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Tasty Bits And Kitchen Tricks
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Eileen Clarke - Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
Tasty Bits and Kitchen Tricks
Eileen Clarke
Rifles and Recipes
This is one of those ‘favorite week-night recipes’ that looks like more work than it is. The onion is in chunks and, while a head of garlic is a lot to skin and slice, it’s easier to do with a mallet. More on that in a sec. Let’s talk Parmesan. We like Parmesan in wedges, not pre-grated, but we don’t grate it either. Instead, we stand the cheese up on a cutting board and take thin slices with a chef’s knife. Faster, easier, and yet it looks fancy on a plate.
That mallet? It’s a one-pound, rubber-headed, kitchen-only mallet I bought ($8) for cutting watermelons down to size, but use more often for garlic. Set the whole head of garlic on a cutting board, lay a chef’s knife flat on top of it (parallel to the cutting board), then give the side of the knife blade a moderate whack with the mallet. If the individual cloves don’t separate from the root, give the head a harder whack. If they go flying all over the kitchen, use a softer touch next time.
Then gather the cloves in a single layer, lay the chef’s knife across them—again on its side—and whack the cloves hard enough that they go flat and the skins burst. Repeat until all the cloves are squished flat, pick off the skins. Give the pile a couple of passes with the knife and you’re done. Each clove cut into 4-5 pieces. Big chunks.
Zesty Italiano
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 pound linguini or your favorite pasta
3 tablespoons oil, in all
1 pound venison burger
1 yellow onion, chopped in big chunks
1 head garlic (half to sauté, half when the basil is added)
14.5 oz can diced tomato*
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons BTB® beef base (reduced sodium)
1/4 cup chopped basil
Parmesan cheese, slivered
*If my tomatoes were ripe, I’d use about 2 cups of diced ripe Romas instead of the canned. But they’re not.
Cooking
1. Put a pot of water on the stove for the pasta, but don’t start it yet. In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the oil on medium-high and when hot, cook the burger in two batches, adding more oil for the second batch. Break it up in the pan and let it cook until just browned. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add a tablespoon more oil to the pan and add all the onion with half the chopped garlic and sauté until the garlic slices are medium brown. Stir the meat back into the pan, then add the can of tomatoes, tomato paste and BTB beef base.
4. When the pan comes to a simmer again, reduce the heat to low and continue simmering, stirring the sauce now and then for about 10 minutes. As the sauce simmers, start the pasta, and cook according to package directions. In the last two or three minutes of simmering, stir the rest of the sliced garlic and all the basil into the pan. Let that cook until the pasta is done.
5. Drain the pasta, spoon the meaty tomato sauce on top, then some slivers of Parmesan with freshly ground black or even red pepper flakes on top. And to drink? An icy cold beer. Preferably a light pilsner rather than a stout!
Check out Eileen’s wild game cookbooks at https://www.riflesandrecipes.com. Hundreds of recipes plus tips for getting your trophy home in the best shape possible. You’ve got to get up early in the morning to beat Mother Nature.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
Image 1 Caption: Zesty Italiano
Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
