#serves 5

[foodofthewild]

Salmon Risotto

Difficulty: This is the hardest shit I’ve done, Serves 5, 1 hour

Four small pieces of salmon

1 finely chopped small onion

2 cups risotto rice

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine

4 cups chicken or fish stock or vegetable. Take your pick for whatever you have. Reserve 1/4 cup.

Juice of 1 lemon

zest of half a lemon

Chopped parsley to garnish

1tbsp butter

A super quick note about risotto rice. I certainly didn’t go out and buy some for one recipe. Any short grain rice will do. The important thing is that it’s short grain. I think I used sushi rice, haha. Also, taking pictures of this was really difficult. Sorry in advance, I can answer any questions you may have about it.

Cook salmon to your liking. I personally poached the salmon in half a cup of water and half a cup of white wine, and seasoned the fillets with a bit of salt and pepper.

Break up the pieces of salmon to whatever size you want.

Chop that onion. Heat up some olive oil and sautee in a decently sized pot.

Add garlic and sautee until fragrant.

Add rice to toast. I did just enough to get the toasty rice smell, but not enough to like, brown the rice.

Crank that shit up to high and add the wine. Stir until the liquid is reduced by half.

Add the lemon zest and juice. Reduce the heat.

Okay, here is the hard part. Add the stock 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until the rice absorbs it all and is creamy in texture. Stir in each 1/4 cup individually. What I did was I had a set up with the 4 cups, and used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to slowly add the stock. You want to keep it at a very... I guess sticky? texture. If it becomes too wet, leave it for a minute to absorb the liquid. If it’s too dry, it’s time to add more stock. I... tried to get progress pics so you can see how it changes as you add liquid.

This was right at the beginning.

This was about halfway through, a little on the wet side.

This one was toward the end.

Before the rice is completely done, add the peas. If the rice is dry at the end of this, add the reserved 1/4 cup.

Add the butter and mix in. Stir in salmon.

Stir in parsley and salt to taste.

Upper body strength is good for this one. You’ll be standing there stirring in stock bit by bit for a while. But, it does taste really good. It’s creamy and filling and worth the effort. Just... an every once and a while effort.

[guardians-of-the-food]

One Pot Shrimp and Grits

[foodofthewild]

Prime Spiced Meat Skewers

Difficulty: Easy, Serves 4, 40 minutes

Ingredients:

5 Chicken thighs

2 sausages (I used Andouille)

3 bell peppers

1 onion

2/3 cup olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp salt

3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Cut the chicken, bell peppers, and onion into one inch chunks. Throw all of that into a bowl.

Crush the garlic, and mix together everything else but the sausage in a separate bowl. I whisked it to try and get everything mixed.

Also, don’t be a dipshit like me and accidentally drop your camera strap in olive oil.

Anyway, pour the liquid mixture on the chicken and onion and bell pepper. Mix together, and put in the fridge for a minimum of an hour. 

While that’s doing it’s funky thing, if you’re using wood skewers, soak them in water so they don’t burn. Also slice up your sausage and put them to the side.

The knives are just to whole them under the water, haha. Once the chicken is done, take it out and build yourself a skewer making station. I also lined the baking dish with foil so clean up would be easier.

Now stick that stuff on however you like. It can be in a pattern, it could be whatever. I personally tried to make things even so it would all cook evenly.

Pop those in the oven and set the broiler on high. Make sure they are close to the top of the oven. I also made a sauce to have them with, being plain, unsweetened yogurt, grated cucumber, sea salt, and dill.

Flip them half way through. I found about 7 minutes a side worked. Once they’re done, they’re good to go!

I realize now my pictures make it look like I have two tablecloths. I swear I have more. I had mini pitas with them, as well as a salad that isn’t pictured. I put the yogurt on the pita, and then the meat and the onion and the bell peppers. I didn’t find it too hot, but it can be adjusted accordingly!!

[foodofthewild]

Wildberry Crepes

Baking is one of those things that confuses me.

Difficulty: Easy-Medium, 30 minutes, makes 5 crepes

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

2 eggs

3 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp melted butter

Berries, of some sort

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk your egg and flour together. Probably a good idea to take the bowl you’re making your whipped cream in and put it in the fridge. It’ll help later.

Gradually add in the milk. I did about a 1/4 of a cup at a time.

Mix in 1 tablespoon of sugar, the salt, and the butter. Beat until smooth.

Lightly grease a frying pan on medium heat. Pour about a 1/4 of a cup of batter in the pan, and swirl it to make it even.

When cooked on the bottom, flip it.

Let those cool down. Now, take your heavy whipping cream, the rest of the sugar, and the vanilla and put it in a bowl.

Whisk like your life depended on it. Alternatively, use a stand mixer. Whisk until stiff peaks.

Fold your crepes in half so they are half circles. On half of the half circle, alternate lines of berries and whipped cream. I’m using blackberries because I don’t actually like raspberries. I also piped the whipped cream, basically putting it in a piping bag with a tip, and making little swirls.

Now, you can fold the other half on top of the filling. If you want to make it look like the picture, gently roll the half without the filling, and place it on top of the filling near the seam.

These were delicious. Getting the crepes right was difficult, but I got it after about the second one, haha. They aren’t too sweet, and an absolute delight.

[foodofthewild]

Meat Skewers

FOOD ON A STICK. FOOD ON A STICK. FOOD ON A STICK. FOOD ON

Difficulty: Easy, 1 and a half hours, Serves 5

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb Beef chuck roast

Half an onion

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup teriyaki sauce

3 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, minced (or pressed)

1/8 tbsp black pepper

1/4 tbsp ginger powder

1/4 cup honey

Cut your meat into one inch chunks and place in a bowl

Cut your half onion into quarters, and then separate the layers and put them in the bowl as well.

Now, whisk all your other ingredients together.

Seeing all the layers separate before you mix is so cool. Anyway, pour the mixture over the meat, and let it sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. You could even go overnight for this one!

While that’s marinating, if you’re using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them so they don’t catch on fire while you’re cooking. That would be bad.

The knives are purely so they didn’t float. Line a metal baking sheet with foil, and take out your meat.

You want to stick the meat and the onions on the skewer. I like to do onion first, then a few pieces of meat, then onion in the middle, and then meat, and then end with onion. When you’re done with all of your skewers, drizzle the rest of the marinade on the meat. Now is also a good time to put your oven shelf to the second highest placement.

Turn your broiler onto high. When it’s ready (to quote my mother, it’s ready when you see fire coming out of the top of your oven) put the skewers in. Mine were still a bit frozen, so my recommendation is start with 10 minutes, and then if it’s still too rare for your taste, do intervals of 3 minutes. Check often, however, because nothing is worse than overdone meat.

These were amazing. They had a nice char, and the marinate is sweet. It was perfect with some rice.

[foodofthewild]

Gourmet Meat Stew

I have never cooked venison before. This was an experience. You can definitely substitute another meat for it

Difficulty: Medium - Hard, Serves 5, 8.5 hours

1 lb Venison

1/2 an onion

2 cloves garlic

dried oregano

dried basil

thyme

3 stalks celery

3 carrots

1/2 lb of red potatoes

2 teaspoon worshitire

salt

pepper

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup red wine

1 cup beef broth

Cut the meat into chunks.

Heat up a pan and sear the meat on all sides. You don’t want to cook them all the way through.

Throw the meat into a slow cooker. After, chop up the onions, potatoes, celery, and carrots into 1 inch pieces and throw those in as well.

Throw everything else in the pot and give it a mix.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve while hot.

There is more liquid in there, but I always have my stew over bread. This was really good! It was rich, oof. You don’t need a lot to fill you up.