Rifle Loony News Volume 8 Issue 2 August 2016
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Rifle Loony News Volume 8 Issue 2 August 2016 John Barsness & Eileen Clarke www.riflesandrecipes.com What’s Up? freezer, and trading with friends and neighbors for their tough and gamy. The corner of the freezer reserved for August Chores stew meat, usually the last thing to go, is all but empty. (I’m saving the last few little white packages for the wild EC hair idea that always comes at the very end of a cook- book.) And the 2 100-quart coolers full of waterfowl we brought back from Alberta in September? Same thing: two lonely geese and a quintet of ducks are all that’s left, saved, for that what-if-somebody-says “Have you tried....” And what would that possibly be? Pineapple? Tried it. Melon? Tried it, too. One worked, one didn’t. Rambutan? Jabuticaba? African horned cucumber? Nope, nope and nope. Don’t have them at Bob’s Pretty Good Grocery & Deli or the gaggle of super stores in Helena either, and that’s important because a lot of us hunter/cooks live where no one’s ever heard of horned cucumbers. (Does everything While October is my all-time favorite month, to the point that if I were Queen for a day I’d make it 75 days in Africa come equipped with horns and thorns?) long, August is the month of hope. Here in Montana the But The Project will be done soon. Not as soon as final drawings for extra tags have been done, and we I’d hoped, but soon enough to have hunting season free can make plans for hunting season. Not that we haven’t for hunting. It has another name, this Project: at first it already started, but now those plans have a photo at- was Love Me Tender. Marinades, Brines and Rubs, Oh My! tached. and Yummy in the Tummy made brief appearances over We have made the appointment with the garage a glass or two of wine, but eventually cooler heads pre- to give the old Ford pick-up its yearly check-up; bought vailed in the light of day and the title now is set: Tenderize the new batteries to put in the range finders, GPS units, the Wild: Marinades, Brines & Rubs for Wild Game. As cameras and flashlights; dumped out the hunting packs, this issue of Rifle Loony News goes to press, I’m doing the thrown away last year’s final-desperate-days-of-hunting- final editing and adding a few last marinades--there are season detritus--including a couple of squished peanut always a few last recipes no matter how structured the butter and jelly sandwiches--and hosed a winter’s worth plan--and will have the book to the printer in a few days. of dust off the game cart. Two hundred or so pages, a color photo Point & What now? The annual defrosting of the freezers. Where Else Are They Now? (Cue The Beach Boys, the best freezer defrosting music John is now rifle columnist at Sports Afield, is in ev- ever.) But a funny thing happened to the freezers on the ery issue of Guns, Handloader, Rifle; frequently in American Rifleman, and logs onto the ‘ask the gunwriters’ forum at way to August this year. Unlike most people, and unlike www.24hourcampfire.com often. The Hunter’s Guide to Han- us particularly, we have ended up with an inordinate num- dloading Smokeless Rifle Cartridges (renamed The Big Book ber of tenderloins left over. Or perhaps it’s an inappropri- of Gun Gack since it’s so much more than handloading data) ate number. Whatever. What used to disappear as fast as is about to go for the third printing. the Christmas box of See’s fine chocolates, has lingered. Eileen is now working on her newest cookbook on The answer is simple, of course. I’ve been on a search marinades, brines and rubs which will be ready at Christmas. and improve mission for the last 2 years, ferreting out Check out all of John and Eileen’s books at every last tough or gamy--or both--chunk of meat in our www.riflesandrecipes.com ~1~ Cook insert, 54 venison, 26 upland birds, 19 waterfowl, prise too that the same recipe worked on venison, bear 6 wild piggie marinades, brines and rubs and 29 sides and beef.) And while I had a moment of apprehension dishes. (I’m still working on the piggies.) But when I first realized just how much bigger the now it’s down to the editing, spell checking, beef brisket was, it was a moment of truth as counting steps (and making sure they read 1, well. I’ve always said venison isn’t that differ- 2, 3, 4 instead of 1, 2, 2, 5), and entering page ent from beef. Sure venison fat isn’t as tasty, numbers for all references to ‘see page so and and it isn’t marbled into the muscle. But it’s so.” a four-legged critter, with collagen and bones Yes, it’s pretty mundane now, but and, while domestic cattle are bigger, that pas- a month ago I was smoking. Literally. I’ve trami proved meat is meat is meat. I had to been making corned venison for decades and triple the size of the brine to accomodate the reading about pastrami, but had never made sheer size of that beef brisket, but I would have it. It’s a simple transition, because pastrami had to do that for a big bull moose brisket and, is only corned meat that is then smoked and did use a bigger brine when I corned the water steamed. No big deal. But I’d never taken the buffalo brisket John brought home from Texas next step. one year. (If you have water buffalo brisket in Finally, I felt, this book needed a pastrami, so it your freezer, don’t hesitate. It’s wonderful corned.) was time. I set several briskets to corning in the spare The timing and recipe worked just as well on water garage fridge, and conscienceously rolled them over ev- buffalo and beef brisket as it did on the antlered one. ery 2 days to make sure the brine got to every surface The big difference is there was too much fat on the of the briskets and roasts, and a month ago was the big beef: I trimmed it to ⅛ inch, and still didn’t have to add day. I own a smoker--actually I own four: a Little Chief, moisture during the steaming step. The ⅛ inch of fast a Big Chief, a propane water smoker and a Cookshack I left, rendered out and provided plenty of moisture. electric smoker--all of which are great but they’re special- So the smoking and the cooking is all but ized equipment and I wanted to smoke this pastrami on done--for the book--and the careful reading and edit- a piece of equipment a lot more people would own. So I ing for typos, misspellings and quirky grammar is in got out my old charcoal Weber kettle grill, researched it full swing. As you can see my trusty Shih Tzu, Wil- on the internet and discovered the Modified Minion Meth- lie D. Thumper, is ‘helping.’ Problem is he only speaks od (MMM). Worked like a champ, There’s nothiing I dis- Chinese and can’t spell worth an arf. He’s also a bit like more than sitting around outside with the mosquitos peeved that I’m not cooking meat 5 times a day, but in 95 degree weather with forest fire smoke hazing out he’ll get used to it. the mountains, trying to make a smoker behave. With the John and I are planning on eating a bunch of MMM, I started the briquettes, opened the vents as sug- tenderloin for a while. Tenderloin and salads from the gar- gested and the temperature hung right where it should den, if the tomatoes ever ripen...it’s been a weird sum- for 9 hours, longer than it took to smoke the pastrami. mer. 45 degrees at 6AM today, during the hottest time of That evening we opened up the the year. foil and sliced off a bit of new-born pas- But hope. The photo attached trami. Tender, moist, exploding with flavor, to my dreams for hunting sea- just what pastrami should be. That’s when son now includes antelope (we my friend Tim showed up. Tim is one of both drew a doe/fawn tag) along those guys who’s always doing trades. In with either sex elk tags and one the past he’s provided me with pork fat chance at a buck whitetail or mule for sausage, and I’ve paid him with my deer. September 1, with the open- home made brats, chili dogs and Greek ing of upland bird season (except Isle sausage. Apparently he considered pheasant) we’ll start filling the that a good trade, becasue as soon as he freezers again. tasted that pastrami, he said, “I just got It’s time to turn on that Beach two beef briskets. If you make me one of Boy music, defrost the freezers, these pastramis with the one, I’ll give you move everything that’s left (and the other one. What do you think about there isn’t much except those few that?” ducks and geese and the tender- The next day one of the beef bris- loins) but it’s good, wild meat. kets was sitting in a corning pot in the ga- And I have a bunch of new reci- rage fridge.