Wild Bites #71: a 5-minute read that makes you smarter about wild food and tells you what's to come on the website,
YouTube, or To The Bone.   ~ Hank  Red chimichurri is a thing, and it's so versatile it works on almost anything!  Here's what's trending on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook: - If you still have some venison around, now's a good time to make some smoked venison sausage. It's fantastic for summer and fall parties, especially grilled.Â
- In most of the country, crabs are in season. I love making a rich crab risotto after crabbing because you can use the shells to make a quick stock for the rice. Live inland? Use crawfish!Â
- Chances are if you grow corn, you'll see "corn smut," a mushroom that grows on the ears. That's huitlacoche in Mexico and it's delicious! Really. Use it for huitlacoche quesadillas.Â
- Salmon are running in the Pacific, and smoked salmon is hard to beat. Use some to make smoked salmon pasta with your garden veggies and you won't be sad.Â
- I happen to have lots of cherry tomatoes now, and this cherry tomato
tart is an absolute winner! Definitely make this for date night, a simple summer summer, or brunch.Â
- One of my all-time favorite summer sauces is red chimichurri from Argentina. Yep, there's a red one! And it goes well on everything, from grilled vegetables to venison, pheasant, fish or chicken.Â
- For a cool summer option, make my whitefish salad. It's a
traditional Scandinavian-style fish salad that works with most kinds of fish. The secret? Use both fresh and smoked fish.Â
Moving up the list: A Midwest tradition, walleye wings are not only
a fantastic party appetizer, but they utilize more of each fish you bring home. Win win!!!        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!  Ground venison jerky will use up that "burger" you have in your freezer! You don't have to shy away from wild game in summer. Here are recipes that work well in hot weather, or are geared to using up whatever is remaining from last year's hunting season.  - Grilled duck breast is a show stopper, especially with a summer salad. The link gives you all the info you need to avoid flare-ups from the delicious duck fat hitting the coals!Â
- Another great option, if you have one in the freezer still, is grilled venison heart with peppers and onions. This is one of my most popular venison recipes. No heart? Use backstrap.
- Pig hunting is legal all year long, and slow smoking a shoulder of wild hog is a perfect way to serve this tasty-but-invasive animal. There are tricks to it, though, and the link walks you through them.
- Venison stroganoff is a quick and easy recipe that works best with backstrap or hind leg roasts. This one is super kid-friendly, too.Â
- Ground venison jerky is a
winner, too -- and a fantastic way to use up any "burger" in your freezer. And I know you have some...Â
Summer is a great time for seafood -- shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, you name it. Here are some of my favorite warm-weather recipes for these wonderful creatures. Â - Grilled octopus never disappoints. This one is Greek style. Â
- A light, summery lobster salad makes a perfect August supper. You can sub in crawfish or shrimp, too. Â
- I grew up with New England fried clams, and they're still a must-have whenever I am in the region. Here's how to make them at home.Â
- Southern-style pickled shrimp is a hot-weather appetizer second to none. Dip into these while drinking gin and tonics, lemonade, or just a beer.Â
- Thai-style crab fried rice is super good, easy, and fast. Use really any seafood here, not just
crab. Shrimp is ideal.
 4. More Scenes from Book Tour   Me sweating and giving instruction at an outdoor book dinner.  Book tours aren't all fawncy dinners at nice restaurants. Sometimes we get down and dirty, sweaty and real.
Here's the story about an outdoor book dinner in Maryland for 100 in 90-degree heat and 90 percent humidity. But the story is about more than the dinner: It's about what leadership looks like, and what it's like to teach young cooks. Â This article is over at To the Bone, where I do most of my real writing these days. It would mean the world to me if you'd subscribe. It's free, but you get all sorts of special extras if you
decide to pay for a subscription to support my work. Thanks in advance for considering it.  Needing the calm of the garden...  Not gonna lie: Book tour has been a roller coaster. It seems the world has changed a ton since 2021, when my last book came out. For every amazing event, like Ometeo in DC and Vida Cantina in New Hampshire, I've had an event fall through. So I am largely stepping back this month and regrouping.  I do have one event in August that still has tickets available: Tuesday, August 12 at Clyde's Corner in Phoenix, Oregon, which is just south of Medford.  After that I'll be off the road until September 11, when I'll be at Yoli Tortilleria in Kansas City. Tickets for that one aren't yet on sale, but I'll post when they are. I also will be in Oklahoma City on September 17, and
Denver on September 23.  But in the meantime, I am trying to figure out how to best spread the word about Borderlands. I can use your help, to be honest: Word of mouth is huge for a book, and if you have bought a copy and liked it, I'd be grateful if you maybe showed it to friends who might want one. I also really need reviews on Amazon -- you can leave a review here -- because those reviews can make or break a someone's decision to buy the book.  I also need to just recharge. To be in my garden. To fish. Forage. And just... be. Northern summers are so short, I don't want to miss it all.  ~ Hank  Comments?Let me know what you think about Wild Bites by emailing me at hank@huntgathercook.com. If you have a question, comment, or request, fire
away! Â |
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