Making Sausage 2017

Last year our friend Levi showed me how to make sausage so this year Davis and I thought we would give it a shot on our own using the sausage stuffer that Janet bought me for my first father’s day.

Fortunately for us, Levi lent us his heavy duty grinder and mixing tub which definitely saved us some time and effort.

Step one was pulling 55 pounds of elk and whitetail deer trim and pork fat from the freezer to thaw.

Click on images to enlarge.

Thawing elk, whitetail and pork fat
Thawing elk, whitetail and pork fat

Continue reading “Making Sausage 2017”

Snowshoe Hare Stew (Lagos Stifatho)

On our 2017 hunting trip my brother Loren snared enough hares to share a couple with Dad and a couple with me.

Snowshoe Hares
Snowshoe Hares

Snowshoe hares are a little bit more flavourful and tougher than their cousins cotton tail rabbits, as such they are very well suited to stews and braises.

I decided to use the snowshoe hares that Loren snared and subsequently shared with me to make a hare stew inspired by Theo’s Restaurant in Penticton, British Columbia. Theo’s has long been a family favourite and every time we go I can’t help but order their Lagos Stifatho which is the most delicious Greek rabbit stew with lots of onions and tomatoes and cinnamon and the most incredible depth and complexity of flavour.

Lagos Stifatho (snowshoe hare stew)
Lagos Stifatho (snowshoe hare stew)

Below is a rough recipe;

Continue reading “Snowshoe Hare Stew (Lagos Stifatho)”

Making Venison Bone Broth

In the interests of utilizing as much of our kills as possible, and because we love a good homemade stock, I decided to use the bones from our deer and elk this year to make bone broth. Dad used to do this when we were growing up but for whatever reason, it’s something I have never bothered with. I guess having dogs to give the bones to gave me an easy out but dogs can only chew so many bones and there are enough buried in the back yard as it is.

Step one (after removing most of the meat from the bones) was breaking down the bones into smaller pieces so that they could be tightly packed into a stock pot, especially the elk which is a large animal with large bones. This was accomplished by separating all of the joints with a knife, then using a reciprocating saw to cut the larger bones into smaller pieces and exposing the bone marrow.

Click on images to enlarge.

Two half sheets of deer and elk bones
Two half sheets of deer and elk bones

Continue reading “Making Venison Bone Broth”

2017 Hunting Trip

Every year my two brothers and our Dad head up to a hunting camp a little bit north of Valleyview Alberta in an effort to fill our freezers with delicious wild game meat. This year we called in support from Janet’s parents so that I could head up north for a week without feeling too guilty about leaving Janet alone with seven month old twins.

As this is a post about hunting, expect to see some graphic images, if that’s not for you, you may not want to proceed. You may not want to eat meat either if you can’t handle where it comes from, but that’s another subject. 😉 Continue reading “2017 Hunting Trip”

General Tips for Cooking Wild Game

We were lucky enough to fill our freezers this year with wild game after a successful hunting season and that has allowed us the opportunity to share some of that bounty with friends and family.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people don’t have much, if any, experience cooking with wild game and there are a few things to know. Before I get to that, I’d like to touch base on why some people think they don’t like wild game, specifically, that “gamey” flavour. Continue reading “General Tips for Cooking Wild Game”