Take pleasure in the simple delicacies of hunting
Let me start by saying that I’m wishing you a Happy and Prosperous New Year filled with good cheer and health. After 2020, what else could we wish for?
I’m reminded of the meme that appeared on Facebook about the end of April that had the subtitle “You Know Your Life is Boring if COVID Doesn’t Change Your Lifestyle.”
Well, my life isn’t boring. A lot of drama and excitement plays out afield. But to the mainstream pop culture or the urban-oriented millennial American, I’m sure my life seems boring. Yet, setting the hook on a 40-inch-plus musky, 20-inch-plus bass, eater-size walleye, or just a keeper panfish lies in an area they know nothing about.
Kind of like how they don’t know how the taste buds can be awaken like few other things by a ruffed grouse marinated in an orange or cranberry liquor sauce for 20 minutes before being seared in browned butter and then baked in the same marinating liquid with some heavy cream and touch of bourbon Or maybe a goose slowly roasted, wrapped in bacon, stuffed with an apple, onion and potato and drizzled with a honey, brandy, wine sauce. Want to kick it up a notch? Substitute bourbon for brandy and don’t be scared of the price. There’s no reason to waste Buffalo Trace on a sauce when some much cheaper Evan Williams will do for the cooking.
They certainly have never tasted Fricassee’ of Duck, or venison prepared with the perfect cure and grilled to 135 degrees, allowed to rest for 10 minutes, served with wild rice, freshly picked asparagus, and a garden spinach salad.
They know not of those pleasures in life, unless they find a trendy restaurant in one of the trendy U.S. cities that serves farm-raised game meats.
That’s OK in their books at $100 buck an entrée. For those of us that hunt and live in rural America — fly-over country, the part that doesn’t count — we know.
I’ll give you all a little tip this holiday weekend, when you are preparing breakfast for your family and the kids are all home (younger families adjust accordingly. Take two cups of maple syrup and add two to three pads of butter and an jigger of bourbon.
Tell me it’s not the only thing in the world that can make maple syrup taste better and I’ll call you uncultured. Use it over a brioche French toast. It’s what the peasants ate when the aristocracy ate French toast. Take some French bread and let it stale a day old or buy it as day old. Slice it about an inch thick and, after lining a pan with oil, set the sliced bread in to fill the whole pan. Don’t be afraid to make the bread fit a bit. Make a custard with two or three eggs, heavy cream, and a touch of vanilla. Cover the bread with the custard, place in the fridge overnight, and bake in the morning until done at 300. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you want to get fancy. Like us deplorables eating moose meat in Alaska or venison tenderloin sautéed in butter, onions, and garlic in Wisconsin – the peasants of France still figured out a way to eat better than the aristocracy. Trust me on this; make it your New Year’s Day breakfast.
My last hunt of this season will most likely take place on the Jan. 3, the last day of the deer season. I just can’t leg it long enough to make even a hunt at Little Hills worthwhile.
The knees are shot and ibuprofen and Tylenol in combo only work with injections, and they’ve worn off. So there won’t be a column from me for a week or two or three.
Instead, my life will change to physical therapy appointments, ice, elevation and home exercise. When I can hobble around I hope to convince my wife to take me out on the ice and place a couple of tip ups. But no guarantees on that one, at least on being able to drill holes.
No, COVID didn’t change my life all that much. Sure, I miss heading to my favorite restaurant. I miss my bartender and the Veal Oscar. But venison loin Oscar with asparagus, a nice red, followed by a campfire, and a good scotch fill the void quite nicely.
I’m a happy hunter, wishing you all a very Happy New Year!
THROUGH A
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CHUCK K OLAR LOCAL OUTDOORSMAN
