Wild Boar-a perfect meal for the Winter season

   When one mentions the word 'wild boar', one conjures up images of barbarians chasing down angry swine with coarse long hair and sharp snapping tusks that gore through thick brush armed with spears and lots of mead fueled courage.  And the question of who would kill who was up in the air.  This is still true today where wild feral pigs roam the brush lands all across the country and are hunted with handguns, the spears only used by a select few.  Either way, they are the food of kings, knights and modern gourmets who understand that the slightly gamey pork flavor is just, well, simply delicious!  Fortunately you don't have to take your life in your hands to get wild boar anymore, you can simply go to your local specialty store or go online and buy it.  It makes matters far simpler and much safer.

    Mythology has it that originally some 20 Russian Wild Boars were brought over to the United States to provide an exotic animal to hunt on a preserve.  And some of this is true.  The First "Pure Russian" wild boars were brought into the US by an Austin Corbin. They were released into a 20,000 acre enclosure in Sullivan County New Hampshire in 1890.  As prolific breeders, their numbers soon expanded and some got loose where they bred with feral swine and the rest is history.  And they are still being imported to provide game preserves the thrill of a mideval hunt.  In the last fifteen years, there have been at least four different blood lines brought into North America:  The Kalden, San Diego, Bzikot, and Andreas bloodlines.  The Kalden bloodline traces its roots to Poland as does the Bzikot lines.  The Andreas bloodline hails from the Stockholm Zoo.  The San Diego bloodline actually has its ancestry in the Black Forest of Germany and the Chechnyan Republic.  What the Russian Boar added to the genetic mix of local feral hogs is an intelligence and fierceness that is quite formidable.  The Russian wild boars also known as the Razorback are quite different from the normal pigs. They have very thick hair all over their entire body. Another difference is that they grow tusks which, in most cases, can measure up to several inches and are used for self-defense and foraging. 

   So where do you get wild boar if you don't want to hunt them?  Online, here are 2 places where you can buy wild boar.  The first one is Broken Arrow Ranch.  The also have high quality free-range venison and antelope.  http://www.brokenarrowranch.com/?gclid=CKaax5jYyKwCFQoaQgodrnVmqw  The other is D'Artagnon, from which you can get wild boar sausage and prosciutto.  http://www.dartagnan.com/Search.aspx?npp=16&key=wild+boar&CMCID=SEM_G_WildGame_WildBoar&gclid=CPyD5uzYyKwCFQRuhwodfjq0fQ  You can also buy it at Sprouts Farmers Markets.

   Wild boar is also served in fine resturants in all the Urban cities across the country.    

   Try wild boar.  For the Winter season, it adds a Medieval presence to the table that evokes visions of the Black Forest in Germany where kings and knights toasted ladies wrapped in furs before a roaring fire.

                                                       Ground Wild Boar 

I package ground wild boar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup mushrooms

1 cup red wine

1/2 stick butter

salt

   Make into 2 patties and cook over medium heat on pan, preferably cast iron, with enough olive oil to cover the bottom.  Cook to an internal temp of 160-170.  If you don't have a meat thermometer, cook until the juice runs clear.  

   Set aside and deglaze pan with wine.  Add butter, salt to taste, mushrooms and simmer on medium heat for aprox 10 minutes.  Add cranberries and continue simmering until a reduction is reached and the sauce has thickened.  Serve over the meat and serve with baked yams, sweet potatoes or baked potato and choice of vegetable.  Enjoy a small trip back in time!  

Comments

[laurahill]

Hey,Amazing dishes..All the dish looks yummy..I am very excited to try this..Thanks for sharing recipes.
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