Antlers and fins are the parts of the animals that you don’t normally eat but many still chase. This podcast celebrates the irony in that name by sharing recipes for the parts of wild fish and game that you do eat. Cook along with our host, Adam Berkelmans, as he shares his favorite wild fish and game recipes with you!
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Garlic and Soy Venison Jerky and the History of Jerky
Episode 44
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 • Duration 16:48
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 produce magic, and this recipe is no different. A slight salty kick from the soy, tang from the pepper and Worcestershire, and a lingering sweetness from the softened, marinated venison ensures a fresh batch won’t last long.
Perfect for a family snack or to toss into your day pack for a hike or hunt, look no further for an ideal, portable protein punch than your freezer and refrigerator doors.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Brad Trumbo
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About Beef Jerky:
Jerky is a VERY popular snack in Canada and the USA, made primarily of lean beef, which gets cut into strips, marinated, and dried or smoked over low heat, producing a savoury, chewy meat product that is fit to eat without any cooking or preparation.
Due to the way it’s made and its protein-to-moisture content, most jerky is shelf-stable and can last unrefrigerated for months.
Though beef is by far the most popular type consisting of about 80% of the jerky consumed in the USA, it can also be made with pork, turkey, chicken, lamb, fish, wild game, mushroom, soy, and even earthworms.
Jerky is largely made by industrial manufacturers, utilizing massive drying ovens, chemical preservatives, and vacuum sealing machines to mass produce the snack for sale in walmarts and gas stations, though as Brad will prove later, it is quite easy to make at home too.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
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Paddlefish Caviar and Cucumber Bites and the History of Caviar
Episode 43
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 • Duration 15:30
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 Dakota for 40 years, yet I’ve never taken advantage of the unique resource of paddlefish and the coveted caviar you can make with its roe. This year, I finally made the 7-hour drive from Fargo to the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence area near Williston where hundreds of men and women line the river beginning May 1 to try and snag a paddlefish with an 8 or 10-foot snagging rod.
It’s an extremely challenging experience where you fish from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. throwing cast after cast, yanking a 5-ounce lead weight and large treble hook through the water trying to snag a giant beast and drag it to shore. Sometimes weighing in at over 100 pounds, these long-billed prehistoric looking river monsters are one of the most exciting fish you can attempt to catch in freshwater here in the United States.
After spending hours casting and dragging in the hot sun, I finally felt a tug on my line. “Fish on!” I yelled in excitement as my hook dug deep into the fish. The battle was intense, but I was determined to reel it in. As I tried to keep the rod tip high, I could feel the fish fighting back with all its might. Try to imagine the hard-charging tug of the biggest northern pike you’ve ever hooked into, then multiply that by a hundred!
I’m not a very strong and muscular guy, so it was with sheer determination that I finally managed to get the behemoth close to shore so my friend could grab it and pull it up onto the muddy bank. Despite feeling exhausted and sweaty, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for this incredible experience. As I sat next to the fish, I took a moment to reflect on the battle that had just taken place, feeling victorious and grateful for the opportunity to catch such a magnificent creature.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Jeff Benda
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About Caviar:
The term caviar, coming from the Persian for “egg-bearing”, generally refers to salted fish eggs, or roe, from fish belonging to the Acipenseridae family, or the sturgeons. The fancy caviar as we know it actually refers only to eggs harvested from wild sturgeon caught in the Caspian and Black seas of Eurasia, though the term can be used loosely to refer to any of the salted fish eggs that we eat.
To prepare it, fish eggs are gently removed from the membranous sack, or skein, that gets extracted from egg-bearing female fish. They are then rinsed off of any impurities and soaked in a salt brine for a specified amount of time. This curing process helps preserve the eggs and also adds flavour.
Fish eggs will vary in size, colour, and flavour from fish to fish. Caviar, or fish roe, is eaten in different ways wherever cultures tend to catch a lot of fish.
Let’s focus on the true form of caviar first, coming from Caspian sturgeons.
True caviar can be split into three different types: beluga, ossetra, and sevruga.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
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Wet Aged Venison Roast and the Science Behind Wet Aging
Episode 34
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 • Duration 13:28
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 bacterial growth and can lead to spoilage.
When the roast was finally ready to hit the smoker, mother nature had other plans. By the time the weather had improved, the roast had aged an extra week and was around 35 days.
The combination of the Tacticalories rub and sauce I used was delicious, and the roast was as tender as any backstrap I’ve eaten. The dusted roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli were the perfect compliment.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by John Vile
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About Wet Aging
Any beef you purchase at the grocery store has probably been wet-aged to some degree. The process works best with hearty red meats like beef and lamb, and less so with things like pork and chicken, though even these meats still get aged to a small degree.
To commercially wet age, animals get broken down into large sub-primal cuts like loin, tenderloin, sirloin, rounds, etc., and get vacuum sealed into plastic bags. Those bags are refrigerated at a temperature below 41 degrees Fahrenheit for a minimum of 5 days, up to 14 days, and in rarer cases, sometimes for much longer.
The meat sits in its juices, where endogenous proteo-lytic enzymes begin breaking down and weakening the structural protein fibers in the meat.
Wet aging can do a fair job at breaking down fibers and the industry likes it because it can be done quickly, can happen during transport, and because there is no weight loss during the process.
Because of this, wet-aged meat tends to be considerably cheaper than dry-aged.
There are a couple of drawbacks as consumers though.
Wet-aged meat has an environment where lactobacilli, the same bacteria that sours fermented foods, can flourish, which will sometimes leave a sour tang to the meat.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with meat like this, but it isn’t ideal.
Even those pieces of meat that didn’t develop lactobacilli all have an insipid and slightly metallic flavor to them. Since most of us only eat wet-aged meats these days, we’ve come to associate this flavor with all meat.
When given a dry-aged steak or some wild game, many find the flavors to be overwhelming compared to grocery store meat.
Still, wet aging does make the meat tastier and more tender than if eaten fresh, and meat definitely benefits from it.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Pheasant Gado Gado Salad and the History of the Pheasant
Episode 33
Tuesday, March 7, 2023 • Duration 13:48
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 with what I had available on hand. I also replaced the soy products with pheasant, braised in a rich sauce, which adds so much amazing flavor to this dish.
Use whatever you have on hand to make yours. Feel free to replace the ingredients I listed with more traditional ones, or with things like green beans, potatoes, rice noodles, cabbage, spinach, corn, etc.
When it comes to the sauce though, I won’t be allowing so many substitutions! Make your way over to an Asian grocer, or find one online to supply yourself with the red curry paste, chili paste, and kecap manis. If the kecap manis (an Indonesian sweet soy sauce) proves to be too hard to find, substitute 2:1 good soy sauce and brown sugar.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Adam Berkelmans
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About Pheasant History:
The common pheasant, or ring-necked pheasant as it is known in North America, may just be the king of all game birds. It’s even the State bird of South Dakota. But did you know they’re not native to North America?
Pheasants are actually native to Southeastern Europe and Asia, with a historic range from the Caucasis in modern-day Georgia, down through China, up into Siberia, and all of the way to Korea.
In ancient times, they were brought over (or moved over naturally) to northern Greece, Turkey, and the Balkans, where the bird's very last truly wild population exists.
Western Europeans first encountered it while trading in modern-day Georgia. This can be seen in the Latin name for the bird, which is Phasianus colchicus. The Roman name for Georgia at the time was Colchis.
The Romans were thought to have helped spread the bird around Europe, introducing it to wherever they conquered. It was probably the Romans who first introduced pheasants into modern-day Great Britain during their occupation of the region 2000 years ago.
By 1059, the bird had basically become naturalized in Britain, but its population eventually dwindled down to very few by the 1700s.
Gamekeepers began importing and introducing birds again in the 1800s to build up populations after a renewed interest in hunting them.
The first birds to appear with the Romans were Caucasian varietals, but these newer birds being brought in were Chinese varietals and had the classic white band around the neck.
Nowadays, over 30 million pheasants are released each year on hunting estates across Great Britain. Those that don’t get harvested tend to die off within the year, fending for themselves in the wild.
Pheasants were introduced into North America in the late 1700s but didn’t really develop a footing until the 1800s. Although both the Caucasian (aka The Old English) and the Chinese varietals were introduced, only the Chinese ring-necked pheasants were strong enough to survive the harsh climate here.
There were multiple efforts at introduction in the States and at different times. The pheasants introduced from British game farms seemed to do the best and were the original breeding stock for most modern birds.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Venison Steak Marsala… Oh. But I don’t like venison!
Episode 32
Tuesday, February 21, 2023 • Duration 19:43
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 because it gives the steaks a great crispy brown crust. You can use a non-stick pan but you will not get the steaks as brown.
Don’t worry about the flour sticking to the pan because you are going to deglaze it with stock and wine while making the sauce. This method captures all those delicious brown bits you get from browning the meat.
Enjoy this meal over pasta, creamy polenta, cheese grits, or mashed potatoes for a great dinner any day of the week.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Justin Townsend
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About Venison:
Today we’re going to explore why the venison you tried that one time and hated, tasted so bad, and why the venison we’re making here at harvesting nature tastes so good.
Now there’s no one rule or reason for this phenomenon, so let’s break it down.
Many people’s first exposure to venison seems to be from some deer meat cooked up by their uncle, or a friend, or maybe even by their parents when they were children.
It was probably dry, and tough, and grainy, and chewy, and livery, and that bad “g” word we don’t like to hear around here; gamey.
Most people politely choke it down, internally swearing to themselves, “NEVER. AGAIN.”
Well, there were probably several reasons your uncle’s venison roast tasted like crap.
1. Age
2. Diet
3. Sex
4. Processing
5. Storing
6. Cooking
For those of you who may be listening who haven’t tried venison since that first awful experience, maybe it’s time to try it again, but this time from someone who knows what they’re doing with it. Maybe it’s time to try out hunting so you can take control of the entire process yourself!
There are many resources available for you to help you out with your first hunting, processing, and cooking experience. Look no farther than the Harvesting Nature or the Intrepid Eater websites to start!
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Great Plains Bison Meatloaf and the Story of the American Bison
Episode 31
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 • Duration 12:57
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, but they are missing their plains brethren, the bison.
I decided to reunite them, with a take on a hearty, satisfying meatloaf. With hints of sage to complement the two meats, it’s perfect on a crisp winter day after returning home from a late-season hunt. Enjoy!
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by A.J. Fick
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About the American Bison:
Through conservation efforts, relocation, new responsible farming techniques, and help from a large number of organizations, the American bison (commonly referred to as the buffalo) is slowly being restored to the Great Plains.
Prior to European settlement in North America, the plains bison roamed the prairies in the tens of millions.
Within 100 years of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, the bison had nearly disappeared from their historic range.
Conservationists have since brought the American bison from near extinction to a population of about 20,000.
Limited bison hunting does exist in Canada and the US today, with tag sales going towards conservation efforts. Many private lodges and ranges also offer hunting opportunities, and over 500,000 bison are raised commercially on farms for meat, so the average consumer can easily obtain some if they’d like to cook with it.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Axis Wellington and the History of Axis Deer in America
Episode 30
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 • Duration 13:52
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 lives without them because of me, so I decided to sub mushrooms with bacon because, well, who doesn’t like bacon?! Two days later, below was the delicious result. So if you’re looking for a rewarding challenge in the kitchen, give this recipe a go. You won’t be disappointed.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Emily Long
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About Axis Deer History:
The story of Axis deer in America starts in the 1860’s, when Hong Kong gifted the King of Hawaii with three bucks, four does, and one male faun which were shipped to the island of Molokai. From there, they were brought to the island of Lanai, and by the 1950s they had made their way to Maui, brought over for hunting opportunities.
The deer quickly spread out as an invasive force, decimating farmer’s crops, competing with local animals, destroying important ground nesting bird habitat, and even stripping bark off of sacred ohia trees. Axis seem to enjoy everything that farmers grow in Hawaii, including fruits, vegetables, and even sugarcane.
Axis deer are not only a Hawaiian problem, they were also introduced to Texas in the early 1930’s.
Brought over as an exotic meant for enclosed game farms, the animals quickly escaped and started breeding in the wild. By the 1980’s, self-sustaining herds were found to be roaming the countryside, competing with native cervid populations.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jerk Wild Turkey and the History of Jamaican Jerk
Episode 29
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 • Duration 11:01
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 including garlic, brown sugar, thyme, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, green onions, and my favorite hot pepper to both grow and eat, the scotch bonnet. It can be easily modified to adapt to your preferred flavor profile or used for your fresh-caught fish/shrimp or other seasonal game.
Personally, I like mine spicy and will add an additional hot pepper (or two) and let it marinate for 24 hours because the longer you marinate, the tastier your dish will be!
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by LC Hunter
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About Jamaican Jerk
Jamaican jerk is a fiery marinade consisting of ground allspice berries and Scotch bonnet chili peppers, as well as other seasonings and aromatics.
Traditionally used to season wild pork that was cooked in pits over pimento woods, modern jerk now comes in myriad forms and can be used to flavor wild game, fish, chicken, tofu, seafood, vegetables, etc.
The jerked protein is most often cooked over a flame to create the smoky flavors associated with it, and true Jamaican jerk is most often cooked in specially modified oil barrels and sold on the street. The most common ways to enjoy jerk are as domestic jerk chicken and pork.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sous Vide Venison French Dip… and… Just What is Sous Vide Anyways?
Episode 28
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 • Duration 14:28
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 sandwich.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Gunnar Emberg
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About Sous Vide
Sous vide is French for under vacuum and points to a low-temperature-long-time cooking method that employs a gentle water bath to bring food up to temperature.
The under vacuum name comes from the fact that for sous vide, food usually gets vacuum sealed in plastic bags before being immersed in a tightly controlled heated water bath to cook.
This results in a perfectly cooked item, controlled to the very degree you want it to be.
About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fermented Habanero Hot Sauce and the History of Fermentation
Episode 27
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 • Duration 13:34
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 best thing to do is make a hot sauce! Similar to pickles there are two types of hot sauces, fermented and vinegar. I love fermented hot sauces as well as fermented pickles. The microbiomes that are created are nothing but good for you and as we all know gut health is very important. Plus the fermentation process is very easy and makes everything delicious. So if you’ve never tried to ferment anything yourself this is a quick simple way to dive into the fermentation world. Just remember you can do this with other peppers as well if you don’t want it to have the fiery kick.
Read the written version of this recipe as prepared by Ara Zada
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About Adam Berkelmans:
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real food and a proponent of nose-to-tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
Follow Adam on Instagram
Visit the Intrepid Eater website
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
