Food Fight Friday: Antelope Fajitas vs. Cast-Iron Grouse

For outdoorsmen and women in much of the country, February is a downtime, a chance to take a breather after the flurry of hunting the past few months and before the fish start biting and the turkeys start gobbling. It’s also a great time to enjoy the fruits of our labors. February is when I do much of my sausage making and experimenting in the kitchen with the spoils hunting season has delivered. Thankfully I get a lot of inspiration from Wild Chef readers sending in photos for each week’s Food Fight. For that, I thank each of you and encourage anyone who hasn’t submitted a photo to make it their mission to do so this month. Snap a photo of your next fish or game meal and send it, along with a short description, to fswildchef@gmail.com.

Now, on to this week’s Food Fight…
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MaxPower’s Antelope Fajitas**

I’m a sucker for simple Mexican food. We had one package of antelope steaks left and decided it was time for some fajitas. I cook the steak on high heat for 2-3 minutes with some southwest seasoning, then add the veggies and turn the heat down to medium. Remove it all when the veggies are just getting soft, then wrap in freshly cooked tortillas. The steak is still juicy and pink while the veggies are a little crunchy. I know traditional fajitas call for a side of pico de gallo and guacamole (which I usually like), but for these I just added a little bit of sour cream.

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Andy Moore’s Grouse**

I’m sitting at my desk eating leftovers of the attached photo here in Bozeman. People chase pheasants and forget about the amazing grouse hunting we have. I bedded the cast iron with some peppered bacon, coated the bird with a very light mix of spicy brown mustard and Worcestershire sauce, soaked the Brussels sprouts and crimini mushrooms in olive oil, then loaded them into the cast iron with the bird and put some crushed red pepper over everything. After that, cover with a lid and put in the oven for an hour at 400 degrees.