# Tasty game stews



## CGC4200 (Sep 26, 2010)

I have made venison stew and chili from whitetail buck meat that
might not be tender otherwise, love to try elk or buffalo, but the tame
herds in in LBL are guarded and the draw permits for elk in another part
of our Heartland state are too expensive.
I have made an improvised version of SW pozole with hominy.
How do you you cook your tough game?


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## tree md (Sep 26, 2010)

On tougher cuts like shoulder meat I will usually cook it very slowly in a roaster covered in BBQ sauce. I also like to do roasts and stews in a crock pot. Just cut up a lot of carrots, potatoes and onions (and some fresh garlic), put it in the crock pot in the morning and slow cook it all day. By the time you get home from work it will be ready to eat. Slow smoking or cold smoking is another good way to tenderize the meat. The key to keeping meat tender is slow cooking.

A little blurry (took with cell phone cam) but here is a roast we did last week with a whole deer shoulder:


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## CGC4200 (Sep 27, 2010)

*Snapping turtle stew & squirrel & dumplings*

If you can handle the prep work, these will make a tasty meal in hard times.
Celery is another veggie that works when available, also have used chopped
turnips and peas sometimes.
If the other eaters can handle the spice, I like to add red & black pepper,
cumin & other spices in reach.


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## tree md (Sep 28, 2010)

I absolutely love fried turtle. One of my favorites. Love squirrel and dumplings too. Was raised eating both. Snappers are protected where I live now tho so I don't get to eat it anymore unless I travel and go out of state to one of the backwoods jamborees that some of my family puts on...


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## dingeryote (Sep 28, 2010)

Tough critters and the tougher parts of decent critters mostly get tossed into Chili, or get sliced thin and slow cooked.

I learned a trick in Africa when I insisted on eating at least part of the critters I shot. Zebra is actually what they make truck tires out of..ya can't even stick a fork in the gravy without bending the tines.
I noticed the Camp staff(Local Zulu) that got the rest of the critter were plenty happy with it, so I asked the gal who ran the crew how she cooked Zebra. LOL!!! Loose translation was "Par boil the #### out of it and make a mince".

Squirrel mince with corn and dried Tomatoes is quite tasty when spread on good rye bread. I usually par boil squirrels for 15 Min. before frying or baking them anyway, so if they come out tougher than a skateboard wheel, they go back in for another 20 min then get flaked for Mince.

A Taxidermist buddy has figured out an exact formula for brining and then slow smoking/steaming tough old turkeys, but he ain't talking.
Sure takes the tough out of 'em though.

It's that time of year ain't it. 

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


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## banshee67 (Sep 28, 2010)

i dont do any hunting, but any kind of stew you prefer only gets better once you add dumplings 

nothing like a nice oven roasted chicken and vegetables and mashed potatoes one night, then a chicken stew with dumplings made with all the leftover chicken + new vegetables the next night!
like someone said, lots of FRESH chopped garlic , i hate chopping it anymore, i just use one of those mini food processors, toss in some fresh garlic cloves, some fresh herbs off my plants, and hit the button!


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## CGC4200 (Sep 28, 2010)

*snapping turtles*

Most I have harvested and eat were picked up on roads in the spring,
grabbed by the tail and tossed into a truck bed.
Them crazy Cajuns and Turtle man in my state hog for them in streams
and ponds, the Okies have contests hogging for catfish, but I like
my fingers and toes too much to try that method.


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## sbhooper (Sep 29, 2010)

The best way to attack tough meat is to pressure-cook it. A pressure cooker will take a tough turkey leg and cook the meat right off the bone. It always helps any other type of tough meat also.


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## jcappe (Sep 29, 2010)

sbhooper said:


> The best way to attack tough meat is to pressure-cook it. A pressure cooker will take a tough turkey leg and cook the meat right off the bone. It always helps any other type of tough meat also.



I borrow my mom's electric pressure cooker for the tough stuff. Boy it works slick. I can't wait for the first good cold snap so I can get the beagles out and get some rabbbits.


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## CGC4200 (Sep 29, 2010)

*Leftover chicken*

It makes a good gumbo, you need rice, okra, other veggies and spices
as available or desired.
Rabbit, I never had problems with tough cottontails, they fry up tasty and
prep easier than squirrels, turtles or deer, only meat I have seen that works
up quicker was catfish with a good hand on electric fillet knife.


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## sbhooper (Sep 29, 2010)

Hey jcappe, 

We used it on the quarters and backstraps off New Mexico jackrabbits when we lived there and then made enchiladas from the meat. You would not know it from pulled beef. Fantastic!


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## deeker (Sep 29, 2010)

I agree with pressure cooking tough meats.

One of our favorite ways to cook small game, rabbit, grouse, pheasant....chukar and many others. Except waterfowl...is to pressure cook it for the right amount of time for the critter.

Then mix a couple cans of cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup, dump in the slow cooker. Lots of onions and peppers and a bit of garlic and the critter meat. Even some crisp bacon bits on top.....


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## sbhooper (Sep 30, 2010)

Yep! My wife just bought a new cooker that is a pressure cooker and also a regular slow cooker and all digital. That thing is amazing. We had prairie chicken a couple of nights ago and it was great. She pressured the meat off and then threw all the ingredients back in and did the slow cook thing. It was definitely the best grouse that I had ever eaten. Some of them can be a little gamey.


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