field to table tagged posts

By Kristen A. Schmitt

Originally published on Weston and reposted here with permission from the author.

My journey to bowhunting wasn’t a direct one. In fact, it was a path I never could have predicted that I would take. But my passion for nutrition and quality food fueled my desire to try to fill my freezer myself with organic free range meat courtesy of my local forest.

This means that I didn’t grow up learning the skill as a child – it was something that I decided to learn in my 30s with the support of my family and my continued quest for good quality food. While many in society eat meat daily and at nearly every meal, few question the origins of the piece of protein on their plate...

Recently while driving, I heard this story on NPR about the revival of the meat locker (read “communal walk-in freezer.”)  Although the piece is centered on storage for buying meat in bulk directly from farmers and ranchers, it got me thinking.  Could communal freezers be the answer for urban hunters and anglers?

Meat lockers were popular in the 1950s because of the cost of individual ice boxes. And now as a modern hunter and angler and city dweller, space for food storage in our house is an issue. Plus adding an additional freezer even if we had the space could prove costly due to the energy it takes to keep a second individual freezer cold.  And as more and more of us live in cities the convenience of shared storage just makes sense.  

Check out the Corning Meat Locker here in Corning, ...

Today’s recipe comes all the way from Montana!  Whitney’s stepdad Nick has a passion for bird hunting… AND cooking!  Combined these passions make quite a powerful combo come dinnertime.  Here’s Nick’s recipe for pheasant tacos with fried bananas and black beans adapted from the pages of The Hunter’s Table. 

For the tacos you will need:
3 TB olive oil
1 small white or yellow onion, minced
2 breasts pheasant, cut to small pieces
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Pinch of dried oregano
1 small jalapeño chili minced
1/4 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
Flour or corn tortillas

For the fried bananas and black beans:
1 ripe banana
1 15 oz can black beans with liquid

While you heat a cast iron skillet on medium, chop the banana into quarter inch slices.  Add the bananas to the skillet and fry.

Once the ...

Finding the right recipe may just inspire a new hunter or angler so it’s important to have great resources.  Here are a few cookbooks to consider (or if you’re like me add to your growing collection!)

Moving clockwise, I’ll start with What to Cook and How to Cook it by food writer and recipe editor Jane Hornby.  Although this cookbook is not about cooking wild game or fish, it’s the best book I’ve found for learning the basics – and let’s get real it’s all about the BASICS!  Hornby’s book is full of instructive photos from what it means to finely vs. roughly chop and the step-by-step set up for the book will arm you with the confidence.  

Okay, admittedly I haven’t even touched the next one – Open Range: Steaks, Chops and More from Big Sky Country by Jay Bentley – but everything is better...

You’ve heard it here before… eating from the wild not only tastes good but is also nutritious and better for you! Plus hunting and fishing contribute to an active lifestyle and there is no downside to that! Check out this nifty infographic from GoodGameHunting and learn more about the benefits of harvesting and eating venison…