The Feast Completes the Adventure

A Taste For The Wild
By RICHARD HINTON
Bismarck Tribune 

Figured out how you're going to prepare all of that venison yet?

Here's one idea: Start with the back strap cut into 1¼-inch thick pieces. Marinate it in apple-cherry juice for a half day. Wrap each piece of tenderloin in thin sliced bacon and toss the pieces on a pre-heated grill. Cook no more than medium, which may leave the bacon less than crispy.

If cooking is confined to the indoors this time of year, here's another idea: Marinate your venison in olive oil and Jack Daniel's sour mash bourbon for four hours. Season to taste and toss it on an electric indoor grill that was made famous by George Foreman, the former heavyweight boxing champion. Again, cook the venison no more than medium.

Serve either with your favorite side dishes, sit down and enjoy.

Those simple meal suggestions are courtesy of Richard M. Gauerke, a longtime Bismarck sportsman, wild-game cook and cookbook author.

And to show he still enjoys his time in the kitchen or at the deer camp cook fire as much as his hunting time, he has published a new cookbook, "A Taste of Something Wild Cookbook."

Gauerke's philosophy on cooking wild game is straightforward: "Keep it as simple as possible to maintain the robust flavor of the meat."

His recipes cover everything from big game to waterfowl and upland birds to freshwater fish and saltwater fish and seafood.

With the gun deer season wound down and pounds of deer meat filling or soon to fill many freezers, venison was the main topic.

His cardinal rule for grilling, roasting or frying venison is don't overcook it.

"Beyond medium dries it out and toughens it up to the equivalent of shoe leather," he said.

Venison is such a dense meat because there's no fat.

"It's so easy to overcook. If you do venison steaks on the grill, don't wander off. You will want to tend it because it can turn brittle and hard real quick," he said.

Although a cook fire or a charcoal or a gas grill have their roles when he cooks, he's using his indoor electric grill and crock pot more frequently.

"It's easy: Pull the cover down, there's no spatter and it's quick to clean up," he said of the electric grill he received as a gift.

As for the crock pot, "I find myself using it more and more. It's difficult to ruin a meal as long as you have adequate moisture. It cooks all day, and the flavors blend together."

He has gone to olive oil almost exclusively for everything from frying fish to making marinades. Although olive oil didn't seem right for frying at first, he said, now "I have no problem with it."

The Jack Daniel's gives the meat a smoky flavor.

"I thought it was a novelty, but there is more to it. It's a very enhanced flavor," he said.

Gauerke also is convinced that today's venison has improved.

"In certain locations, deer eat better than cattle. They get the best food because there are no fences to keep them in," he said.

He even has added more venison to his grandfather's summer sausage recipe because of today's higher quality.

"I still have that venison smell in my nose from when my mother cooked it," he said.

For this book, Gauerke's publisher, Adventure Publications in Cambridge, Minn., also did the design and is distributing it. Adventure Publications only printed and distributed his three previous books, which he described as self-published. Those three books, "Best of the Prairie," "Something Wild" and "The Best of Something Wild" are no longer in print, he added.

"A Taste of Something Wild Cookbook" does incorporate some of the recipes from his first three books, he said. It's available at the Bismarck Municipal Airport gift shop, Scheels All Sports and Wild Things Gallery. On the shelves for only three weeks, the book has sold out twice at the airport.

The key for extracting the best taste from any wild game begins in the field.

"You have to be prepared before the shot," he said. Field dress and cool down your deer as soon as possible, he added. If it's pheasants or other game birds, draw the bird as quickly as conveniently possible. The same guidelines hold true for fish.

"Temperatures above 40 degrees are meat's worst enemy," he said.

Cooking wild game is not difficult, he stressed last week as he ticked off all of the outdoor opportunities available to North Dakotans.

"We live in a paradise. We can fish, hunt deer, geese or pheasants. Those are tough decisions to make," he said.

The 174-page book also includes lists of tips for care and preparation of your game at the beginning of each of the sections. He also includes a section on side dishes, ranging from cooking wild rice to making biscuits and preparing vegetables.

"I want everybody to enjoy the outdoors," he said, "and I'm convinced the feast completes the adventure."