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Eating Wild
Hosted by three hunting and fishing buddies with a lifetime of culinary experience between them, Outdoor Journal Radio's Eating Wild podcast brings folks from all walks of life to the boat, tree stand, and kitchen to tell the stories and answer the questions around the pursuit and preparation of wild fish and game.
Eating Wild
Episode 54: Smash's Kitchen
Ever wondered how to transform wild game into mouth-watering dishes while having a blast in the kitchen? Join me, Antonio "Smash" Meleca, as I reveal the secrets behind some of my most beloved recipes in this solo episode of the Eating Wild podcast! Although my co-hosts are off chasing their own culinary adventures, I've got plenty of exciting updates and tips to share, including the launch of our brand-new segment, "Smash's Kitchen." This episode is a nostalgic trip to my previous show, "Fish and Fire," now more accessible than ever thanks to our YouTube transition.
Cooking isn't just about following recipes—it's about embracing the process, learning from the masters, and not letting criticism get you down. I'll share personal stories and kitchen wisdom from none other than Gordon Ramsay, highlighting the importance of soaking up knowledge, staying humble, and understanding that you can’t please everyone. Ever had a single negative comment ruin your weekend? Trust me, I’ve been there, but it's all part of the journey. Stay tuned for a teaser on our upcoming Q&A session where I'll answer your burning cooking questions!
Wild game meat isn't just for seasoned hunters; it's for anyone looking to bring a unique and healthy twist to their meals. From venison burgers to goose bolognese and popcorn pretzel partridge fingers, I’ll guide you through using quality cuts and innovative cooking methods. Hear personal stories and testimonials about how incorporating wild game has positively impacted lives, providing both nutritional benefits and a sense of fulfillment. Ready to take your culinary skills to new heights? This episode is packed with inspiration, stories, and practical tips for both newbies and seasoned chefs alike.
Follow Eating Wild on Instagram! To reach out to the boys, drop us a line at eatingwild@odjradio.com
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Speaker 2:How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to build one of Canada's most iconic fishing lodges? I'm your host, steve Niedzwiecki, and you'll find out about that and a whole lot more on the Outdoor Journal Radio Network's newest podcast, diaries of a Lodge Owner. But this podcast will be more than that. Every week on Diaries of a Lodge Owner, I'm going to introduce you to a ton of great people, share their stories of our trials, tribulations and inspirations, learn and have plenty of laughs along the way. Meanwhile we're sitting there bobbing along trying to figure out how to catch a bass and we both decided one day we were going to be on television doing a fishing show. My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in all those bass in the summertime, but that might be for more fishing than it was punching. You so confidently.
Speaker 2:You said hey, pat have you ever eaten a drum? Find Diaries of a Lodge Owner now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, episode of the Eating Wild podcast.
Speaker 3:I am your host, antonio Smash Maleka. We are part of the Outdoor Journal Radio Podcast team and network. Listen folks, I'm riding solo today. I got some huge news, Huge news. If you're in your car right now, you're driving, you're going to work, coming home from work, whatever it is you're doing, and you're listening to this podcast. Thank you, eating Wild is very I don't even know how to say it listening to this podcast. Thank you, eating Wild is very, it's very, I don't even know how to say it. It's something that I absolutely love doing and the fact that people are listening and we're getting feedback keeps me going, keeps the boys going. You know I'm hosting solo today, but I got Top Dog Prayer Showtime, johnson Hook 7 Martins always by my side, my heart, and you know busy time, busy time of the year for all of us, you know with our personal lives, and you know, obviously, creating content.
Speaker 3:Lou's out on the water already. He is popping and I can't wait to talk to him about it. He's been out there. You know one thing about Top Dog if he has a chance to get on the water, no matter how busy he is, he's been out there. You know one thing about top dog if he has a chance to get on the water. No matter how busy he is, he's out there and fish on. I can't wait to get him on next week and we're going to talk all about it. Um hook sets grinding in the kitchen. He's got that guy's going nuts right now. Uh, we're super busy on film and television. Uh, needless to say, showtime johnson's always around. That guy's running the socials hard. Can't wait to talk to Showtime about what's going on.
Speaker 3:Things are happening and I'd like to take this opportunity as the host of the show to bring in these new segments. And we are like you know, this is our a big thing of what the Eating Wild podcast is about and it's food. Our show knows that. I've been cooking pretty much my whole career and you know we're on film sets cooking for some very important people and you know the average people which are my favorite people to cook for backyard barbecues, weddings, private parties, functions, christmas parties. Those are the best, and it's always a pleasure to cook for new people and hear feedback, and this is what I want to do.
Speaker 3:I want to create something called Smash's Kitchen and you might have noticed on a couple of you know I had a show back oh my God, I think it was even almost seven years ago and you catch it on YouTube to this day which me and Fishanda Gagne had a great time doing, and it was called Fish and Fire Fish with an N and Fire. And you know it was on the Sportsman Network for a bit and it was really cool to transition from the Sportsman Network and then they brought it over to YouTube Because at the time YouTube was popping, everyone was getting stuff on YouTube and I get it. You know YouTube is the new thing. People are watching content. You know you want to see somebody catch a huge pike on a fly rod YouTube it. You know what I mean. And there it is. There's multiple different videos of that certain thing that you're looking for. So Sportsman Network says to me Smash, we're going, and Gags, we're going to YouTube, we're going to cut it up into all these different segments. And you know, now everyone can watch them, which was really cool for me, because now people that here in Canada, because the Sportsman Network was only available in the States when it was airing, and now people are watching them. It's like, wow, you did that, you was airing and now people are watching him. It's like, wow, you did that. You look like a kid. That's just telling me that I aged a lot. But, um, you know, it was pretty cool that people were able to watch it. And if you wanted to watch any of my cooking segments or any of Gags' tips of the day with the fishing and some of the cool people that we took out on the water all over the U? S and Canada was awesome. Um, so, yeah, you can still catch that. But the point that I'm trying to make is I had a segment there called Smash's Kitchen, which was really cool. We only did that for YouTube and it was at my old shop and it was really really cool because I got to cook multiple dishes fish related. There was a couple oyster shucking and butchering chickens and stuff like that which was really cool. But Smash's Kitchen stuck with me and I always thought of that.
Speaker 3:I'm like man, if I ever had my own cooking show on TV just cooking which I would never do you'd have to slip my neck and pour vinegar on me to do that, because that's a tough grind. You know cooking in front. Listen, I got burns all over my arms. I got cuts on my hand If you look at every chef on TV right now. They got freshly manicured nails and they're wearing makeup on their face. Okay, I'm not Lou. All right, I am in there, I'm grinding, my hands are burnt to a crisp, my tattoos look uneven, and that's what I do. I love it and but. But. I shouldn't say and. But. If I did have my own show, if I had my own show, if I was Rachel Roy, or if I was, you know, gordon Ramsey, I'd still swear my brains off. The bleeper would be going nuts. But I'll tell you right now it'd be called Smash's Kitchen.
Speaker 3:So listen, we're bringing you the first ever edition of Smash's Kitchen here on the Eating Wild podcast. I will be doing it solo. I will have some guests with me. You guys have all heard Chef Craig Baxter, baxter B. Chef craig baxter. I say bastard because the guy's nuts and, to be honest, uh, you know some people might call him a bastard, I don't know. You know, um, you know you've heard that scottish beauty, the scottish warrior on my show, obviously hook set. If hook set can find a time to sit down with me and do a solo mission with, uh, smash's kitchen would be awesome and I think it's important for our listeners for me to put an episode out here once in a while with Smash's Kitchen, because I've got the hours, I've got the experience.
Speaker 3:I want questions to come in and this is going to be part of the episode. Part of this episode will be all the food related questions that people have been emailing us or contacting us via direct message on Instagram or now even Facebook. Cj's got the Facebook going, so I encourage everybody if you do have a food-related question whether it's fishing, whether it's hunting, whether it's Asian cooking, whether it's sushi rolling, whether it's smoking barbecue and whatever the heck it is you want to ask I can definitely give you my perspective on everything. Again, everyone's different. The way I cook is the way I cook. I cannot stress that enough.
Speaker 3:When you're getting recipes from people, don't be afraid to mix it up. If the recipe's calling for hot peppers, fuck it, take the hot peppers out. I can't do it. I got heartburn. It's not going to kill you. One recipe or I can't remember if it was a recipe or it was.
Speaker 3:Anyways, I was talking to Bo Rod, and if anybody doesn't know the nickname Bo Rod, then you haven't been listening to our show. Bo Rod is Pete Bowman. Okay, pete Bowman. Some of the spices kill him. He's got the heartburn going. He's popping pills. He's. He's like smash, I can't.
Speaker 3:What's this? What's in your peri-peri rub? Is this going to put me in the hospital? And the truth of the matter is it probably would. It's got lots of paprika, lots of spices, and you know, if I am calling for a recipe that calls for, you know, a particular spice and you can't have it because it's going to give you a problem, don't do it. Add your own. You like tarragon? Fire tarragon in there, don't care. So the point about all of this, all these recipes, all these dishes that I share with you, and also my tips and recipes, please feel free to doctor them up, because that's what it's supposed to be.
Speaker 3:Listen, food is the most, I'm going to say, probably the most relaxing mind relaxing thing that puts me in my happy place. And I know everyone has a happy place, usually people, you know. You're fishing, you're hunting, you're outdoors, you're foraging mushrooms, maybe you play sports, maybe you're playing basketball, whatever it is you're doing, whatever puts you in your happy place. I encourage you to go there more often, because the kitchen is what puts me in my happy place. There's sometimes, on the weekend I cook like crazy, just so people know. Out there I cook for hundreds of people love it. There's sometimes at home, if there's no sports on TV or my kids don't have something going on, or I'm not at the cottage where I should be.
Speaker 3:I got to cook something, man. I got to get up. I'm like I'm going to make myself the most incredible sandwich. You know what I mean. And it's so funny because I don't have to. Man Like my wife's at home, she cooks, she's great, we got everything lined up for the kids and she's always taking care of stuff. I just have to focus on my customers every day. You know I bring home leftovers, which you know my kids could be the hardest critics, believe it or not. But regardless, listen, regardless. It puts me in my happy place. I enjoy it. I love it.
Speaker 3:So when you're taking on one of these recipes and it starts to stress you out because you don't think it's going to taste the way it looks or you know it's not what it's supposed to, listen, who cares? Have fun with it. Okay, it's a blank canvas. You're an artist, make it happen, okay. Now, that being said, people are always going to. People are always going to give you their two cents. Okay, and here's the thing. This is what I've learned about being in the kitchen all these years and I'm going to be honest I've had a lot of mentors, a lot of people that I watched growing up and I could say that were mentors, and you know Gordon Ramsay is one of them. Who wouldn't love Gordon Ramsay? He swears his food. Three Michelin stars chef. His food looks incredible.
Speaker 3:He was one of the first guys when phones started getting popular and apps were happening. He was one of the first guys to have an actual app that you had to pay for $7. I bought it and you click it and it's like here's, and he was always uploading recipes of the week with him making it in his house. It was really cool. It doesn't exist anymore but obviously technology's grown. You can just YouTube anything on your phone and find what you want.
Speaker 3:But anyways, one thing that Gordon Ramsay said and it stuck to me and people please take this. Take this with you when you're in the kitchen or if you're looking at the Fish and Canada website and you see the recipe of the week that we post and you're cooking for people and I'm not talking about family, if you're ever cooking for, you're doing a dinner party for your neighbors or you're having a barbecue for you know friends and family, whatever, whatever it is, you're going to have one person, possibly two, maybe even three, I don't know, depends on what your neighbors are like. But listen, you can't please everybody. It's impossible, okay. This is one thing that Gordon Ramsay would always say and it stuck with me in my brains. There's three things he would say. One you got to be a sponge. Okay, I'm not asking you guys to be chefs here. All you're doing is you're literally reading a recipe and trying to recreate it.
Speaker 3:Some people are more versatile in the kitchen than others. So if you are cooking for people and you got some harsh critics out there, listen, don't take it personally. Take it professionally. Okay, and that goes for everybody in any trade you do. Okay. If you can't take criticism, if you can't take the chirps me, lou, dan and Siege we chirp the shit out of each other and we just learn to love it and take it and give it back and be a sponge, soak it all in. You know, the best learning device is your ears, it's yourself. And be a sponge soak it all in. Can't please everybody and one of the most important things that he talks about when it comes to food, and it's stuck with me all this time, and it's so true. It's be humbled. Be humbled because we are in a career that is very rewarding but yet can deflate you with just one person, and I'll give you a quick example.
Speaker 3:I was working on a show and I won't mention the show because people that are listening to work with me might know the show, but anyways, I was working on the show and one person said something negative about the dessert and of all things, which, 90% of the time, we buy them in because we don't have time to bake like we used to. You know, it's so busy that, like it's like okay, listen, there's amazing companies out there that do some amazing desserts. We'll just buy them in La Rocca, you know, like Jesus, something like a Sarah Lee chocolate cake. Who the hell wouldn't eat that? I leave the room with chocolate all over my face. Okay, it's delicious. You know, the other thing that I'm going nuts on is these little mini donuts. Like you get these little fonds served donuts, beignets filled with like caramel.
Speaker 3:Why the hell would I bake? Why would Craig bake? Why would Dan? Dan used to do all of our baking. That poor bastard you know he was. We were doing five, 600 people a day. This guy was baking cheesecakes, bakeless cheesecakes, and you know, we would even do creme brulees, like for all those people.
Speaker 3:I remember there's stories I got with Chef Craig. We could talk about creme brulees and trying to brulee without a torch and anyways. That's a whole other podcast, believe it or not. But this one person said something about the pre-purchased dessert. Obviously them in their mind you know we're serving it, they're thinking that we made it and it fucking ruined me the whole weekend. One person and I had to remind myself Chef Gordon Ramsay, one thing he said you'll never be able to please anybody. Fuck it, it doesn't exist. Those were his exact words. It doesn't exist. So listen, have fun. Okay, let critics be critics. Take it professionally, not personally. Enjoy what you're doing. Let's get in the kitchen, let's go.
Speaker 3:We're going to start with a couple of questions. Okay, we're going to do a couple of Q and A's while we're talking about food this is all food related here, folks and we're going to do. We're going to stick to the wild game. We're going to stick to fishing, because it's what I love to do, it's what the boys love to do, and we're going to Johnson, but it's not. I don't see the T so I'm going to think it's Johansson. Okay, maybe Swedish Beautiful name.
Speaker 3:Here's this question how can I prepare venison from a deer hunt in a delicious way? Question mark. That's a great question, man. Now listen again. I've had this question a million times. We've probably even done this on one of our q and a's, but I I get it.
Speaker 3:People that are new listeners and they probably haven't heard us talk about it in the past and everyone is always going to give their opinion. Here's the thing. Here's my opinion. This is how I'm going to do it a delicious way. I'm going to go with the tenderloin, okay, everyone's probably saying on smash, that's the easiest play. Well, you said delicious, so go with the tenderloin. Okay, everyone's probably saying on Smash, that's the easiest play. Well, you said delicious, so for me, the tenderloin is the most delicious part of the animal. Other people have their own opinion, don't care.
Speaker 3:So listen, hookset Takes. Two weeks ago he said to me or I believe the Hookset Takes was marinate, marinate, freeze vac seal, go get a vac sealer. And Marinate, freeze vac seal, go get a vac sealer. And that stuck in my head because it's so true. Whether it's game meat, whether it's fish, whatever it is, buy a vac sealer, especially if you're going to go out there and pop, because if you're a pop fest artist like we are, mind you, we're pop fest artists that don't pop, if that makes sense, you know.
Speaker 3:And you got to prepare for the best part. This is the rewarding part. Is the feast right? It's, you're respecting this animal. If you're the animal, if you're going to take it down, alexander, um, you know, give it the respect to field dress it, take your time, make sure you want to make something delicious, and that's your question. I'm going to tell you what you're going to do. You're going to grab that tenderloin strap. You, I'm going to tell you what you're going to do. You're going to grab that tenderloin strap. You're going to air chill it for two days. This is a tip from one of our very first episodes. We had Coach Degagne. If you're not listening, coach Degagne, to that episode, go back, go back in time. All right, coach Degagne had the best tips when it came to the venison and we had listen.
Speaker 3:I had some really bad experiences with venison wild. You know. First, couple of times I had it, it didn't really taste the greatest. Again, if you listen to our podcast, you know the story. I'm not getting into it, but it wasn't the best experience and you know having a vac sealer at home preparing your favorite marinade, whether it's for beef, whether it's for chicken, whether it's for fish, whatever it is okay, you make that marinade.
Speaker 3:Listen, there's people that use Italian salad dressing. Have you heard of that? If you're listening to this and you use Italian salad dressing on your marinades, throw Siege a DM on Instagram because I'm going to tell you right now. I don't know what that tastes like, but I get it. It's got the vinegar, it's got the salt, it's got the salt, it's got the citrus, all the shit you would use to break down meat. So I get it. Some of them have Parmesan cheese in it, which is weird. So I don't know how that would go. But listen, italian dressing, man. Like people are using it like crazy Frank's Red Hot. Another one people throw that on everything.
Speaker 3:But listen, for me, venison deer, what you're going to do. You got yourself your little plastic Ziploc bag or, if you got, like I said, if you got a Vaxxel at home, you're going to want to use one of those Vaxxel bags, put your tenderloin strap in there. I'm going to start with red wine, garlic parsley. A red wine, garlic parsley, a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Speaker 3:I know a lot of people say do not marinate with salt because it's going to dry the meat out. That is true. But this is a quick marinade and I'm going to tell you something true fact If you're vacilling your meat with marinade like Hookset said in one of his Hookset, takes not too long ago. I'm telling you right now that is going to compress into the meat. Like Hookset said in one of his Hookset, takes not too long ago. Okay, I'm telling you right now that is going to compress into the meat. It's going to speed the marinating process up.
Speaker 3:A lot of people don't realize this. Okay, a lot of people will marinate meat in, you know, simple Ziploc bags. Well, guess what? If you're not even taking the air out, it's just sitting in the marinade. You need 24 hours for that shit. You need 48 hours. Some people do it for a week. They're nuts. But I'll tell you right now all you need is a vac sealer. Put that thing in there, vac seal it with the salt, with the pepper. We're talking barbecue ready.
Speaker 3:Okay, you're going to let that sit in your fridge for two hours.
Speaker 3:You're probably thinking two hours. What's that doing? I'm telling you you're vac sealing. You're probably thinking two hours. What's that doing? I'm telling you you're vaccinating. You're compressing that marinade into that meat. Okay, it's like infusing. We call it infusion here. It's like infusing watermelon with ice wine. It's beautiful, try it, it makes great drinks.
Speaker 3:And you're going to pull that out. You're going to barbecue it. All you want to do is you want to sear, get some nice grill marks on that tenderloin strap, put it on a pan, throw it in the oven High heat, 400, 8 to 12 minutes to medium rare, 125 to rest to 135. I'm telling you right now, brother, cut some medallions. You're going to see that the one thing I love about venison is that the meat is so bloody red already that when you're eating that thing medium rare, it literally looks like an Instagram post of what these guys. When you're eating that thing medium rare, it literally looks like an Instagram post of what these guys when they're enhancing their picture of their medium rare meat and I know it's fake, I could tell you that right now, but it just looks so good.
Speaker 3:The venison meat, and I'll tell you right now. Pair that up with a really nice vegetable, some potatoes, brother. Great question, hope that answers it. That's one of the most delicious ways I would prepare my venison and I hope you get one this year. Buddy, listen, I got my new pop. I got my new gun. I'm hoping that I can get some wild game down myself this year.
Speaker 3:We went out with Producer Dean. We missed our turkey. That's another long story and another podcast, unfortunately. But at the end of the day, guys have fun with it. Great question, appreciate it. We're going to move on. We got one from Olivia Roberts. She is from New Brunswick.
Speaker 3:What are some creative ways to incorporate wild game meat into traditional recipes? Beautiful question, really good question, because I'm going to tell you something. I think it's really important that you do that anyways and I'm not sure yet, but this is going to be dropping soon. This is going to be a YouTube video on the Fish and Canada website. That Dean producer Dean and cameraman Vova came to my shop and we did a really cool video on a venison burger.
Speaker 3:I made a venison burger and I think it was around man I'm going to say, close to either the Super Bowl, something was happening, and anyways, dean really wanted to do this awesome, you know, burger recipe for venison and he wanted to make it for his buddies I think they had a golf trip or something. Anyways, he's probably listening to this right now. If you want, you know to cut tape and add your two cents, go ahead. But anyways, not important. What was important is he asked me to come to film and make an amazing venison burger. So if anyone knows you're grinding venison okay, very lean.
Speaker 3:You know, most people use the shit parts and grind it up and say, oh yeah, don't throw that out, let's use this part of the animal and we're going to make burgers with it. Well, guess what? I'm going to tell you this right now there's no harm in using the backstraps, like people think. It's like, oh, you're going to use the backstrap, you're wasting the meat. No, you're not wasting shit. You're going to turn that back strap into a beautiful burger instead of peeling off all the sinew and whatever leg meat you could peel off of the leg and throwing it into a meat grinder. And it comes out nice and red and you think, oh, this is going to make a great burger. Well, guess what it's not. You know, sure, some, most of the beautiful burger meat comes from the leg or the hind. Great, no problem. But listen, get yourself a nice chunk of the roast, grind it up Now. Again, it's going to be very lean. You don't want to add too much of the venison fat in there. It's almost like wax. And again, please don't people listening when you're driving. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. It's beautiful. Well, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. This beautiful, well, this is just my personal opinion, Don't care, and you know.
Speaker 3:Incorporating the question from Olivia how can I incorporate, you know, traditional recipes or traditional items with wild game? Well, I'm going to tell you right now adding the fat content to venison. You need to add pork. You have to do it. If you don't do it, your burger is going to taste brutal. Don't care, I don't care what you say. It might, the flavor might be there, but without fat you're eating sandpaper. You know what I mean. So, incorporate bacon, incorporate something smoked that has some sort of fat belly. Let me just try to think here Something that I so. Anyways, I don't need to think about it.
Speaker 3:When Dean came here with the camera. I did this burger and it was, I think, 60-40. 60-40, 60% venison, 40% pork, ground pork. And I'll tell you something when I cracked into that burger on camera and I opened it up and I squeezed it and the juices were flying out of this burger and I cooked that bloody thing. Medium rare medium rare Pork should be cooked at 135,. I don't care what you say. Okay, medium rare, this burger was the juiciest venison burger you'd ever have in your life. Okay, I'm going to share this. I'm sure Dean's going to get this video up soon, but I'm telling you right now, it was amazing Other things to incorporate.
Speaker 3:You got waterfowl, so let's talk about geese. Let's talk about partridge. Let's talk about pheasants, grouse, all that shit. Very, very important when you are cooking this wild game and you want to incorporate it into things. So think about what people eat on a daily basis.
Speaker 3:I could tell you right now, let's say, pasta. I'm Italian. I want to have a bolognese. Okay, can we do a wild goose bolognese? Of course you can. Are you nuts? A wild goose bolognese sounds beautiful to me.
Speaker 3:You make your tomato sauce the way you would, olivia, make it, make it how you would cook normally and instead of incorporating some nice spare ribs or some porpetes, you know, like the meatballs listen, braise some goose meat. There's so many different recipes you could do. You might even have your own. Braise it up and incorporate that in your tomato sauce. Make whatever pasta you like. You throw some parmigiano on there, some fresh basil, are you crazy? Beautiful, beautiful. Okay, and let's not talk about poppers, okay. Hookset, me and Hookset were at the hunt camp partridge popped them. We were dipping these babies in pretzels. We were grinding pretzels. We were making popcorn pretzel partridge fingers dipped in buffalo blue cheese sauce. Like, are you like? People were losing their mind. You're losing your mind, so have fun with it. Incorporate it into anything you normally cook, anything. I'm telling you right now.
Speaker 3:The health benefits. Let's talk about the health benefits. We've had multiple guests on this show. Multiple People are saying it's changed my life. Dave Gray got me out of a wheelchair. Jim Miller saved me with. You know, when I'm training, when I had Lyme disease, folks, look at these back episodes, read them up. When I'm training, when I had Lyme disease, folks, look at these back episodes, read them up, listen to them. Okay, look for Dave Gray, part 2. Look for Jim Miller, part 2. Find these podcasts and listen to them.
Speaker 3:I'm telling you the health benefits with Wild Game incorporated into everything, telling you it's amazing.
Speaker 3:I can even do it myself. I don't do it enough. Okay, and it's not that we don't. I don't have access to it. I do have access to it, but I want to harvest, I want to shoot it myself. I can order a turkey. You can go to the grocery store tomorrow and get a butterball. Okay, it's not the same. It's actually probably going to taste better. I'm going to be honest. But listen, it's not the same. It's not about going out there and enjoying the hunt, enjoying the field dress, enjoying the cleaning and then the processing and then the preparation, and then bang out comes this beautiful dinner and listen, you can literally incorporate game into any dish. You want nachos, nicole.
Speaker 3:Nicole Vachon, from her beautiful podcast. She is a friend of ours. Nicole Vachon, from her beautiful podcast. She is a friend of ours. She's been posting some really nice recipe of the week and she did these pulled goose nachos. Man, was that amazing? You know what I mean. There's so many different things that you can do and incorporate your normal style of cooking, wherever you're from, and incorporate. So I love the question, I do, I love it, and you know we're. So I love the question, I do, I love it, and, uh, you know we're going to take a short break. Um, when I do get back, we're going to touch on a few things. We've got a whack of more questions. I got to listen to smash his kitchens on fire right now. So, uh, I mean, I can't believe I've already been. I've only done two questions and we're running out of time. So, listen, we're going to take a quick break. When I come back, we're going to answer some more questions and I can't wait to get started. Be right back after this.
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Speaker 1:Art also keeps the environment front of mind and supports local farms and producers, making every meal both a feel good and a win-win. Visit makeartca Art with an E to learn more.
Speaker 5:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 5:After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people. That will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3:We are back. Welcome back to the Eating Wild podcast. I am your host, antonio Smash-Moleka. Welcome to Smash's Kitchen. I just created it. By the way, I don't even know, lou, showtime hooks up. I'll tell you what Smash's Kitchen is. It's a segment on the Eating Wild Podcast when I'm going to answer questions. They're popping in guys, we're getting them, I gotta answer them, let's go.
Speaker 3:Before I came to do this episode and I was thinking about it all day, I'm like I gotta do. I, you know I gotta bring back the kitchen, I gotta talk food. You know we we've been. We've been touching. We've been touching on some heavy fishing. We got some great guests on mma. We've been talking, you know, hunting and and sports and stuff. You know we're eating wild. We got to bring the food in and been talking. You know, hunting and sports and stuff. You know we're eating wild. We got to bring the food in and we're going to. You know we always incorporate, obviously, everything we do.
Speaker 3:Listen, the feast is always going to be the meal period, no matter how the trip or no matter how the sporting event, no matter. Listen, when I go to a sporting event, first thing I think of is what I'm going to eat and drink period. You know what I mean. It's imagine going to a baseball game and not drinking a beer. This is you're insane, sorry, you know. And if you're not eating a foot long you got a problem period.
Speaker 3:You go down to a baseball in Chicago listen to this Wrigley Field. My sister lives in Chicago, married a cop. My sister lives in Chicago, married a cop, giovanni, beautiful, and a Cubs fan. I'm a Jays fan, he's a Cubs fan and we don't mix. I'm gonna be honest, cub fans and Jays fans. We don't mix because Cubs fans are nuts.
Speaker 3:And I remember back in the day when that goof caught the foul ball. Guy ran for his life. I'm pretty sure he's dead now. Somebody probably popped him, but anyways, poor guy caught a foul ball. The world series, apparently. So those fans are listen, man, they're entertaining fans and they're nuts. I get it. Uh, blue jay fans are different. We're used to losing, so it's okay. You know we, we figure it out. We got a couple in the 90s, but uh, you know.
Speaker 3:Anyways, regardless, I went to wrigley field. I had to go visit my Her husband's. Like we're going to a Cubs game. I was actually pretty fired up and it was the year they won the World Series, believe it or not. And we're sitting in the bleachers and I caught a foul ball. Caught a foul ball. Amazing. Never caught a foul ball at the Rogers Center. Been going there since it was the Sky Dome. Never even came close. Since it was the Sky Dome, never even came close.
Speaker 3:Caught a foul ball right in my face and everyone's looking around and going give it to the kid. Give it to the kid. I turn around and this kid is holding a sign that says I'm at my first Cubs game. Rizzo, throw me a ball. Rizzo was the first baseman and that's what it says in the sign. So I'm thinking to myself well, fast result will throw you a ball. I'm not giving you my ball. I look over and everyone's screaming at me give him the ball, come on, give him the ball. And I looked around. I'm like listen, I'm from Canada. Threw him the ball, caught the ball. Father comes over, let me buy you something, let me buy you a drink. Andrea sitting next to me, she's like I can't believe you just did that. I'm like I know anyways. Andrea's like well, you know, that was really nice and this and that, and still, to this day I'm like that ball should be hanging up somewhere in my, my closet or my bedroom. But anyways, threw the ball, the kid, I was rizzled for the day and the father's like I'm gonna buy you something. I want to buy you a beer. I said, said you know what, I'm going to take you up on that beer, let's go. We go down to the concessions Now, if anyone's been to Wrigley Field, it's a shithole, but that's what makes it special.
Speaker 3:Let's be honest. It's like in the middle of a residential area and the fans are so passionate it smells like pee on every corner. Parking you're parking on people's lawns. It's crazy, man, it really is crazy. And it's the experience Like I get it. Now I get it. But going back to grabbing the brewski, they had one beer, they had one salsic, one hot dog. Okay, you're getting a hot dog. You're getting a Vienna hot dog. In that I mean the ones that snap back. They're tiny but they're like two bucks. You're getting a hot dog and a brewski and I think they had some other little things Cracker Jacks.
Speaker 3:You go to the Rogers Center and listen. The reason why I'm telling you this is because I loved it. I loved it. I love that. You go to the baseball park. It's outside. You're in a residential area, the fans are nuts and you're eating a really good Vienna hot dog. You ask for ketchup, they'll blow your head off. Doesn't exist in Chicago. Okay, true story. You get mustard. That's it. You want mustard on your hot dog? Yeah, no problem, slap it on with a spoon. True, true story, okay. And you get mustard on your on your Frank. You drink your brusque, which is probably Budweiser, because American beer is terrible, and I'm going to be honest, like it was perfect, I could have had four of them. But listen, you go to the Rogers Center.
Speaker 3:Like renovations have happened. It's great, but let's talk about it, man, like I haven't been. I haven't been in two years since they've done the renovations. But I's great, but let's talk about it, man, like I haven't been. I haven't been in two years since they've done the, the renovations. But I'm watching it on tv and the food these people are holding it looks like they're at, you know, a five-star restaurant. They got like sushi, rice paper wraps. They got beignets and they got the you know dim sum.
Speaker 3:Who the hell's going to a game to eat dim sum? Are you nuts? So here's the thing. You know, I get it. We're people are trying multicultural. Let's get people in the seats and let's be known for the best food. Listen, if you're taking me to a baseball game, I want a hot dog with mustard. In fact, I'm going to get people in the seats and let's be known for the best food. Listen, if you're taking me to a baseball game, I want a hot dog with mustard. In fact, I'm going to get it from the guy out on the street, the street meat guy, where you walk into the park with heartburn before you order your beer. I have heartburn. That's what it's like to go to a baseball game. Okay, so, but listen, at the end of the day, it's pretty cool. People listen. At the end of the day, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 3:People that are now coming to the rogers center here in toronto. You guys got the best food at the. So many selections, so many selections. Yeah, well, you know you're at a baseball game, not a carnival. That's how I feel, anyways, moving on. So the point hot dogs, beautiful, brewski, beautiful. Let's get to the games, get to the sporting event. That's how I feel, that's where I want to be and we're going going to take another question here from a Soviet. I don't know. I'm not going to be able to pronounce his last name, sophia Nguyen Nguyen. Sophia Nguyen, she had a question.
Speaker 3:What are some traditional recipes for cooking upland game birch, such as pheasant or quail? Love the show. Keep up the great work. Great question, upland I don't know what she means by upland, because we have pheasants and quail in North Bay, so I'm not sure. Anyways, upland. Okay. So quail, love quail. One of the things I would say about quail and listen, I've never shot one before, never, I've never shot a quail. But there's a, there is a game farm close to my cottage in Port Perry and he's got quail and I assume you shoot 410 or something for them. And I have cooked many times quail and I remember this one in particular.
Speaker 3:We got it for the movie Pompeii, which is a movie that we had worked on maybe 13 years ago. That was with Kit Harington and I remember we had to do two proteins on that show, so we had to do always, you know, a meat and a meat. So it was, you know, duck and beef, chicken and beef, pork and duck or whatever, and we were literally running out of ideas because it was always. We were always a pork with a chicken, or a chicken with a beef, or a beef with a pork. Once in a while you throw in duck, but again, duck is very expensive and we were only doing it, you know, once every couple of weeks. So Craig's like listen, we're going to do pheasants, can you get them? Call up my rep, can you do pheasants? He's like, yeah, we can do pheasants. And I was just like, well, how are we going to do this? He's like I'm going to show you.
Speaker 3:We did in the UK all the time, all the time, and it was really really cool because this recipe that he did was so simple but yet so rewarding. People went nuts and I wouldn't have thought it. And all we did, I swear to you, all we did was a salt brine and it was just kosher salt. You rub this quail, fold the wings behind the neck and they were whole. We roasted them whole and there was no stuffing. It was literally a salt brine.
Speaker 3:Two hours room temperature, so that bird was sweating, like it was just sweating, and we roasted it at 375 until the leg reached 165 internally. And I was worried because it's such a small bird that if the leg is getting to 165 that quick that that breast was going to be dry. And that's the thing about people cooking whole birds all the time they just don't get it. But your white meat will always be drier than the dark, it's just natural. One it's got less bone. Two dark meat tends to be more tender. You could cook the shit out of it. Cook it at 175. It's still going to be bright. You cook a chicken breast at 175, it's sandpaper going down your throat. So I was nervous a little bit.
Speaker 3:But then he made this is this is the whole key of this recipe. Okay, Sophia, uh, the cherry reduction jam. Oh boy, I'm going to tell you it was black cherry. He reduced it down with red wine and red currants. It's a very similar recipe to his onion jam. So we roasted this bird 165, internally, probed onto the dark meat.
Speaker 3:And I'll tell you something I don't know because if it's a smaller bird or whatever it was, but that white meat was so tender and the crisp on the skin from that salt brine, because again you're pulling all the moisture out right, and again you got to be very careful. Don't do this shit overnight. You'll dry out the whole bird, you'll cook it and you'll be like this is the worst thing I've ever had. Let that thing sweat, throw it on your spit or throw it on the barbecue or in your oven, roast that thing uncovered, get it to 165. And anyway, so the way we did it is, we had our cutting board and we're doing it as a carvery station and I remember just cutting them in half, directly in half, so from the back straight down. And when you flipped it over, the presentation was beautiful. It was almost like a little mini chicken supreme with a little leg on it. And you know, adding this cherry, a black cherry reduction. I was like chef Craig, you've lost your mind, brother, because this is nuts. This was so insanely good and you know I'm going to share that, actually that recipe on the Fish and Canada website on how to make that cherry reduction, because that was the whole.
Speaker 3:When you ask me for a recipe, that's the recipe right there, because anybody can salt a bird and throw it in the oven at 350 or 375 for, you know, 25 to 30 minutes, because that's all you have to do for that. And you know, pheasant I would literally treat the pheasant the same way. It's a smaller animal in between a duck and, you know, let's say, a waterfowl. It's in between, I'd say in between a duck and a partridge Grouse. I guess Some people call them partridge grouse and yeah. So some of them get big. You know, there might be bigger ones or small ones Don't quote me on it but I would treat it the same.
Speaker 3:I'd give it a really nice salt brine. Some people want to dunk them in a wet brine. Do it. You know. Whatever floats your boat, this is cooking. Go back to what he says. This is the greatest thing in the world. Have fun with it and roast it up. Make sure you get that to 165. You don't want to kill anybody either.
Speaker 3:It's poultry and you know, make that cherry reduction, make that jam. And I'm going to tell you something. It changed the whole way I eat waterfowl and I'm not talking about again. I go out there and I shoot a partridge and I'm not making a cherry cherry reduction, black cherry sauce at the hunt camp. As much as that sounds great, I think the boys look at me like I was baked. But at the same time, if you're doing this and you want to impress your husband or your spouse or whatever it is, so if you, you know, take some time, make that sauce. I'm going to post that recipe and get it from Chef Craig and I'll tell you right now. It's going to really really enhance your pheasant or your quail. And it was a great question. Appreciate it. We're moving on. We're moving on.
Speaker 3:We got Christopher Patel. I think I recognize his name. I think, christopher, you ask a lot of questions. I like it and you know. Anytime you have a question again, you can hit us up at the Eating Wild podcast at gmailcom. You can also go on the Outdoor Journal Radio website. You can find a link to our email. Or hit Siege up directly man, just go right on Instagram and be like Siege, what's going on? Or hit Siege up directly man, just go right on Instagram and be like Siege, what's going on? It's, you know, it's, it's, it's, oh, my God, christopher, it's Chris, christopher Patel. And shoot him with the, shoot him with the question and we'll get back to you. Even might even be right on the spot. It's just easier access when the phone dings. Anyways, here we go. Great question coming up. Are the phone dings? Anyways, here we go. Great question coming up.
Speaker 3:Are there any special techniques for preparing small game like rabbit or squirrel for cooking? Well, chris, I'm going to be honest it's a great question and, squirrel, I'm going to say no, absolutely. But rabbit, 100%. Now, squirrel, you can treat it like rabbit. Never had it. I know guys that have done it and there's nothing wrong with it. I just haven't done it before.
Speaker 3:But you can definitely 100% treat this recipe or this particular technique that I do with rabbit and it's a simple braise and, being Italian, rabbit was, you know, part of our culture. It's something that we ate a lot and we usually had it as a pasta. I talked about it earlier, we did bolognese, and the way you do that is you're going to season that baby up. You can season it however you want really salt pepper. You want to add eating wild spice blends, or you got your own spice blend. You want to do. You can season it however you want really Salt pepper. You want to add eating wild spice blends, or you got your own spice blend. You want to do you like a spicy, fire it up whatever you like, and I'm going to tell you you're going to get a braising pan.
Speaker 3:Some people now got slow cookers, which are awesome, okay, and a rabbit is small enough you can fit in there, even if you have to cut it in half, whatever, or notone, not debone it or just take the, you know, the back off and the legs off and anyways, anything to do to fit it into your pot. A slow cooker would be the best. I would start with rosemary, a rosemary, thyme, rosemary, fresh thyme, red wine, celery, carrots, onion the Holy Trinity, right there, that's what you need. The holy trinity is celery, carrots and onion. We call it mirepoix, but we're not cutting it like a mirepoix. We're cutting these things a little bit thicker because you're braising for a long time. You cut it like a mirepoix, it's just going to disintegrate. Okay, so you want nice chunks of carrots, celery and onion.
Speaker 3:One spring, if you're doing, one whole rabbit, if you're doing what you want, one spring of rosemary. The reason why I say one spring is because people are nuts. They throw rosemary in there like they're salt bae. Rosemary is a very strong and potent spice. It's aromatic. Yes, too much of it, you're eating perfume. It's gross. That's me personally. You might like that.
Speaker 3:So if you like it, fire it up, throw as much as you want in there, fresh thyme, use the springs. You don't have to sit there and pick all the little leaves off of a thyme, because at the end of the day, it's going to just literally fall off. All you're going to do is you're going to pull out the branch when you're done. Same with the rosemary. Literally, those rosemary don't peel it, man. Keep it on that branch and I'll tell you right now it's just going to fall off. All you got to do is take it out after the process. What you're going to do, want to do, is you're going to not submerge. You're not submerging that rabbit or, I guess, squirrel in this case, you just want to do three quarters of the way.
Speaker 3:Red wine season. Now, very important hard searing. Hard sear the rabbit, whether, like I said, whether you do it whole or whether you cut it up. Keep the bone in. Very important Hard sear. Get it onto a skillet, get it onto a pan and make sure you crust it up, because when you're braising you're slow cooking. You're not getting a sear on anything. You know what I mean. All you're doing is you're slow cooking it from the bone out. What you want to do here is you want to lock the flavor from the outside in, so you want to put a hard sear and also get a nice crisp. The thing is too, is you want it to visually look good too, and putting a nice sear on anything that you braise is very, very important step.
Speaker 3:Once you're done searing again whatever liquid or whatever you know, if you're using butter, if Um, once you're done searing, um again whatever liquid or whatever you know, if you're using butter, if you're using oil when you are searing, throw that in the pot. Throw the whole bloody thing in there. You don't want to. You don't want to waste any. Actually, some people put the Holy Trinity in there right right after the sear and, you know, fry it up first and before they add it into their braising pot. But I just do mine raw. I like it better that way because then I could actually eat it after. You know what I mean. Some people will fry it up and by the time it goes in there it's partially cooked and by the time it braises it's just mashed potatoes. Potatoes another good one. Throw some baby Yukons in there, some baby Redskins will be really nice and cover it up eight hours. So if you got a slow cooker, go to work, come back home, lift that pot. I'm telling you right now it's going to fall right off the bone. Take that out as gently as you can. Okay, because this is the next step to this braising process.
Speaker 3:When it comes to rabbit or squirrel, you want to strain everything out. You want to gather that liquid again. These are very lean animals, so you're not going to get much fat, but you're going to get bone marrow. You're going to get, you're going to get the flavor from braising these little animals. Believe it or not, you do. We did it all the time.
Speaker 3:Okay, get it into a saucepan. All you want to do is use a little bit of tomato paste, fresh bay leaf, and you just want to slowly thicken that sauce. Okay, the tomato paste will help thicken it. But you also want to cook it out a bit too, because that gives you tummy aches. Right, the tomatoes, high acid content. You want to add a little bit of paste. You want to thicken that up. I'm going to tell you you're going to reduce that down, Reduce it. You're going to bring that right down until it turns to a nice, rich, thick gravy.
Speaker 3:Boil some pasta, whatever pasta noodles you want. You want penne, you want rigatoni, you want to do tortellini, gnocchi, whatever you want. Cook that pasta. You're just going to fold some olive oil through it with a little bit of salt. Always make sure you season your pasta. That's important. A lot of people season the water. Same thing, season the water, season the pasta.
Speaker 3:Whatever you're going to pour, you're going to pull apart that meat. Okay, pull that meat in there, and again, rabbit has lots of tiny, tiny little bones. You got to be very careful. Pull apart that meat, put it on top of your noodles once it's cooked on your plate, and you're going to pour that red wine reduction all over that shit. Brother, cover it up, cover them up, and I'm going to tell you right now. You're going to add your nice chunks of carrots, celery and onion that has been braising in that liquid. Okay, you're turning this thing into a true bolognese. That's a rabbit bolognese for you, squirrel.
Speaker 3:Again, I've never done this with squirrel, actually, if anyone is willing to do this, willing to try it, fire me a DM. Get Siege going on it, Send, do this. Willing to try it? Fire me a DM. Get Siege going on it, send some pics, because that's that. I can only imagine how good that would be. And if you don't have a slow cooker at home, just do it on a pot. Make sure you're home, though. Don't leave the house because you never know what could happen if you're still running and you're not home. But listen, great question.
Speaker 3:Christopher Patel, I know you sent us tons of emails in the past and it was always great to answer your questions. Hopefully that helps. Hopefully you're inspired and use that one up again. If anybody wants these recipes I do talk pretty quick. If anybody wants these recipes, shoot us a DM, I'll share them with you. You know what I mean. Shoot us an email, one of us will get back to you. You know it was funny.
Speaker 3:The other day Top Dog was like, oh yeah, somebody DM'd me and asked me what pairing, what wine pairing, to have with a certain meal. I was like, would you tell him? He's like, well, smash, you know, I gave told him to go with the Chateau Brion. Okay, whatever, it sounded great. But you know, yeah, hit me up. If I can help you, I will.
Speaker 3:Let's try to get to one more question before I wrap up. I got to get to some important news about the podcast. This one is from Isabella Scott. Isabella Scott says what are some suggested appetizing dishes using duck or goose meat from hunting? Now here's the thing. It's a great question, isabel.
Speaker 3:Thanks for the question, duck or goose man, it's a hard one for me and I'll tell you why. Because when I went up north and we first got our license and I got my first duck, the fact of the matter is that not too many people keep the leg meat. And we're talking goose too. I don't know why. Is it because it's too small? Is it because people just don't think they're going to get enough meat out of it? But here's the thing A goose is a pretty big animal, you know. I would say it's almost turkey-like.
Speaker 3:I think if you take the time and really really try your hardest to you know, listen, I know it's tough for me, I know it is and I know, when it comes with a duck, you know the tiny, tiny little pieces. Is it even worth it? Are you having a little chicken nugget? You know what I mean. I think there's a way to collect. If you do have a pop fest out there I'm talking duck and really taking the time comfying those legs, you might be able to make a pasta dish out of it. You might be able to make a nacho dish out of it, like Nicole did. That looks sick, by the way, you know. Like, think about it. You're throwing it away. Now, I know it's a circle of life. A coyote's going to have thank you for that, bird might thank you for that, whatever.
Speaker 3:But at the end of the day, I think the only thing that drives me nuts the most is people not knowing what to do with it. And it's great. It's a great question, and I'm not saying that, isabella, you don't know what to do with it. Maybe you're like well, what do I do with it? You know what I mean it. You don't know what to do with it. Maybe you're like well, what do I do with it? You know what I mean. It's just, I think that if people put more time into it to harvest it properly and again, I'm telling you right now, there's nothing wrong with goose legs, because you do that same technique I just mentioned about the rabbit you braise those legs, put a hard sear on them, braise them with whatever seasoning you like, take the time, break it down.
Speaker 3:You, with whatever seasoning you like, take the time, break it down. You will get true flavors out of that. 100%, you will. 100%. Now, can you treat it like a breast, a goose breast? No, absolutely not. You can't. Totally different part of the animal Totally different. You can't braise. You can't braise white meat as good as you can dark meat. My opinion Some people think I'm nuts.
Speaker 3:Oh, I could pull apart white meat. Of course you could pull apart white meat, but it's not as appetizing. It is a dark Again. You got it's the bone that just holds that dark meat. And I'm telling you right now, if you're ever doing pulled pork at home or the shoulder bone in Bone in, it's going to be a lot better than that pork butt that's boneless, I'm going to guarantee it. The bone is what keeps that thing moist right through the core. It's proven.
Speaker 3:So you know how can I answer this question? Well, appetizing dishes. I'm going to tell you right now Braise, braise, braise the dark meat, put it on top of anything, put it on top of rice, quinoa, incorporate vegetables, keep the sauce, keep that gold, liquid gold. Fire the holy trinity in there Celery, carrots, onions, okay, and cook with booze, cook with red wine, cook with whiskey, cook with bourbon. You know so many recipes out there, whatever floats your boat.
Speaker 3:Now one thing I will say that Coach Degagne told me his recipe once, for the goose breast was probably the most incredible thing I've ever probably encountered in my life Never had it yet, but the way he made it sound was probably the best thing I've ever heard in my life. When it came to goose meat, butterflied open. I think he put jack cheese. I'm not 100% sure what else he put in there, but it was listen it had bacon and jack cheese. That's all I could tell you. And, coach, I'm going to have to pick your brain again for that recipe.
Speaker 3:But basically, stuff it. He stuffed the breast, roll them up. Roll them up like Cody Kovacek putting somebody in a guillotine. Roll them up. Stuff it prosciutto cheese, bacon. Wrap them up jalapenos. Wrap that thing up because a goose goose meat is lean. It's a lean animal, okay. Wrap some fat around it. Throw it in the oven.
Speaker 3:165, buy yourself a meter probe, very important tool in the kitchen. Put that thing inside your box because you need it. Grab that probe. Open up your chef tooling box or your bag or your roll, whatever it is that you have. Put that in there, because that meat probe will save your life from overcooking or undercooking. Trust me, happens to me all the time. Okay, so beautiful recipe.
Speaker 3:Coach Degagne, I'm going to pick your brain. Hopefully you know I inspired you how to cook that duck or goose. Now listen, duck. I shouldn't even say that with duck because I'm not stuffing duck breast. Duck breast to me belongs on a salad or if you're having it as a main course. It's very rich, beautiful fat. It's got to be medium rare, 135. It's got to be Crispy skin. Score it, salt it, pull the moisture out, heart sear on the top In the oven. 12, 14 minutes, 350. Pull it out Again. Probe that baby, 135. Rest it almost the same amount of time as you cooked it. Cooking time 12 to 14 minutes. Wrap it in foil, pull that thing out. Put it on top of a bed of you know fried rice, you know quinoa, some sort of grain, serve it with some potatoes, baby carrots.
Speaker 3:Duck larange, huge popular French dish. Don't care for it much, but it's great. You know so many different things you can do with duck, but for me I'm going to stick to the goose. Braise the legs, stuff the breast, wrap some sort of fat prosciutto is always nice, bacon obviously is the more traditional way. Throw some side of nice jack cheese, jalapenos I mean coach was throwing a bunch of stuff in there, sounded amazing. Tie it up. Make sure you got butcher's twine. Tie it up and get that baby in the oven with your meat thermometer 165, pull that out. I'm telling you right now dynamite, dynamite stuff, folks, dynamite stuff.
Speaker 3:Listen. I'm already almost past my limit here. I hope I can answer more of these. I got them right in front of me. There are tons and tons of questions and I can't get to them all, I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:Smash's Kitchen hopefully Listen. If you like Smash's Kitchen, hopefully Listen. If you like Smash's Kitchen, let us know. I'll do more of them. But you know we got to keep the talk with the boys. We've got some exciting guests coming up and that's what I want to talk about. We do have some really, really exciting guests coming up on the Eating Wild podcast that myself, lou, dan and Siege get to talk to. And you know, build some content and build some stories and, if I can incorporate some food, if we can incorporate some laughter, anything that we can do to enjoy your ride to wherever you're going, whether you're cutting the grass, whether you're working out. I know Bullrod's on the treadmill right now. He's smiling, he's listening to this right now.
Speaker 3:Feedback Give us some feedback. Negative, positive, don't care. Whatever it is, let us know, we need to hear it. Drop us a review. Review this man. Be like yo Smash, this was terrible. You're brutal. Get off, call Hookset. We need to talk to him. You know what I mean. Do it. And you know criticism. Remember I said in the beginning of the show we take it professionally, not personally. Love that Great episode. Folks. Listen. Smash Maleka here. You know it's kind of weird talking to myself, but I'm so passionate about this shit I could probably do it for another two hours, and you know that's the Beauty of the Eating Wild podcast. Check us out. Check out our Instagram page, facebook.
Speaker 3:Also, if Dino hasn't dropped it yet, you know, check out that YouTube video of myself making that venison slider. It was a burger slash slider. Same kind of technique adding the fat, incorporating the fat with that venison. It was probably one of the best burgers I've ever made. Dean actually recreated it for his buddies. They lost their mind. So I'm glad to be of assistance to you. If you have some other questions you want to know food, drop me a line. Created it for his buddies. They lost their mind. So I'm glad to be of assistance to you. If you have some other questions you want to know food, drop me a line. It'll be my pleasure to answer it. This is Smash, malek. I'm checking out of here. Coach, key up the tune and we'll catch you guys next week.
Speaker 1:Bishan On the boat on the big old blue today.
Speaker 5:We've got the stars lined up. They're coming out ready to play. It won't be long. They'll be pulling our fish and we'll be serving them their favorite dish. All the feeling screaming reels on fishing fire.