Spatchcocked Squab

“There’s a whole spatchcock of mussels on this rock!” My buddy Alex last winter intentionally misusing the word spatchcock because he thinks (and so do I) that it is funny.

I spent the last month and a half in the woods (story coming soon) and so of course I missed being in the woods…so I returned ready for a rabbit hunt.

I got a nice cottontail (though I forgot to get a picture) and a few moments before a flock of feral pigeons (aka rock doves/squab) passed by and I took three with my trusty Remington 12 ga. 870.

I have been wanting to try squab for the last year and I finally had my chance.

 These birds are sizable, a delicacy in Europe, and have no limit or season in California as they are invasive. These are the perfect ingredients for a recipe to entice most any forager!

I plucked the squab and cleaned the cottontail and headed home for a little urban foraging. First, I hit my favored fig spot to secure fruit for a sweet balsamic-fruit reduction sauce. Next, it was to my stores in the garage for last season’s English walnuts (still perfectly preserved even though this harvest season is now upon us).

With a little dash of my homemade sea salt and a few more goodies here and there, a delicious meal was served. I spatchcocked the birds by cutting out the backbone to splay them out flat for broiling.

-The Problem_ Turns out, if you don’t sear or slow cook squab it is as tough as shoe leather! I ate the tastiest (yet toughest) rock doves ever!

I will perfect my recipe. As I always say when people badmouth jackrabbit, “it’s all about how you cook it!”

Once I have a worthy squab recipe I will share it.

In the meantime I am off to go bass fishing, foraging, and cottontail hunting with my good buddy Nicholas.

Wish us luck.

Keep the old ways alive!

Cottontail Rabbit Tagine

Last month marked the annual opening of rabbit season. Though  jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) are open all year, cottontails (Sylvilagus), brush rabbits (Sylvilagus bachmani) and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) are only fair game during a limited season lasting from July 1st- the last Sunday in January. 

My dog had been anticipating a good cottontail hunt since finals week and I was happy to take her along for the ride!

We started out with a little bluegill fishing. She chased fish after fish until she finally began to tire.

As the sun sank low in the sky, she and I headed out for a rabbit hunt.

Along a bank of grass, bare earth, and coyote brush we spotted a rabbit. I loaded my trusty 12 gauge and we crept in and drew a bead. The shot was true and Abalone ran full speed at the rabbit pinning it to the ground.

She was one proud dog, and I was one proud hunter!

We picked wild fennel from a secret spot to use in our dinner and after sharing an appetizer of liver, heart and kidney’s with my quadrapedal hunting buddy, I set to work on the main course…rabbit Tagine!

Tagine refers to both a suite of recipes from the Middle East, and the dish in which they are cooked. The recipe I settled on used tomato, fennel, lemon, garlic, onion, potatoes, olives, parsley (from my garden), my homemade sea salt, and select spices.

It was fantastic! The meat was so tender and the spices complemented this wild game incredibly well. I certainly hope to make this dish again soon! 

Well, time to get out foraging again. I will have another story for you next week (a tale of spending most of last month at 5,000 ft, deep in the mountains). 

Keep the old ways alive!

Dolmas with Wild Grape Leaves

The figs just started fruiting and as usual I was there to greet them!

A few days later on a successful bass outing I spied some wild grape vines and got thinking. 

Abalone with her bass (she chased it around the creek gnashing her teeth)

Here in northern California, wild grapes grow in such abundance that they will actually cover and kill large trees who cannot compete for vital sun to photosynthesize. As a result I am happy to use the grape vines for material, eat the fruit, and eat the leaves. 

Wild grapes beginning to out-compete some cottonwoods

I can assure you, the leaves of the wild grape are far from unappetizing...they are in fact delicious!
I gathered up a few making sure to select the tender new growth (late spring/early summer is the best time for tender leaves). I was also careful to only gather leaves about the size of my palm (much larger and they're too tough, much smaller and there is simply not enough).

Then after a few minutes blanching in boiling water, the leaves are allowed to cool and are filled with a delicious mix of rice, ground meat, olive oil, and spices.
One simply needs to roll them up like "cigars" and a Greek feast is in the works!

These dolmas were delicious! I will certainly return to the grape patch for more.
Well, the mulberry flush is over, but I tasted some of the first blackberries of the season yesterday. So get out there gathering, head out hunting, and always strive to keep the old ways alive!

Prime Plum Jam

My absolute favorite plum is the Santa Rosa variety. The sweet red-fleshed fruit is balanced by a tart purple skin that makes for a delicious combination!
Every year I look forward to the plum harvest. However, last year I was so caught up with finals week that I completely missed a plum tree right down the block from me. By the time I found it, hundreds of plums lay rotten on the street. I vowed to return the following season and ask the tenants for permission to make use of these delectable fruit.

On a walk with my dog the other day we rounded the corner and I saw we were just days away from a full-on flush of perfect ripe plums. I knocked on the door and asked politely and low and behold, the owner (Sven) told me to "pick as many plums as you want!"
You don't have to tell me twice for the message to get across!
I returned with my dog, a picker, and my friends Nick and Kate and we picked two bags full.

Afterwards we set to work cooking down some plum jam. My grandfather made jam from his Santa Rosa plums every year. Now when I cook the recipe I am reminded of him and the flavor brings me back to being a kid.

Well, I just spied a wild grape vine while bass fishing at the creek. Though the grapes are not near ripe, I have plans for the leaves. I will keep you posted.
Keep the old ways alive!

Apricot Jam Once Again

I have been pretty busy lately but I managed to get out for a half an hour the other day and gathered up a hat full of apricots!

The fruit this year is so sweet and juicy!

I brought my harvest home and cooked it down with sugar and made a small batch of incredible jam.

This is a short report as I have to get back to the books.

After finals week I will need a break...and nothing beats foraging as a way to relax! I will keep you posted.

Keep the old ways alive!

Bluegill by Boat

“I have decided I am calling the canoe The Aluminum Monster”- Me

“Except when she is good to you…then you should call her Sweet D!”- My brother

I had been searching for a used canoe for quite a while. Every time I found one happened to correlate with the time of month when I was short on cash…each boat was sold just before pay day. Finally it happened, I found a used aluminum canoe for $180 in my home town just one day after pay day. I was on it like white on rice! I had been pretty busy with work, so I had my brother check it out as he lives closer to where we grew up. Justin checked it out, bought it for me and stored it for a few weeks in his backyard until I could come by and get it.

We have already got way more than our money’s worth out of it! Andrew and I have landed bass and bluegill like crazy and my girl, dog, and I have spent some great time paddling the local creek.

 Bluegill are small but tasty pan fish!

Andrew with his first bass...14.5 inches!

Whole Bluegill sautéed over onion and garlic butter

I hope to take it out on the lake or down one of our local rivers for a wild pig hunt in late Summer or early Fall.

I will keep you posted.

In the meantime… keep the old ways alive!

End Of the Season Turkey Hunt

"It's fun going hunting with them because they actually know what they're doing!"- Jesse (Alex's girlfriend)

"Well, at least we pretend to!"- Me

My grandfather taught my dad how to hunt, he taught my older brother, and they both taught me. Over the past few months I have had the honor of sharing what I know with my hunting buddies Andrew and Nick. They both took the hunter's safety course and got their licenses quite recently. Over the years my brother and I have hounded our good buddy Alex to get his license. The other day, inspired by one of the rabbit hunting posts where I mentioned Andrew's completion of the course, Alex got certified as well. I was overjoyed when he sent me an image of his hunters safety certificate!

Two weeks ago, Alex and his girlfriend Jesse had a few free days and made it out our way. Lucky for Alex, their visit overlapped with a very productive wild turkey season! A few days before, my brother Justin had called to let me know he had taken a sizable bird and was once again hooked on turkey hunting (see our wild turkey and Eurasian dove post). I invited him along for the weekend hunt as well and soon we were stalking the brush, fields, and forest of our local gobbler spot. Jesse came along for the first evening where we scouted the area finding ample turkey scratches, fresh scat, feathers, and finally two birds that my brother spied with the naked eye over 500 yards away! The next day became a hunt to remember...and I could not tell the story better than our good friend, and brother from another mother, Alex. So in his words, the turkey hunt went like this...

"Just about the only good thing about waking up at four in the morning is knowing you are about to embark on a great adventure. My good friends Kevin and Justin, two brothers who have been hunting with their father since they were kids, took me on my first turkey hunt a few weeks back. The night before, Justin made three wild turkey pot pies from a turkey he shot a week before. 

Kevin brewed his famous and much needed coffee which provided us with the energy necessary to at least get us through to the point of delirium. We piled all our gear into the van and drove to our turkey spot. We geared up and sallied forth down the path where Justin spotted a group of turkeys from 500 yards away the day before. We walked as quietly as possible making sure each step didn't crush a leaf or snap a twig. About five minutes in, a Tom reared its wild and distinct mating call from less than 100 yards away. We were all smiles as we stepped off the path. Justin set up a blind for us, set up the decoy, and Kevin masterfully used a wooden turkey call to “play hard to get” with the Tom.

After several calls, his gobble kept getting more distant and we decided to set up somewhere else. This Tom was also playing hard to get. The next spot was the same story, only this time we started to eat our wild turkey pot pies which was a real life saver.

About five hours after we first arrived, and at our third spot, without a blind but concealed in the edge of the woods, Kevin's calls were starting to attract a Tom who was eager to display his courting techniques. With each call, he came closer and called louder. I had been laying on my stomach because I found this to be the most comfortable position to stay motionless for such a long time, and eventually I started to fall asleep. Then Kevin tapped my leg, and when I looked up about twenty feet in front of me on top of a ten foot high berm, there was the turkey checking out where the “Hen” was calling from. My view of him was between two brushy little trees that were very close together. Still every time Kevin called out, the turkey called back enthusiastically. After trying to decide when would be a good time to shoot, I heard Justin whisper “shoot it Alex.” I shimmied over a few inches to get the turkey halfway between the two trees, drew the bead up to just below his head and pulled the trigger. 

The bird stumbled off, leaving my sight and before I knew if the shot was good, Justin sprinted up the berm... “C'mon Alex, I got him here!” I ran up and saw Justin had tackled the bird down and proceeded to dispatch it with his bare hands. After working as hard as we did, being immaculately careful for as long as we were, the reward was much better than I expected. I thank Kevin and Justin dearly for one of the best adventures of my life." - Alex Izzarelli

You are most welcome buddy! Thanks for sharing the good food!

Until next time,

Keep the old ways alive!