Eats, Writes, and Leaves » recipes

Wild Boar Marinade #2

lizhamillscott — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:28:36 +0000

Here’s the marinade I used on the wild boar backstrap, which Daymon cut into chops, then grilled.

3 and 1/2 cups apple cider (non-alcoholic, non-sparkling)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
About 18 sprigs green herbs (oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, white culinary sage–pick your favorites)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 wild boar backstrap, cut into two pieces

Mix all marinade ingredients in a liquid cup measure or bowl. Put each half of the backstrap into a gallon-sized ziplock bag. Pour 1/2 of the marinade carefully over the boar into each bag. Seal each bag. Squish the bag around to distribute the marinade.

Refrigerate the marinating boar for 48 hours.

Wild Boar Marinade #1

lizhamillscott — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:27:47 +0000

Last week my uncle was kind enough to share some ultra-fresh wild boar meat with me. I got a backstrap and 7 pounds’ worth of roasting meat. I cut the roast in half and froze about 4 pounds.

The rest of the roast went into this marinade and stayed there for 48 hours before being grill-roasted:

Hearty Red Wine Marinade for Wild Boar

2 and 1/2 cups cabernet sauvignon
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
12 black peppercorns
3 whole cloves
6 allspice berries
1 sprig fresh rosemary
6 leaves fresh sage
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 sprig fresh marjoram
2 sprigs fresh thyme

3-4 pounds wild boar roast

Add all ingredients to a bowl or cup measure and stir to mix vinegar and wine with herbs and spices.

Put the boar meat, untied, into a gallon-sized sealable plastic bag. Carefully pour the marinade into the bag. Make sure that all the herbs and spices get into the bag with the meat. Seal the bag and squish it around to distribute the marinade around the meat. Put the bag of boar into the refrigerator. Once or twice per day, squish bag and return it to the refrigerator.

Cooking method and backstrap marinade coming soon…

Recipe: Champagne Refrigerator Pickles

lizhamillscott — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:59:09 +0000

I got several requests for pickle recipes on FB, and these were the most popular of the lot at the 4th of July BBQ. So without further ado:

Super-Quick Champagne Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients:

4 med cucumbers (about 8-12 inches long), peeled and cut into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup champagne vinegar
1 sprig oregano
1 sprig marjoram
3 sprigs thyme
3 sprigs lemon thyme
1 sprig savory
about 1 teaspoon ground sea salt (or to taste)

Procedure

Put half the cucumber rounds into a medium sized resealable container. Sprinkle with 1/2 the vinegar and some of the salt. Add the herb sprigs. Spread the rest of the cucumbers on top of the herbs. Add the rest of the vinegar and salt. Seal the lid tightly onto the container, and shake well.

Refrigerate the pickles for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days before serving.

Note: These tasted surprisingly good after only a couple of hours marinating. Pick your favorite herbs to create your own flavor variations. I may add a couple of cloves of crushed garlic to my next batch.