Of all the game meats, wild turkey is by far my favorite. I love making wild turkey nuggets—small chunks rolled in egg and covered in Italian breadcrumbs, then fried. Yum! But lately, I’ve been looking for new, healthier ways to cook my turkey harvest. I decided to try making crockpot turkey tacos. Good decision, because they were delicious…and super easy!

What you need:

• 1-1/2 lbs. wild turkey breast meat
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. minced garlic (can replace with 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
• 16 oz. of your favorite salsa
• Optional: 1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes*
• Optional: 1/2 cup water

*I like spicy food, so I use a mix of dried cayenne and habanero peppers. You can substitute with red pepper flakes, or eliminate for less spice.

Instructions:

• Place whole chunk of wild turkey breast in crockpot
• Mix all dry ingredients together in small bowl, then sprinkle onto turkey breast
• Pour salsa over turkey; if the salsa is extra chunky, add water
• Cook on low 5-6 hours (or high for 3-4 hours)
• Before serving, use two forks to shred the meat and stir all ingredients together

Serve immediately with desired taco toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado or guacamole, lettuce, tomato, hot sauce, rice, corn, etc. There are so many options, and you can personalize it to whatever you prefer.

Ingredients can be adjusted to your personal tastes, or you can also use store-bought taco seasoning in place of the listed dry ingredients (I prefer to make my own to eliminate the salt and preservatives).

Sarah Honadel is an avid outdoors-woman from Kentucky who enjoys hunting turkey, deer and elk. She is a Team Member at Huntress View and Brand Champion for ReelCamo Girl, two organizations that work to support, encourage and empower women in the outdoors. Follow her on Instagram @waddysarah and @arrowridgecreations.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground venison

¼ cup half and half

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 medium white onion – finely chopped

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 large eggs

1/4 cup dried parsley flakes

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

This recipe is by far the best wild game recipe I’ve ever tasted!  I must preface this by saying that up until a few of years ago, I was actually a vegetarian.   Not because I was trying to save the animals.  I did it because I just didn’t care for meat.  However, what I realized when I met my husband, who is a hunter and ultimately the one whom got me into hunting as well, is that what actually bothered me about meat is that I didn’t always know where the meat from the grocery store had come from.  I was growing a few veggies in my backyard, and purchasing the rest through a farmers market or local CSA.  So I have always been aware of where my food came from; but the meat remained a mystery.  Then along comes hunting.  The first time my husband brought a whitetail deer home for us to process I started asking questions.  I began cooking it for my family and realized my kids could never tell the difference between ground venison and ground beef.  Thus began my journey in creating wild game friendly recipes.

Now I am extremely picky with how my food tastes.  I do not like having a gamey taste to it at all.  This meatball recipe is so perfect.  Every time I make it, it gets better and better as I modify ingredients.

Begin by preheating your oven to 425 degrees and coating the bottom of your 9×12 baking dish with olive oil.  Next, place 1 pound of ground venison in a large mixing bowl.  Add ¼ cup half and half (regular milk works as well, however I have not tried this recipe with dairy substitutes) and then set this bowl aside.

In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  Add 1 diced onion and 3 tablespoons of chopped garlic to the skillet.  Be sure to dice your onion into very small pieces.  Saute until the onion is clear.  I tend to like a lot of onion, so this may look like more than 1 medium onion. Never enough onion or garlic in my house!

Then, add the onion mixture to the ground venison bowl.  Add 2 eggs, ¼ cup dried parsley flakes, ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and 1 teaspoon oregano to this same mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste.  You are now ready to mix with a wood spoon or your hands. I typically use my hands, but am careful for the hot onion/garlic mixture.  Don’t burn your fingers!

Using the same medium skillet as you cooked the onions (as you can see in the photo I do not clean out the skillet), add 2 tablespoons olive oil and turn on heat to medium.  Roll meat mixture into 1” diameter meatballs.  Don’t look to close at mine.  They are never perfectly round because my kids are always starving.  Place meatballs into heated skillet; browning on at least 2 sides.  You are not cooking them all the way through, just browning the edges.  This makes the outside of the meatballs yummy and slightly crispy.  Once you have browned the meatballs on 2 sides, place meatballs into your greased baking dish.  Bake 20 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes.

My husband and I tend to eat them plain (that’s how good they are) or dipped in barbecue sauce.  My kids like to put them on Hawaiian rolls with cheese and barbecue sauce.  Either way, I think you will love them! Enjoy!

By Tammy Bashore

Tammy Bashore is an outdoor enthusiast from South Dakota. She is a professional photographer, the wife of a professional walleye angler and the mother of 2 kids, plus one fur baby, a GSP named Bentley (pictured above). Tammy is also a member of the Huntress View team, an organization formed to help strengthen the ever growing community of women hunters.

It’s that time of year again, where we sit down with family and celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a time to reflect on all that we are thankful for. For a hunter, this includes the memories in the field and the wild game that was harvested. In my opinion, there’s no better time than Thanksgiving to serve wild game. If you prefer a more non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner, here are a couple of simple recipes to try that you and your family are sure to appreciate.

The main course and side is a dinner kit from Hunter Gatherer Game Dinners.

[Main course]

Seared Venison with Red Wine Chocolate Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz. venison, elk, buffalo, filet mignon or rib eye steak (I prefer venison filet mignon)
• You’ll need to buy:
  • 2 oz. pancetta or Italian bacon
  • 1 – 8 oz. can low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 1 cup Red Wine
• There are seasonings for the meat in individual packets labeled with numbers, as well as step-by-step instructions so it’s super easy to make!

[Side]

Wild Rice with Cranberries

• The wild rice and cranberries are also included in this kit, along with preparation instructions.

[Dessert]

Persimmon Bread

Most know that deer love to eat persimmons, but have you ever tried one? If you’ve ever tried one before they are ripe you probably think cooking anything with persimmons sounds like a bad idea, as they are awfully bitter. But once they turn ripe they are sweet and are great to use for pies, breads, cakes and cookies. Once they turn a purple/gray color and get soft they are ready for picking, usually after the first couple of frosts.

This recipe is my pumpkin bread recipe, but I swapped the 15 oz can pumpkin for 15 oz of persimmon pulp. To me, ripe persimmons taste very similar and have the same consistency as a pumpkin. To get the pulp you will want to smash the persimmons into a bowl through a cone shaped collander, this way you don’t get the skins or seeds in the pulp. We picked these and after smashing all of them through the collander we probably have about 4-5 cups of persimmon pulp. I put the pulp into zip-loc baggies, about 2 cups per baggie, and store them in the freezer until ready to use for cooking.

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2/3 cup water
• 15 oz persimmon pulp