Delicacies discovered while cleaning freezer

The work of harvesting a game bird, animal or fish makes the flesh taste sweeter.

The truth in the statement depends upon the amount of work involved in getting the animal from the outdoors to the freezer.

For example the distance from the spot where a big game animal drops after the fatal shot to the butcher shop may require significant effort.

The hunter first tags and guts the animal. The animal may need to be skinned and quartered on the spot, depending upon the size. Next the meat needs to be packed to the vehicle.

Of course the entire process is a part of the hunting experience and each part is enjoyed by most hunters. The excitement of stalking and shooting the animal is obvious. The rest can be viewed as just plain work. Still it is all part of the process.

The lucky hunter shares each step with friends. I am blessed in this manner. I was with a hunting buddy when my deer hit the ground. My tag was notched and the animal gutted when he arrived with the vehicle.

We both participated in the skinning process. Then we did the same for the other three deer downed during the hunting season, as we each held two tags. We both assisted in the butchering of the four deer a few days later.

The ultimate use of the animal, besides just eating the flesh, is to use other parts for other outdoor activities. A prime example is to use hair from the deer to make a fishing fly and to use the fly to catch a game fish, such as a trout.

Hair from elk and moose are used to make flies, as are feathers from ducks, geese, pheasants, grouse, Huns and other game birds.

The meat from my game critters are placed in a FoodSaver bag and the air sucked out. Each package is labeled with the cut of meat and the date. The combination of the FoodSaver and the freezer is the best way to preserve the meat in my book.

The earliest package of meat placed in the freezer should be the next one to be prepared for consumption, of course. However, as diligently as this is followed at my house, some packages become lost within the confines of my freezers.

As a result, I have pulled out a deer roast four years old and found it just as fresh and pleasing as the day it was placed in the bag.

Recently I found a large trout in the back of a freezer shelf. This one was two years old and, because it was very large, it was wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed with tape. A couple of spots of freezer burn were noticed and I chastised myself for not cutting the fish into steaks and using the FoodSaver.

My usual way to prepare a nice-size fish is to either place it on the grill or cook it in the oven. An ample amount of aluminum foil is placed on a cookie sheet, with the trout on top of the foil. Granulated garlic and slices of lemon are placed in the stomach cavity. When fresh dill is available, several pieces are placed on top of the fish. The foil is sealed and the fish is baked until completely cooked.

The older fish was unwrapped and it was decided to cook it without any seasoning and give it to the cats. It came out of the oven and was cooled to the touch.

I began to debone it and tasted the flesh, finding it tasty. Chunks of fish meat were placed in smaller bags and frozen, these to be used for fish tacos, placed on top of green salads and other fish dishes.

Recently I also found an older deer roast in a FoodSaver bag. The exact age will not be revealed in this column. But if a reader were to stop me about town and ask, I will confess. This was a sirloin tip.

My intention was to cook it in a slow cooker; my favorite was to cook wild game meat. Instead it was cut into steaks, a difficult task because it was still partially frozen. The steaks were repackaged and refrozen. The small scraps coming off the roast while cutting the steaks were marinated in a balsamic vinegar salad dressing mixture. The meat was cooked and served over rice.

Four wild turkey thighs were discovered in a back corner of a freezer. They were cooked in the slow cooker with just water. The bones were removed from the thighs when cooled and placed in the Sunbeam Oskar, where they were reduced to fine particles, but not quite powder.

This was returned to the slow cooker and the water, which was now a broth. Diced carrots, potatoes and onions were added, along with frozen peas. Instead of chunks of thigh meat, the meat was pulverized, which added greatly to the dish making a thick broth.

The leftovers, and there was plenty coming from the five-quart slow cooker, were packaged in plastic containers, labeled and frozen. This concoction is delicious served alone or over rice.

All of this talk about food is making me hungry. My evening meal tonight is going to be a green salad with chunks of trout on top, wild turkey soup, a deer sirloin tip steak and a Columbia Basin grown baked potato.

Ah, life is good.