College is never easy – it can get tough while trying to make the grades while earning decent money and not starve to death. You can either obliterate your stomach by eating Raman noodles for every meal, or you can learn to get going when the going gets tough.
Hunting, fishing, and eating wild game can transform your simple college student menu into something much more. You’ll be eating good, feeling good and having a great time while your’e at it. Here are some three wild game recipes to try out.
jack rabbit chilli
Jack rabbits inhabit an enormous amount of states. They are just about everywhere and there are reasonably easy to hunt. Not to mention, they are pretty fun to hunt as well. Many people tend to look down upon jackrabbit meat, but in reality there is nothing wrong with it at all when properly prepared.
I usually use a shotgun, due to their speed, but you can hunt them with anything from a bow to a rim-fire rifle. Once you have you rabbits skinned and cleaned up, bone them out and dice up the meat into small pieces.
After putting the meat in a brine overnight, brown the meat with some diced onions and peppers of your choosing. Add them to a pot on low heat with canned tomatoes, along with as many chilli beans and black bean as you want.
Sometimes I will also add a can of corn into the chilli as well. As for spices, use plenty of chilli powder and cumin. Slow cook this mixture, and you will have a massive Tupperware of jackrabbit chilli that could last you a week.
duck and eggs
This recipe is simple and fairly easy to obtain. All you need is one duck, some eggs, and some toast. Fry up some eggs and put them each on a piece of toast.
Meanwhile, take the breasts off your duck and begin to fry them up in butter or oil. Try to get as much meat from the duck as possible, and if you can, pluck the duck instead of skinning it. If the ducks skin remains on, then more fat will be on the meat. This means the meat will be less lean and gamey. The oil in the fat tastes great, especially on toast with some eggs.
I prefer to pile up the fixings and put plenty of hot sauce on top. If the meat is a little too bloody for my taste, I will go ahead and add plenty of salt and pepper, or maybe even another egg.
To get a few ducks in your freezer, all you need is a waterfowl stamp, a federal duck stamp, and some steel shot shells – this allows a feed of duck meat to be fairly accessible to the college hunter.
wild pork backstraps
Wild boar might be a bit inaccessible to some college students. There are only a few states that are actually populated by wild pigs, but if you go to school in or near one, then chances are you can hunt them. Some great states to hunt pigs in are California, Hawaii, and Texas.
If you can get your hands on a pig, then try this recipe. Cut out the pigs loins – these are the backstraps of a pig. They are much like backstraps you will find on a deer or elk, but these are tender and delicious pork. You can even leave the outer membrane of fat on this cut of meat, because pork fat is very tasty and palatable, unlike deer fat.
Let the loins soak in a marinade overnight – I prefer to use olive oil, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, but any concoction of your favorite marinades will do. Then I apply a dry rub to the exterior of the meat and I also lay thin apple slices upon the top of the loins.
Finally you can go ahead and cook it in the oven at about 375 degrees Fahrenheit, until the meat appears to be cooked all the way through. Usually this takes around 20 or 25 minutes.
Photo credit: Wikimedia
