Category: All Purpose

Pressure Cooker Brown Chicken Stock

Alternative version of “Triple Star Roasted Poultry Stock” (see notes at bottom), using raw chickens instead of roasted.

Pressure cookers (both Instant Pot and traditional) are normally very safe, provided you A) don’t overload them and B) LET THE PRESSURE REDUCE NATURALLY when the cook is finished. Overloading the pot or manually releasing the pressure risks big messes and even possible burns.

You can adapt this recipe to a traditional pressure cooker of any size – just be sure the total volume of ingredients does not exceed 3/4 of the pot capacity.

The “Pot Size Quarts” value you enter below is used to calculate the ingredient quantities. The value entered MUST NOT BE LARGER than the size of your cooker – but it can be less if you prefer a smaller batch.

The actual amount of stock produced will be a little over 40% of the total “Liquid” value in the “Pot size Quarts” figure you enter. So if you enter 8 quarts (the maximum for the larger Instant Pot), expect a little over 3 quarts (about 13 1/2 cups) of stock.

If you want a batch less than the max, or are short on an ingredient, simply reduce the “Pot size Quarts” until the ingredients quantities suit your situation or preference. If the ingredient fractions are not “user friendly” (e.g. something like 27/38ths) you can tweak it by adjusting the “Pot size Quarts” with decimals (e.g. 2.458) to make the ingredient fractions easier to follow.

The recipe also works for other style pressure cookers, which come in many different sizes. Simply adjust the “Pot Size Quart” value to reflect the capacity of your pressure cooker (in quarts) and the ingredients will be adjusted correctly.

Venison Breakfast Sausage

Add 1 tsp per ¼ lb of ground meat, and —poof— instant fresh breakfast sausage! Make up a batch of this spice mix ahead of time to use as needed.

Basic Brown Stock

This simple brown stock recipe works with bones and meat from pretty much any type of seafood, game, poultry, or livestock. Click here for a deeper dive into stockmaking.

Poultry Brine

Brining improves flavor, reduces toughness, and adds moisture. Most meats benefit – but lean, tough meats (like game) benefit most of all.For wild birds brining opens up vast cooking options that otherwise may produce dry, tough meat.

Refried Beans

Ok, ok. It’s beans, not wild meat. Hey, it uses venison stock. And it’s so good it’s a perfect side dish for many other recipes.

Cocktail Sauce

It’s sad that many restaurants no longer accompany shellfish like shrimp and crab with this iconic American dipping sauce.  Nowadays what they bring seems bland and sort of pointless, completely lacking “zing”.    Yeah, I get it. Shellfish flesh has a delicate flavor. And there Read More …

Poultry Stock

Works best with wild birds like turkey, pheasant — or even a big mess of quail. PLEASE do not just “breast ’em out” and toss the rest. Those bones and meat are a first-class ticket to great stock!

Moose Munch

OK, it’s not wild game. It’s hard to work game into desserts. Besides, it does have “Moose” in the name. You could use it to say “OK kids, eat all your venison and daddy will make moose munch.”

If popping your own from kernels, keep in mind that freshness matters — Not because popcorn kernels go bad, but because over time they lose some of the moisture they need to pop properly. If it’s been on the shelf for a year just buy a new batch.

Preparing Poultry for Stock

When boning out whole processed grocery store chickens, the weight ratio of what you are left with (not counting giblets & neck if included) will be about 52% boneless meat, 20% skin and 28% bones.

So, for instance, to wind up with 12 lbs of bones you may need over 40 lbs of poultry.

Game birds may have different ratios, but not dramatically so. You may just have to keep track – and if you have too little for the size batch you want, you can always supplement with chicken.

Whether wild or store-bought, save the skins| Roasted then crumbled into the stockpot they add tremendous flavor. And for commercial chickens or turkeys, it lets you harvest much of the fat. Of course with wild birds that means you need to do a thorough plucking job… which can be a big hassle.

Normally the limiting factor for the number of “Servings” you are looking for is either the weight of bones you have available, or the capacity of your stock pot.

So fiddle with the pot size below until you come up with a number that is both a) not bigger than your biggest pot and b) not more bones than you expect to use. All of the other ingredients will fall into line.

Some of the boned meat will be called for in the stock recipe. It will be mostly leg meat, wings and if necessary some of the boneless thighs or breasts – depending what you prefer to keep for other purposes.

If starting with whole birds you’re likely to have a lot of boneless meat left over – plan in advance for how you want to use it. When done processing the birds, I salt the extra meat (dry-brining … google it), then vacuum seal in meal-size packages and freeze. It will partially dry-brine as it freezes, then the process completes when thawed for cooking. It’s super convenient – and dry-brined poultry is outstanding (adjust any salt in your recipes to allow for the salt you’ve already put in the meat). It’s more chicken than I normally need to have handy, so I share it with friends, neighbors or relatives.

Some stock recipes (including mine here) call for adding chicken feet for body. I always do that, but you can get a similar result with unflavored gelatin (google is your friend). If you don’t plan to save the wings (you monster!) they add some gelatin/body to your stock. Of course dry-brining and freezing the wings leaves a nice treat within easy reach.

If money is no object, try to get free-range or “pastured” birds. They get much more exercise, which builds up more cartilage and bone structure – which leads to better broth. But they are generally much MUCH more expensive than factory-farmed chickens. Making a big batch can be quite costly.

Chipotle Mayo

A spicy, delicious condiment that makes things pop!

Pickled Red Onion

A versatile condiment — limited only by your imagination. It’s native home, however, is the taco.

Sausage Stuffing/Dressing—with some tricks!

This is a fairly standard stuffing/dressing recipe, but with some tricks that make a difference: Use schmaltz (rendered poultry fat) instead of butter. Reserve 1/3 of the celery raw until final mix before the oven step (adds crunch). Don’t brown the sausage crumbled. Form it Read More …

Working man’s Mai Tai

This is not the “ultimate” Mai Tai, an endlessly elusive target — the pursuit of which can be complex and expensive (though always fun).  The google offers endless ratholes to join that merry chase.  But this tasty recipe is fast, easy & cheap, kind of Read More …

Russian Dressing

For venison Reubens, etc. Less “meh” than Thousand Island.

Caesar Salad

It is NOT hard to make excellent Caesar Salad! The big secrets to making it “pop” are anchovies, good fresh crisp romaine, and properly emulsified dressing. The other ingredients are important too… but those three are where most people take shortcuts that make the result Read More …