Adapted from the cookbook Traditional Recipes of Atlantic Canada, this Acadian dish is a popular part of traditional New Brunswick cuisine. Fricot is basically a stew comprising potatoes, vegetables, savory and any available fish or meat, in this case ruffed grouse. Bon appétit!
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 2 ruffed grouse
- 4 tbsp butter
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 white Spanish onion, diced
- 2 sachets chicken bouillon
- 4 1/2 cups water, divided
- 3 tsp summer savory
- 2 cups potatoes, diced
- 2 cups carrots, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 tbsp flour
Preparation
- Wash dressed grouse under cold water and pat dry with paper towel. Remove breasts and cut into medallions. Separate legs from carcass.
- Braise medallions and legs in butter in an oven roaster over medium-low heat until browned (approximately 15 minutes). Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep lid on roaster to ensure grouse stays moist.
- Saute onions until soft and add to grouse.
- Stir chicken bouillon into 3 cups water in a microwave-safe mixing bowl and bring to a boil in a microwave. Add savory and pour on top of grouse. Simmer until meat is tender (15 to 20 minutes).
- Season remaining vegetables with 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring roaster liquid to a boil, add vegetables and reduce to a simmer for another 20 minutes.
- Mix flour with 1 1/2 cups cold water to create a smooth paste. Slowly stir paste into roaster liquid until it thickens into a sauce. Serve with crusty rolls and a garden salad with raspberry vinaigrette.
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Tags: grouse, grouse hunting, grouse recipe, recipe, Ruffed Grouse, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B
Mexican food is even better when made with game meat. Here’s a great way to stretch out some tender steaks and accentuate the wonderful rich flavours only game can bring to the table. This recipe works well with any venison. Serves 4 (2 to 3 fajitas per person).
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 to 1½ lb moose steak
- 1 cup fajita sauce
- ¼ cup canola oil
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 sweet red, green or yellow peppers, thinly sliced
- 12 flour tortillas
Preparation
- Trim all fat from steak. Slice thinly across the grain into 1×2-inch strips. Marinate in fajita sauce for several hours or overnight in refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove meat from marinade (keep marinade). Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat. Add meat and brown, taking care not to overcook. After 4 to 5 minutes, add fajita sauce marinade and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.
- In a separate pan, sauté garlic, onions and peppers in 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, warm tortillas in a covered dish in oven.
- Fill one platter with moose strips and another with vegetables. Serve tortillas in the warming dish, along with small bowls of grated Monterey Jack cheese, tomato, salsa, sour cream and guacamole.
- For the glassMexican beer is a natural choice for this summer feast; hearty red wines such as Zinfandel or Spanish vintages are also good.
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Tags: Moose, moose hunting, moose hunts, ontario, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B
You don’t have to do much to a ruffed grouse to bring out the great taste; nor do you want to go too far and overwhelm the natural flavors. This simple but delicious recipe archives the perfect balance.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 4 ruffed grouse breasts, butterflied
- 4 slices Monterey Jack, 1/8-inch thick
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup cornflakes, crushed
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Make a slit almost all the way through each breast; fill each slit with 1 slice of cheese.
- Whisk egg white lightly; brush over outsides of breasts. Press each breast all over into cornflake crumbs until coated.
- Heat oil in a heavy ovenproof skillet over medium heat; brown breasts, turning once, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to oven; roast for 10 minutes to finish cooking.
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Tags: grouse, grouse hunting, grouse recipe, Ruffed Grouse, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B
A bannock is a small, flat loaf of bread risen by a leavening agent, most often a chemical one, although yeasty bannocks are sometimes baked, as in a sourdough recipe. They are meant to be cooked hearth-side, whether a fireplace or a campfire. They are simple, and in the woods, simple is good. Add some honey to some simple bread and after a few days or weeks of bagels and Wasa bread, it tastes like manna from heaven. It’s hot, light, and comforting.
How to Make Bannock Bread
Ingredients
Basic Bannock Mix
1 cup flour (white or a mixture of white and whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 tbsp. shortening
Make the mix at home ahead of time. Sift dry ingredients, and cut shortening in with a pastry cutter or two knives until you have a granular, corn meal-like mixture. Package in zip-lock freezer bags. Double bag it if you’re going to be on a long trip. I’ve found that you can make large batches at once and make enough bannock mix for a trip in about fifteen minutes. Just make sure you sift the dry ingredients well, so you don’t get leavening problems.
Directions
Baking bannock is relatively simple once you get the hang of it. Your first ones will be dark and maybe burnt on the outside and gooey on the inside. Don’t despair, just pretend it’s a jelly donut and try again. The key is a consistent heat. While flames don’t indicate a bad cooking fire, red glowing fires from hardwood are best.
1. Start with a small cast iron frying pan and oil it well.
2. Pour some water into the bag and squoosh it around in the bag (squooshing is a technical term). Because the water and baking powder form carbon dioxide to make the bread light, the faster you go from mixing to skillet, the lighter your bannock will be. There will be lumps, of course, but we call them flavor bursts. I say “some water” because how much you add depends on the humidity and of course, personal taste. You don’t want it any thinner than a muffin consistency. If you’ve never baked a muffin, think spackle. You can distribute the dough with a poke of a finger or a stick or a spoon if you’re the civilized sort. Remember, it’s always easier to add water than take it out, right?
3. Squeeze the mix out of the bag and onto the warmed pan (not scalding hot — if the oil is smoking, it’s way too hot). The pan can be warmed over the fire if you have a grate, or leaned against a few logs near the heat source. It shouldn’t hiss or sizzle like a pancake batter…that means things are too hot. Cool it off and be patient. The bread will start to rise slowly.
4. Your bannock will start to look loaf-like. At this point you’ll want to flip your loaf. A little shake of the pan and flick of the wrist can turn it over, but a spatula is fair game too. At this point, just keep turning it. You’ll know when it’s done. It’ll look a lot like the picture here.
If you have a lid, you can try to cook your bannock dutch oven-style and put coals onto your skillet lid. Otherwise, you can turn it over to cook the top (carefully!) or else when the bottom is done, prop the pan up against a log with the top facing the fire. This is a great method of “semi-reflector-oven”. It also makes a lighter bannock.
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Tags: bannock, bannock cooked on a campfire, bannock outdoor cooking, cooking outdoors, wawang, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort
Blueberries are an important food source throughout the black bear range. The most commonly eaten berries in our area of northwestern Ontario are blueberries and raspberries. Many other berries are eaten, but they have shorter seasons, are scarce, or are less preferred.
The period when blueberries are abundant in our area is short & mainly in August-making that period critically important in the black bear’s annual cycle of events. Efficient feeding during that time is critically important to winter survival, growth, and reproductive success. Researchers found that bears in NW Ontario end mating activities before the critical feeding period and focus on feeding for the remainder of the summer.
Black bears are efficient berry-eaters, consuming up to 30,000 berries a day in a good year. They gather berries quickly, using their sensitive, mobile lips and swallowing them whole. The berries enter a two-part stomach, which grinds the pulp off the seeds.
The seeds pass through the digestive tract unbroken and able to germinate, making black bears important seed dispersers. Each summer, they spread the seeds of their favorite berries all over their home ranges.
Black Bear around Wawang Lake gain weight most rapidly during July and August when berries are abundant. When the berries run out in September, there is little else to eat. The bear usually seek out their dens in September or October. The longer period of food abundance enables bears to achieve more growth and reach maturity more quickly than bear. Bear in NW Ontario typically produce their first litters at 4 to 5 years of age.
Berries contain anti-oxidants, and the seeds of some species contain vitamin B-17, considered an anti-cancer compound by some scientists. Although cancer occurs in captive bear, it has never been reported in wild bear.
RECIPES
Blueberry Pancakes
Gluten FREE Blueberry Pie
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Tags: black bear, blueberries, blueberry, blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie, blueberry recipe, wawang, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort
This delicious moose dish is low in fat. The amount of each ingredient is proportional to how many people you’re serving. Using half a pound of moose, as this recipe does, makes two large servings.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. moose steak
- 1/2 cup carrots
- 1/2 cup bean sprouts
- 1/4 cup celery
- 1/2 cup snow peas
- 1/2 cup broccoli
- 1/4 cup unsalted peanuts
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
- 1 tbsp cumin
- Cooked noodles (excluding seasoning packet)
Preparation
- Slice steaks cross grain and marinade in soy sauce for one day. Throw a little oil into a hot wok to avoid sticking. Stir in moose for about 1 minute.
- Add other ingredients, including seasoning, stirring frequently. Add additional soy sauce to coat all ingredients.
- Stir in noodles and serve immediately.
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Tags: Moose, moose hunting, moose hunts, moose recipe, recipe, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B
This isn’t so much a pie as it is a stew, but the baking powder biscuits certainly give it the look, feel and flavour of a good ol’ homemade meat pie. Of course, you can forgo the biscuits. Either way, it tastes great.
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 3 ruffed grouse breasts, bone attached
- 1 celery stalk, sliced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 tbsp pickling spice
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups water
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 3-4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cold lard (or shortening)
- 2/3 cup cold milk
Preparation
-
Stock
- Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan or stockpot; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Take out breasts; debone and cube meat, then set aside. Strain cooking liquid, discarding solids. Reserve 1 cup of liquid and return remaining stock to saucepan.
-
Stew
- Add vegetables to stock in saucepan. Return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes; vegetables should still be firm. Stir in cubed grouse; return to simmer.
- Whisk together cornstarch and reserved cup of stock; stir into pot and simmer until stew is thickened. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to baking dish.
-
Baking powder biscuits
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, then cut in lard using two knives or a pastry blender. Add milk and lightly mix until evenly moistened (the less mixing, the more tender the biscuits).
- On a lightly floured surface, gently knead for just a few turns until dough holds together. Pat out to ¾-inch thickness and cut into 2-inch circles.
- Top stew with biscuits; bake until biscuits are golden brown on top and the bottoms are not doughy (about 25 minutes). If you choose to omit the biscuits, simply cover casserole dish with a lid and bake for 20 minutes.
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Tags: grouse, grouse recipe, Ruffed Grouse, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B
Cubes of ruffed grouse breast skewered along with grape tomatoes, mushrooms and onion make for wonderful kebabs. No ruffies? You can also use other grouse, as well as duck, goose or wild turkey breast meat.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 4 ruffed grouse breasts (skinless, boneless)
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup white wine
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 red onion, cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 16 grape tomatoes, whole
- 16 brown mushrooms, whole
- Canola oil
Preparation
- Cut grouse breasts into ¾-inch cubes and place in a zip-lock bag with thyme, olive oil, wine, salt and pepper. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Remove grouse from bag and thread onto skewers, alternating with onion cubes, tomatoes and mushrooms. Brush kebabs with canola oil and grill until grouse is cooked through.
- Serve with fragrant basmati rice and carrot rounds.
- Tip: If you use wooden skewers, first soak them in water for 15 minutes to help prevent them from splintering or burning. Whether you use stainless steel or wooden skewers, coat them in cooking oil before threading on the grouse and vegetables so the food will easily slide off after grilling. Also coat the grill with cooking oil so the kebabs don’t stick.
- For the glass: For this tasty light meal, fill your glass with a full-bodied beer or a heavy Chardonnay.
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The main edible find in our region is lobster mushrooms, Hypomyces lactifluorum, in some pretty good quantities. On any hunt, it’s good to bring home dinner, but one doesn’t typically expect to bring home a bundle of lobsters too late into the fall.
Typically, by the end of August and into September the brush is filled with mushrooms, edible and not. Unlike spring hunting, fall hunting in and around our area is more mushroom identifying than actually trying to find mushrooms growing. But some year the lobsters can account for a major harvest.
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So on your next trip out into our region whether you’re fishing or grouse hunting be sure to hike the old logging roads in search of these very delicious mushrooms. Stay tuned for a great recipe that easy to prepare.
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Tags: canada, lobster mushrooms, mushroom hunting, mushrooms, ontario, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort
Tis the season! There are plenty of hunters out in the field bringing home dinner and we figured we would share some great guides on the best cuts and how to get them from your harvest! Click on each picture to enlarge for greater detail 🙂
This diagram is the basic overview of the quarters and can be applied to deer, moose, elk and caribou.
This second diagram is a more in depth cut selection and is coded for the sections as well. Again, this can be applied to deer, moose, elk and caribou.
Ensure before you properly care for your game in all stages of meat preparation to give not only longevity to the meat, but reduce the risk of cross contamination of any bacteria that could not only spoil the meat but could also make you very sick.
Happy hunting!
Tags: big game, burger, butcher, cuts, deer, diagram, diy, elk, Meat, Moose, steak, Wawang Lake, Wawang Lake Resort, WMU 15A, WMU 15B, Woodland Caribou
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