Pheasant and Moose and Bear ... Oh My!

So it has been a year since I was pestering a friend of mine to invite me to his gun clubs Wild Game Dinner, I have never hunted nor have I had allot of Game meats and in my efforts to try new things in 2014 I really wanted to go and it finally has arrived. 

 It was a 4 course meal starting with a Raw bar of assorted seafood and shellfish and some greens. Being allergic to shellfish I had to stir clear of this one.
 Course number 2 was delicious. I started out with some Bear meat, that was in my opinion a tad bit on the dry side, but extremely tender. Then came the Elk that was lean and tasted just like steak, Breaded Pheasant with wild rice and Cranberries, a Moose casadia followed by some Venison. My favorite was the Bear meat and the Elk. my least favorite was the Pheasant, I think it was the coating and the cranberries that did it for me. The Moose had too much onions in there so in my opinion it did not give you a good sense of what moose would taste like.

 Course number 3 was just as wild (pun intended). I had Fried Alligator nuggets, Venison and garlic, Pheasant cornbread Potpie, Pheasant stir-fry, and Wild Boar in a gravy and steamed muscles. My favorites out of this group was the wild boar, very tasty, not real gamey tasting and very tender. The Pheasant stir-fry was another standout in this course. least favorite was the Alligator nuggets, they were over cooked and dry, you couldn’t tell you were eating alligator or chicken. The Pheasant pot-pie was interesting, but lacked something and the cornbread made it dry.

 Course 4 I had the pleasure of trying Wild Turkey with rice, Venison Tips in gravy, More Wild Boar this time in a orange sauce, Venison Ribs, Venison Chili with beans and a wild greens salad with a light vinegar dressing. I liked the greens, but hated the sweet vinegar dressing, it was just way too sweet and threw off the flavor of the greens. The standout in this group was the Venison ribs they were cooked perfect and you could taste how lean the meat was, it was outstanding. The Venison chili was ok but spice over did the flavor of any meat. The Venison tips were good as well you knew you were not eating steak but it was close and it was cooked excellent just enough without drying it out. I though Wild Turkey would have tasted different from what I get at the market, but it didn’t it tasted like Turkey and that was it. The wild boar was very nicely cooked and just tasted like a roasted pork, very nice.

 I had a great time and I have to say I will start pestering my buddy next week to go the the dinner next year as well. Not that I would pick up hunting or anything like that because I am not that kind of a man that has that ability to do so …Yet, but I will admit that there is something to the free-range mentality and the whole organic meats eating way of existing that appeals to me.

 

I am sorry there were not more photos, But I was Hungry, The man with the Skunk on his head is one of my friends Dan, don’t ask about his fingers he was hungry too! Thanks for reading see you next time