Since we are watching movies where people get shot up as easily as animals, I figured that posting a recipe by people who actually hunt for their food seemed to fit. I come from a family of hunters, fishers, farmers and gardeners so I was taught how to hunt by my father and uncles when I was a kid. While we usually went after smaller stuff like quail (and I'm talking real quail hunting, not that rich guy bullshit that Dick Cheney was doing when he shot his friend the face), most serious hunters do go after deer. I had one cousin that hunted--successfully--deer with a bow! His family was always sharing their frozen game with the larger family and I loved getting these wonderful gifts!
VENISON PORCUPINE MEATBALLS
These contain no actual porcupine, and can be made with any kind of ground meat, the "porcupine" part comes from mixing in equal quantities of rice. Recipes for these liter game cookbooks, but the other source where they show up in great abundance is in Native American cookbooks, and they seem to have a native origin. As far as I can trace, they are an Anishanabe (Ojibwe) thing. And it makes sense, they lived in woodlands abundant in two things: Whitetail Deer and Wild Rice. So it's reasonable to deduce their origin coming from there. They also betray some Swedish origins in the Midwest as well. This recipe actually comes from a game book and is also a native cookbook. Entitled Native Indian Wild Game, Fish & Wild Foods Cookbook and put together by the Metis community at Lovesick Lake in Canada, which means they have close ties to the Ojibwe (and a good deal of the proceeds of the book went to projects for Ojibwe kids). The rice here, though is just regular rice, substitute the native Wild Rice. I wrote some stuff about wild rice on my native food blog in October, if interested, you can find the posts here and here. Oh, and I should mention, just for the heck of it, this book does actually have recipes for cooking porcupine!
1 lb venison burger
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup onion, chopped (fine)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cups extra water
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1. In a mixing bowl, mix together the meat, the rice, onion, salt, celery salt, garlic powder, add in the 1/2 cup water and mix well. Form into balls.
2. Heat a skillet you will need to add into some fat (it's your choice) then brown the meatballs evenly, then drain the fat.
3. Mix all the remaining ingredients while the meatballs are frying. Pour this into the drained skillet and cook for around 45 minutes. Note: you may need to add extra water while cooking
Variations:
It's pretty easy to imagine variations on something as simple as a meatball recipe. I already mentioned that any kind of ground meat, including poultry. And substituting the Asian white rice for native wild rice.
You can increase the the garlic powder, or use minced garlic.
Add in extra seasonings, like spices. Cinnamon, allspice or cloves work. Or add some dried aromatic herbs like savory, marjoram or oregano. Some cooks like rosemary. Bays leaves can be added to the cooking liquid.
Add some dried fruit like Craisins to the tomato base. Or add in some cranberry sauce or fruit jam.
Substitute broth for the water in the recipe. Or add eggs to keep the mixture together. Etc.
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