On December 21, we will experience the “shortest day of the year,” which signals the first day of winter and provides an increasing amount of daylight each day until June 21, the “longest day of the year” and the beginning of summer. As Mother Nature keeps us in the grip of colder winter weather for the next several months, it just might be good timing to work on your culinary skills! Here, then, are a few recipes to hone your cooking of tasty game meat.

Osso Bucco is a delicious supper dish served in numerous Italian restaurants and Beef Nahari is a very tasty breakfast dish served at “The Pelican,” a great Pakistani restaurant in Florida. In each case, the meat used is the beef shank cut crosswise into ½ inch or so slices. You can do the same thing using the lower leg section of a deer. With venison, you can cut the legs into slices or keep them in 10” pieces.
Deer Shank:

1 – Coat the shanks with flour and your favorite rub or seasoning, which can simply be salt and pepper, if you prefer. Use a bit more seasoning than normal since much of it will fall off during the browning process.

2 – Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a medium-hot cast iron skillet and add the shanks, browning evenly on all sides which adds a richer color and makes it taste better.

3 – Place the shanks in a slow cooker (medium heat) or a Dutch oven (low heat). Add your favorite chopped vegetables, a pack of Lipton onion soup mix, and beef stock and red wine – enough to barely cover the shanks and vegetables. Cover and let cook for about 6-8 hours, checking for doneness at about 6 hours. When done, the meat will fall off the bone. Serve with white rice, wild rice or baked potato.

The breakfast “Beef Nahari” dish is served with a bit of rice and next to two eggs, cooked as you like them. The meat is cooked slowly with a blend of spices including cayenne pepper to “kick it up a notch!” It is delicious and the extra sauce is wonderful over the eggs.

Hunting for feral hogs can be fun, and can quickly turn to exciting and dangerous in short order. When the hunt is over, there are numerous options as to how to best prepare the meat for the dinner table. Keep in mind that the meat of an 80 – 100+ pound sow will be much tastier than that of an old 300 pound boar with big tusks! Here’s a recipe for a flavorful Southwestern stew that can be topped with shredded cheese or chopped spring onions, and served with warm hearty sourdough bread.
Wild Hog Chili Verde:

The ingredients are: 3 pounds (about 6 cups) of wild hog shoulder and/or hindquarter cut into 1-inch pieces, 3 Tbs. olive oil, 2 ½ quarts chicken broth, 2 cups yellow onion – diced, 8 garlic cloves – minced, 2 green bell peppers – diced, 4 Anaheim peppers – diced, 3 jalapeno peppers – seeded and diced, 1 Tbs. dried oregano leaves, 2 Tbs. chili powder, 1 Tbs. ground cumin, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 4 cups fresh tomatillos – skin removed, quartered, 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves – chopped and salt and pepper to taste.

1 – Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add meat and brown evenly. Drain off any fat or liquid rendered during browning.

2 – Add 1 ½ quarts chicken broth and any additional broth or water to cover meat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2 hours or until meat is tender and breaks apart, but doesn’t fall apart with moderate finger pressure. Drain the liquid from the stockpot.

3 – Add remaining quart of chicken stock and all other ingredients except cilantro. Simmer until peppers are very tender, about 45-60 minutes. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe will yield 8-10 servings and will easily convince those who “just don’t care for game meat” that, when cared for properly in the field and properly prepared in the kitchen, game meat can be extremely tasty!