Morel Mushroom, Leek and Shallot Pizza

Tweet

It was not until a week ago when I tasted morel mushrooms for the first time. Chef Aaron at Pheasant Bonanza prepared it, and it was delicious, sautéed in butter, rosemary, onions and served with thickly sliced prosciutto. While morel mushroom hunting has been hot in the Omaha area, my friends and I haven't had much success up here in Northeast Nebraska.  Fortunately for me, I was in the Lincoln area the following weekend to visit Rick's family and his cousin Tyler gave me a few mushrooms he found on his parents' property. 

It was enough for a single serving, a small side with dinner. Having already enjoyed it sautéed in butter, I wanted to try something different, to stretch the four mushrooms I had even further. That's when I thought of pizza, and I'm glad I did because it was amazingly good. You can follow the ingredients and directions here exactly, or make your own variation of this pizza. Whatever you do, try to stick with lighter tasting ingredients. Morel mushrooms are mild; the last thing you want to do is drown out its delicate flavor with something over powering. 

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4-5 large morel mushrooms
- 1 large shallot, sliced
- 3 tbs. of butter
- 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme, snipped
- a splash of white wine
- 1 leek stalk, sliced and washed thoroughly
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- mozzarella cheese (however much you want)
- parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated (however much you want)
- 2 tbs. of artichoke antipasto spread
- 1 tsp. of chives, chopped
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- thin pizza crust, store bought or homemade

1. Preheat oven according to packaged pizza crust directions. I used Boboli. 

Slice the white and light green parts of leeks and wash thoroughly. Leeks tend to accumulate sand between its layers. 

Heat 1 tbs. of butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add sliced leeks, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until leeks are tender. Stir occasionally. Be careful not to burn. 

2. Brush off any visible dirt on morel mushrooms. DO NOT WASH IN WATER. Cut into bite sized pieces. Mushrooms are like sponges. If you wash them in water, it will ruin the taste and texture. 

In a sauté pan, heat 2 tbs. of butter over medium-high heat. Add mushroom to hot butter and sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until mushrooms begin to soften. Stir frequently. 

Add shallots, thyme and a splash of white wine, stirring frequently. Cook until wine evaporates. Add salt and pepper, to taste.  Take off heat and set aside.

3. Slice mozzarella cheese, assuming you bought a block. 

Spread artichoke antipasto onto pizza crust. I bought mine from Trader Joe's, but you can use whatever brand or variation you like. 

Lay mozzarella slices over the spread, then leeks and morel mushroom-shallot mixture.

Grate parmigiano-reggiano over pizza and cracked pepper, to taste.

Bake according to packaged pizza crust directions or until cheese is fully melted. I like to bake pizza directly on the oven rack to get the crust more crispy.

When pizza is done, grate more parmigiano-reggiano on top. Sprinkle chopped chives over pizza. Enjoy!

Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta with Roasted Kale and Mushrooms (and Fried Pheasant Hearts)

Tweet

With fried pheasant hearts.

Without Rick around, it can sometimes be a challenge to get creative with food. Especially when I'm working long hours in the field, the last thing I want to do when I get home is to prepare anything more elaborate than heating up a can of soup. Since the weather was crappy today, I cancelled my plans to go shoot (photograph) Fort Atkinson in Calhoun, and I welcome the break. I have driven hundreds of miles in just the last few days, and the clothes need to be washed and the carpet needs to be vacuumed and the flooring needs a dust pan to grace its tiles. And it's also about time that I start cooking again for Food for Hunters. It feels like it's been a long time. Hope we didn't lose too many of our followers from the inactivity. 

This is a warm, comforting dish that will cure all those less than desirable moods. The goat cheese polenta is creamy, satisfying and rich. Mushrooms add a bit of earthiness while the caramelized red onion contributes a touch of sweetness. Kale-- I love kale. I think it complements polenta so well, in color and taste. I also like to roast/bake more kale than I need. Kale chips are amazing!

If you're brave enough, or if you have any pheasant hearts on hand, fry it and add a few pieces to your polenta dish. They sort of taste like dove breasts. The hearts are not required, just something I decided to add just so I can keep myself from calling this dish vegetarian.  

Cassidy Gerdes and Bekah Jessen

In case if you're wondering, I am having a fantastic time in Nebraska-- living out my dream as an outdoor photographer and writer. Aside from the cold weather and missing Rick, which occasionally makes me cranky, everything is a-okay. I went turkey hunting for the first time with some girls at work a couple weekends ago and all I had to show for it was a broken shotgun. It's o.k. though, because we all had loads of fun. The good thing about Nebraska is that it doesn't cost residents much to go hunting. If you don't come home with anything, it's not a big deal. The memories are worth a lot more.  Jamie Bachmann, Cassidy Gerdes, Bekah Jessen and I thoroughly enjoyed our time hunting and figuring things out by ourselves with no men around. We were so close Sunday morning while sneaking up to some toms, but we made some rookie mistakes, so off those turkeys went! Nonetheless, it was a memorable learning experience, being able to hunt with other women-- who are all well-respected wildlife biologists, by the way. 
 

Jamie Bachmann

Jamie is an outdoor education instructor with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC); she and I are coworkers. Cassidy Gerdes is a Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist with Pheasants Forever and Bekah Jessen is a Coordinating Wildlife Biologist out of Grove Lake with NGPC. These women know their stuff, and I am proud to be able to work with them. Watch out, boys!

To give people an idea of the crazy weather in Nebraska, it was in the 80s the weekend we went hunting. The following Wednesday, Northeast Nebraska got dumped with snow-- all while I was driving out west to Burwell to photograph walleye marking at Game and Park's Calamus Fish Hatchery. The next day, the snow melted, showing no indication that the previous day's freak show ever happened.  I am learning the meaning of Nebraska's mantra first hand: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." -Jen

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes  
Ingredients:
Polenta
- 1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 tsp. of salt
- 2 ounces of goat cheese
- 1 tbs. of butter
Mushrooms and Onion
- 1 tbs. of olive oil
- 1 tbs. of butter 
- half a medium red onion, sliced
- 1 package of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- a splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup of white wine
-  salt and black pepper, to taste
Roasted Kale
- half a bunch of kale
- olive oil
- a pinch of salt and pepper

Recipe for Crunchy Fried Pheasant Hearts here: http://www.foodforhunters.blogspot.com/2013/05/crunchy-fried-pheasant-hearts.html

1. Bring 2 1/3 cups of water to a boil. Slowly add cornmeal, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Add salt and more water, as needed. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. 

When polenta is done, stir in butter and goat cheese. Season to taste. Keep warm and set aside.

2. I like to cook the kale while cooking the polenta. 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash kale and dry thoroughly. Remove the stems from leaves. Cut leaves into bite-size pieces. Lay on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Toss to coat. Bake for 15 minutes. Set aside. Be careful with the salt because the kale with shrink considerably. 

I used baby bella mushrooms, but you can use whatever you want... just NOT the white button mushrooms because they don't have much flavor to them. 

I bet morels would be awesome, too, but I wouldn't know because I haven't had the privilege to taste it yet. 

3. Heat 1 tbs. of olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Sauté sliced red onion with a pinch of salt until softened and turning brown, about 5-7 minutes. Stir frequently. Add a couple splashes of worcestershire sauce. 

Place cooked onion into a separate bowl. Return pan to heat. 

4. Add 1 tbs. of butter to the pan. Add sliced mushroom with a pinch of salt and sauté until cooked, about 5 minutes. 

Add 1/4 cup of white wine to the mushrooms. Return the onion back to the pan. Allow wine to reduce and disappear almost completely. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle some polenta in a bowl. Lay the roasted kale on top and then the mushrooms. The kale will be slightly crispy.

If you so choose, you can serve this with our Crunchy Fried Pheasant Hearts.

Enjoy!

Crunchy Fried Pheasant Hearts

Tweet

These pheasant hearts came from Pheasant Bonanza in Tekamah, NE. After a photoshoot, hunting guides Trent and Aaron out there let me have the pheasants they shot that day, and one chukar. Curious, I also asked Aaron to save the hearts for me. I always enjoyed eating chicken hearts as a kid. These couldn't be much different. 
To my pleasant surprise, these were tasty! Fish fry isn't just for fish, ya know? The lemony flavor in Louisiana's Fish Fry Seasoning Mix complemented the pheasant hearts' slightly organ-y taste. The flavor is similar to dove breasts, at least I thought so. The next time you go pheasant hunting, save the hearts and try this with your favorite sauce-- like hot sauce. You got nothing to lose. 

Aaron Schroder

Aaron is also the chef at Pheasant Bonanza's onsite restaurant called the Rooster Lodge, or Roosters. The new restaurant is only open on Thursday and Friday nights. I have made my reservation, and I can't wait! No offense to Nebraskans, but there isn't much good eating up this way-- as far as restaurants go. I'm excited that Roosters is now open for business! -Jen

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 5-10 minutes
Ingredients:
- pheasant hearts
- Louisiana Fish Fry Seasoned Mix, or your favorite
- egg, beaten
- oil for frying 
- your favorite dipping sauce

1. Run cold water over hearts to rinse out as much blood as you can.
2. Remove any white film from the hearts. The last heart on the right in the picture below still has the film on it. Remove any valves sticking out from the hearts. Or you can keep them. I'm not real sure what would happen if you kept them on, probably nothing. 
3. Cut hearts in half and run under cold water again. Wash out any black, coagulated blood you see. Dry with paper towels.
3. Lightly beat egg. I have provided no measurements because it all depends on how many hearts you have. This is no different than frying anything else.
4. In a shallow bowl, pour some Louisiana Fish Fry mix. Coat the heart halves in the mix, then dip in egg and coat again with the fish fry mix. 
5. Deep fry in vegetable oil. Drain on paper towels and enjoy with your favorite sauce.* 

*Be careful not to burn your tongue!

Pheasant, pheasant, pheasant, pheasant, pheasant... chukar! See the size difference?

Mari Mar's Ceviche

Tweet

Here's something totally different from Food for Hunters. It comes from our lesser known sibling-- Food for Fish-peoples!

My nephew Jim's wife is from La Paz, Mexico. It is the capital of one of two states that make up the Baja California peninsula-- Baja California Sur. La Paz is located just north of the Tropic of Cancer and is in between the Pacific Ocean and the famed Sea of Cortez, often called the "Fish-trap of the Seas." To say the least, seafood is an important part of the people's diet. 

Mari and her daughter.

Ceviche is a tasty dish where seafood, in this case fish, is cooked not via the usual source of heat but by a chemical reaction from the lime juice that is used in this dish. When it is too hot to turn on the oven or stove to cook, people make this spicy and refreshing concoction for a snack or even whole meals.  

This is a recipe for a large gathering, so bring together family and friends for some South of the Border goodness. Don't have a big group? Cut the recipe in half! When you are feeling a little "international," give this recipe a try. Enjoy! -Rick 

Prep Time: 45 minutes
"Cooking" Time: 2 hours
Servings: many
Ingredients: 
- 4 lbs. of white-fleshed fish filets (ex: crappie, walleye, bass, rockfish, Dorado), diced
- one and a half large brown onions, chopped
- 3 jalapeños, chopped
- 2 Serrano chiles, chopped
- 6 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
- 3 to 5 limes (enough to cover fish as stated below)
- 1 tbs. salt
- 1 tbs. pepper
- tortillas or tostada shells for serving (optional)

1. Rinse filets with cold water and pat dry. Remove dark strip (bloodline) from each filet and dice into small chunks. Place in a non-reactive bowl, plastic or glass.

2. Slice limes in half and squeeze enough juice that it barely covers all the fish. The acid in the limes will chemically "cook" the fish. Depending on the size of the diced fish, this will take roughly two hours. Stir occasionally. The fish will look opaque when done. 

3. While the fish is "cooking," chop onions and set aside in a separate bowl. Then chop the jalapeños, Serranos and tomatoes. Next, roughly chop the cilantro.

4. Midway through the cooking time, add chopped onion to the fish. 

When fish is about done, add the jalapenos, Serranos, cilantro and tomato. Mix well. Add salt and pepper. Allow ingredients to sit for 15 minutes before serving. 

5) As a cocktail, serve in cocktail glasses with either crackers or make your own tortilla chips according to our "Nachos Cazadores" recipe. Eat as is or with a dollop of catsup on top. Or as a main dish, serve on tostadas shells. Either way, enjoy it with your favorite cerveza! 

Here's Jim lazing around in the afternoon sun. What a life!

Pulled Berry-Chipotle Snow Goose Sandwiches

Tweet

I went snow goose hunting for the first time a few weeks ago. My good friend Scott from work, who is a private lands biologist and an avid waterfowl hunter, was kind to take me with him. Scott and I didn't expect to shoot anything when we went out that afternoon. For those who aren't familiar with snow geese, they are surprisingly cunning, so much that they will eat themselves out of house and home if we hunters don't shoot enough of them.

The challenge is that they catch on to just about every trick in the book so darn quickly. 

So Scott and I waited, and the afternoon began to grow cold. I sat in my layout blind and listened for Scott's voice from the other blind next to me. He had me looking in all sorts of directions through the crack in the flaps that concealed my head. I saw a lot of birds fly over, but none came close enough to shoot. We called and we called, me with an iPod shuffle attached to speakers and Scott with his traditional goose call. Then, like it was a godsend, a fat, white snow goose descended from its flock. It stretched out its wings and legs to let the wind catch it from underneath, allowing its body to hover, almost freeze in midair right in front of me-- the perfect opportunity for a shot. "Take it!" Scott shouted. I flipped open the covers to my blind, took aim and shot twice. The goose dropped to the ground and I whooped and threw up my hands in victory. It was such a great rush. There's something about shooting a bird in the air that's so exciting and different compared to deer hunting. I can't wait to go duck hunting next season!

This recipe is sort of Scott's idea. He mentioned sticking his goose in grape jelly once, so I looked into it. I found a pulled pork recipe using pomegranate jelly online and built upon it. It was actually pretty good. I'm not much of a goose eater, but the crockpot cooking process got rid of the gamey taste so familiar to many waterfowl species. Similar to BBQ sauce, this recipe follows the same sweet and tangy flavor profile using strawberry-blackberry preserves and many savory spices. I strongly recommend that you make this a day ahead. This allows the flavors to fully develop. 

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 hours (prepare one day ahead before serving)
Ingredients:
- legs, thighs and breasts of 1 snow goose
- 3 tbs. of light brown sugar
- 2 tsp. of Hungarian paprika
- 1 tsp. mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 slice of bacon
- 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbs. of tomato paste
- 1/8 cup of fruit jelly or preserves (I used strawberry-blackberry preserves)
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped (more if you're adventurous)
- potato buns or rolls
Cole Slaw:
- 3 cups of shredded cabbage
- 1/2 cup of shredded carrot
- 1/2 cup of Best Foods Olive Oil Mayo
- 1 tsp. of rice vinegar
- 1 tsp. of sugar
- 1 tsp. of Louisiana Hot Sauce, or to taste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

If you like, you can brine or simply soak the goose in cold water overnight to leech out blood. 

1. Remove visible silver skin from breasts. Pat all pieces dry with paper towels. Don't stress over getting all of the silver skin. It will melt in the crock pot anyway. 

2. In a small bowl, combine 1 tbs. of brown sugar, the paprika, mustard powder and cumin. Combine well. 

Sprinkle ground black pepper and salt all over all legs, thighs and breasts. Then rub the spice mixture over all the pieces. 

3. Cook the slice of bacon in a cast iron pan. Remove the bacon. Sear the goose in the bacon grease over medium-high heat until browned on both sides. Do not overcrowd the pan. Do not cook the meat through. All you want is a nice sear on the outside.

Transfer goose to a plate and set aside. 

4. Combine 2 cups of water, vinegar, tomato paste and the remaining 2 tbs. of brown sugar in a crock pot. Add the cooked bacon, goose and all its juices. 

Make sure the goose is submerged. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until meat is tender. 

5. Meanwhile, combine all cole slaw ingredients in a medium bowl. Adjust seasonings, as necessary. If it's too dry, add more mayo. If it's too tart, add more sugar. Too sweet, and more vinegar. 

Cover and refrigerate to let flavors marry.

6. Once the goose is tender, remove the pieces from the crock pot and shred the meat with forks. Discard bones. Set aside. 

7. Pour the cooking liquids from the crockpot into a saucepan. Add the jelly/preserves and chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Bring to a boil then reduce by half, or until thickened into a sauce. Add salt and pepper, to taste. 

Pour the sauce into another container for serving, but leave about 1 cup. 

Add the shredded meat to the remaining sauce. Add more sauce if it's too dry. 

For best results, refrigerate the meat, covered, one day prior to serving. This helps the flavors develop. It's totally worth the wait!

Serve pulled snow goose on potato buns with cole slaw and extra sauce on the side.