New York State Conservation Council, Inc.

Basic Dry Rub for Jerky
A good way to start your batch of jerky. A little sweet, a little spicy.

For 2 lbs of meat:
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Combine ingredients. Coat meat slices on both sides, cover and refrigerate for 12 - 24 hours before drying.

Homemade Sausage Seasoning Blend
A dry herb blend for giving any ground meat a sausage flavoring. Try this not only with ground pork, but also ground turkey, beef, venison, or chicken. Recipe can be doubled, tripled, etc as needed. Each batch is enough to season 1 pound of meat. Leave out the crushed red pepper flakes for milder. Makes 3 tablespoons.

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 teaspoons paprika
2/3 teaspoon garlic granules or garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, for spicy (optional)

Salmon Gravlax

Preparing this cured salmon delicacy is remarkably easy, but it takes a few days. Play around with the recipe by adding your own blend of herbs, garlic, onions, pepper, spices and citrus fruits. Once cured, the salmon can be refrigerated for a week or two, or tightly wrapped and frozen. Use it on salads, benedicts or as a great appetizer with some mustard sauce and crackers. If you have ever purchased lox-style or gravlax salmon, you will appreciate how thinly it is sliced before packaging. Commercial processors use a multi-bladed instrument to do the slicing. Do not feel bad if your home version is a little rough around the edges. Lox-style salmon is actually cold smoked, but the smoky flavor is much more subtle than traditional American hot-smoked salmon. Gravlax is historically prepared with salt, sugar and dill.

1   2 - 4 lb. filleted salmon side, skin removed
¼ cup Kosher salt
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
1 bunch fresh herbs (dill, tarragon, basil, parsley or mix), chopped
2 each lemon and lime, thinly sliced

Combine salt, sugar and pepper and herbs. Spread one-half of the salt, sugar and herb mixture over the bottom of a glass, plastic or ceramic baking dish. Place the salmon side on top of the mixture. Distribute the remaining mixture evenly over the top of the salmon. Arrange lemon and lime slices over mixture. Cover with a double layer of foil. Put a board on top and about 4 pounds of cans or bricks on the board. Leave in the refrigerator for 3 days, turning the salmon and basting with the juices twice daily. After 3 days, pour off the juices and pat the fish gently with paper towels.

Vodka Glazed Salmon
4 servings

4 - 6 to 8 ounce salmon fillets or steaks
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup Vodka
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup orange juice
1 lemon, juice only
1/4 cup olive oil

Combine pepper, sugar, vodka, soy, garlic, orange juice and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk to blend. While whisking, add oil in a thin stream to emulsify. Place salmon in a glass or plastic container or large zipper lock bag. Pour marinade over salmon and refrigerate 4 to 8 hours. Remove salmon from marinade, pat fish dry with paper towels and air-dry in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Grill fish over medium-hot coals until just-cooked.

Cooking Tip: For a little more flavor, heat the marinade in a saucepan over medium heat until liquid is reduced by one-half. Baste fish with reduced marinade just before removing from the grill.

Rabbit Supreme
2 (2 lb. each) ready-to-cook wild rabbits, marsh rabbits, or 1 (4-5 lb.) domestic rabbit
All-purpose flour
1/4 cup salad oil
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream

About 2 hours before serving: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On waxed paper, coat rabbit pieces with about 1/2 cup flour. In oven-proof 10-inch skillet over med.-high heat, cook rabbit in hot oil and butter or margarine, until browned on all sides. Remove pieces to platter as they are browned.

In drippings, cook onions and garlic until tender (med. heat) -- about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tbsp. flour, salt, and pepper until blended; gradually stir in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Return rabbit pieces to skillet; spoon sauce over pieces. Cover and bake 1 hour and 10 minutes or until rabbit is fork-tender. Remove pieces to warm platter. Stir sour cream into gravy; heat, stirring constantly (do not boil). Serve gravy over rabbit. Makes 8 servings.

Duck or Goose and Wild Rice Casserole
6-8 servings
2 large wild ducks, cleaned
3 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 onion, halved
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 (6 ounce) package long grain and wild rice blend
1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup melted margarine
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups half-and-half
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
½ cup slivered almonds (Optional)

1.   Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large pot; cover with water, and bring to a boil.
2.   Lower heat; cover and simmer 1 hour or until ducks are tender.
3.   Remove ducks from stock; strain stock and reserve.
4.   When ducks are cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; cut into bite-sized        pieces and set aside.
5.   Cook rice by following the package directions.
6.   Drain mushrooms, reserving the liquid.
7.   Add enough duck broth to the mushroom liquid to make 1 ½ cups.
8.   Sauté chopped onion in the melted margarine until tender.
9.   Add in flour, stirring until smooth.
10. Add in mushrooms; cook/stir constantly for 1 minute.
11. Gradually stir in mushroom liquid/broth mixture; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.
12. Stir in duck, rice, half-and-half, and parsley.
13. Spoon into a greased 2-quart shallow casserole dish.
14. Sprinkle almonds over the top.
15. Cover and bake in a 350° oven for 15-20 minutes; uncover and bake 5-10 more minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Bass Cakes
1 pound raw chopped bass fillets 6 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup green onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 Adobo seasoning
3 eggs
1 teaspoons Tabasco Sauce
1 ½ cups bread crumbs
2/3 cups flour
¼ cup water

Heat ½ of oil over high heat. Saute onions, salt, and pepper for about a minute. Add green onions, garlic, Adobo seasoning and cook for another minute. Remove and put in bowl. Cool mixture for a few minutes. Stir in 2 eggs, Tabasco, ¼ cup of bread crumbs. Then add bass meat depending on size of crappie cake. Gently mix the mixture and form into bass cakes. First dip both sides in flour, and bread crumbs then fry about 2 minutes on each side over medium heat.