Tag Archives: Charcuterie Recipes

Giving Thanks To Gravlax On Thanksgiving Day

 

“I have lived! The American continent may now sink under the seas, for I have taken the best that it yields, and the best was neither dollars, love, nor real estate.” – Rudyard Kipling, After Landing His First Steelhead in 1926

 

 

A Decorative Plate of Gravlax, or Gravlaks, Made From Fresh Caught Silver Salmon From Valdez, Alaska. Photograph By Michael Patrick McCarty
Still Swimming…

 

What could be finer than family, friends, and turkey dinner with all of the fixings on Thanksgiving day? Well, it could be an appetizer of ocean-caught silver salmon, filleted just right and quick frozen with care for a long plane ride home. Now that’s a slab of goodness that will really put you in the Holiday spirit!

Lucky was I, to be so invited, and it was my first, of gravlax, that is.

 

A Female Angler Holds a Large Silver Salmon, Caught In An Ocean Bay Near Valdez, Alaska.

 

We owe our Scandanavian  brothers and sisters for this rather simple preparation. Cured with sugar, salt, and spices, Gravlax is not as salty as Lox, and not smoked like many other salmon recipes. The result is a clean tasting, invigorating dish, and you can almost feel that beautiful, sliver bullet dancing on the line.

It’s a perfect way to celebrate a grateful day, particularly in a room full of sportsmen and lovers of all things wild.

Enjoy!

 

A Long Rack of Silver Salmon Caught By Sportsfisherman, On Display In A Boatyard Under The Mountains, Near Valdez, Alaska
A Salmon Fisherman’s Dream

 

 

By Michael Patrick McCarty

 

Read More About Gravlax, Or Gravlaks, Here

or, Here

 

You Might Also Like Recipes For The Sportsman

 

For More Recipes, We Can Recommend:

 

A Taste Of Scandanavia

In this title, three delightful cookbooks are brought together in one Scandinavian gift collection. It offers everything you need to know about Swedish, Norwegian and Danish cuisines with over 180 authentic recipes. This title features evocative and informative introductions that cover the history, geography and culinary traditions of each country, as well as the local ingredients. Dishes include classic Gravlax with Mustard and Dill Sauce from Sweden, traditional Roast Hare with Lingonberries from Norway and world-famous Danish Pastry from Denmark. It is illustrated with 900 beautiful photographs, including a picture of every finished dish. Nutritional breakdowns are provided for every recipe. Classic Scandinavian cuisine is rooted in the natural bounty of the land, with fresh fish from the seas, wild game from the forests, and delicious dairy from the animals that graze on the fertile pastures.

 

First Culinary Impressions – Mountain Goat On The Grill

 

“We kill the game to eat it. Tasting it, we thank it. Thanking it, we remember it: how we hunted it, how it tested us, how we overcame it, how it finally fell”. – Charles Fergus, From A Rough-Shooting Dog, 1991

 

In Honor of The Rocky Mountain Goat. A Small Tub of Ground Meat For Goat Burgers For The Grill. Mountain Goat Recipes by Michael Patrick McCarty
Paying Homage To the Goat

 

October 2015

 

Time to Eat

 

I have waited a long time to taste the meat of the Rocky Mountain Goat, and I am…surprised. The question is, of course, just exactly how to you prepare it and cook it

Surprised mostly, I suppose, because it did not taste anything at all like I thought that it would. And surprised too because most of the information that I could find on the internet and my library of wild game cookbooks was anything but hopeful. You might say that recipes for mountain goat are far and few between.

Granted, I have only tried one small sample from the front shoulders, and that was ground well without added fat to get a true taste of the meat.

But we prepared some large patties and heated them medium rare on a hot grill on a perfect mountain evening, and they were good.

In fact they were great, served with buns and the usual burger accompaniments. They didn’t last long at all, and they left us wanting more.

I am at a loss to describe the taste completely, though perhaps that is the difficulty. The meat was subtle and mild, and fairly flavorless, but in a good way. Sometimes, less is more with wild game.

It may have something to do with the fact that this billy was perfectly processed in the field, then quickly and thoroughly cooled by mother nature as well as any walk-in cooler.

What I can tell you is that it was firm and clean without a hint of gaminess. It was well…refreshing, wild, like the promise of a new day in the bracing air of a high mountain valley.

Finding a recipe for this amazing animal almost anywhere is about as difficult as harvesting one in the first place. So, when in doubt, let the spirit move you and make it up, I say.

It is a blank canvas of possibility, and I look forward to experimenting with this wonderful wild meat.

A spice here, a spice there – a complimentary sauce or two. Some sausage for sure. Let the celebration continue…and if you have any suggestions, you know what to do.

*I have now tried this with 5% added beef fat, and I can highly recommend it.

 

Rocky Mountain Goat Wild Game Recipes. How To Make Ground Hamburger and Rocky Mountain Goat Sauasage. Photograph By Michael Patrick McCarty
Now That’s What I’m Talking About…A Mountain Goat Burger as Big As A Mountain Peak

 

A FEW WORDS ABOUT MEAT GRINDING

 

One theme emerged when researching the gastronomic qualities of Mountain Goat. That theme in a word, is tough!

It makes perfect sense, considering where they live and what they do. Their meat seems to be infused with an inordinate amount of sinew and connective tissue, which would seem to explain a thing or two about their character. You’d be tough too if you spent the long winter clinging to a cliff or looking for something to eat on an impossibly cold, windswept ridge.

A crock pot obviously comes to mind, and no doubt that I will be breaking it out very soon. In lieu of that, a small electric meat grinder may be the perfect tool for the job.

My hunting partner has had his grinder for many years, and I know that he would be hard pressed to count how many elk and deer and other wild game animals have had some of their parts run through it. It worked wonderfully on this five-year old billy too.

While using it the other night I was reminded at just what a miraculous and indispensable machine it is for the big game hunter. Or any kind of hunter, for that matter.

There are things that you can do after this little beauty has finished that you simply can’t accomplish any other way, with the exception of a hand grinder, of course. The possibilities are endless.

Might you have a hankering for some german sausage? Or Italian is more to your taste? How about some meat sticks or hot dogs? Have you ever used a jerky gun? It is essential in making jerky from ground meat too.

In my mind it is one of the most beneficial tools that any hunter could own.

Enjoy!

 

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

 

You Might Also Like Mountain Goat Sausage And, A Mountain Goat Kinda Night, Or Sportsmans Recipes

 

For The Wild Game Chef, We Recommend:

 

Mountain Goat Sausage – It’s What’s For Breakfast!

“And then to breakfast  with what appetite you have”.

Shakespeare, Henry VIII

 

Cooking In A Skillet Over A Hot Campfire
StockSnap / Pixabay
PublicDomainPictures / Pixabay

 

Grinding Wild Game Meat At Home With Food Grinder
Homemade Sausage and Burgers Are The Best   Sausage making is more art than science, and it is really a matter of personal taste in the end. Creativity is king, and it’s fun too.

I like patty sausage, so here is one bulk sausage recipe that you may enjoy:

Hot Italian Mountain Goat Sausage

  • 5 pounds ground shoulder or cut of your choice
  • 2 Tbsp Salt
  • 8 tsp Fennel Seed
  • 8 gloves Garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 tsp Oregano
  • 5 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
  • 1 1/4 tsp Coriander
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Paprika
  • 1 1/4 tsp Caraway

Mix very well. Form into patties and fry in the cooking oil of your choice.

*You may also wish to substitute 1 pound of ground pork butt for 1 pound of goat, which seems to go together quite well and does add some flavor.

**This recipe also works well with elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope. I have tried them all, and to my added surprise, I believe I like the mountain goat the best.

It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

A Close-up Photo of A Rocky Mountain Goat on a Cliff
The White Spirit of The Mountains

May the goat be with you!

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Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

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