Food has always been an important part of the F-Troop Camp experience. One of the great pleasures of getting away from home is to indulge in a few thousand calories of delicious meals at camp.
We like to cook out back at the fire pit on summer evenings, especially with venison steaks and chops. We slice the meat into stew-sized portions, marinate it for 24 hours and then just toss the bite-sized delicacies onto the fire pit rack and pick them off one by one, according to our individual “rare” to “well-done” tastes. Combine that main dish with some fire-roasted corn-on-the-cob, fresh salad, friendly conversation around the campfire and perhaps a sip of mountain brandy, and the informal dining experience is priceless. We sit out there and snack and chat for hours.
We also do a lot of slow-cooking when we’re gone for the day in the forest, fishing or hunting. We have excellent crock pot recipes for venison, grouse and even rabbit or squirrel. We set the crock pot on low and head out into the woods, knowing we’ll savor the sweet aroma of a well-prepared meal when we return. We also keep a meat smoker at camp, which we sometimes set up on the front porch, where we’ll smoke a leg of venison or a large salmon all day long.
But sometimes we disdain the easy way out and decide to spend hours at camp preparing more complicated dishes, such as Beautiful Gary’s Homemade Vegetable Soup, Billy’s Ground Venison Cowboy Beans or my own Venison Meatball Splash.
Perhaps our best cook at camp these days is Todd “Queen” Puleo, who accidentally wandered into a restaurant ladies room during his first visit to camp 12 years ago and earned the nickname he carries to this day.
Todd has agreed to share his two favorite recipes, “Stir Fry Venison with Broccoli” and “Todd’s Italian Venison Meatballs,” both brought to you straight from the Queen’s kitchen and detailed below. Enjoy!
Stir Fry Venison with Broccoli
Ingredients
´´ 1 pound thinly sliced venison steaks or chops.
´´ 1 teaspoon sesame oil (or olive oil).
The marinade
1/4 cup of soy sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon sugar.
To Prepare
Mix marinade ingredients in a glass bowl and add venison. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator 2 to 4 hours. Heat wok (or non-stick skillet) over medium-high heat and add sesame oil. Cook marinated venison in hot wok 3-5 minutes. Serve with steamed rice and broccoli. Serves four.
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Todd’s Italian Venison Meatballs
Ingredients
´´ 1 pound ground venison.
´´ 1 large egg, beaten.
´´ 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs.
´´ 1/4 cup dry red wine.
´´ 2 tablespoons milk.
´´ 1 tablespoon parsley.
´´ 1 small finely-chopped onion.
´´ 1/2 teaspoon salt
´´ 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
´´ 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
To Prepare
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and evenly incorporate. Form into meatballs and bake on a non-stick baking sheet for 30 minutes. Place meatballs into a pot of red pasta sauce and let simmer until ready to serve.
Trail Notes: Paperback copies of my new book The F-Troop Camp Chronicles are on sale at the Book Rack, Daffin’s Candies, Copyland, Greenville News, Courthouse Square Dry Goods Co in Mercer, Allied News and CDS Sporting Goods in Grove City and Neshannock Creek Fly Shop in Volant. For mail orders or limited edition signed and numbered hardcovers, contact me directly at the numbers below.
Don Feigert is the outdoors writer for THE HERALD and the ALLIED NEWS. He can be contacted at 724-931-1699 or dfeigert@verizon.net. Visit his Website at www.donfeigert.com.
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Venison dishes from the Queen's kitchen
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
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It has been the premier youth tournament for decades and some of the top players ever to come out of this area have participated. But you don’t have to be a great young golfer to take part. It’s a wonderful opportunity for every youngster to get a free round of golf on a great course, which is in immaculate shape this season. -
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Hickory High Athletic Director Barb Dzuricsko recently announced that a total of 213 students (grades 9-12) earned Don McKay Scholar-Athlete awards.
To be eligible, students must maintain an A (93 percent or higher) grade-point-average through the academic year’s third 9-week grading period and compete in a PIAA-sponsored sport.
A total of 375 students competed in athletics this past year, Dzuricsko noted, meaning almost 57 percent qualified for the McKay Scholar-Athlete Award. Since the award’s inception, this is the highest total number of students to earn the honors, she reported. -
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RECENT HICKORY High alumna Rosy Hearns will continue her education and golf careers at the State University of New York-Albany. Hickory links coach Craig Antush said Hearns recently signed a letter-of-intent.
Hearns’ Hickory career concluded as one of the finest on the links — male or female — in Mercer County annals. -
Bowlers compete in Senior Games
The bowling portion of the annual Mercer County Senior Games was held Wednesday at Grove City Bowlodrome. That followed horseshoes and shuffleboard competitions earlier in the week.
Following is the rest of the schedule: -
COLLEGIATE NOTEBOOK: Ex-Hickory great Richards has great spring track season
FORMER HICKORY HIGH standout Morgan Richards enjoyed a successful spring season for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte track & field team. The female 49ters won the Atlantic 10 Conference outdoor track & field team title.
“Morgan kept her stride as she transitioned into the outdoor season, running top times in several events among (Atlantic 10) freshmen and on Charlotte’s all-time top 10 lists,” assistant coch Edwin T. Schlichter wrote in a recent e-mail to The Herald. “Morgan finished just one spot (9th) out of scoring at the 2013 A-10 Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase, despite this being her first year ever attempting the event, and running 11:02.22 which was 2nd among all freshmen in the A-10 and 5th all-time for UNC-Charlotte.” -
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EVERY YEAR we receive a photo from the Hermitage School District of a group of student-athletes that I am thrilled to receive and run in the paper.
The photo is of Hickory High School “tri-athletes,” boys and girls who participate in sports during each of the fall, winter and spring seasons. But there is more to it than that. Each of these athletes also must maintain an 85 percent B average during the first three 9-week grading periods of the year. -
TIDBITS: Scurpas make college choices; Matthews, Norris, Bonner part of great Clarion recruiting class; Lewis earns national medal
SHARPSVILLE HIGH volleyball standouts Kristen and Paige Scurpa, who are cousins, will continue their education and athletic careers at California University of Pa. and Penn State-Behrend, respectively.
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Sharpsville falls in D-10 title game
SLIPPERY ROCK — Monday was a pretty good day for Saegertown High School.
Just mere hours after the Lady Panthers won the District 10 Class A softball championship, the Saegertown baseball team (19-2) captured its third straight D-10 Class AA title with a convincing 10-3 victory over Sharpsville (15-6) at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
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STATE TRACK NOTEBOOK: WM seniors leave legacy of greatness
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According to available archives at The Herald, only the 1954 boys’ basketball team and Coach Bob Morris’ boys’ cross country team from earlier this decade previously had won commonwealth crowns. -
Allen wins 4 gold medals to lead WM to PIAA team title
SHIPPENSBURG — Clay Allen said he had to explode out of the starting blocks for his 100-meter dash showdown with Hickory’s DeShawn Coleman. But Allen — all afternoon — was getting the jump on his competitors during the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships.
By approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Shippensburg University, Allen annexed 4 gold medals — 100- and 200-meter dashes, long jump, and as part of the sprint-relay. The workload West Middlesex High’s senior exhibited enabled the Big Reds to record the Class AA commonwealth crown. - More Sports Headlines
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
