| Review - Venison Cookbook & HeaterMeals Plus | |
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The Complete Venison Cookbook
Once in a while, something comes along that, for whatever reason, strikes me as mighty impressive. Such is the case with The Complete Venison Cookbook, from Quail Ridge Press.
Now, I'm not a chef, by any stretch of the imagination... I can fry the best bacon you've ever eaten, and I have been known to produce some great gravy to complement our camp favorite (venison nuggets) over the years, but even the gravy's been replaced by canned cream of mushroom soup now -- I'm what you might call a lover of less labor. That said, even I can see the value of a good resource when I see it.
That's exactly what I found when I opened The Complete Venison Cookbook -- a mighty good resource for venison cooks the world over. The author of this book, Harold W. Webster, Jr., really knows his stuff. Not only is Mr. Webster a gifted and well-travelled (and apparently well-versed) chef, but he's a hunter as well. In fact, I don't have the space here to list all of his accomplishments, but suffice it to say that he's been around.
From the shot to the supper table, Webster covers it all in this book. The overriding fact is stated in the first line if the introduction: Venison does not have to taste bad! Covered topics include processing your venison, and recipes range from "Oven-Baked Chevreuil Bourguignonne" (how do you pronounce that, anyhow?) to "Southern Fried Venison Steak with Baked Grits" (ah, something I can both pronounce and identify with!), and just about everything in between.
(photo property of Quail Ridge Press)
Not content with providing a plethora of venison recipes, Webster goes on to provide recipes for marinades, sauces and gravy, side dishes, salads, breads, desserts, drinks and punches, and lagniappe. Whew! Top this off with one of the best and most complete indices (er, that's the plural of "index" for folks like me, who usually say "indexes") I've seen, and an appendix rich with contact information for venison suppliers for the non-hunter (or, dare I say it, the unlucky hunters among us) and butcher supplies, and you have a most excellent resource for the venison cook.
HeaterMeals Plus
While we're on a culinary note, I'd like to mention another item I've had the pleasure of using during the past deer hunting season -- HeaterMeals Plus. Back in November of 1999, I reviewed HeaterMeals on this website, and this past season I once again had the pleasure of trying their products, this time in a "deluxe" version.
The "Plus" in HeaterMeals Plus equates to quite a bit more for your buck, as opposed to "regular" Heatermeals. Included with each meal is a bottle of drinking water and a variety of extra snack-type foods, including but not limited to Gardetto's Snack Mix, bread sticks, Oreos cookies, and pudding "snack packs." The box even has a round cutout to serve as a holder for the bottle of drinking water.
Here's
an image from the HeaterMeals website, showing a meal with its fixin's.
(Photo property
of HeaterMeals Inc.)
As with the previous HeaterMeals, Dad and I consumed them in camp after some hard days' hunting, when we were just too tired to cook, and we were plenty satisfied with them. In my original review, I mentioned that "a hungry man might need a little something on the side," and it appears that the good folks at HeaterMeals have taken that to heart.
Overall, my opinion of HeaterMeals hasn't changed -- they're still a good buy for the money, as an already prepared self-heating meal. HeaterMeals Plus make a welcome addition to the hunters' marketplace, in my opinion, and now they're an even better choice for use in the field, as they bring the "side dishes" and beverage with them. Remember to haul the box and all other trash out of the woods with you, and don't be a litterbug!
-Russ Chastain
