Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

Wild Game in the Heart of Brooklyn

Henry’s End,  Brooklyn Heights

So yes there is wild game in New York City and right here in Brooklyn is the best!  A small restaraunt serving seasonal and local fare with an amazing wine menu to boot.  They are an extremly popular place with the locals and tend to have a wide variety of wild game meats on thier menu and even have a Wild Game Festival.  This place is certainly worth the visit and it’s simple Brooklyn feel is perfect for a wild game dinner, the Herb Crusted Elf Chops are divine!

Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

It’s All Child’s Play to Me!

Children have a way of brinign out our inner play and wild side.  Think wrestling with your kids, running around the house and how often words like please dont be wild int eh house come out of our mouths.  My brother and his family moved to Wyoming for one so thier kids could have room to be wild in a sense.  I spent a lot of time pondering this, consiously and subconsiously and relalized that in our world today it must be hard for those who have kids to provide the perfect or best enviroment for thier kids to grow up in.  With the amount of television, video games and basic nonsense we are bombareded with it’s important to remember that your kids need to be wild.  They need to play, they need space and they need to roam and discover.  Now I am not saying that we all need to move to Wyoming and I think the basic message here works for kids and adults; GET OUTSIDE AND PLAY MORE.  I also witness often my brothers and thier wives playing with thier chidlren, often wildly and I think this really instills in chicldren as they grow the need to continue to play even into adulthood.  I myself am grateful for these little Wyoming cowboy and cowgirl I got to play with over Christmans and New Years.  They gave me the opportunity and the free pass to be wild and crazy with them and it was fun and it was rewarding.  It doesnt matter where you live, we adapt, that is easy, its all about choice really.  Get outside and play with kids or play like a kid, winter time is the best time!

Leaves Ladies are Going to Give Birth to Meat

Nissa & Stavin Moto Cross

Little Elf Kianna

Wild Pig (rleased into the wild anyhow)

Atlantic City; Ghost Town

Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

Cowboy Jim, Togatee Pass, Wyoming

Every once in awhile we meet someone on our journey’s through this world that remind us of how rigid we can become as humans and so often these people seem a little on the “insane” side or “out there” but in actual reality, they are living truly as the deem and that for me is admirable.  It takes a lot of internal power not to be affected by what others think, what others see as important and it takes great security in ones self to live within their own skin peacefully.  I admire those people and take it as a blessing every time I get to meet one.   There is a plethora of knowledge in these people and often times if you really look and spend enough time with them a treasure map leading to this very peace and security within themselves that they exude. 

Cowboy Bill, as he called himself and as we happily called him was unique and rare.  I couldn’t tell at first glance if he was for real of if it was an act, playing with the tourists so to speak on top of the mountains in Wyoming.  It dawned on me very quickly that we weren’t in a tourist town and he was for real and after I got passed my initial uncomfortable-ness (rather quickly) with him I got to witness the great beauty this man possessed and was delivering to all of us.   Stories upon  stories that seemed like they were straight out of an old western.  Indian tales and what seemed like privy information sometimes that only the insiders would know and understand about the Indian connections that the cowboys and Indians both had toward the land and the animals.  I learned a large mount about eating wild game, a subject that peaked my interested while in Wyoming.  I learned about the severe hatred of the wolves, well I should say about the decision to place all those wolves in that area.  I learned about eating wolf and bear and had long in depth discussions about the modern day teenager and his/her lack of knowledge in anything wild and rugged.   And finally after a few days of discussions and over some beers I got a recipe, well kind of recipe and now I share it with all of you and what I really share is the experience once again of meeting these people who seem outlandish at fist but are true teachers of peace and happiness, next time you run accorss folks like this whether it be in your own backyard or in another country, stop and really soak it all in, its worth it, taking a walk on the wild side that is!

 Cowboy Beans

Serves: Depending on the size of your cowboy, between 6-8

This recipe is truly unique to the many cowboy beans you see out there, I highly recommend trying it and I think you will find some amazing tips in this recipe for making your own flavor pot of beans just the way you like it.  I altered his recipe slightly to incorporate some fresh herbs or course!

Ingredients

 3 bottles of moose drool brown ale

2 pounds dry beans or 3 pounds fresh (cranberry, navy, yellow, eye, heirlooms in general are best)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic
2 medium yellow onion, chopped2 medium carrots, chopped fine2 fresh chili peppers, chopped seeds and all1 pound elk, bear or wolf meat, cubed and dredged in flour
2 teaspoons salt2 teaspoons black pepper, cracked
½ cup molasses
½ cup spicy stone ground mustard
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
½ cup fresh chives, chopped fine
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped fine

 Directions

If using dry beans, clean and soak the beans overnight submerged in the amber beer.

In a large dutch oven pot or heavy bottom pot, with a little olive oil sauté the garlic and yellow, red, and carrots until a little translucent.  Add the meat and continue to sauté until it is browned.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the molasses, mustard, tomatoes and mix well.  Add the bean and the bean liquid, stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce the temp and cook for about 30 minutes or until beans are tender.

Preheat the oven to about 375 degrees F. Place the pot covered in the oven and bake for about 4-5 hours, making sure to place more moose drool in the pot as it evaporates, mixing as you do this as well. The mixture will start to get thicker and darker. When the beans are very tender for the last hour uncover the beans and turn the heat up to 425 degrees F, stirring every 15 minutes. Taste the mixture at this stage making sure it’s sweet and spicy enough to your taste, then add the fresh herbs and mix well. The final product should be dark, the beans super tender and the juice thick!  Sprinkle the fresh herbs in when the dish is complete and stir well.

*Please note real cowboys make these beans on a fire!

Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

Pinyon Nuts

My base in Wyoming, the Riverton area was home to the Shoshone Indians. Interestingly enough I had never heard of the Shoshone Indians prior to my trip. I often realize how little I know about the world, my country, my state, my community and I try really hard to make sure that I absorb information as it comes to me in regular life encounters. So upon my return to NYC I got my google on and did a little research on the Shoshone Indians, after all I had just sled down their mountains, bathed in their hot springs and trampled through their grasslands, so I figured I should get to know my hosts a bit. When I did get my google on I found that the Shoshone Indians had a very similar story to most of the Indian tribes in the US, run off their lands by white anglo Saxons years and years ago and still fighting for recognition and barely holding on to their rich culture and history.

The Shoshones it seems were a relatively small tribe compared to others, reaching from Wyoming to Oregon and down into parts of Colorado. The tribe numbers historical data claims there were somewhere between 4-5000 members. All of whom spoke a dialect of language hailing from the Aztecs. They were sometimes referred to as the Snake Indians by settlers although their name translates into the valley people technically. Perhaps the most famous Shoshone Indian, which was surprising for me to read, was Sacagawea, who accompanied Lewis & Clark on their expedition over the western USA. Pinyons were a staple food of the Shoshone Indians along with berries, roots and fish. As the story goes, they were continued to be pushed of their lands. In 1905, about 100 years after their first contact with the white man, the Shoshone began their “Trail of Tears”, being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands to a newly appointed home or reservation. Today the Shoshone are still waiting to become a Federally recognized tribes along with several hundred other tribes in the USA

Pinyons are still a predominant in the are, among Shoshone Indians as well as haute cusine in the area and especially prevalant in the Jackson Hole & Yellowstome fine dining worlds. The pinyon is utlimalte a pine nut but this variety found in the western USA is a tad different. Essentially the seed of the pine (located in the pine cone), there are only about 20 species that produce large anough seeds to be edible. A good portion of the pinyon’s produced in the USA are harvest by Native American trbes because of certain negotiated treaties between the government and tribes giving certain tribes the exclusive rights for harvest and sale, although these negotiations have certainly been difficult.
Pinyons are extremly high in protien about 25% and unlike many things with shells and peels the nutrion of the pinyon is stored in the inner seed not the shell or lining. Once the shell is removed pinyons have an extremly short shelf life and can become rancid within a few weeks. The north American variety are known for their large size and ease of shelling which is why you can often find them for sale with the shells on. Pinyons have a much moe earthy flavor with an intense yet not overly powerful, pine flavor and scent. To use them the same as Italian pine nuts is not recommended because of this powerful pine taste, but they can be amazing with the right ingredients.
**For shelled pinyons, soak them in water for a few hours which eases the peeling process!
Here are few of my best ideas:

Pinyon Dried Cherry Cookies
*add ¼ cup shelled pnyons to this recipe
Pinyon Vodka
*place 1 cup shelled pinyons in a liter of high quality vodka and let infuse in a dark cool place for 4 days, remove the pinyons and chill vodka, drink as shots with the pinyon seeds as snacks!
Pinyon Brittle
*replace the pumkin seeds with shelled pinyon seeds
Zucchini Carpacio with Toasted Pinyons

Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

As we age we forget to really play in this world.  I see it so often in others and it is one of the things that freighters me most about life; will I succumb to the stagnation that I see in others and be content with little or no real playtime in my life.  Because of this fear and because I have seen many people throughout the world at any age really being active and participating and playing in life, including my father, I tend to always want to seek it out.  But I will admit, lately I had grown a tad bit stagnate in my play, my wild side had been hidden and dormant until it met Wyoming.

The desolate ruggedness gives you no chance to deny the will to play even a little bit and while in Wyoming this is exactly what I did, played in all facets of the word and considering I was around children, the play was more intense and in some cases more childlike and we can all use a dose of childlike wild play in as we grow older!  Your wild side is waiting to expose it’self and this side leads to getting to know the deeper more creative parts of ourselves, so get out there and play, show your wild side…..

 Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

Wild Wyoming

Wyoming has a population of 568,000 people covering roughtly 97,000 square miles.  The sparsest populated state in the country, and probably one of the most rugged, desolate, and wild places out there.  To put the popluation density into perspective for those of you East coasters, Brooklyn has a population of 2.5 million people covering roughtly 97 square miles.  The constrast to New York is about as vast as one can get, and to witness Wyoming is to feel this sharp contrast.  This feeling exudes, and is one of openess and expansiveness like no other place I have experienced, not even when I was in the middle of the dessert in Jordan.  Adaption in Wyoming is a way of life.  The horses, for instance, grow a thick coat of fur like I have never seen in the horse world.  The moose and elk head for the lowlands in order to avoid walking through 10-20 feet of snow that would basically suffocating them in its deepness.  The wolves are out in full force year round.  The bears, of course, just sleep through the winter and the people adapt by hunting, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, fly fishing, hiking, and all of the other activities that fit the terraine and allow them to use the land to the best of their ability.  Food, shelter, water and everything that is needed to adapt to these powerful climates and changes in geography is evident in not only the wild animals that abound Wyoming, but in the people as well. 

 When my youngest brother and his family decided to move to Wyoming, I have to admit I was a little shocked.  They had been living in New Jersey, working for my fruit and vegetable company. They never adpated well to living there, so I knew they needed to get away, but to move to the middle of nowhere seemed excessive, and with two young kids I was worried.  But when I went to visit them in December, I realized the allure.  I don’t consider myself a city person by any means but I like accessibility and my love of New York City is because of its accessibility to the world. Brooklyn still has a smaller city feel to it that I enjoy, so Wyoming wasn’t actually a far stretch for me,  as I like and have always liked “country” living, having lived it somewhat at various stages of my life.  My journey to Wyoming was the most peaceful vacation I have been on, which is amazing considering the brutal weather, terrain and vastness of the country.  Minimal, hazy cell reception, slow download and upload speeds on the internet and no really urban life around us.  I was “stationed” in Riverton, Wyoming, which is about 3 hours west of Jackson Hole in the flat part of the State (most if Wyoming is flat, but this is very flat).  Now most of us are familiar with Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, but the other parts of Wyoming are what I think are the most interesting parts.  During the beginning of the vacation we were a bit landlocked as the kids (my niece and nephew) were still in school and their mother working.  So my brother and I did typical Wyoming things – we rode horses, shot guns and bows and arrows, and cooked lots of pig that they had raised and butchered.   We also spilit wood, picked ice out of the horses’ hooves, and then we ate, slept and woke up the next day and did it again.  We drove up to some nearby mountains for sledding next to an old ghost town called Atlantic City.  That was spectacular, with no one around, and fresh hills discovered by us and only for us, with not another person in sight.  It was a sunny warm day and a decent amount of snow.  The sledding was perfect, the kids were happy, and I was relaxed and had easily adapted to the idea of not working, disconnecting and finding my inner youth spirit (by the end of the day I had several bruises!).  We concluded by having a homecooked meal in the ghost town on Christmas Eve afternoon of cheese burgers, tator tots, deep fried jalapenos, local BBQ sauce, and of course beer!  The talk was of the fresh wolf tracks nearby that fascinated us and terrified the locals.  Wolves are not well liked in Wyoming as it turns out.

Grand Tetons

 Christmas was simple and filled with meat and cheese, and despite my ideals about eating tons of vegetables, I adapted to the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere during winter and so the fresh ham, again raised by my brother and butchered by a local, glazed in an amber-brown sugar glaze was perfect.  I even got to make up a new recipe for an upside down carmelized vanilla orange- cranberry cast iron cake! It was a lovely Christmas with great people and the simplicity of it all was extremly special.

 For New Years, we rented a cabin in the mountains about an hour west of Jackson Hole at a higher elevation and at the top of a pass in snowmobile country.  It was remote, isolated and the opposite of Jackson Hole’s tourist destination.  There was a restaurant, a bar, a little store, a gas station and a few cabins and rooms.  Outside of that, it was all mountains, miles and miles of trails for snowmobiling, and  fresh snow continuously coming down while we were there which was amazing.  We rode four-whellers around, there was more sledding, and we did sightseeing in the mountains where we saw bald eagles and wolf tracks.  We also saw some amazing kite snow boarders and lots of families snowmobiling, and met amazing folks from all around the country who were just out there having fun.  For New Year’s Eve we made a nice dinner in our cabin, watched a lot of Moonshiners episodes and drank beer.  We went to the local bar at our lodge while the kids watched movies  (the bar was literally 50 feet from the cabin!) and we met and spoke to the locals.  We learned about hunting bear and wolf and how to cook cowboy beans.  Wyoming is a free range state and I learned that this is why it’s known as cowboy country.  All the livestock gets to roam free up in the mountains, and essentially all over, and then the ranchers and cowboys round them up.  Since so many of the cattle and sheep move up into the mountains they need people on horseback to round them up.  I also learned that the dogs do most of the work.  There are lots of cowboys who break horses and brand cattle, eating over fires and smelling of those campfires with a hint of leather.  We met a guy named Cowboy Bill who spoke at great length about kids not knowing how to braid, that they can play video games but not know a thing about braiding.  He spoke about all the leather braiding he did and how he learned it as a child on horses (that is ironically how I learned to braid as well!) I also learned that the Grand Tetons were named after tits, which I thought was quite funny! We visited a town called Crowheart up in the mountains where a Crow Indian and Shoshoni Indian had a duel and the Shoshoni won and ate the Crow’s heart, thus the name.  I would love to say that the story goes on and on and that we stayed up all night and danced in the New Year, but honestly I went to bed at about 10 PM!  I’m not much of a New Year’s gal, and had been having such a great time that I was simply and wonderfully tired.  I thought a lot about what all my friends were doing on New Year’s and knew that so many of them wouldn’t have been able to handle this.  It was nothing extravagant – there was no champagne, no dressed up ladies, no perfume smell in the air –  just the mountains and the people, talking and having laughs over beer.  It was easy for me to adapt to, but I wondered how many people could. 

The following day we woke up and showered and went to Jackson Hole for some snowboarding. The drive to Jackson was amazing and I imagine that outside of winter it would be filled with many other animals.  As it was we saw elk, buffalo, moose and bald eagles and I’m telling you these sights never get old!  The Grand Tetons are an amazing sight and the road we traveled down was right alongside them the entire time.  We arrived in Jackson Hole on New Year’s Day.  I had never been before and had heard nice things.  It was cute, nestled in the mountains, and expensive, filled with things that big cities and rich folks are accustomed to such as fine dining, art and kitschy places like bars with saddle stools.  Now don’t get me wring, I like fine dining, I love art and I like kitschy in the right dose, but because I had just come from the other “sector” of Wyoming, it just all seemed fake and like Disneyland plopped in the middle of this great, rugged place.  It was filled with people from all over the country and while that part I liked, it also changed it, making it seem less authentic.  I had grown fond of the Wymoing I had come to love in the weeks prior. Nevertheless we stayed the night to make our big dreams of snowboarding a reality the next day.  With the astronomical costs of snowboaridng and skiing (I have yet to understand how families can afford this!) we spent a better part of the day on the cheaper of the two slopes.  With two kids ages 5 and 10, we spent most of the time in the snow face down (I myself had the same problem with the snowboard) and so decided to trade our snowboards in for skis so that I might actually have some enjoyment. After a day (more like 4 hours) we packed up and headed home to the same amazing sights and beautiful views.  My journey to Wyoming was ending with only a few days left.  I had adapted to the rugged ways quite well and was starting to dread a bit the idea of my hectic life back home, but ultimately I like my life in New York.  Wyoming had become a constant nudge, letting me know that I need to have a wild rugged place to go for myself, that it’s a necessary thing for the soul.

On my last day, my brother and his wife had to work but the  kids were still off of school so we ventured to the largest hot springs in the world in Thermopolis, Wyoming.  2,575 gallons of hot (135 degree) waters running per minute! Shoshoini Indian flocked to this area beacause of the therepeutic waters and healing properties.  Located next to the Wind River today, the area is a public attraction bringing people from all over Wyoming and beyond to soak in the waters.  There are even water parks – yes, hot spring water parks – open year round.  On the day we went it was crazily warm weather so we were able to swim and play in the outdoor pools surrounded by snow without risking frostbite.  Afterwards we went to Hot Springs State Park and hiked, witnessing the colorful minreal rocks and canyons and looked, but unfortunately never saw the big bison heards that roam there.  On the journey home through Wind River Canyon, we stopped for a picnic in the snow along the river and listened to the quiet of the canyon.  We saw some big cat tracks and enjoyed the warm and cold of it all.

My trip to Wyoming was simply perfect.  While seeing my family was the best part, I learned a great deal about myself and my current life, and about people and the world, which is ultimately why I love to travel anywhere.  I realized yet again that my ability to adapt allows me to truly enjoy all of my experiences and that no matter where I am, I need to keep adapting and discovering new, rugged wild parts of myself and other places thoughout the world.

Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

Right before I traveled to Wyoming I had a dose of my annual epiphany or resolution-type thinking and had decided that I would try to eat less meat.  This is a “resolution” I often make.  It’s not about the planet, I had given up factory produced meats and fish a long time ago, with the exception of traveling to places where I can’t always control what I eat or where it comes from.  I always come to this decision in thinking about my weight.  I find myself to be heavier at the end of each year and in fact am typically at my heaviest each December, and it always causes some reflection that is sometimes not as realistic as I would like.  Leave it to the world to show me multiple choices and different angles!  As I traveled to Wyoming for Christmas and New Year’s, I ended up re-discovering meat, specifically wild game, something I didn’t have much experience with, but had had many thoughts about over the years when I considered meat-eating.  In Wyoming the majority of people hunt, and unlike other places, the food is valued with the whole animal often being utilized.  I found this experience rewarding and hunting, for the first time, made sense.  A good majority of the people I met hunted, killed, butchered, froze, preserved and cooked their game.  I was inspired by it all to learn about the game in Wyoming, what it tasted like and how to use it.  Here is what I learned!

Elk

Elk is a naturally lean meat that is very low in fat and cholesterol.  It goes without saying that wild elk are antibiotic and hormone-free with no preservatives.  The meat is similar to beef, but higher in protein and tastes very similar, albeit a tad bit gamier.  Often made into sausage, jerky and steaks, elk is a delicious meat.  In Wyoming it is prevalent and easy to buy, but outside of Wyoming and the West it is more difficult to find in the mainstream grocers, which proves location is everything.  Here are a few of the Elk recipes I learned and created while on my trip.

 Beer Braised Onions and Elk Shanks

Serves 6

 Ingredients

½ cup flour
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
6 pounds elk shank cut into 2-3 inch long pieces
5 tablespoon canola or grape seed oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium yellow onion, sliced in half and sliced
3 celery stalks, chopped small
3 medium carrots, chopped small
3 medium gold beets, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves chopped
1 tablespoon tomatoes paste
3 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 dark amber beer
3 cups chicken or beef or vegetable stock
3 fresh bay leaves

 Directions

 In a small bowl mix the flour, pepper, cayenne  and salt until well combined.  Toss the mixture over the elk shanks until they are evenly coated.  Heat the oil and butter in a large Dutch oven on high heat.   Add Add the elk shanks and brown  all over turning every few minutes.  When brown remove from pan and add the garlic and onions, sauté until the onions are slightly brown or about 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add the carrots, celery and gold beets and continue to sauté for a few more mintues   Reduce heat to a medium low and add herbs and  tomato paste and stir well.  Add the tomatoes, beer and stock and the elk shanks back into the pot. Throw the bay leaves in cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Cook for about 2 ½ – 3 hours or until elk shanks are falling of the bone completely.  Serve over polenta or potato puree.

Elk & Cranberry Stew

Serves 6

 Ingredients

 2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped small
½ cup celery, chopped fine
2 pounds elk stew meat, chopped in  1 inch cubes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 cups beef broth
2 cups cranberry beans, cooked or canned
½ cup fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Spinach (optional)

 Directions

 In a large soup pan heat oil to a medium high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook until semi translucent or about 4 minutes.  Add the celery and elk meat and continue to sauté until the meat is browned on all sides, stirring the entire time.  Season with salt, pepper and cayenne.  Add in the herbs and the broth as well as the beans and maple syrup and stir well.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and allow to cook for about 1 hour or until elk is tender.  Add spinach leaves if desired.

 Moose

Once a staple in the diet of Native  Americans, and for many years moose was rarely seen in modern life.  Today moose is making somewhat of a come back.  These gigantic herbivores offer a super tender and flavorful meat that is hard to compare although it is often compared to veal.  It is extremely high in protein, much more than beef and even elk and is especially low in fat.  Moose meat is enjoyed in all avenues but the roasts are especially tender and flavorful, beyond the tenderness of any  wild game meat. 

 Blackberry Moose Tamales

Makes 20 tamales

Ingredients

For the  blackberry moose4 small red dried chilies
2 ancho dried peppers
4 pasilla dried peppers
2 cups water
1 medium tomato, chopped medium
1 medium yellow onion, chopped medium
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coriander, cracked
½ teaspoon anise seeds
1 ½  pound moose roast
1 teaspoon salt
1 fresh bay leaf
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

For the tamale dough

2 cups masa harina
2 cups chicken stock, reserved from poached chicken
½ cup lard
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime zest

For the blackberry mole sauce

2-3 dried ancho chilies
2 dried guajillo chilies
2-3 cloves garlic
1 medium yellow onion
½ cup raw almonds
3 whole cloves
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
¼ cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons raisins
2 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup blackberries

Directions 

For the moose

Place all ingredients (except herbs) in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hour or until moose  is falling apart soft. Take off heat and cool. Discard bay leaf. Shred the moose by pulling apart the fibers using a fork or your fingers. Place shredded meat into a medium bowl and add fresh herbs. Mix and set aside and let soak up its own juice.

For the tamale dough

In a large mixing bowl combine the masa harina, lime zest with 2 cups of the reserved chicken liquid, mix well. In a kitchen aid or with an electric mixer, mix the lard until fluffy or about five minutes. A little at a time mix the lard into the masa harina until full incorporated. Mix in the baking powder and the salt and mix well. The dough is ready (well mixed) when a small piece of the dough floats in a glass of cold water.

For the wrappers

For corn husk wrappers, place the corn husks in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, take out and cool slightly before handling. For the banana leaf wrappers, pass the banana leaf over the gas stove until soft and pliable, about 1-2 minutes.

For the blackberry  sauce

Preheat oven to 425˚F.On a large sheet tray combine, chilies, garlic, onion, almonds, cloves, peppercorns, coriander, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds and place in oven and char all items. Place all charred items in a medium saucepan and combine raisins and stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes or until all items are soft. Take off heat and cool. Place in blender and blend until smooth add blackberries and blend again until smooth.

For assembling the tamales

In the center of each banana leaf or corn husk, place about 3-4 tablespoons of masa harina mixture. Flatten with a spoon leaving about 1 inch around each border of either the banana leaf or corn husk. Atop that place about 2 tablespoons meat mixture. Fold over the banana leaf or corn husk like you are folding a present. Tying the wrapped package with either corn husk ties or banana leaf ties, or kitchen twine.

Place the wrapped tamales in a steamer and cover the top of the tamales with a kitchen towel (to prevent drips form making tamales soggy). Steam tamales on medium heat for about 45-60 minutes or until soft and cooked through. Serve with sauce.

Herby Moose Meatballs

Serves 6-8 

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

2 pounds ground moose
8-9 cloves garlic, chopped fine (2 tablespoons reserved for sauce)
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped fine (2 tablespoons reserved for sauce)
½ cup fresh basil, chopped fine (2 tablespoons reserved for sauce)
½ cup fresh marjoram, chopped fine (2 tablespoons reserved for sauce)
½ cup fresh oregano, chopped fine (2 tablespoons reserved for sauce)
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cracked pepper
1-3 teaspoons red chili flakes (for spicier meatballs use 3 teaspoons)
½ cup pine nuts, chopped fine
½ cup currants
½ cup Kashi Whole Grain Nuggets or Grape Nuts (substitute with breadcrumbs)
2 eggs, beaten
Olive oil

For the Sauce

 
Olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped fine (reserved from above)
2 tablespoons each fresh parsley, basil, marjoram, and oregano, chopped fine (reserved from above)
2 pounds plum tomatoes, diced fine
½ cup red wine
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cracked pepper

Directions

To make the meatballs, mix ground moose  with garlic, fresh herbs, salt, pepper, and chili flakes.
Use hands to mix well and combine ingredients. Make sure the mixture is well blended. Add the chopped pine nuts, Kashi cereal, and the currants. Again, mix very well using hands. Add the beaten eggs, and mix until all ingredients are well combined and moistened by the eggs. The eggs should cause the mixture to bind together.

Form mixture into about 1 to 1¼-inch balls, and set aside.

In a large and deep heavy bottom pan, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil on high heat. Sauté meatballs in batches until all are well browned. Then, transfer them to another plate with paper towels to absorb any grease.

After all the meatballs are cooked, lower the temperature of the same pan, and add another tablespoons of olive oil if necessary. Sauté the garlic until translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and tomatoes, stirring well to loosen the meatball scraps from the bottom of the pan. Add the red wine, salt, and pepper, again stirring to deglaze the pan. Bring to a low boil for about 5 minutes. Turn to low heat, and add the meatballs to the sauce, stirring gently until the meatballs are covered by the tomato mixture. Cook on low temperature for approximately 30 minutes, making sure you stir gently every few minutes being careful not to break apart the meatballs.

Serve over polenta or pasta with freshly grated parmesan cheese!

The alternative to sautéing meatballs is to bake them in a 375°F oven for approximately 30 minutes, until browned and cooked through. Follow the same directions as above for the sauce.

Moose, Venison or Elk  Country Fried Steak

Serves 4

Ingredients

4  – 9 ounce steaks, cubed or pounded with a meat mallet
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped superfine
2 eggs beaten
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground
½  cup canola oil
2 cups buttermilk

Directions

Pound the meat until its cubed and flat.  Combine the flour with the black pepper, onion powder, cayenne and parsley until well mixed.    Heat the oil to a high heat in a cast iron pan.   Dredge the elk or venison in the flour mixture making sure the flour is well covered on the meat.  Next dip the meat in the egg mixture and then toss it in the cast iron pan.  Cooking on each side for about 4 minutes each or until golden brown.  Place the cooked meat on paper towels to drain. After cooking each elk or venison piece.   Sauté in the same hot cast iron pan another tablespoon of flour making a rue or browning it.  Whisk in the buttermilk and cook until thick, stirring often.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle the sauce over the steak!

Buffalo

Buffalo meat and eating dates back to the times when the only inhabitants of the USA were the Native Americans .  Buffalo are to this day still raised traditionally, thriving on the western grasslands.  Buffalo  has a very similar taste to beef but buffalo is sweeter and lighter in flavor and less fat and greasy.  Buffalo is one of the few game meats that doesn’t taste gamey.  With 9-% less fat than beef and 50% less cholesterol it is a severely healthier meat,  Higher in protein, iron and al the omega and amino acids as well.  One of the most interesting aspects of buffalo meat is that they are naturally reisitant to disease and grow faster than cattle, truly a modern and ancient meat!

Buffalo Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients

 1 pound ground buffalo meat 
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 
1 tablespoon ground mustard powder 
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 
salt/pepper

Directions

Mix all ingredients together and form patties. Place on wax paper and place in freezer for approximately10 minutes on each side until hard but not totally frozen. Preheat the grill making sure that it is well oiled and clean. Make sure heat is steady and high while cooking burgers. Do not flip burgers multiple times. The key is to flip the burger once or twice but no more. Minimizing flipping also ensures that the burgers stay well formed. Generally speaking, cook meat for two minutes per side for rare burgers, three minutes per side for medium, and four minutes per side for well done burgers. Top with cheese or the condiments of your choice

Buffalo Bean Burritos

Makes 6 burritos

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium white onion, chopped medium
1 red bell pepper, chopped medium
1 poblano pepper, chopped medium
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 pound buffalo steak , cubed in ½ inch cibes
1 medium tomato, chopped medium
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup white rice
1 cup water
1½ cups pinto beans, black beans, red beans, or your choice of beans (pre-cooked or canned)
1 cup cilantro leaves
8 large whole wheat flour tortillas
1 to 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large sauté pan, heat oil over medium high heat. Sauté onions peppers and buffalo, 5 to 7 minutes of until meat is cooked through.. Add tomatoes, spices, and rice, cook 3 minutes. Next, add water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is cooked. Add beans, cook, allowing the mixture to remain moist. Remove from heat, and add cilantro leaves. To assemble burritos, place tortilla flat on cutting board or flat surface and add 3 to 4 tablespoons of vegetable bean mixture. Top with cheese. Wrap in a burrito style and place on a baking sheet. Continue until finished with tortillas. Bake burritos for about 10-15 minutes or until warm and cheese has melted.

Big Game, Hunting, Cowboys & Rugged Stuff…………..

I pride myself on my ability to adapt well to my surroundings, especially when visiting new places that are extremely foreign and different. Certainly when one spends life traveling to various parts of the world (outside vacation spots), you get used to this need to adapt.  I remember my first big challenge in adapting on the travel circuit.  My father, my four brothers and me jumped into a red Chevy pick-up truck with a camper shell, a decked out bed in the back and pulling a travel trailer (you know the type with a kitchen, bed, and a tiny little place for a bunch of people to camp in).  It was our home for about 4-6 months after our initial journey began.  We were headed to Nicaragua on a venture my father has always called (and still does) “The Pierson Fight & Flight for Family Freedom.” We left from Palmdale, California and next thing you know us four American kids were sitting at the border of the United States and Mexico in Mexicali, crossing the border in an experience that would shape all of our lives and the lives of the many others we came across.  As my father went into “La Migra,” the immigration office, a word we became super familiar with on our long journey to Central America, my brothers and me stayed in the truck in a state of utter culture shock. 

I should probably first give you a bit of background on us four kids, to make the nature of the shock more understandable.  We grew up technically poor all over the Los Angeles surrounding area, born in Santa Monica and then moving to Venice, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Acton, and finally ending up in Palmdale.  We played sports, were good in school, but our parents fought (the divorce being the catalyst for the venture to Nicaragua – technically it was a kidnapping but we never looked at it that way, and no one ever asked!) It was me, 12 at the time, and my 3 brothers; Axel, who was 13, Olof 8, and Gustav 4. We were a tight knit group of siblings with a massive need for freedom and we still are (close but independent).  Our general upbringing and all of that moving around certainly required us to be adaptive, but this was different.  The journey to Nicaragua not only was our first major  experience of adapting outside of the US, it was an experience that went on to change our lives forever, allowing us to broaden our perspective on what adaptation really means, and has proved to us all that it’s an essential component in moving our lives forward.

To get back to the pick-up truck, there we were waiting for my father who was in the office of La Migra on the Mexicali border.  Everything was written in Spanish (not too foreign for us being from Southern California), and there were tons and tons of small children that appeared homeless running all around like nothing we had ever seen.  Almost immediately after my father left the car, about 15 kids rushed to the windows of our truck, banging on them and speaking to us, holding out their hands.  At the same time, about 6 more of the children jumped on the windshield and started to wipe it with dirty and greasy rags (which we learned later were useless when it rains and you’re in the nighttime jungle and can’t see a thing!)  We of course were confused and somewhat angry, being territorial of our truck, and were repeatedly telling them no, learning that we couldn’t communicate as we understood very little Spanish at the time.  This lasted for about 30 minutes until my father came out, when the children rushed around him, putting their hands out.  He gave them all coins: nickels, dimes, pennies, and maybe a few quarters.  When he got into the car we told him we didn’t ask them to clean the windows and he said, “It’s ok guys, it’s just a part of what we are about to experience.”  He smiled at the kids and we – my brothers and me – were baffled beyond belief at what had just happened.  Two months later, by the time we finally made it to Nicaragua, we were all well versed in this occurrence and knew to give the kids coins before they wiped the windows so that we could avoid the smeared and greasy windows in the rain! 

It didn’t take us long to adapt to the strange new cultures we are experiencing every day.  As we drove through Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and into Nicaragua, it wasn’t long before the American culture began to seem a strange and distant memory.  Upon our return 3 ½ years later, we had to adapt gravely yet again, and I am not sure any of us ever really adapted back to the American way.  I think we all still hold a large part of Central America inside of us.  We learned of the need for adaptation and the importance to try and quickly understand the surroundings and the people you are around.  As I continued to travel the world as an adult into small rural areas of South America, Mexico & Central America, Europe and the Middle East to visit subsistence-based locations, I realized I would always use this skill, and that to be able to adapt has given me an openness that allows me to have a full experience of each location I visit.

This year for Christmas I stayed a bit closer to home (at least staying in the United States), and went to Wyoming to visit my brother and his family.  I had been to Wyoming before and knew that it was a desolate and somewhat isolated place.  My expectations were pretty clear going into it and my priority was spending time with my family.  But what I discovered through this trip is how my ingrained ability to adapt has given me an amazingly unique way of looking at and absorbing my experience of the world, as well as really being able to take in and understand the people that inhabit the area.  As a New Yorker, we get pegged as city folk, and while I like that, I know that deep down the person I have become is a product of the world.  This recent trip to Wyoming allowed me to contemplate again the idea of adaption and the necessity of truly adapting with openness.  

The kitchen is no different.  Adaption plays an integral part in the process of preparing food.  It is a process that I have always been comfortable with, and one that I try to teach to my students.  Adaptation is not only integral to how one approaches cooking and the ingredients used, but in how one approaches eating as well.  I had come to Wyoming at a time when I was really trying to make a push towards eating less meat, but Wyoming is filled with meat and a meat philosophy that was a new experience for me.  Yes, they have grocery stores filled with mass market factory farmed meats, which is the real problem with meat and the reason I had wanted to cut back.  But what was so amazing about my Wyoming experience was coming closer to an understanding of the hunting mentality, which has always been one that I don’t understand, but once in Wyoming it started to make more sense.  There is literally nothing around in terms of development, and people hunt and eat bear, elk, moose, wolf, deer, sheep, and other things in the wild, and they eat it and cook it using recipes that utilize the whole animal – nothing goes to waste.  It is indeed their “local movement,” and the actual experience and concept of hunting, for the first time in my life, began to make more sense.  I could feel myself being open to things that I didn’t previously understand by allowing myself to see and experience the perspective of others.  I believe this process of adaptation and openness is the key to moving through life.  It is so important when moving around and meeting other people from so many diverse backgrounds to be open to trying to understand their perspectives, knowing that like almost everything, our perspectives have to change in order for us to adapt.

One of the greatest failures that exist in “my” world is the lack of consciousness that still fills our neighborhoods in regards to healthy eating and living.  Children are crucial in this quest for creating healthier people and a heather planet.  Educating children about sustainable food systems is at the core of our existence, we understand that the little ones turn into big ones and so on and so on.  We are always happy to encounter more local folks on that same path.  We recently discovered Butterbeans and we think you should too!

Butterbeans is essentailly a healthy lunch company, offering healthy lunch programs in schools all over NYC.  They not only offer amazingly healthy school lunch options for exceptionally reasonable prices, but they offer the schools wellness education programs both in and out of the classroom.   they use local, organic seasonal goods and pack nutrition into every bite!  Their meals are filled with whole grains, legumes, seasonal fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, sustainably raised meats and poultry and are well balanced in colors as well as raw versus cooked ratios.  their lunches and thier mission are making up for the failure that we have currently in schools when it comes to food.

Check them out, pass the word on and lets get them into more schools here in our own backyard, lets make Brooklyn’s food failure a success in the upcoming year!

]]> http://nissa.ger-nis.com/2011/12/18/failure-8/feed/ 0 http://nissa.ger-nis.com/2011/12/18/failure-7/ http://nissa.ger-nis.com/2011/12/18/failure-7/#comments Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:34:37 +0000 nissa http://nissa.ger-nis.com/?p=1533 When Even A Whisk Can’t Fix it……………..

Palak Patel, NYC

When I asked Palak (pronounced pollock), if she wanted to be featured on my “what my friends are cooking” section of my blog, she got excited, then I said, ” the thing is it’s all about failure this time so you would essentially be featured in regards to something that you failed at and what that has taught you.  She pondered, and we began to have discussion about failures in the kitchen.  This lady is a wizard in in the kitchen and certainly has a sense of confidence that is quite rare, not only as she cooks but as she moves through life.  I really like this quality about her, as much as she is confident she is also quick to acknowledge failures and the many occurrences  of failure that are a part of life.  she is also the first to understand the lessons of failure and how challenging oneself is a necessity in life in the kitchen.

When we spoke about foods that were challenging or that we fail as I was surprised to find out  that the one food that  this little Indian godess said she failed at most was green curry!  I guess I was surprised because her Indian cooking skills are sharp as heck (like her wit) .   She teaches at Ger-Nis one of our most popular series, Palak’s Indian Kitchen, and the students not only love her, but always talk about how they are able to recreate everything on their own.  So the idea or her struggling with green curry was crazy for me but at the same time I think a perfect example of this months blog topic.  She is challenged by it, and failed at it but it doesn’t defeat her.  Now I usually post recipes in this section, after all it is a food blog.  But this time I’m going to do something different.  I am going to get Palak in the  Ger-Nis kitchen for a night of green curry and we are going to play with green curry recipes until we find her perfect Indian style green curry.  So…………… stay tuned and know that even the best have failures!