Wild game Dinners

[IronNoggin]

A good buddy dropped off a huge bag of Manila & Butter Clams.
Soaked overnight in salt water to let them spit the grit.
Now wondering just what to toss in with some for din-din...



Cheers,
Nog

[cdub]

No pics,but we visited my son in Edmonton and he very proudly made stuffed whitetail heart and seared backstraps. He worked hard getting and preparing the meal. Tasted so much better knowing he did it all himself from shooting, processing. And cooking. Well worth the 13hr drive.

[IronNoggin]

Took a good handful of those wonderful clams, tossed them in a pot with a little white wine, butter and garlic. Steamed them lightly while prepping the compliments.

Spot Prawns on the BarBee:



Our first feed of the year from our own Spare Gooses:



Then added in some cheesy garlic toast to round things out:



All local, all fresh. Fantastic Munchies all round!

Cheers,
Nog

[IronNoggin]

Today I find myself reporting on an experiment that didn't go quite as well as planned...

Ran into some Fiddleheads at the grocers the other day. My Lady & I love these things, and are used to steaming them with white wine, a little butter and a hint of lemon garlic. However, having had resounding success air frying asparagus, we thought perhaps that would work with these as well. Try as I might, I could not find any recipes to do that in any of my cookbooks nor online...

So we set out to try it on for ourselves, Cleaned and trimmed the fiddleheads:



Then lightly spray oiled them and added a touch of salt & pepper. Set aside while I prepped the whitetail sirloin tenders for the grill:





While those were wrapping up to medium rare (accent on the rare thanks) the fiddleheads went into a pre-warmed air fryer at 360 degrees for 3 minutes. They needed a little more, so a good shake then back at the same heat for 2 minutes to finish.

Served up with Cheesy Spinach Dip Pasta and a good red:





The whitetail was brilliant, and the pasta very good too.
However the fiddleheads left something to be desired. In order to be thoroughly cooked they dried out more than I would have liked, leaving them with an almost "leathery" texture. The flavor was great, kind of nutty actually. But given their consistency I will not be repeating that experiment again.

Lesson learned. Guess there was a reason I could not find any recipes do do this. Hope others will benefit from this discovery...

Cheers,
Nog

[IronNoggin]

Managed to get it right this time around...

Cleaned & Trimmed:



Gently steamed for 4 or 5 minutes in white wine & lightly salted water.
Then quickly tossed through a hot frying pan of butter, a smidge of white wine & lemon garlic:



Same time that was working, right beside it was a pan of prawns in the same kind of butter base:



And the air fryer was working on breaded Calamari,while the stove looked after cheesy garlic toast:



The fiddleheads certainly looked a heck of a lot better:



Continued...

[IronNoggin]

Served up with Tzatziki sauce and a fine Merlot:



The fiddleheads were excellent in flavor with nice subtle crunch.
MUCH Better!!

Cheers,
Nog

[HarryToolips]

Looks delicious as always Nog...

[IronNoggin]

Looks delicious as always Nog...

Thank you kind sir!

Regarding fiddleheads, they are a bit of a tough find, and very seasonal.
Quality foods brings them in around every 2 or 3 years.

They sourced this last lot from West Coast Wild Food in Burnaby: https://wcwf.ca/
A quick check of their site suggests they currently have them in stock.
If they aren't within striking range, it may be worthwhile to give them a call to see if they supply any of your local grocers.

We absolutely love them When done right, they are truly something special.

Cheers,
Nog

[IronNoggin]

Dropped by Quality Foods hoping there were some more Fiddleheads to go with tonight's Lamb. Yep.
Manager was there (we know each other fairly well) and I jokingly said: Let me know when you need to get rid of all of them.
He laughed, and said Today is your day. They are not moving as folks simply do not know how to deal with them.
All was 13 boxes.
OK. Charged me for ONE box!!
There is surely a reason I shop there!!

Guess I'll be freezing and pickling tomorrow...

Cheers,
Nog

[IronNoggin]

If one pound of AAA Alberta Prime is good, then two pounds must be better!!



Seasoned & on the BarBee:



While that was charring, I cut our second harvest of Spare Gooses and tossed them in the air fryer (a mist of oil, salt & pepper):



A quick cut - yep done just right:



Then served up with Cheddar Chipotle Pasta & a fine Shiraz:




....