ODDS AND ENDS: TURN ANY GAME MEAT INTO DELICIOUS SAUSAGE

Odds and Ends

TURN ANY GAME MEAT INTO DELICIOUS SAUSAGE

BY SCOTT LEYSATH

I NEVER THOUGHT THAT MY PATH IN LIFE would lead me to a career on outdoor television. Although I’ve hunted and fished since I could cast a Zebco kid’s combo or shoot a Daisy BB gun, I lived vicariously through outdoor magazines and one of the best outdoor shows ever, The American Sportsman. Even though it’s probably been forty…OK, fifty years ago, I can still remember Bing Crosby and Phil Harris singing to each other while on an epic pheasant hunt. Yes, I’m that old.

Grilling Game Sausages

A passion for cooking made it possible for me to make a living sharing my style of fish and game cooking with others. From my first awkward cooking demonstration at a Ducks Unlimited event a few decades ago to producing shows for Outdoor and Sportsman Channels today, it’s been a memorable ride. And much like any ride, there are usually a few bumps on the road that make us appreciate the highlights of the trip even more. Just like hunting with your buddy at home, the best laid plans for a TV show can be bushwhacked by weather, people or a lack of fish and game. But getting out with friends, even when things don’t go well, beats sitting in my office any day. What is most important to me is meeting folks around the world who share the same enthusiasm for getting out of the house with the hopes of dragging something home for the dinner table.

There have been more than a few surprises on my travels. I didn’t know that beavertail stew could be so delicious, and python is almost inedible. As much as I like a good chunk of friend rattlesnake, python is about the toughest critter I’ve had to chew on camera. I’ve met folks who claim that raccoon and possum are some of the best table fare on the planet. Given the choice between a heaping bowl of possum stew and a cheeseburger, I’ll opt for the latter. Perhaps I just need more possum practice. For many of us, it just depends on the type of foods we were raised on. Last year, I spent time with a family of turtle hunters in Nebraska and got a greater appreciation for what it takes to turn a 25-pound turtle into something not just edible, but really good. if you’ve only had fried chunks of alligator tail, you’ll go nuts over grilled gator tenderloin. Who knew?

My world also includes preparing wild game meals for groups ranging from 10 to 1000. Given the choice, I’d prefer to show off a little for smaller groups since feeding several hundred people in a short period of time is mostly about mass quantities of food. My freezers are usually full of a variety of fish and game, both from the events and from personal hunting and fishing trips. I’ve always been a proponent of labeling and dating anything in the freezer and using the oldest proteins first. Before you start on this season’s deer, it’s best to use up older inventory first.

Considering how much meat and fish I prepare for events during a normal year, the stuff in my freezers usually gets rotated often. Pack up the older game in the coolers and make room for the next critters. For the past 18 months, there haven’t been too many events around the country, so I found myself with more meat and fish in the freezer than I care to have on hand. Wait. There’s such a thing as too much game? Even vacuum-sealed packs of frozen game do not get better with age. Oh sure, we’ve all had game that had been frozen for a few years that tasted just fine, but it’s been my experience that a deer steak from 3 years ago doesn’t taste as good as one from an animal I harvested a month ago.

Recently, I took advantage of some downtime to clean out my freezers and, as much as I’d like to think I’ve got a handle on what’s on hand, there were a few surprises, including some meat that went directly to the trash can. I’m not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to hang onto a pack of python from 2015. There was also some freezer burn on meat that wasn’t packed properly, but the damaged parts can be trimmed away and the remaining meat should be fine. My freezers had several small packages of a variety of game – the perfect opportunity to turn them into a pile of game sausages. Along with stews and chilis, sausage making is an efficient way to make good use of random game meats, even the ones that are several years old. This might seem obvious, but it’s a bad idea to cook meat that doesn’t look or smell right. If it stinks, don’t try and cover up unpleasant aromas or flavors with a marinade. There’s a reason why it smells or tastes bad and it’s usually because it wasn’t processed or packaged correctly.

GAME SAUSAGES

Making sausage at home with harvested game meat is less complicated than you might suspect. To make things even easier, there are sausage kits at your favorite outdoor retailer that provide the user with simple directions that require no special culinary skill. Start with making sausage patties which can be formed by hand. If it turns out that sausage making is something you want to do

Top left:

Wild Turkey Sausage Sandwich

Top right:

Grilled Game Sausage, Peppers And Tomato Sauce

Right:

Braised Raccoon

Below left:

Grilled Venison Sausage With Tomato And Red Onion

Below right:

Grilled Game Sausage, Peppers And Onions

again, consider getting a good electric grinder and a sausage stuffer. In a few hours, and with a couple of extra hands, you can crank out a large quantity of tasty game sausages that can be substituted for the store-bought varieties. Poached in beer and topped with grilled onions, it’s hard to beat a homemade venison hot dog.

Making game sausage requires the addition of ground pork or pork or beef fat. Unless you like your cooked sausage dry and crumbly, fat or another fatty meat needs to go into the grind. Adding about twenty to thirty percent ground pork to your lean, trimmed game meat will do the trick. My favorite cut of pork for sausage is pork shoulder. Cut up untrimmed pork shoulder into cubes and grind along with trimmed game meats.

Now here’s a question you might want to ask your local game warden. I’ve yet to get a definitive answer. If you transform a pile of waterfowl meat into sausage, how does that affect your possession limit? In most states, possession is limited to two or three time the daily bag limit. Once a mallard becomes sausage, or just ground game meat mixed with pork and seasonings, does it still count towards your possession limit? Sometimes, it’s best not to ask these questions.

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

Here’s a great way to make use of a pile of snow geese or a mixed bag of game meats, but also good made with any waterfowl, big game or upland game. Trim all silver skin, gristle and skin from the muscle before processing. Place the meat in a food processor and pulse until the meat is roughly the size of a grain of barley and not pureed into baby food. One of my favorite uses for game sausage patties is in a breakfast sandwich, complete with a fried egg, cheese and English muffins. Wrap a few with foil and load into a coffee can to surprise your buddies with a morning duck blind snack.

Makes about 10 4-ounce patties • 1 quart trimmed game meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes • 1 1/2 cups ground pork • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes • 1 tablespoon brown sugar • 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, minced (or substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried sage) • 1/4 cup onion, minced • 3 garlic cloves, minced

Place cubed game in a food processor and pulse a couple of times. Remove lid, stir contents and repeat the process until meat is coarse and barley-sized. Place in a bowl and mix well with remaining ingredients. Form into balls about the size of a golf ball. Flatten into patties. To cook, brown on both sides in a mediumhot skillet coated with vegetable oil.

SWEET-HOT AND GARLiCKY GAME SAUSAGE

This one is even better when stuffed into a sausage casing and grilled over smoky wood coals.

Makes about 12 to 15 sausages • 1 quart trimmed game meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes • 2 cups ground pork • 2 tablespoons Cajun spice • 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt • 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce • 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper • 2 tablespoons brown sugar • 1/4 cup jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced • 6 garlic cloves, minced • 1/3 cup onion, minced

Grinding Game, Pork And Apple

Add meat to grinder or food processor and process until coarse. Mash together with remaining ingredients until meat will hold together. Form into golf ball sized balls and then roll into hot dog-sized pieces. Brown slowly in a well-oiled skillet.

FERAL SWiNE AND APPLE SAUSAGE

Dried fruit and apple juice adds a hint of sweetness and red pepper flakes provide just enough heat. Trim as much of the visible fat away from the meat before processing. As with just about any four-legged game animal, the young females are much less “pronounced” in flavor than an old boar.

• 8 cups ground wild hog • 1/2 pound bacon, finely diced • 2 tablespoons rubbed sage • 1 teaspoon ground mustard • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes • 2 tablespoons kosher salt • 2 tablespoons medium ground black pepper • 1 cup apple juice, chilled • 1 1/2 cups dried apple, minced

1. In a large bowl, combine hog and bacon. Mix well with your hands for 3 to 4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and keep mixing for another 3 to 4 minutes. 2. Form mixture into balls, about 2-inches in diameter. Pack tightly together with hands, then place on a lightly greased sheet pan or on wax paper. Press down lightly on each ball to form a patty. For that store-bought look, cut them into uniform circles with a cookie-cutter or can. 3. Sausages should be cooked or refrigerated immediately. If they are not going to be cooked within 3 to 4 days, freeze for later use. ★