Page 16 - CFAN_Aug2014

Recipe Spotlight
From Fancy to Jerky — Cooking for Wild Game
by TRENT ROWE, Food Editor
BRINGING HOME THE BACON is easy if you have money and a store nearby. But even bacon can get boring. Florida hunters have a lot to choose from that can rival bacon in the tasty department. Following the rules, a good shot can bag alligator, Burmese python, deer, dove, duck, quail, and small game including squirrels, rabbits, possum, turkey, and wild hog.
If you bag a python, you have to let the Florida Wildlife Commission know where and when within 36 hours of taking it. Email the information to ExoticReports@MyFWC.com. Hunters are encouraged to take and submit photographs of harvested pythons. There is a lot of eating on a big snake. Use your granddad’s recipe for rattlesnake and freeze what you don’t want to eat soon.
Small birds are a lot less dangerous to get and will appeal to more people than snake— large or small. Here’s a recipe for quail that’s a bit different; still simple, but fancy enough for company.
GOAT-CHEESE STUFFED QUAIL
8 quail
Salt and pepper
1 ripe Bartlett pear, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme Few gratings nutmeg
8 ounces goat cheese
8 bacon strips, halved
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Rinse the birds. Dry with paper towels. Salt and pepper lightly. Sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped pear, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about seven minutes. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, and cook two minutes. Cool.
Combine the pears, thyme and goat cheese thoroughly. Stuff each quail with the goat cheese mixture. Tie their legs together with butcher’s twine. Drape two halves of bacon over each quail, and hold them in place with toothpicks.
Place the quail in a baking pan, and roast 25 minutes. Let the quail rest five minutes, then remove the toothpicks, and serve.
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THE OLD SAYING “here today, gone tomor- row” doesn’t apply if you make jerky from some of your catch. But you have to be careful.