Category Archives: Recipes

Recipes for the cook. Everything from home, garden and wild game cooking

Wild Game Recipes

Brunswick Stew

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs. squirrel cut into pieces
2 1/2 lbs. Pork – cut into stew sized chunks
1/4 cup of shortening
1 small onion chopped
2 cups skinless stewed tomatoes cut into large pieces
3 cups lima beans
1 cup of water
1 chili pepper – chopped and seeded
2 cloves
3 cups of corn – drained
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup of unseasoned breadcrumbs

Equipment:

Large sauce pan with cover

Directions:

Heat shortening in sauce pan, brown the meat on all sides. Remove meat and place on paper towel to drain. In the sauce pan add onions and sauté until translucent (I personally like the onions browned). Take the onions out. Drain shortening from sauce pan and add the 1 cup of water, scrap all meat bits then add tomatoes, lima beans, chili pepper, onions, meat and cloves. Cover and simmer until meat is good and tender. At this point add the 3 cups of corn and any water if needed and simmer for another 15 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce and take a taste – add salt and pepper if necessary.

The whole process should take between 3 – 4 hours.

Wild Game Recipes

Marcel’s Squirrel Stew

Ingredients:

2 squirrels cut into sections
1/4 lb. of apple-wood smoked bacon
3/4 lb. pork loin cut up into stew sized cubes
1/2 cup of flour
1/4 cup of browned flour
1 bay leaf
4 red potatoes diced
3 large carrots chunked (so it will not disintegrate during cook time)
4 cups stewed tomatoes
1 large sweet onion sliced a little on the thick side
1 large yellow pepper chopped
1 tablespoon of Paprika
1 Knoor’s vegetable bouillon cube
2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Equipment:

Large Pot with cover

Directions:

Dice the apple-wood bacon and fry in the pot on medium heat. Once the bacon is cooked to taste, I like it just before it becomes hard, remove the bacon and put to the side. Mix the flour, paprika, a dash of salt and pepper together. Dredge the squirrel and pork loin pieces in the mixture and place in the bacon fat. Cook until all sides are browned.

Once the meat is browned, add enough water to cover the meat. Add the bay leaf, vegetable bouillon cube and crushed red pepper. Cover and cook on a low heat for 2 – 3 hours or until the meats are tender. Add the diced carrots and cook for 20 minutes then add potatoes, stewed tomatoes, yellow pepper and onion. Cook until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add back the bacon.

Take the browned flour and mix with cold water to make a paste you will thicken the stew with. Add the paste to the stew a little at a time. Thicken to taste.

Serve with a crusty bread and butter. A cold pale ale goes well with this dish.

Shellfish Recipes

New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery cut lengthwise into 4 sections each then sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock
Meat of 24 steamed clams and 10 ounces of the liquor from steaming (see steamed clams recipe)
or
2 (10-ounce) cans chopped clams in juice
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 pound of potatoes cut into 1/2- inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Equipment:

6 QT stove top sauce pot

Cooking Directions:

Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour, mix to break up any lumps. Add the chicken stock, steamed clam liquor (or the juice from 2 cans of chopped clam), cream, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Once the potatoes are tender, add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. If using canned clams, cook until clams are just firm – about 2 minutes.

Shellfish Recipes

Steamed Clams

Ingredients:

4 dozen little neck clams
2 cups of dry white wine
1/2 cup minced shallots
4 medium garlic cloves – minced
1 bay leaf
¼ finely chopped parsley
2 tbls unsalted butter

Equipment:

8 Qt stove top pot with cover

Cooking Directions

Cooking the Clams

Combine the wine, shallots, garlic and bay leaf in the pot and slowly bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 3 minutes to blend the flavors. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the clams and cover. Check every few minutes, when the clams open they are done. Remove the clams – if you do not they may over-cook. Un-opened clams should be discarded.

Making the Dipping Sauce

Take the liquid the clams cooked in and divide in two equal portions. Place one portion back into the pot over a low heat. Add two tablespoons of unsalted butter and the parsley. Stir until the butter is melted. This is one of the best dipping sauces I have had with clams

The remaining liquid should be saved for making soups and clam sauce.

Tip: The live clams can be placed in a shallow pan with enough water to cover. Sprinkle a handful of cornmeal over them and let stand a few hours or overnight. They will absorb the cornmeal into their systems and it will clean out any sand as well as help in whitening the clam meat.

Shellfish Recipes

Fried Clam Recipe

Ingredients:

3 dozen clams, such as littleneck, manila or cherrystone, shelled and cleaned
3 quarts vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
10 lemon wedges

Equipment:

Stove top pot large enough to hold oil
Cooking thermometer to monitor oil temperature

Cooking Directions

Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over high heat to 360 degrees F.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour and the spices. Add the clams and toss to coat evenly, shaking to remove any excess.

In batches, deep-fry the clams, turning frequently, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oil and either place on racks to drain or to paper towels.

Serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce or blue cheese dipping sauce.

Shellfish Recipes

Baked Clams Recipe

Ingredients:

4 dozen Littleneck clams
2 tablespoons salt
3 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons pesto
1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 pound clarified butter

Cooking Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Night before, if you want to, place clams in the refigerator in water with some corn meal to help the clams purge.

Place bread crumbs, Parmesan, lemon juice, zest, garlic, pesto, parsley, and olive oil in a bowl. Mix together with half of the clarified butter. Mix together until moist but not too wet. Use additional butter only if needed.

Open each clam and place mixture on top. Place in oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.