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Meat and Poultry: Game ( 2 recipes )
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Smoked Bacon Wrapped Venison Steaks
n/a (Hits: 97)
Place a hanging griddle from a crane over a hot fire to heat before placing the meat on it. You may use a grilling pan on a charcoal or gas grill as a substitute, if you wish. If you use a grill, preheat it, then turn the fire to medium or low, depending on the air temperature.
Cut generous portions of boned venison haunch, tenderloin of beef or top round (I like to cut a piece about the thickness of the width of your bacon. The wider the bacon, the better. 2-2 inches is very good!). It is permissible to use 2 chunks of meat to make a circle of meat about 4-4 inches in diameter. Encircle with bacon, using as many strips as needed, securing it at each quarter of the circle with a skewer or toothpick. Remove and peel a large clove of garlic, cut it and rub the meat on both sides liberally, making sure the crushed garlic is embedded into the flesh. Embed the pepper into one side only by grinding it onto the meat and patting it in with your hand.
Place meat onto the griddle and rotate every few minutes to allow the bacon to cook slowly as it is exposed to the fire (be careful it does not burn). Move each piece around as equally as you can to insure good exposure. The melting bacon fat will make the steaks cook nicely on the griddle. When the steaks are sizzling nicely, turn them over carefully and repeat the rotation. Continue this practice until you are satisfied that the meat is done to your expectations. Look for a dark brown crusted surface, both sides.
Remove and serve piping hot. Advise diners to remove the picks or skewers before eating.
Venison is best served medium rare. Too often, it is over-cooked and, thus, some diners find it offensive. The general rule is to treat venison as you would the best cut of beef.
Hearth Cookware--hanging griddle
Fire--medium to hot, with a very good bed of coals, or, BBQ grill
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Fried Muskrat
n/a (Hits: 92)
Skin and remove the musk gland from the 'rat. Immerse it in a kettle of water. Add onions. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the scum is no longer produced. Drain off water, leaving onion with the 'rat. Add more water and continue cooking until tender. Remove and fry as you like in a skillet or spider.
Cook's note: Soak the cleaned muskrat in salt water with 2 Tbl of vinegar for 2 hours. Drain, rinse and then proceed.
Muskrat was (and still is, by some) considered to be a delicacy by the French inhabitants of the Great Lakes. The flesh has a strong but tasty flavor. The musk gland must be removed before cooking, however. If the gland is left in, the 'rat will taste as if it were allowed to rot. This dish was cooked and served at Fort Niagara during the French & Indian War.
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![The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]](images/wwwboard.gif "The Mohican Board! [Bumppo's Redux!]")
