Ah, restoration of the proper order. A wall tent, northern lights, and iron sights too! Way back when I first met Penelope, I rescued her fathers copy of Escoffier from the bottom of a reckless pile of books in their dilapidated barn. Not having grown up in a hunting family, with all its game recipes, that book was some motivation to hunt. Before I started hunting myself, I traded an acquaintance (a bow hunter) a nice early edition of Saxton Pope's "Hunting with Bow & Arrow" for the hind quarter of a small whitetail. Chatham, Harrison, and de la Valdene became my hunting fathers (with Steve Bodio as my gun father.) Even though Escoffier motivated me, my version of venison stew is based on Julia Child's recipe for beef bourguignon; but with the addition of some of Fergus Henderson's unctuous "trotter gear" and a wee bit of roasted/blended/sieved dried ancho chilies (from Rick Bayless's "Authentic Mexican"). I'm not really a fan of spicy food, but the anchos are mild and give a subtle deep smokey flavor, leaving the feeling of the roundness of the inside of your mouth.
Hi Jim--thank you for writing! I've done Julia-inspired bourguignon as well, also carbonnade, chilindron, and a few others mainly from Hank Shaw...so many options. Escoffier is really interesting, but it would take a staff of 20 to replicate a lot of his recipes. I'm a huge fan of Fergus Henderson too--The Whole Beast is probably the wittiest cookbook in the rack. I'm making myself hungry writing this...I just saw a British game chef demonstrate deviled roe deer liver and kidneys here--https://hunting.be/en/grilled-venison-liver-and-kidneys-a-step-by-step-recipe-with-itv-game-chef-mike-robinson/
I didn't keep the kidneys, but I do have some of the liver in vacuum sealed single portions--I'd like to try this prep before it "ages" much longer in the freezer. I'll report back...
Oh--that's actually the 1903 Mannlicher! I refinished the stock probably 15 years ago. Not what I shot this year's deer with, but it's sure photogenic...
Ha! I never met him, so I remain neutral...evidently there was some friction between him and Steve, however...I was sort of blindsided by that one myself!
Thanks for your reply. I watched your family's interview on MeatEater and found it really interesting to listen to your brother and nephew talk about their lives and losses. Look forward to seeing you!
Hey, Malcolm. I wasn't much of a big game hunter but my Dad and older brother kept the freezer full growing up. Cutting fresh venison steaks at "the hunting camp" (no aging done yet) was delicious (to my surprise). Mom was pretty good at cooking wild game although nothing fancy like venison bourguignon; just basic good nourishing food. See you soon hopefully. Dick and Rita
Hi Dick--I really wish I had met your dad...all the stories I've heard about him are pretty priceless. And I agree, fresh venison can be as amazing as anything--in James Beard's words, "a dinner of extraordinary magnificence..." We're tagging along with R & M next weekend, so will see you then...just made a big batch of barilla with the deer neck and froze it so we can bring it along...
Hello, and thank you for reading and responding...for the record, I never quit hunting altogether during that ten-year period, it's just that circumstances forced me to scale way back, and keep things more local. That's not such a bad thing either, but it eliminated the whole hunting camp dimension of the experience. Now I'm already looking ahead to next year. Back in the game, in more ways than one...
Ah, restoration of the proper order. A wall tent, northern lights, and iron sights too! Way back when I first met Penelope, I rescued her fathers copy of Escoffier from the bottom of a reckless pile of books in their dilapidated barn. Not having grown up in a hunting family, with all its game recipes, that book was some motivation to hunt. Before I started hunting myself, I traded an acquaintance (a bow hunter) a nice early edition of Saxton Pope's "Hunting with Bow & Arrow" for the hind quarter of a small whitetail. Chatham, Harrison, and de la Valdene became my hunting fathers (with Steve Bodio as my gun father.) Even though Escoffier motivated me, my version of venison stew is based on Julia Child's recipe for beef bourguignon; but with the addition of some of Fergus Henderson's unctuous "trotter gear" and a wee bit of roasted/blended/sieved dried ancho chilies (from Rick Bayless's "Authentic Mexican"). I'm not really a fan of spicy food, but the anchos are mild and give a subtle deep smokey flavor, leaving the feeling of the roundness of the inside of your mouth.
PS. The Brno looks fantastic!
Best Regards,
Jim
Hi Jim--thank you for writing! I've done Julia-inspired bourguignon as well, also carbonnade, chilindron, and a few others mainly from Hank Shaw...so many options. Escoffier is really interesting, but it would take a staff of 20 to replicate a lot of his recipes. I'm a huge fan of Fergus Henderson too--The Whole Beast is probably the wittiest cookbook in the rack. I'm making myself hungry writing this...I just saw a British game chef demonstrate deviled roe deer liver and kidneys here--https://hunting.be/en/grilled-venison-liver-and-kidneys-a-step-by-step-recipe-with-itv-game-chef-mike-robinson/
I didn't keep the kidneys, but I do have some of the liver in vacuum sealed single portions--I'd like to try this prep before it "ages" much longer in the freezer. I'll report back...
Oh--that's actually the 1903 Mannlicher! I refinished the stock probably 15 years ago. Not what I shot this year's deer with, but it's sure photogenic...
Hey, finally figured out who "E.D." is. Never heard of him, never read anything, won't mention him again! Gone to the dustbins of history :)
Ha! I never met him, so I remain neutral...evidently there was some friction between him and Steve, however...I was sort of blindsided by that one myself!
Thanks for your reply. I watched your family's interview on MeatEater and found it really interesting to listen to your brother and nephew talk about their lives and losses. Look forward to seeing you!
Hey, Malcolm. I wasn't much of a big game hunter but my Dad and older brother kept the freezer full growing up. Cutting fresh venison steaks at "the hunting camp" (no aging done yet) was delicious (to my surprise). Mom was pretty good at cooking wild game although nothing fancy like venison bourguignon; just basic good nourishing food. See you soon hopefully. Dick and Rita
Hi Dick--I really wish I had met your dad...all the stories I've heard about him are pretty priceless. And I agree, fresh venison can be as amazing as anything--in James Beard's words, "a dinner of extraordinary magnificence..." We're tagging along with R & M next weekend, so will see you then...just made a big batch of barilla with the deer neck and froze it so we can bring it along...
Hello, and thank you for reading and responding...for the record, I never quit hunting altogether during that ten-year period, it's just that circumstances forced me to scale way back, and keep things more local. That's not such a bad thing either, but it eliminated the whole hunting camp dimension of the experience. Now I'm already looking ahead to next year. Back in the game, in more ways than one...