TDG: Midwestern Cuisine?

[phlfour]

It's nice that we flyover areas get some attention. I have recently completed a contemporary regional cookbook (Eastern South Dakota) which accompanies a food themed novel. I do agree that farm ladies are often too tired to be creative, also the taciturn nature of the area does not yield many discussions of their dishes. But for me, the real indigenous ingredient of the area is wild game. Pheasants, Canada's geese, venison, bison and even rabbits bring out the best in any High Plains cook. Also the inclusion of homemade Campbell's soup is many a cooks secret.

P

[Pan]

Homemade Campbell's soup? Is that a little joke?

[srhcb]

Pheasants, Canada's geese, venison, bison and even rabbits bring out the best in any High Plains cook.

Thank for reminding me. Since I'm not much of a hunter or great fan of cooking wild game myself I hadn't thought of this.

As an example, my Sister and SO in North Dakota host a Wild Game Feed every year. This year's event had an Iron Chef theme, using wild game as the "secret" ingredient. Here is the menu:

MENU - Simpson Annual Wild Game Feed 2004

Black Hills Trout Spread with Crackers

Antelope Salami Antipasto

Simpsons Minnesota Wild Rice with Onion and Celery

Sharptail Grouse

Grouse and Spinach Ravioli with Glace Sauce and Pine Nuts

Crockpot Grouse with Herbs and Mushroom Gravy

With Truffle Oil for both

Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant

Pheasant Escargot with French Bread

Herbed Pheasant and Green Chili Cream Cheese Rollups

With Homemade Raspberry Jam

Canada Goose

Goose, Pork and Sage Sausage and Sauerkraut, Apples and Onions

Goose Taquitos with Guacamole

Duck

Shredded Braised Duck with Caramelized Figs and Onions

Or Pistachio Orange Gremolata

Bacon Wrapped Duck Breast with Chinese Dipping Sauce

Dessert

Raspberry Alize Cake

I was invited to sit on the tasting panel but was unfortunately unable to attend. I did, however, get some leftover Duck with Carmelized Figs and Onions, which was excellent.

[phlfour]

Regarding "homemade Campbell's soup", as a teen working the only job available in Eastern South Dakota in the winter (40 below zero) I got hired on the night shift of a Frigo cheese factory in Big Stone (nice name, huh?) Minnesota. Being very broke and hungry, I didn't have a bowel movement for the first 3 weeks ha ha, but I digress, any wheels of cheese that hit the floor were thrown in a large bin which was collected monthly by the Campbell's Co. Don't know the final use of them, but can imagine.

Very impressive wild game menu...How do you get the snails from a pheasant? I cooked a couple, yesterday in the true ESD tradition...braised, slowly in mushroom and cream of chicken soup for 4 hours with lots of bacon and caramelized onions. Having harvested hundreds of pheasants throughout my life and also using the farm raised ones in the restaurant, I've come to the conclusion that the meat is akin to cooking a greyhound racing dog. A wild pheasant can run at 30 mph and thus has no fat and lots of muscle...so braising is about the only choice...but to contradict myself, which I seem to do a lot, I've also had some success by cooking only a few seconds as you would with squid...either really quick or really low and slow.

I inadvertantly thawed 3 wild ducks and am going to cook duck and beans later this week. Wild duck is a tricky bird...not much fat and a very strong flavor. If I had some cheesecloth I would use the recipe I wrote for Canada's goose in my new book. Basically, wrap the goose in bacon fat saturated cheese cloth and bake as normal...but no cheesecloth so I'm going to remove all the meat, brown and bake with some frozen pintos that I cooked last month, probably with a Southwestern nuance. I'm becoming an expert on cooking with "government commodities" which are mostly carbs...cheapest food to give us disabled folks..ha ha.

Morlatr,

P

[srhcb]

Very impressive wild game menu...How do you get the snails from a pheasant?

I wondered about that was myself. I emailed my Sister, and here is her explanation:

"actually it is just pheasant strips wrapped around a half of snail

& sauteed in herb butter...cutting the snails in half with scissors

is "interesting"

I also have a good escargot recipe (adapted from some tapas we had in

Chicago last year) that even people who don't like snails like...

you put the snails in the cuisinart to mince not puree, drain it, then mix

butter, herbs, parm cheese (about equal amounts of snail & other mix)

put on croute, top with aioli, broil"

Not being a big fan of escargot, I think I'll try a more traditional preparation with the frozen pheasant breast she left me.

[malarkey]

mmmmm wild game.

I was born & raised in Kansas. One of the things I could not understand was other people wrinkling their nose in a negative fashion when they said the word "gamey". To me, wild pheasant and wild quail are FABULOUS. The first time I had farm raised pheasant I was completely disappointed. Where was that flavor I was craving?!

[srhcb]

mmmmm wild game.

I was born & raised in Kansas. One of the things I could not understand was other people wrinkling their nose in a negative fashion when they said the word "gamey". To me, wild pheasant and wild quail are FABULOUS. The first time I had farm raised pheasant I was completely disappointed. Where was that flavor I was craving?!

I'm afraid that "wild flavor" is too often the result of meat that hasn't been handled properly. Especially with larger animals like deer it's almost physicaly impossible for an individual to bleed, gut, cool and age a carcass properly.

Also, wild game quite naturally tastes different depending on it's age and the locale it came from. Although I personally don't hunt, and don't really care all that much for wild game, my Brother has hunted all over the US and in many foreign countries including Bhutan and Mongolia, so I've been able to sample some pretty exotic fare.

Venison from an old swamp buck tastes and smells just how you would expect old boots you wore in a swamp to taste and smell. On the other hand, meat from a young doe shot in Mississippi, where it fed on garden crops, if properly bled and butchered is like a lean tangy beef.

If any of you should ever be blessed with a dead deer, here is my personal recipe for venison sausage:

mise en place

1 Deer

1 Pig

Seasonings

Skin Deer

Grind Pig, Season to Taste

Make moccasins from Deer hide

Make sausage from ground pork

Dispose of Deer carcass

[klc14]

You need to be careful of cows.

This looked funny from the start. Then there were so many little things wrong (a cow, with udder, referred to as HE! A moment of confusion as what that protrusion on the udder produces--that kind of thing) --quite ludicrously funny! Thanks for a few surreal cartoon minutes!

[malarkey]

Heartland cuisine = Rocky Mountain Oysters?

I remember "oyster frys" as a kid. I ate these things not knowing what they were LOL.