Antler & Fin

Let’s face it. If you stockpile venison scraps for stew, burger and sausage, you likely have some random holdings suitable for jerky.  It may be simpler to grind those scraps, but this easy homemade jerky recipe will motivate you to find more value in the scraps or devote more of your deer to a jerky stash.  When it comes to venison, anything including pepper, garlic, Worcestershire and soy can pr...

These Paddlefish Caviar and Cucumber Bites are easy to create, yet they make an amazingly fantastic hors d’oeuvre for your next get-together with family and friends. I love making these for a party because I can whip it all up from start to finish in just 10 minutes. Store-bought crackers are topped with dill cream cheese, cucumber slices, paddlefish caviar, and fresh dill.  I’ve lived in North Da...

It’s Native American Heritage Month and to honor my ancestors I whipped up some traditional ingredients using some modern cooking methods, even the use of mayo on my steaks. Yes, I used mayo, and it came out great! I have been researching our upcoming podcast pilot episode and recently stumbled upon an exciting food trend. The trend is the use of mayonnaise in place of oil for searing meat. Yes, y...

On a recent Harvesting Nature Field to Fork wild pig camp in Texas, butcher extraordinaire Adam Steele and I were driving from the Dallas-Fort Worth airport to Jacksboro where the camp was being held. We were both feeling quite peckish, so I had Adam look up a potential spot to stop for lunch along the way. “How about a Texas roadhouse?” he asked. Bingo. We grabbed a table under the watchful eyes...

Shawn West - I was fortunate enough to cross a “bucket-list” hunt off my list this past November when I went on a layout-boat duck hunt near Long Point on Lake Erie. Big water diving ducks were birds that I had not had a chance to hunt in the thirty years that I’d been waterfowling, and I snapped at the chance when a friend proposed and organized the opportunity. Being run out to the layout boats...

Green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are an invasive species in Florida and are not native to our state. They can cause considerable damage to infrastructure, including seawalls and sidewalks.  This species is not protected in Florida except by anti-cruelty law. So, as long as you harvest them humanely and safely, which we do, then you can take as many as you want.  In addition to damaging infrastructure...

Venison Steak au Poivre is a classic French dish that is popular among hunters and gourmands alike.  Steak au poivre is a classic French dish that dates back to the mid-1800s. The steak is typically pan-fried and served with a pan sauce made from crushed black peppercorns with cream, butter, and cognac, and it can also include garlic, shallots, and other herbs and spices.  The combination of the s...

Turkey season has come upon us! Not many things can rival the sound of calling and hearing those big old toms gobble back at you. We had the pleasure this season of being able to hunt not far from the coast of Morrow Bay in California and were able to bag a few gobblers to bring home to the family.  This recipe is a play on a good old chicken piccata recipe that’s super quick, easy and doesn’t dis...

It’s that time in Pennsylvania!  So while you’re out scouting or hunting for turkeys, keep your eyes and nose open for these springtime plants. The pickled leeks go great on a sandwich or make a perfect quick snack.  Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Kory Slye Rate this Podcast  Listen to our other podcasts here Buy our Small Batch Wild Food Spice Blends  About Wild Leeks: Als...

I recently watched a film that was shot in South Florida which depicted a family hunting rabbits as the sugar cane was being harvested. The rabbits would run out of the cane as the thresher mowed down the stalks. As they ran out, the kids would chase them and strike them down with large sticks.  This may seem a little rough, but there is a long tradition of harvesting rabbits with sticks. Many Sou...

I removed a vacuum-sealed bottom round roast from the freezer from the buck my wife harvested this past fall and allowed it to thaw in the refrigerator.  I planned to wet age the roast for around 28 days, removing the meat every two weeks or so to drain any blood before resealing. This process allows enzymes to break down connective tissue while vacuum sealing removes oxygen which can increase bac...

Gado gado is an Indonesian salad of mixed cooked and uncooked vegetables served with a peanut sauce dressing. Gado gado means “mix mix”; a fitting name for a salad with as many ways of making and mixing it as there are families in Indonesia. Although this salad is most often made with tempeh, tofu, long beans, chayote, bitter gourd, shrimp crackers, and other hard-to-find ingredients, I made mine...

I think chicken marsala was one of the first dishes I ever made for my mom when I was a kid. I remember taking her the meal while she was working at the local hospital. I am not sure why I never thought to make this as a wild game dish before. The meal is slightly sweet, savoury, and comforting. This meal is also a one pan meal, minus the pasta or starch. I use a stainless-steel pan for the recipe...

The confluence of the foothills of the Rockies and the western edge of the Great Plains is a magical place where two ecosystems literally collide, that I look forward to hunting every year.  Whenever I’m there, I can’t help but imagine the millions of bison that once roamed freely across the plains. The antelope that reign king there today are a captivating and unique animal in their own right, bu...

Every year for Valentine’s Day, Ryan and I try to get out of our comfort zones and try a new recipe for supper that night. It’s kind of became a Valentine’s tradition that one or both of us cook a crazy meal that we would normally not try. This year, we went with Axis Wellington using backstrap from an axis deer. But, we’re not a mushroom eating family. I absolutely hate them, and Ryan mainly live...

For many of us, the end of the spring wild turkey season means the beginning of backyard gatherings with family and friends and the smoky aroma of your favorite barbequed meal. This Jamaican Jerk inspired dish is a great option to add to your wild game backyard barbeque repertoire and has the perfect balance of both heat and sweetness. This (wet) marinade consists of a blend of spices/seasoning in...

I’ve taken the classic French Dip sandwich and updated it with some venison backstrap. The signs of a well-made French dip are easily distinguishable from the bad ones. The bread-to-meat ratio must be correct. The cheese must be melted, the bun toasted, and the meat a beautiful medium rare. The au jus must be flavorful and complement the meat as well. I believe I hit all those marks here for this...

This growing season has been somewhat of a nightmare for me. I’ve done everything in my power to stop these gophers but nothing seems to work! From traps to gas to poison, I’m at a complete loss. On top of that, it’s been so hot that even my tomatoes have decided to call it quits by dropping every flower. The one thing I can always count on though is my peppers! With an abundance of peppers, the b...

This recipe finds its inspiration from a South African warthog potjie recipe. Potjiekos is translated to mean, “small-pot food.” This method of cooking became popular in Southern Africa with the arrival of the Dutch settlers. The Potjie was a commonly used cooking vessel, made of cast iron with three legs. As people traveled throughout the wilderness, they would shoot animals for food and use the...

When it’s al pastor time and you don’t have a shawarma spit, it’s time to break out the reliable pellet grill. Now if the words “al pastor” are new to you, then all I have to say is that I’m sorry you’ve missed out for so long. But we are about to change your life. Al pastor is marinated pork cooked to perfection on a shawarma spit or vertical rotisserie. In Harvesting Nature fashion, this Mexican...

Deer season has come to a close, and many of us are looking to make room in our freezers – perhaps by tackling that large “special occasion” cut that’s eluded cooking since last year. In my case, that cut was a hind leg from a small doe. Using Hank Shaw’s Smoked Venison Roast as inspiration, the leg was coated in salt and sugar, vacuum-sealed, and refrigerated for about 10 days before a long, slow...

Growing up with an Italian mom, from New York who worked a lot, you can say pasta was on the menu more than a couple times a week. We ate it so much that I stay away from the pasta as much as possible now. This definitely helps when we are hiking the hills, to skip those extra carbs 4 days a week. Of course there is always an exception to this rule, for me it comes in the delicious form of stuffed...

Since moving to northern Virginia, I have noticed there is a large amount of eastern cuisine around me serving Indian, Afghan and Pakistani dishes. There are a lot of new plates to try and so far, I have yet to find anything I don’t like. One of my favorite dishes is curry; Indian or Thai. Indian curry is usually darker than its Thai equivalent due to the different herbs and cooking time. Although...

I’m a mushroom lover and foraging for them is a new favorite pastime. I recently packed up my wife and daughter and traveled from Fargo, North Dakota to Olympic National Park in Washington for 10 days of tent camping, hiking, and foraging. Oyster mushrooms were easy to find and easy to identify, growing on trees and logs right along many of the hiking trails. The most abundant spot was in the Hoh...

I am not really sure what cuisine category this dish falls into. Maybe International Fusion? It is part German, part Italian, and part Tunisian. Whatever you label it, it is delicious.  For the beer, I recommend using a beer that is not too bitter or hoppy. Those flavors will come through heavily in the sauce. If the sauce does end up a little bitter you can cut it with more honey. I served it all...