Simple and Delicious: Buck Camp Caviar
Krissie Mason 07.19.17
It’s a good feeling — slicing off a piece of venison summer sausage from a chub for lunch with the pocket knife you got from your grandad. You’re sitting with your feet kicked up on a log, or big rock, out on the trail.
If you’re lucky, a cold cracked beer sits beside you as you hold that small cut of game. Your thumb is pressed against the meat as you bring the blade to your mouth and grab the sausage with your teeth.
I do love the purity and simplicity of communing outdoors that way. But, I also like options — especially ones that offer the value add of marinated cheese curds, hot peppers, olives, pickled garlic, and just about anything else you want to toss in the jar.
Some might call it wild game antipasto, a protein pack, or Lunchables for hunters. I’ve coined the phrase Buck Camp Caviar. It is ridiculously easy to make, and it’s great to toss in the cooler before heading out to camp, or on a summer afternoon fishing trip. Buck Camp Caviar is a healthy and tasty snack. It’s guaranteed to give you energy and will easily tide you over until supper. Even better, it’s a meal made from the day’s harvest.
Note: Special thanks to JJ Reich and Jacob Edson from Vista Outdoor/Federal Premium for sharing their most excellent venison sausage for this caviar!
Method:
Cut up game sausage into bite-sized cubes, then add the following:
- Cheese curds, or chunked cheese cubes
- Hot peppers of choice (pickled, or not)
- Olives
- Pickled garlic
- Assorted fresh herbs such as flat leaf parsley, rosemary, thyme, a teaspoon of pickling spice, or whatever is handy
- Garnish with lemon, orange or lime peel, and green onion
Choose your favorite Italian olive oil based dressing, or make your own easy olive oil dressing, then pour it over the mix in a jar. Seal the jar, pop it in the fridge, then let it sit for at least 12 hours or more. Like I said, simple and delicious!
About the Author: Raised a Minnesota farm-girl in a hunting family, Krissie Mason (below) is an outdoorswoman, food enthusiast, and has been reconnecting with her culinary country roots and family hunting traditions of late. She is the brains and brawn behind Scratch + Holler media, and a regular contributor to several outdoor websites. Krissie fully supports a field-to-fork wild food chain, and especially enjoys expanding pantries and stretching wild game palates with her ambitious and delicious wild game recipes.
