Who doesn't love a green chile cheeseburger? Here's what's trending on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: - Asparagus season is still rolling, and if you want a nice, easy dish for a weeknight, pork stir fry with asparagus should do the trick.
- It's Memorial weekend, so burgers ought to be on the menu. Try my recipe for green chile elk
burgers, which, of course, will work with any sort of ground meat.
- You can use any mushroom (those golden oysters I mention below are a great choice!), to make a mushroom spinach frittata. Also, use
any wild green you want to replace the spinach. I like nettles.
- Southern-style pickled shrimp is easy to make, and great for a hot-weather appetizer.
- Pike are getting caught in the north country. Making pike quenelles -- little dumplings -- and poaching them in a flavorful broth is a great way to get around those pesky bones.
- Finally, nettles are still around in the north, and are perfect for picking the tender tops right now. I love making nettle ravioli with them. It's a fun weekend project, is pretty and delicious.
Moving up the list: If you're looking for a great salsa to go with grilled things, my tomatillo avocado salsa is a winner. This is that thin, guacamole you see on tacos all over Mexico. Love these or any of my recipes? Please rate them while you're there so people searching for recipes know they're worth clicking on! 2. Memorial Weekend GrillingGrilling venison backstrap on a hibachi. Yeah, I know many people grill all year long, but Memorial Weekend is the official unifficial start of grilling season. Grilling wild foods is a great way to enjoy them, so here are a few ideas for your weekend barbecue. - Grilled venison backstrap is a classic. Here's how to go about grilling venison steaks no matter what the cut or size.
- Whether you do it with simple button mushrooms, portobellos or wild mushrooms like porcini or oysters, grilled mushrooms are definitely something you'll want in your spread this weekend. Pro tip: Put them over that grilled venison...
- It's trout season in most places, and there may be no better way to enjoy these fish than grilled over a wood fire. Here's how I grill whole trout.
- Looking for something fun and a little different? Try my recipe for Yucatecan grilled pork, poc chuc. It's marinated pork loin (wild or farmed, and javelina works, too) grilled over a hot fire and sliced thin.
3. AI, the Death of Search, and a New PathI woke up on May 15 to an almost 40 percent pay cut. That was the day after Google rolled out AI Overviews in their search results. In an instant, traffic -- and revenue -- to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook dropped nearly 40 percent overnight. It has only recovered slightly, and a week-plus into this disaster I am seeing my revenue down by more than a
third. Obviously, this is serious. Really serious. I talked with several people who know far more about the world of earning a living online than I do, and all pointed to one thing: The future is a shift from anonymous search traffic to a community-based world where readers like you chip in to help support creators who matter to you. So I am asking you to please consider becoming a paid subscriber to my site To the Bone. I am committed to keeping this newsletter, Wild Bites, utterly free. But I am going to need to find a new way to make a living as search revenue dwindles, and I'll need your help to do it. If you do, I've started offering tangible benefits for your contribution. As of now, paid subscribers get: - A $5 off code for discounts on my three most recent books; you can see them here. Message me for that code, which is
applicable for annual or founding subscribers. I need to prevent people from gaming it by subscribing for $6 a month, getting the code, then dropping off immediately. (Yeah, some people do that. Sigh.)
- Advance notice of and discounts on any of my classes and culinary hunts. These often sell out within hours, so as a paid subscriber you get first crack at them, and you’ll get a discount on the price. [There are still spots open for my
December waterfowl hunt in Oklahoma, if you’re interested.]
- Full subscriber-only access to special recipes not on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. Yep, I’m bringing recipes there. Not all, but some of the ones that may be esoteric or regional or just, frankly, not SEO-worthy. Stay tuned for one next week.
- Periodic “ask me anything” sessions where, if I don’t know the answer, I’ll research it
for you. Everyone gets to see the answers, only paid subscribers get to ask.
- A free Hunt Gather Cook sticker if you want one. Message me your address to claim it. I have three versions: Just a logo, a hunting one and a fishing one. (See above)
- Early and exclusive access to portions of my upcoming book Borderlands. And recipe testing, if you’re up for it.
I understand that some of you aren't in a position to get a full subscription, but there are ways you can help without reaching into your pocketbook. I outline them here. I've had a feeling this hammer was going to drop one day, and I'd been waiting to make a request like this until that moment. Well, it's here now. I need your help. To be sure, I will survive. I live a frugal life. And if I let myself think past the revenue problem, I am truly excited about a new path where you and I engage more frequently, free of algorithms
that hide me from you or you from me. Over the years, I've had many readers become true friends. Maybe you're one of them? More of that. I recently had an epiphany about my upcoming cookbook: To changes its focus from strictly Mexico to the border itself. My reasons are many, and you can get a sneak peek at the revised concept here. Suffice to say that it will be far more personal, and far more wild food-friendly than the previous iteration. To the
Bone is where I write about everything from my adventures in the wild world to Big Thoughts to travelogues and more. It would mean the world to me if you'd consider subscribing; you can start with a free subscription, and upgrade to paid if you want to support my work. Thanks in advance! I missed most of the morel season here in Minnesota, although I did get a couple pounds of old ones this week, which are dehydrating as I write this. Here in the Upper Midwest, the non-native, arguably invasive golden oyster is next up on the hit parade. The picture above shows some, washed out pale from a big
rainstorm the previous evening. Golden oysters are good mushrooms, not great, but definitely worth picking if only to remove a non-native mushroom from our landscape. Word is they escaped some "grow-your-own" kits some years ago. Cross your fingers, but I am headed West this coming week, and
I might get a chance to return to my old Sierra haunts to look for burn morels and spring king boletes. They're out in the Sierra, but word on the street is that it's a super buggy year for the porcini. In other news, my travels are largely done for my upcoming book Borderlands, although I do plan on returning to New Mexico sometime this summer. Any tips and recommendations? Send me a
message. I may also do the Yuma dove hunt on Labor Day, which, if you've never done it, is a fantastic cultural experience. The whole town comes out for the hunt. Stay tuned for more on the book (see above), and for the weird, evolving world we've been thrown into with AI and the slow death of Google search (again, see above). Wish me luck! ~ Hank Comments?Let us know what you think about Wild Bites by using our anonymous comment form - we love to hear from you, and we read
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