Tod's fault

Dani

Dani

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Tod got me wanting to cook and try something new with his turkey post so I went searching for ways of using some of my game meat that is different from my "usual". I love sage grouse and sharptails marinated in W-sauce, garlic, butter, and mccormicks montreal steak seasoning. The meat is sliced, marinated and thrown either on a very hot grill or cast iron. It is delicious, especially as a sandwich. But that's the way I almost always do it. I wanted to try something different. So, I went looking through the Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail cookbook I have by Hank Shaw. I've tried several recipes out of it and have been impressed. I was intrigued by his Sage Grouse Enchiladas so said okie dokie....I'll do that with some sharptails.

Enchiladas Rojas Recipe - New Mexico Red Chile Enchiladas (honest-food.net)

I was interested in this recipe also partly because I have never made enchilada sauce using dried peppers like it calls for. Honestly, this is the second time only that I have made enchilada sauce. Otherwise I have always used canned.

I did add one thing to the recipe from my family's recipe and that is to add cream cheese inside the enchiladas with the meat and a little bit other cheese.

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It turned out delicious but I learned two things. When making the enchilada sauce, it is better to blend it with a powerful blender instead of the immersion blender I used. I couldn't get the peppers totally blended with the immersion blender. The second was I would leave the sage out or use much much much less than the recipe calls for. Kinda overpowers the meat (I think). I guess the third was I didn't use enough cheese, but that is okay in this one since the cheese I grated was a pepper jack that had habanero, smoked ancho chilies and jalapeno in it. That would have been too much heat in it.


SOooooooooooo if you're looking for something "different" to try with duck or prairie grouse, this is a winner IMO.


Thanks Tod.....it was a lot more fun to cook something new than to mow my lawn last night [laugh]


Dani
 
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Glad to help! ;) That looks awesome, we don't make enough southwestern sauced dishes. Mole once in a while, but not enough. Did I say that looked awesome?!?!? If Gus wasn't cooking tonight, I'd make that.

On the canning, since I can't let that drop, it is super easy. If you buy a canner (we use the presto 23 quart, get a big one) the book has all the directions. Super easy. Get a canner, start to scavenge jars (free is better than paying), get some rings, lids and a jar lifter. Lids were scarce last summer (like primers) - I almost had to get into my stash to help the inlaws thought the shortage. Obviously, I'd be happy to answer any questions...

In the jelling stage for a fall hunting trip out west. Alaska doesn't look like it will work out this year with the border still closed and that WAS the plan. I'm thinking Antelope and Sage Grouse. Have lots of antelope points and have a young dog, need to see if I can align antelope and sage grouse seasons and my schedule. Seems like a plan. Sage grouse enchiladas sounds good.
 
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Damnnnn that looks good!

I've started making my own red sauces with anchos and guajillo chilis, huge difference vs. buying in a can.
Much better and you can adjust flavor and spicyness.
Patti Jinich has some great easy to follow recipes on her website.
 
Carl said:
Damnnnn that looks good!

I've started making my own red sauces with anchos and guajillo chilis, huge difference vs. buying in a can.
Much better and you can adjust flavor and spicyness.
Patti Jinich has some great easy to follow recipes on her website.
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We (Jen) used to make a guajillo sauce for steak, it was really good. I'll have to goad her into making it.
 
Tod,

I'm not sure about sage grouse or antelope in Wyoming but in MT, the liberal season for sage grouse goes from Sept 1-30. It can be brutally hot or quite chilly and windy and wet. Either way is much much fun. I believe that the put in period for antelope permits has passed in MT and am not sure if leftovers are available or not. I also believe that firearm season for Antelope opens the day of pheasant season (which is usually the second weekend in October). I have wanted to do an Antelope hunt as well so have looked into it some, but not strongly. I can help you out if you choose MT for areas that have treated me well for Sage Grouse. There are good antelope populations around there too and we always see nice bucks. But I don't believe that sage grouse and firearm antelope seasons will align. If you wanna shoot them with a bow, I believe archery is in at the same time as sage grouse.

I made the red sauce with dried New Mexico chilies. I had read somewhere that they are quite perfect for enchilada sauces. They were quite nice. Not too hot, plenty of flavor. I was surprised to see them in my grocery store here too. It would be interesting to taste a fresh New Mexico chili and see how they compare.
 
Dani said:
Tod,

I'm not sure about sage grouse or antelope in Wyoming but in MT, the liberal season for sage grouse goes from Sept 1-30. It can be brutally hot or quite chilly and windy and wet. Either way is much much fun. I believe that the put in period for antelope permits has passed in MT and am not sure if leftovers are available or not. I also believe that firearm season for Antelope opens the day of pheasant season (which is usually the second weekend in October). I have wanted to do an Antelope hunt as well so have looked into it some, but not strongly. I can help you out if you choose MT for areas that have treated me well for Sage Grouse. There are good antelope populations around there too and we always see nice bucks. But I don't believe that sage grouse and firearm antelope seasons will align. If you wanna shoot them with a bow, I believe archery is in at the same time as sage grouse.

I made the red sauce with dried New Mexico chilies. I had read somewhere that they are quite perfect for enchilada sauces. They were quite nice. Not too hot, plenty of flavor. I was surprised to see them in my grocery store here too. It would be interesting to taste a fresh New Mexico chili and see how they compare.
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I don't have many points in MT for antelope, so that is why I'm focused on WY and since I think I can get a season to overlap. WY season is 2 weeks and 2 per day for much of the state, season coincides with the pronghorn rut so that helps make it extra cool.

When I hunted MT for sage grouse it was very early sept, WY seasons are late sept, but I haven't hunted them there.
 
tod osier said:
I don't have many points in MT for antelope, so that is why I'm focused on WY and since I think I can get a season to overlap. WY season is 2 weeks and 2 per day for much of the state, season coincides with the pronghorn rut so that helps make it extra cool.
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I'll have to keep that in mind for the WY seasons. That would be very cool.
 
Dani said:
tod osier said:
I don't have many points in MT for antelope, so that is why I'm focused on WY and since I think I can get a season to overlap. WY season is 2 weeks and 2 per day for much of the state, season coincides with the pronghorn rut so that helps make it extra cool.
Click to expand...

I'll have to keep that in mind for the WY seasons. That would be very cool.
Click to expand...

Start building points. The more points you have for antelope the easier the hunting will be in Wyoming (= units with more public land).
 
Soooooo bringing it back around to Tod's fault......I did get me a pressure canner. With some tips and assistance from Pete McMiller, my first canning project was jars of beef stock and grouse soup stock. I did a second batch later and just as an experiment, dropped a hot pepper in with the stock to see if it would give it some heat.

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I had a ton of peppers and other veggies that really needed using in my fridge and garden, so I decided this weekend to make a vegetable soup. There are about 5 or 6 pepper varieties (sweet and hot), carrots, celery, parsnips, onion, corn and tomatoes in it. Very very tasty with a grilled cheese sandwich. I had so much left over though, that I decided to can the remaining soup. I have read that veggies can really turn mushy during the canning process, so the idea is that they would be more of a base for a soup in the future, whether I blend it all up and use it as a stew base or just add more vegetables and/or meat to it. But, I will be curious to see how the veggies held up when I open my first jar.

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I have friends and family saving jars for me now and I'll be keeping an eye out for jars. This is pretty fun stuff and it frees up freezer space. Now, I just need to figure out a good place for storing my freshly canned food.

Thanks a lot Tod [sly]
 
Yep the drawing for MT Antelope is past--my buddy and I struck out. Oh well maybe next year. We had hoped to hunt Sharptails and Ringnecks every other day alternating with Antelope days to allow his Brittany to rest at the motels. So now we will be hunting upland birds all days (albeit short days probably for health of his dog--and two 64 year-old guys) from around 10/16 to 10/25. It's 3 days driving from our homes in VA/Delaware so 10 days of hunting seems like it would make the trip worthwhile. If we stumble onto some ducky-looking places we might hunt that too--although according to my waterfowl hunter contact in Sidney MT the drought might make that highly unlikely. As a teenager I grew up hunting ruffed grouse in PA and I hunted jackrabbits a bit in Utah (sister went to U of U) but hunting birds behind a dog out West will be something to scratch off my Bucket List. Buddy has hunted this dog extensively from Maine to Michigan and in between, had an awesome year on Woodcock past season, but this will be new for me. Any tips before we go?
RE: canning--my experience is that many people who turn up their nose at fresh or frozen venison will ask for a second helping of canned venison.
 
Rick- in the grouse soup stock, I added cayenne peppers from my garden. Those have been hit or miss on the heat. Some blow the top of your head off hot, others not so much...all on the same plant. We'll see how this pepper works out. In the vegetable soup I have a couple cayenne peppers, a couple jalapenos, a coolapeno, lots of mad hatters (sweet), some purple bell peppers, poblanos, little sweet snacking peppers and a couple of yellow and orange italian sweet peppers. The amount of heat the hot peppers brought vs the amount of soup that was made needed some kick so I added some red pepper flakes as well.

David....short days would be a good idea for one dog, though that time of year you shouldn't have to worry about heat. So snakes likely won't be a problem for you.

Hunting MT. Check out the Block Management programs and Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program. I have never hunted around Sidney, but I have hunted in the Circle and Richey areas. There are good amounts of BM and UGBEP properties in those areas. Circle and Richey you can get into sharptails, huns and pheasants. I haven't heard concrete reports on how the conditions are in that area of the state regarding the drought but I know someone who is posting pictures and I know the general areas he prefers to hunt and the conditions look decent and he is finding birds. I don't know where exactly he is but I know it is in the Circle and Richey area. I have buddies up in the the NE corner I am hearing good reports of pheasant broods and decent numbers of sharptails and okay numbers of huns.

What to look for in times of drought: look for areas that are greener than the surrounding stuff if you can. That generally means there is more moisture. Pheasants will get deep into the sloughs sometimes so a dog that is a great retriever is a must. Edges of agriculture and natural vegetation can be great. Look for windrows....huns, pheasants and sharptails love that stuff. You can often see those in google earth too so you can take a look at google earth compared to the BLM land, BM, UGBEP and State Trust Lands and see what places may be available. If you are a bird hunter, a lot of property owners are typically okay with bird hunters hunting their land so don't be afraid to knock on doors.

Also, as far as BM and UGBEP properties, you need to check to see if any are closed. A good number of owners decided to close their properties due to the fire danger out there. You may know this already but don't park where grass could touch anything hot on the underside of your vehicle. You may unintentionally start a fire. Might be worth carrying a fire extinguisher or some sort of water sprayer because MT does seem to be one of those states that will attempt to charge you for the fire suppression costs if you are found at fault. That is just an FYI.

Pheasants will likely not be super spooky but that time frame, the sharptails are bunching up into the bigger winter flocks and they can be very spooky. Don't get discouraged though because there are often a few stragglers in those flocks. Wind out there can really blow and it seems like unless the birds are tight up under some nice heavy vegetation, they tend to be really spooky on windy days.

Check out the upland game bird forecast for montana this year. It isn't as bad as I expected but it could give you at least an idea on things to expect for whatever region you're going to hunt.

We hunted Drake usually 8 of the 9 or 10 days when I would go out for the first part of my trips out west the years that Drake went and he was flat worn out at the end of the trip, even hunting no more than 4 hours a day most days. Sometimes fewer hours depending on the weather. With flushers we determined that generally for every mile that we walked, Drake walked/ran about 2 miles. With pointy dogs, it is usually 3-3.5 miles run for every mile we walked. That seems to be the case regardless of wide open spaces or tight quail woods down here.

Have fun!!!! Take lots of pictures!!!!! If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I am happy to help.
 
Some blow the top of your head off hot, others not so much...all on the same plant.

That is what happens when you plant sweet & hot peppers too close together!!
 
Does Montana allow upland hunting in the mornings? .One reason I stopped going to SoDak, the heat was just too hard on the dogs by the time legal shooting hours arrived quite frequently. Heat and long hours in the field go a long way towards elevating CPK levels, which often puts their kidneys at risk. We were hunting on a private ranch outside of Chamberlain owned by the Kruppa group. We closed the afternoon out hunting twenty yard wide cane strips that had been left standing. Cane is a sourgum relative that is often head high and dense. I opted to hold Crockett at heal after the first pass down the field. The ranch owner, Dale, lost sight of his black lab on the third pass,whe found him in the cane and carried him quickly to the truck and doused him with water and packed his brain stem and belly in some wet towels packed with ice. That evening and the next morning I checked on him;totally delerious growling and barking at anyone who would come near. Found out that he died a couple days later. Karen has a couple of "hunters" who repeatedly lose dogs due to heat exhaustion....

Dani did you consider hot water bath canning the vegetable stew? Via this technique you are killing the bacteria but not doing it via creating a high pressure steam bath that disinfects the canning jar contents.
 
Since peppers are about all I can reliably grow, I grow lots in a little area.....sooooo I get surprise sweet hot peppers and surprise hot sweet peppers. Works for me though. Deer stay away when they get the hot peppers.

Montana does allow morning hunting for upland birds. In September it can be quite warm or kinda cold out there. We had to plan our hunts around stock tank locations. October, especially later October, tends more towards worrying about cold than hot. I would go out in mid October and never worried about the temps for the dogs.

I had not considered hot water canning. Never done that either.
 
Dani said:
I had not considered hot water canning. Never done that either.
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I'm sure people do it, but you need pressure to safely can a low acid food like vegetable stew. The only things I ever hot water bath is jams and jellies, since I don't do tomatoes.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/resources/pdfs/hni97_aa2.pdf




 
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