Wild game

[Bourbon]

Hey y'all.  Long time since I've been on here, but smoker's still gettin' used and abused (literallyl!! wind storm took my smoker all over the yard.  Still works...)

Anyways, found this place here locally that sells wild game (www.gamesalesintl.com).  Thought about trying to smoke a Russian Wild Boar shoulder.  They've got alligator, kangaroo, caribou.... anybody ever smoked any of this stuff?  Any words of advice?

Picked some of their Wild Boar w/ cranberry and some Smoked Pheasant with Cognac sausages.  Gonna fry them up today with some twice-baked potatos and the brisket that's in the smoker now.  I'll let you know how they were.

P.S.  anybody got a good recipe for a cranberry/merlot sauce?

[Bourbon]

Wild boar was the favorite, the Pheasant a close second.  Both awesome.  Buffalo w/ chipotle and rabbit w/white wine are next.

So... nobody's ever smoked any of this stuff?

Aaron

[JJC]

I smoke ground buffalo all the time in ABTs, but not buffalo meat separately.  Most exotic thing I ever smoked was a friend's freshly dead iguana.  Used a simple salt/sugar brine and alder pucks (relatively neutral flavor smoke).  Came out a bit chewy--it was an old iguana--and tasted a bit like chicken (really).

John
Newton MA

[ritzdeliman]

Smoked a wild boar shoulder a while ago and did it like you would a pork shoulder. It turned out nice but a little gamey. I did'nt brine it though maybe that would help.As for the cranberry merlot sauce...
2 shallots diced
2 tbls butter
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup gooood merlot (Aussie)
s&p tt
Sautee the shallots and garlic in butter until soft not browned.
add cranberries and heat through until juicy.
add wine and reduce by half.
season with salt and pepper.
This sauce is actually better when room temp

[Bourbon]

Thanks for the recipe.  I'll give it a try.

Dude, that iguana thing's kinda gross......[:p]

[Chez Bubba]

John,

Just how many martinis had you had before embarking on the iguana project?

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[JJC]

I know the iguana thing seems weird, but it's not so strange even in the sober light of dawn . . .

I have a friend who has several iguanas as pets.  Lizard meat is pretty commonly eaten in some parts of the world because it is pretty tasty and readily available.  Iguanas continue to grow their entire life, so the one that died--of a heart attack pretty much right in front of my friend, so we knew it was fresh--was about 4 feet tall, including the tail.  Once I dressed it out, I had something that was about the size of a small duck, but a little skinnier, along with a foot-long tail.  I brined it with a simple salt/sugar brine and smoked it with alder until the internal temp was 180F (I chose the high temp to kill off anything I might not know about in the iguana!). I think the high temp made the meat a bit chewy, but it looked and tasted like dark-meat goose.  I know I said chicken in the last post, but the taste was little "wilder" than a yard-bird.  I would try it again with a slower cook time and use 170F as the final internal temp, since that is actually quite safe.

John
Newton MA

[Gordon]

yes...well...

Well Iggy, you have given me years of companionship, been my faithful friend, my confidant, my buddy.

but now you are dead and my other friends can't help but wonder what you taste like with a little catsup and a pickle.

Gordo

[JJC]

Geez, I never thought of trying it with ketchup and pickles . . . where's a freshly dead iggy when you need one . . .[:D]

John
Newton MA

[tsquared]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Well Iggy, you have given me years of companionship, been my faithful friend, my confidant, my buddy.

but now you are dead and my other friends can't help but wonder what you taste like with a little catsup and a pickle.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
You're making me laugh, Gordo--that's a good thing!![:D]
T2

[iceman]

I just blew my bloody mary out my nose Gordo! Jeez you guys will smoke anything. The boss lady of the house was right I guess. We smoke heads are a breed apart from the rest of the world.[^]