Wild Bites #64: a 6-minute read that makes you smarter about wild food and tells you what's to come on the website,
YouTube, orĀ To The Bone. Ā Ā ~ Hank Ā Teriyaki meatballs are guaranteed to please everyone. Ā Ā Ā Here's what's trendingĀ on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: - It's still cool out, so oysters are still prime. My oyster stew is simple and satisfying. A classic. No oysters? Try a similar soup, my salmon chowder.Ā
- Got
liver? Maybe you have one languishing in your freezer? It's a good time to make German brauschweiger sausage. My version is more of a firm sausage, not the spread.Ā
- Love that my recipe for East African fish stew is doing well! It's kind of a curry stew, and works with any fish you have. Maybe walleye?Ā
- Aaand, here's the meatball recipe! This week it's Japanese teriyaki meatballs. You can use venison, or whatever meat you have. It's a guaranteed crowd pleaser.Ā
- Want a casserole? Can't go wrong with my sauerkraut casserole! Noodles, ground meat, lots of kraut and cheese? You know you want it, baby... š
- A warming, quasi exotic chicken stew I love is Ethiopian doro wat. I used to make it at the restaurant, and you can use any white meat here.Ā
- Finally, it's Lent, which means
lentil soup in Mexico. My version has meat in it, but you can easily leave it out if you want.Ā
Moving up the list: Damn I love jaegerschitzel! Good to see my jaegerschnitzel
recipe trending! You can use any meat you can pound into a cutlet. I prefer to use venison. Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 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! Ā Crispy fried carp, with lots and lots of chiles... March is a weird month for fishing. It's an in betweener in many parts of the country. Some places, like Canada and northern Minnesota, and the High Sierra, all still have ice. I find a lot of people, myself included, fishing for oddballs this time of year. So here goes, some "off" fish recipes for the fun stuff you're catching now!Ā Ā - Crispy fried carp, Chinese style. So, so good. Works with all sorts of smaller, bony fish, like surf perch, suckers, mooneye, etc.Ā
- Shad are running
in the East (they won't be in Western rivers until May), and while they are fun to catch, they are challenging to cook. Here's my primer on how to cook shad.Ā
- I have a recipe for 'boneless' tempura-fried shad that is amazing. And it works perfectly with any fish that has an extra set of bones, like pickerel, small carp and suckers, whitefish, etc.Ā
- Cajun catfish courtbouillon is spectacular, especially this rendition, which is slightly fancier than what you typically see. Works with most fish, but I designed it for channel cats and gafftopsail catfish.Ā
- Vietnamese claypot catfish works even with bullheads, believe it or not! Such a great recipe for really any smallish fish.Ā
Yes, I know that nettles are still a couple weeks away here in Minnesota, but they are up in most of the United States, and are even going by in places like California's Central Valley.Ā Ā Nettles are my favorite spring green. I know that things like pokeweed have
their partisans, but I think it's the Scotsman ine: I just love the flavor, the color, and even the nip you get from the formic acid they secrete when you pick them. Here's a general primer on harvesting and cooking with nettles.Ā Ā I have lots of nettle recipes. Here are my favorites. If you're from up north like here, or in Canada, bookmark these for April.Ā Ā - Nettle pesto is a great place to start. Since it's a cool-weather pesto, try it with pecans or walnuts.Ā
- I am a huge fan of nettle risotto. I make it every spring, without fail. Simple, satisfying, and filling, this feels to me like the ultimate nettle experience.Ā
- Italian ricotta and wild greens dumplings are exceptional with nettles. But any green works, and spinach is traditional.Ā
- If you want to eat the greenest soup you've ever seen, try my Scandinavian nettle soup. Bonus: You can make it a full meal by adding fish, making it a green bisque.Ā
- Pasta made with pureed nettles is a show stopper.
Just make sure you have a seriously good blender to pull it off.Ā
- Finally, with St. Patrick's Day just behind us, Irish colcannon -- mashed potatoes with greens -- is fantastic with
nettles.Ā
I miss the duck marsh... Ā With the possible exception of a belief in the afterlife, there is no endeavor in human existence that generates more hope than the gathering of
food in the wild. Fishing, hunting, gathering, even gardening are by nature exercises in hope -- something sorely lacking in this modern world.Ā Ā I wrote about this over at To the
Bone, which is where I have shifted much of my energies lately. Why? For now, it's pure. The algorithms on Facebook, Pinterest, Google and even Instagram have all throttled the reach of independent creators like me. Substack works differently. You subscribe -- free, or, if you can support my work, paid -- and so everyone who sees my stuff there actually wants to. It feels like 2008 all over again, and that's been refreshing.Ā Ā If even half you who read Wild Bites went over to Substack to subscribe, To the Bone would become one of the biggest Substacks out there. There are lots of benefits special to paid
subscribers, and I am planning more as time goes on.Ā Ā But even if you're just thinking about subscribing, free or paid, pop over there and take a look. Then message me with what you'd like to see more of in terms of types of posts: recipes, essays, travel stories, how-tos, etc. Thanks in advance!Ā Ā 5. Countdown to Borderlands!Ā Here it is, for the first time! The new cover! Ā It's happening!!!Ā Ā I
am back from Mexico -- more on that in the next Wild Bites -- and we are wrapping up design and finishing touches on Borderlands. What you see above is the final cover, and we are stoked about it! (When I say "we" I am mostly talking about me and my sister Laura, a professional book designer who has designed my last four books.)Ā Ā We have a final size -- 304 pages -- and a rough publication date of mid-June. It could be earlier, but I don't want to make a promise I can't keep. Cover price is $35, which is a touch higher than I wanted, but OMG printing costs have skyrocketed! I am very proud to say that once again, this book is 100 percent American made! Most cookbooks are printed in China (boo), but mine are all printed in Illinois, and warehoused in Michigan. As
a resident of Minnesota and a Badger alum, it's a Big Ten thing... Ā The book tour is forming slowly, but things will accelerate in the coming weeks. We do have our first defined events: June 30 at Chilango in Minneapolis, and a beer party -- they're brewing a special beer for me! -- at Fulton Brewing a little earlier in the month. Stay tuned.Ā Ā I know y'all want to pre-order a copy of Borderlands. I want that, too. But I want to start pre-orders through my own shop because while, sigh, I need Amazon as a business to survive, Big Bezos takes a gigantic cut. I know you'd rather support me directly, or at least I hope so! Once I have my pre-order mechanism
set, I'll send out a special email to you.Ā Ā March is flying by. The first green things have popped in my yard (chives), and the rhubarb can't be too far away. I always feel better when my rhubarb is close... guess I'm turning Minnesota. Foraging will start here in time for the next Wild Bites. I'll give
you a full report! Ā ~ Hank Ā Comments?Let us know what you think aboutĀ Wild BitesĀ by using our anonymous comment form - we love to hear from you, and we read every single comment. If you have a question, fire away and be sure to share your email address so we can respond. Ā |
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