The hunting season is over. I bet you have some small packages of game meat that you’re not sure what to do with. Here is the answer….a wild game pie.

by Blake Miller

I made several pies yesterday and “re-learned” a few lessons.

• It takes time to put this together, several hours.
• You have to use current jelly – no kidding – and it’s sometimes hard to find at the grocery store. Don’t over do it with the jelly.
• Yep, you can use several meats in one pie. Yesterday I combined duck, chucker, chicken and lamb.
• I used a better quality pastry shell and it is worth the expense. The cheaper pie shells were OK but that is about it.
• Corning Ware single serving/individual casserole dishes (about six inches in diameter) worked nicely.
• If you are going to take the time to cook one batch, you might as well cook three, or four or five…..you’re in the kitchen, make the most of your time.

Game pie should have a tasty crust (fussfreeflavors.com photo)

So here is the rest of the story:

This truly outstanding recipe came from the November ,1996, Food and Drink section from Sports Afield. I paraphrase the following from the article:

“Back in the Elizabethan era, meat pies were created to be the most impressive and lavish of all dishes…Game pies were a way to celebrate the extraordinary variety of birds and animals…The best pies always have more than one kind of game bird or animal baked in them. This recipe is adapted from one served at the Kings Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg.”

When without game, use chicken, turkey or tender beef cuts.

Salt and pepper 1/2 pound (each of cubed venison, duck breast, wild boar or rabbit loin.

Dust with flower then brown in a skillet over medium-high heat in 4 Tbsp of vegetable oil. Remove from skillet.

Saute two slices bacon that have been cut into 1 inch pieces. Remove them from the pan.

Melt 2 Tbsp of butter in the skillet and add 2 diced carrots, 1 diced celery, 10 diced mushrooms and 1/2 cup of blanched pearl onions. Saute for 3 minutes then remove from the skillet.

Lower the heat, stir in 4 Tbsp of flour and cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Raise the heat to medium and add 2 cups of game stock or beef stock….bring to a boil then simmer for 2 minutes.

Return the meats and vegetables to the skillet; add 1 bay leaf and 2 Tbsp of currant jelly (don’t scrimp here). Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Add the mixture to a large casserole dish and top with pastry dough, brush with a wash of 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp of water, cut several vents in the top to allow steam to escape. Place on a pan/sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until the crust is brown. Or, freeze the oven ready pie for serving later.

Blake Miller has made a career out of staying found and knowing where he is at all times. His formal navigation training began when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1973. He served as an officer aboard several Navy ships over his

Blake Miller

twenty-year career; many of those tours included the duty of Navigator. Blake began working with satellite navigation systems at sea in 1976, culminating with the then-new satellite positioning systems aboard the Battleship WISCONSIN in early 1990.

In 1998 Blake started Outdoor Quest, a business dedicated to backcountry navigation and wilderness survival. Blake has taught classes to wild land firefighters, state agency staffs, Search and Rescue team members, hunters, hikers, skiers, fishermen and equestrians. He regularly teaches classes through the Community Education programs at Central Oregon (Bend) and Chemeketa (Salem, OR) Community Colleges.

As a volunteer, Blake teaches navigation and survival classes to students in the local school districts, and conservation groups. He is a member of a Search and Rescue team.

If you have any questions about land navigation or wilderness survival, you can contact Blake through SurvivalCommonSense.com@gmail.com, or you can go to his website.

Contact Information:

Website: www.outdoorquest.biz

Blog: outdoorquest.blogspot.com

Phone: 541-280-0573

Email: outdrquest@aol.com

To hear the Blake Miller interview about choosing a magnetic compass and GPS on SurvivalCommonSense.com Radio, click here.

For more navigation information, click here

Tags | wild game pie