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Saturday, February 16. 2013Got Game? The best game sauce recipe in the worldThis is an annual re-post. We'll post more game recipes over the next few weeks to help our hunters with their bursting freezers - With hunting season winding, it's time to get cooking what we have in the freezer. It all begins with the sauce: Uncle Bill's Jus de Gibier (mixed game) sauce, aka Brown Game Stock, aka Clean out the Freezer Sauce Technically, it's a jus, not a sauce. Add a little roux and it will become a sauce. This will be the tastiest sauce base you have ever had in your life, for chicken, game birds, turkey, venison, pork, veal, pasta, ravioli, etc. It's an ideal base for pheasant, chicken, venison or goose bourguignon. It has an earthy richness to it which is remarkable. We like to make a woodcock ravioli with black truffle, and this sauce is essential for that. Gibier refers to mixed game, but we do it with mixed meat too, but not beef, which would overpower the subtler flavors. It is the best use of freezer-burned game and other stuff in the freezer. It's fun to make (but it takes a while), and you can clean out the freezer and the fridge at the same time. I freeze the used carcasses of Thanksgiving turkey, ducks, goose, random deer bones, etc. to use when I make this, once or twice a year, along with freezer-burned chicken, pheasant, etc. You could do this with entirely store-bought stuff if you lack a hunter in the family. The more stuff, the better. You need a 10-12 (or larger) quart pot to make this, if you have a lot of stuff to use, but it freezes fine when made. It's good for a few months, at least. Bake in oven until browned (not necessarily cooked-though) your saved carcasses and freezer-burned game meat and meat, especially pork and pork bones are good, and veal bones, (even if they have already been cooked). Yes, you bake the bones too. Do not burn them in the oven. I tend to use freezer-burned venison, pork chops, all my game bird carcasses, venison bones (cracked with a mallet), a bunch of veal bones and veal scraps if I can get them nowadays (it doesn't hurt to hit up the butcher for some stuff for this), turkey carcass, woodcock carcasses, and a pile of chicken wings. Chop this stuff roughly with a cleaver into 3-6" chunks and toss in the pot. Try to crack the bones. Take a large saucepan and sautee hot in olive oil and butter (skins on): Very coarsely cut carrots, onions, garlic (just smash the whole hunk of cloves, skin and all), shallots, mushrooms, celery, until slightly browned. I use about 3 onions, a bunch of carrots, a whole garlic thing, a pile of mushrooms, and a whole clump of celery. Dump them in the stockpot. Make about 6 strips of bacon or a hunk of salt pork, cooked but not crisp, and toss them in the pot. Almost cover what's in the pot with white wine, leaving room for the other wine. Throw in some salt and a bunch of whole peppercorns and turn to simmer. Throw in about 3 tomatoes, roughly chopped, or a little can of tomato paste. Throw in a handful of dried or frozen blueberries or huckleberries. Throw in a big handful of fresh parsley and several generous big twigs of fresh thyme, and a couple of bay leaves. Throw in a couple of handfuls of dried porcini mushrooms - these are required - plus any other dried mushrooms or fresh mushrooms you might have around. Got any spare truffles or some truffle oil lying around? Use them, too. Pour in a half or whole bottle of ordinary port (minus one glass for the cook). Pour in 2 bottles of drinkable cabernet, depending on how much sauce you are making (minus one or two glasses for the cook). Low simmer, covered, for around 8 hours to extract all of the flavors, sniffing the etherial fragrance frequently. Or you can put the whole pot in the oven at around 350 for 6-8 hours. Careful about salt, because you will want to reduce this sauce. Add water or wine if needed. You might add a little sugar if you want, but the port, carrots, and blueberries should eliminate most of the bitterness if there is any. Let cool a little bit, then strain through a strainer, or preferably cheesecloth. And give the big bones to the dogs. Then gently cook down to whatever degree of reduction you want for your use, or freeze it and reduce it when you use it. You can cool and scrape off the fat if you want to. If you used enough meat and bones, this sauce will be firmly gelatinous when cooled in the fridge. Make this without the red wine, if you know how to clarify, and it makes a heck of a Consomme Gibier. When I make this, I make a lot. I freeze what I am not using at the moment. It works a miracle on plain roast chicken. Here's a good site on sauces. Once you have the rich stock, there are tons of things to do with it.
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Familiar. Raised to clean out the fridge also. Here are some ideas for ways to use up the turkey (if you do not have a hunter in the family and had to stalk a bird down the aisle of Shoprite).
1) Remember that the bird itself is a bore, so packaging is everything. 2) Make extra gravy for the dinner (you did, didn't you. Made with homemade stock, and at least a cup of half and half (do not reveal this to your cholesterol watching relatives) 3) Turkey pot pie. Use turkey, left over gravy, onions, garlic and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil plus frozen mixed veggies for crunch. I try sneaking in those yummy home grown Thanksgiving Day picked brussels sprouts left over from the meal but husband and kids will merely push around the plate... Teach your children how to make pie crust. They will do better and the crust will be less leathery if you use the Cuisinart. 3) Turkey curry. If you do not grind your own spices daily to make curry, the Patak's brand curry pastes and sauces are excellent and have the virtue of not going stale on you. Saute onion, sliced apple, celery and garlic and curry in olive oil add turkey and any gravy still left. If you are out, add either water or orange juice and thicken as needed with either mashed potato left over (there aren't any in my house) or peanut butter. My family like it extremely hot, so we add whatever hot peppers we grew last summer that we tossed in a zip lock bag in the freezer. Fresh parsley (still growing on the deck) and cilantro especially at the last minute. Serve with loads of mango chutney. 4) Instant meals for any working stiffs in the family. If you do nothing else with the leftovers, do this Use corning ware bowls with lids despite the shatter hazard as microwaving plastic containers releases dioxins and other nasties bad for the constitution: Just put a small portion of everything served at the feast in a 16 ox bowl, don't forget the cranberry sauce, and freeze. This can be carried to work frozen, and will be much tastier than a frozen commercial meal and more nutritious than a deli sandwich. A postscript:
There are still questions about cooking anything, especially anything acidic in aluminum. Perhaps BirdDog is up on the latest studies (early ones made Cassandra noises about links to Alzheimer's following use of aluminum cookware). I use cast iron, or enamelled cast iron, or tinned heavy copper pans. As a general rule, I only use aluminum to boil water for corn or lobsters. There size truly matters. You want to be able to lift the pot. But for soup making, use a Le Creuset cast iron enamelled pan. Imparts no nasty flavor to your lovingly simmered stock, doesn't discolor or pit. Easy to clean (if you burn stuff, either scruib with baking soda paste or soak it in a dilute solution of chlorox and water). The enamelled cast iron is outrageously expensive but beautiful colors (I prefer smokey blue) and lasts thru several marriages. Can be used to store stew in the fridge or freezer, then reheat. It's one drawback is that it is heavier than hell. But if you can carry a deer, you can reduce it to consomme in something of substance... I don't care if professional chefs use aluminum in restaurants. There, the concern is speed, efficiency, and saving money. Things done with love (as opposed to a profit motive) should be different. Le Cruest cast iorn cookware is way overpriced and over rated. I suggest you take a look at the Cajun Classic Cast Iron site for excellent enamelled cast iron cookware that is reasonably priced.
Heavy cast aluminum is better than cast iron in many ways - heats faster, distributes the heat faster, lighter.
Most of the cast aluminum is anodized (black finish inside) to prevent reaction with food acids. You can also season these pots just like cast iron, with soy or flax seed oil and a warm oven. For thin saute pans and baking tins, chefs use "black steel" - it's a low iron steel that conducts heat well. This is also the preferred material for woks. They, too, can be seasoned with oil. The main culprit does not seem to be aluminum - but those non-stick coatings, which are carcinogenic. Build up your own non-stick coating by seasoning with oil. There are some websites that describe how to do this, and which oils to use, in considerable detail. Brown sauce. Good stuff. Reduce it to the point that it's thick and you have glace de viande.
Yes, etherial brown sauce. The aluminum adds that very special essence d'aluminium, which extends happy life, science tells us.
Bring high trans fat oils to a roiling boil.
Slowly lower the feet of your local ,state, or fededarl Democrat to the brew. Continue lowering until screaming ceases, then just dunk the remainder. Lower heat and reduce. Once reduced add to your garbage. NOW..I see where Hillary has set a 90 day pull out to the debate ..this puts her in the lead with only five years to go until the election. It also makes this a Democratic aftermath of war, which will be far more serious than the war itself. Only the hard core Democratic Marxists and "America as the nexus of all Evil" crowd will be left. Some of us will deal with them, forcing them to watch reruns of Amos and Andy episodes 24/7/365 in a reeducation camp. When Aq is ready and inflated once again with renewed Democratic allies they will hit us again in a massive "American Tet", complete with suitcase bombs and feul oil/fertilizer bombs under interstate overpasses and in front of buildings. The suitcase bombs will be used on Wall Street and the WH and DC. Think it's far fetched. With DOJ telling us that 500k a year are infiltrating our country go ahead and tell me none of those are AQ and that none are packing the necessary components for a dirty bomb...golly I'll believe you. PEOPLE GET READY C'mon people get ready There's a strain a-comming You'll just need a gass mask Just a-get on board All you need is some idiot leader To hear that Islam is a peaceul band You don't need no ticket no no Just thank the Dems C'mon people get ready (people get ready) There's a strain a-comming You won't be breath'n Just pile us like cords All you need is some pol-i-ticians Sell'in out quick for that Air Force One So peole get ready cause the fights a com'in Just down your street and across your town No need to run, cause there ain't more places Thanks to the Dems who just signed us a-way You don't need no ticket no no Just thank the Murthas and thank Ms.Pelosi for the shit world we're in. Habu, that's just wrong.
We need to thank the American voter, the most informed voters in history. PS. I know you get up late but please do a bit of spell checking. We get the point but it's embarassing to the site. I've noted many of these delightful recipes and have added them to my upcoming paper in Lancet. I would like to note for our bloggers that more data points are al ways appreciated. Here's how you can help.
Recording flatulence events The term meteorism is defined as the presence of gas within the abdomen or intestines. However, it is sometimes also used to describe the condition of excessive flatulence. Since subjective judgments vary considerably about what constitutes normal and elevated levels of flatulence, medical personnel sometimes instruct a patient complaining about excessive flatulence to maintain a personal flatulence diary. Researchers studying flatulence have also developed what is called a flatulogram. Its horizontal axis represents time (typically 24 hours, with each hour being marked on the time line). The subject is instructed to make a pencil mark on this line at each point in time that they notice flatus passing through the anus. The acoustical volume of the event is indicated by the vertical distance that the pencil mark rises above the time line. Inaudible events are indicated by a short mark that extends only below the time line. For more on the study: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatulence During the summer, I used to be in and out of the front garage and left the door open occasionally at night. I sure do miss my big green Le Creuset heavy 7 quart dutch oven. It was green--if any of you happen to notice one around I had it sitting on my shelf in the garage--not there anymore!
Ahh, life in the liberal burbs! You personal log, or FLATULOGRAM as noted in the above article may be altered in our computer environment to resemble this. The sold line represent "silent , non-anxious times, while the dots appears as "episodes of escape"
__________ .........._..________............__________............._________ Thank you, Dr. Askew Mmm...mouth watering info--youse folks is good game-cooks!
Digestive japery aside--how did that stewpot (in the illo) turn out --?
Thanks, BD! Reminds me of my old ‘everything from reloader to chef as religion’ uncle in Oregon, who understood that “gaminess” can be an acquired taste for some and what to do about it.
Sadly, the only one of his sons who can actually bag anything has neanderthal taste buds, and another who has the sophisticated pallette is a semi-vegan metrosexual living in San Francisco. Sad how the genes can split that way. I love sauces like this. When/if you get tired of using it straight, throw in a little sour cream and toss it up with some egg noodles, with or without meat.
Please tell me the name of the cookbook referenced in the article about sauces. It looks like an excellent one.
Thank you. Not from a book. From my chef friend and occasional hunting buddy.
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It's the end of hunting season, and I have not killed enough stuff this year. I have two does in the freezer, countless pheasants and chukars, a few Canada Geese and a bunch of ducks of several species. A couple of grouse, but we have eaten most of them
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