the Total Outdoorsman Challenge finals in southern Missouri. It was prepared by my colleague and friend John Davis, who writes our TOC blog. Brother, can he cook. I look forward to this meal every year—it never disappoints.

There are your choices. Vote for your favorite, and don’t forget to send your food shots to fswildchef@gmail.com.

VOTE HERE!

Food Fight Friday: Five-Course Alaskan Feast (Plus a Prize!)

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:19:26 -0400

by Colin Kearns

A few weeks ago I traveled to Alaska for the first time. If I had one word to describe the adventure, it’d be BIG. Big country. Big waters. Big fish. Big meals. So it seems fitting to serve an appropriately big edition of Food Fight Friday.

Below are shots of all of the fish dishes I ate in Alaska. Take a look at the menu, then vote for your favorite. And, to make today’s Food Fight even bigger and better, we have a prize on the line—a 50th Anniversary Four-Piece Barbecue Tool Set, courtesy of our pals at Cabela’s. All you have to do is write which dish you voted for in the comments section below, and I’ll select a name at random. (One entry per person. Deadline is Thursday, August 11, 12 p.m. EST.) The winner will be announced next Friday. Good luck!

Steak and Prawns

Vs.

Shrimp and Fries

Vs.

Cod and Chips

Vs.

Macadamia-Encrusted Halibut

Vs.

Seafood Paella

VOTE HERE!

Food Fight Friday: Seafood Boil vs. Elk Backstrap

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:48:22 -0400

by David Draper

Summertime is all about cooking, and eating, outdoors, so this week’s food fight celebrates the upcoming season.

Outer Banks Seafood Boil

Vs.

Bacon-Wrapped Elk Backstrap

Wild Chef reader Steve Peifer submitted this fabulous seafood photo from the Outer Banks, or as he describes it “a fresh NC OBX seafood boil featuring local crabs, clams, shrimp, and corn, with store bought baby potatoes in a beer, butter, garlic and Old Bay broth, plus my homemade all-spice mix.”

His mouthwatering photo kind of makes me wish I lived a little closer to the coast. Instead, I guess I’ll have to be happy with these bacon-wrapped elk backstrap steaks, paired with lemon-thyme grilled asparagus and my girlfriend’s famous tinfoil potatoes.

So, pick your favorite, but no matter which way the vote ends up, Steve is the big winner. For sending in a photo, we’re going to hook him up with a great prize package.

If you want to compete for some fabulous prizes, all you have to do is submit your best Wild Chef food photo to fswildchef@gmail.com.

VOTE HERE!

Food Fight Friday: A Battle Between Brothers

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 09:01:09 -0400

by Colin Kearns

Maybe bad luck is to blame for my first Food Fight loss a few weeks back. After all, it did go down on Friday the 13th. Or maybe, just maybe, I lost because my wild turkey sandwich just didn’t stack up to David Draper’s blackened catfish.

Crab and Wild Duck Andouille Po'Boy

Vs.

Crock Pot BBQ Venison on Texas Toast

Yeah, maybe that would begin to explain how he scored a whopping 66 percent of the votes—including one from my big brother, Brian.

“How dare you vote for the catfish!” I wrote him in a text after I found out.

“Sorry buddy,” he wrote back. “I liked your sides better, but I love catfish.”

Fair enough. I mean, who doesn’t love catfish?

Still, because we’re brothers and because it’s expected, I continued to give Brian trouble for his treason and even extended a challenge to face off in a Food Fight. A challenge he gladly accepted last week. Here’s what he made:

A soft-shell crab and wild duck andouille Po’ Boy, garnished with an heirloom tomato and coleslaw, on a toasted hoagie roll. As if that wasn’t awesome enough, he added a side of sweet potato fries and remoulade sauce.

I should add that not only did Brian make the andouille, but he also shot the ducks on a hunt in Arkansas last winter. I should also add that Brian is a professional chef—and a damn good one. Years ago, for Christmas, he invited my wife and I to his restaurant and prepared for us an off-the-menu, five-course dinner. No meal I’ve had since has matched it. Before and after that meal he’s inspired me in the way only a big brother can: Thanks to Brian, I appreciate food more than I ever did growing up. Thanks to Brian, I love to cook—for myself, but especially for others. Thanks to Brian, I now have a hell of a challenge on my hands with this Food Fight.

So, last weekend when I opened my freezer, I took the easy, obvious choice: venison. I slow-cooked a roast, with onions and BBQ sauce, in the Crock Pot and served it on Texas toast with fried onion strings.

Now it’s time to vote. Wish me luck. I’m gonna need it.

VOTE HERE!