Hunter Angler Gardener Cook - January 2018 Newsletter

Published: Mon, 01/08/18

Book Tour

Deep breath. Here we go! I am about to embark on the longest book tour of my career.

This will be the fourth, and will cover 37 states and five Canadian provinces from February to Christmas.

You can find confirmed events here. You might want to bookmark it, as I will add new events once they are confirmed. Note that I have a lot of events still in the works.

Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail, debuts at Pheasant Fest in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on February 16-18. If you're not there, you can't get the book -- it won't be available nationwide until mid-March.

I'll start March with a stop in Bozeman, Montana, on March 2, and then I'll spend a week or so in Missouri, with events in Jefferson City, Columbia, Kansas City and Cape Girardeau.

I expect to hit Oklahoma in late March, then back home for a bit.

Those of you who live near me in Sacramento should mark on your calendars March 29, when I'll be cooking small game tacos at Nixtaco Taqueria, and April 6, which is our beer bash at the appropriately named Jackrabbit Brewing in West Sacramento. Details are still TBD, but the dates are firm.

I'll be at the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers annual Rendezvous in Boise, Idaho in April. Each month after that will be more events. I expect to hit the Pacific Northwest in May, the South in June and Canada and New England in July.

August I'll be in two extreme climates: Texas at the beginning of the month, then Alaska in Juneau and Anchorage.

September will take me to Salt Lake City, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas. October I'll tour the Midwest and that'll take me into early November. Mid-November I'll be in Denver, Wyoming and Kansas, then I start covering the Mid-Atlantic states after Thanksgiving.

I'll finish up in Arizona and New Mexico in December, then do a final bash back here in Sacramento before Christmas.

My goal throughout is to build in enough free time to fish, forage and hunt when I am on the road -- I didn't get much of that when I was on tour for my venison book. More details on the tour will unfold as we get closer.

I am still looking for a place to do events in Anchorage, Bismarck, Charlottesville, Chico, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, Spokane and Winnipeg. I need to be able to sell 40+ books at each stop to make expenses. If you own or have contacts with a restaurant, brewery or other venue you think might work, drop me a note at scrbblr@hotmail.com.

Book tours are always a combination of exhilaration and exhaustion. Looking forward to seeing old friends again, and to meeting new ones. Onward!

what i've been cooking

I've been super busy working on my book tour, but I have had some time for hunting, mostly quail and ducks. Winter mushrooming has also been good here, too. Let me share some of the wintry dishes I've been making lately:

Venison Chili. A standard at my house, you can make this chili with literally any ground meat, from venison to duck, pork, elk, beef or whatever. I can pretty much guarantee you this is the best chili you've ever had. Dozens and dozens of people have made it and won awards. Give it a go!
Agnolotti. Wha? Basically they're like a ravioli, but easier to make. I like to fill them with minced braised meat, in this case squirrel. Rabbit or chicken or pheasant is a good substitute. You owe it to yourself to try this one; agnolotti are the easiest filled pasta to make.
Chinese Orange Pheasant. I admit it. I like Panda's orange chicken. It's a guilty pleasure. This recipe is an adult version of that. A little spicier, more orange-y, and tarter. Any white meat will work here.
Tea Smoked Duck. When you get a fat duck or goose, make this. It's the only smoked duck you can make in our kitchen, on the stovetop.
Mushroom Recipes. It's the season here in NorCal, so here are all my recipes for wild mushrooms, ranging from morels to chanterelles, as well as all sorts of lesser known 'shrooms.

Follow Me Online

I am on the road a lot, often in wild places in search of fish, game or wild edible plants and mushrooms. If you want to keep up with what I am chasing at the moment -- and this will give you a good, real-time indicator of what's in season where I happen to be -- follow me on Instagram. My handle there is @huntgathercook

Instagram is often the only social media account I update when I am out and about. I am of course also on Twitter as @hank_shaw and Facebook as/huntgathercook as well.

Day in and day out, however, most of my online interaction is in a Facebook forum I run called Hunt Gather Cook. It's a closed site, so I have to let you in, but just let me know you are a newsletter subscriber when you answer the entry questions and yer in. Hope to see you there!

pike dumplings

Pike is classic, but any white fish works for these dumplings, which I serve in a crazy flavorful mushroom broth. If you're looking for a switch from basic fried fish this winter, this is it.

Slow Cooked Venison Shoulder

This is an ideal recipe for the front shoulders of smaller deer, or lamb or goat. The whole shoulder, cooked gently, smothered in onions. The flavors are from Senegal, in West Africa, but the ingredients are in any supermarket.

My new Book!

Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail is the most comprehensive, lushly photographed and illustrated cookbook covering upland birds and small game ever produced. At 336 pages, with more than 100 color photos and 125 recipes for everything from pheasants, quail, rabbits and grouse to woodcock, hares, squirrels, partridges - you name it! What's more, every purchase helps habitat: I am donating a portion of the proceeds of every book sold to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever to restore, maintain and expand habitat for all upland birds.

Buy Now!