Walleye on a Stick

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 cups canola or vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 1 pound walleye fillet, skinless and boneless
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 pound russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (2 cups)
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
• 1 scallion, white and green parts, finely chopped
• 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
• Pinch cayenne
• 1 cup panko, Japanese bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot to 350F. Make sure the pot is deep enough so the oil doesn’t go over the rim when walleye is fried. Insert a digital probe or candy thermometer to monitor oil’s heat.
2. Boil the potatoes until tender and strain. Lightly mash them in a large mixing bowl. Steam or lightly boil the walleye for just a few minutes until barely cooked through. Cool and reserve.
3. Add remaining ingredients to bowl. Lastly, add the gently cooked walleye and fold in trying to keep some large chunks of fish ½” or so.
4. Form small “logs” by rolling 2oz of mixture in your hands. They should be about 2-3” in length and ¾” thick. Skewer the fish mixture with bamboo or wooden pick. Roll the “Walleye on a Stick” in panko. Firmly squeeze the fish mixture in your hand to tighten on to skewer to ensure it doesn’t slip off.
5. Once you have breaded them all, fry in batches. You can place in 175F oven to keep warm.

Venison Meatballs w/ Morel Mushroom Gravy

Meatballs:

• 3/4Cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4Cup heavy cream
• 2T olive oil
• 1Cup fine diced onion, yellow
• 2lbs ground venison
• 2lbs ground pork
• 1/2lb foie gras, small chunks (optional) 
• 1ea whole egg
• 1T honey
• 1/2t juniper, ground fine
• 1t nutmeg
• 2T salt + pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the breadcrumbs and cream in bowl and let sit to soften.
2. Heat a large saute pan and sweat the onions until just translucent. Chill onions.
3. Mix, either by hand or in a mixer with paddle attachment, the venison, pork, foie gras and eggs. Add the remainder of seasonings, breadcrumb/cream mixture and chilled onions until well incorporated.
4. Scoop into 1oz balls and roll by hand. Bake at 400F until meatballs read 165F internally.

Gravy:

• 1cup dried morels
• 2cups chicken stock
• 3T whole butter
• 1/2cup onion, yellow diced small
• 2T chopped garlic
• 1/8cup all purpose flour
• 3T sherry
• 2T soy sauce
• 2cups heavy cream
• 1t allspice

Directions:

1. Soak the morels in the chicken stock, bring to a simmer and cool to room temp. Discard any sand or dirt from mushrooms, reserve the stock. Chop morels into small pieces and reserve.
2. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan heat the 3T butter and sweat the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the flour and cook until flour turns light tan. Add the warm chicken stock and stir in remainder ingredients including morels. Whisk well to break up any flour clumps and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer 30 minutes.

Venison Kebobs w/ Spiced Yogurt Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 8oz venison loin or leg, cubed into ¾” pieces
• 1ea onion, vidallia  ¾” pieces
• 2ea bell peppers ¾” pieces

MARINADE:

• 1T juniper berry, whole
• 2ea rosemary sprigs
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup fresh orange juice
• ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2T chopped fresh garlic

YOGURT SAUCE:

• 6oz plain Greek yogurt
• 2oz Harissa sauce (I like Trader Joes brand or make your own!)
• 1oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1T fresh chopped mint
• 1t kosher salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut all the venison, onions and peppers up into ¾” pieces. Keep the venison separate as this will marinate for 2hours up to 24hours.
2. Make the marinade by adding all the ingredients into a plastic ziplock bag and shake well. Add the venison and marinate, preferably overnight.
3. Mix the ingredients for the yogurt sauce together and chill. This can be done 48 hours in advance to allow the sauce to mellow.
4. Preheat Grill, preferably charcoal hardwood! Skewer the venison on pre-soaked skewers with the onion and peppers. Season Kebob’s with salt and pepper. Grill on each side until meat is a nice juicy medium.

Paprika Crusted Panfish with Chorizo & Lemon

INGREDIENTS:

• 4-6ea pan fish, skinless filets
• 1T paprika
• 1t salt
• 2T canola oil
• 4oz chorizo, fully cooked if using raw
• 1C white wine
• 4T butter
• 1t chopped fresh parsley
• 1T fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a heavy bottomed sauté pan, preferably cast iron or stainless steel, over medium-high heat.
2. Season the fish with salt on both sides. Dust the skin side of the fish with paprika liberally and shake off extra.
3. Sear the fish paprika side down in the pan. After about 1min flip the fish over and finish cooking the fish through. Remove the fish, paprika side up and transfer to a plate to rest.
4. To make the sauce…pour off any residual oil from the pan. Over medium heat add the cooked chorizo and white wine. Reduce until the liquid is about a scant 2 Tablespoons. Turn off heat and incorporate the whole butter with a fork. Fold in the chopped parsley.
5. Plate the fish by putting down the sauce/chorizo first. Place the fish atop and squeeze fresh lemon over.

Sauteed Quail Breast with Red Wine Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 quail breasts
• 2 cups dill pickle juice, from jar of pickles
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 pieces cooked bacon, chopped
• 1 pound fresh baby spinach
• 1lb fingerling potatoes, blanched & cut into smaller pieces
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 4 to 5 tablespoons cold butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large plastic bag, marinate the quail breast with the pickle brine over night or as little as 6 hours. This will impart some brine flavor but also make the breast’s more tender and juicy.
2. Preheat oven to 350F
3. Preheat a large, heavy bottomed (preferably stainless steel) sauté pan over the highest temperature. Season quail with salt and pepper on both sides.
4. Place quail breasts into hot pan (skin side down). Leave flame on high long enough for the pan to recover its heat, then turn flame down to medium or medium high. The object is to sear the breasts quickly so they stay rare but the skin is dark golden brown. If your quail doesn’t have skin, shoot for a golden brown on the flesh.
5. Take quail out of the pan and add the bacon, spinach and potatoes. Season with salt and mix in pan. Place quail back into the pan (seared side up) and place in oven for 10-12 minutes.
6. Take the pan out of the oven. Take out quail and potato/spinach mixture and rest. Add wine to the pan and reduce to 1 tablespoon amount of liquid. Turn off heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons cold butter. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Plate the spinach/potatoes in the center of the plates. Slice the quail on the bias and place atop the veg mix. Spoon the sauce around the quail and enjoy!

Venison Jalapeno Poppers Wrapped in Bacon - Yum-Yum Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2-3lbs whole jalapenos, washed
• 1/2 lb ground or finely chopped venison
• 2ea shallots, fine dice
• 6oz cream cheese, room temp or slightly softened in microwave
• 3oz parmesan cheese
• 12-16 pieces bacon, preferably not too thick for easy/quicker cooking
• 2cups plain greek yogurt
• 1t tomato paste
• 3T your favorite beer (some for yourself)
• 1/4c chopped chives
• 1T garlic, chopped fine
• 2T sriracha (or more if you want it spicier)
• 1T smoked paprika
• 2t salt

Directions:

1. Split the jalapenos length wise with a knife to just one side of the stem. Keep stem attached to peppers as this will be what you hold onto while eating them. Wearing gloves, pick out the seeds and white membrane. Lay the peppers cut side up on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
2. Filling: saute the shallots and venison until it’s just cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Mix the cream cheese and parmesan in a medium bowl. Add the venison, shallot mixture and mix to incorporate evenly.
4. Preheat oven to 425F or 400F for convection oven.
5. Using a spoon, fill each half jalapeno just to the top with filling. Cut the bacon into 1/3rds. Place two jalapeno halves together and wrap with bacon. You can secure with a toothpick or cook flap side down. Once they’re all filled and wrapped, place jalapenos on a baking sheet with a rack so hot air moves around the poppers while cooking.
6. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked. You can crisp the bacon with the broiler too for extra crispy bacon.
7. For the Yum-yum sauce, place all ingredients in a bowl or blender and combine well.

Ancho marinated Venison Loin Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1T Ancho paste
• 2T Juice of lime
• 1T honey or agave nectar
• 1t chopped fresh oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 8oz venison loin, cut into bite sized strips to grill.
• Cabbage, red or green, finely julienned or box grated
• 2T sour cream
• 1T fresh lime juice
• 1T chopped fresh cilantro
• Tortillas (corn or flour)
• Fresh limes, avacados, cilantro, scallions, salsa

Directions:

1. Make the Marinade by combining the first 5 ingredients well. Using your fingers, massage marinade into the meat and let sit for 45-60minutes at room temp.
2. Mix the chopped cabbage well with sour cream, onion and cilantro. Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
3. Over med-high heat, grill or saute the venison until just cooked (1-2 minutes per side). Take meat off heat and let rest.
4. Heat the tortillas over the grill or in a clean saute pan. Build the tacos with the cabbage slaw then Venison and garnish with your liking…(cilantro, red onion, avocado, salsa, etc)

Pheasant and Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

• ½ cup diced leeks
• ½ cup diced parsnips
• ½ cup diced yams
• ½ cup celery and carrot
• 8oz roasted pheasant meat
• ½ cup white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned is fine)
• 2 tbspn fresh thyme, chopped fine
• 2 tbspn pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. In a heavy bottomed pot, add 2T of neutral oil such as canola or vegetable oil. Sweat the vegetables over medium heat. Add the pheasant meat and saute for a few moments until it begins to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pot a little.
2. Add the wine and reduce the liquid by half.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir well.
4. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 45min to 60min.
5. Season to taste with Salt and black Pepper.

Walleye in a Bag

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 (6-8ounce) fillets walleye
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 thin lemon slices (less than 3/4 inch thick; from 1 large lemon)
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
• 12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 1/2 tablespoons drained bottled capers
• 4 small chunks of butter
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup panko bread crumb
• 3 tablespoons whole butter
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and tarragon

Preparation:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange a piece of foil 12”x16” and drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil. This can also be cooked on a grill, campfire or in your fireplace right in the coals.
2. Pat fish dry and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Arrange walleye fillets, skin side down, in center of foil.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, zucchini, roasted corn and a pinch of salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 1 minute.
4. Spoon hot tomato mixture over fish, then cover by folding the edges together tightly to seal.
5. Bake until fish is just cooked through, 12 minutes (depending on thickness of fish); check by inserting instant read thermometer into fish to read 150F.
6. While Fish is cooking, melt the whole butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the panko and stir well to saturate the bread crumb with the melted butter. Keep over heat until panko has turned a nice dark golden tan. Add fresh chopped herbs to panko and cool.
7. Transfer fillets with lemon slices to plates using a spatula (be careful not to tear foil underneath) and spoon tomatoes and juices over and top with the herb crumb. Serve immediately, discarding thyme before eating.

Wild Turkey Buffalo Bites

Ingredients:

• 1# Brined turkey breast
• 1 cup Cassava flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 whole eggs scrambled
• ¼ cup clarified butter
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 medium carrot cut into ribbons (shave with a vegetable peeler)
• 1 rib of celery sliced thin (reserve leaves)
• ¼ cup Buffalo style hot sauce
• ¼ cup blue cheese crumbles

Directions to Brine Turkey:

1. To brine turkey, place all ingredients listed below into a stock pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 10-15 minutes.
2. Strain and chill brine by mixing with 1 quart of ice cubes.
3. Once brine is cooled below 41 degrees’ place turkey breast in brine and chill in refrigerator overnight or up to 12 hours.
4. Remove turkey from brine and air chill in refrigerator until use.

• ¾ gallon water
• ¾ cup of sea salt
• 3 Tbs sugar
• 2 Tbs pickling spice
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• Zest of 1 lemon

Directions to Prepare Turkey Bites:

1. Slice turkey breast into thin strips. Place cassava flour, almond flour and egg wash into individual bowls. Start by dredging turkey strips into cassava flour, shake off excess and dip into egg wash. Remove from egg wash and dredge in almond flour. Repeat this process until all turkey has been breaded.
2. Set breaded turkey aside and preheat large sauté pan over medium heat. Add a generous 2 Tbs clarified butter to coat bottom of saute pan and gently place turkey cutlets into pan. Cook until golden brown and flip. Once turkey is golden brown on both sides and internal temp. is 165 degrees remove from pan and place on a plate with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
3. To plate toss carrot ribbons and celery leaves with a touch of olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Arrange on a plate and place cooked turkey cutlets over vegetables. Spoon sauce over turkey and sprinkle plate with blue cheese crumbles.

Serves 4 appetizer portions