Duane Radford | Article and Photos

As temperatures dip with the onset of winter , a person ’ s body starts to crave calories . Dishes high in calories can be served up in delicious comfort-food meals featuring fish , wild fowl , and game — mouth-watering chilis , fish in wine sauces , grilled waterfowl with apple jelly , cranberry or maple syrup reductions and sauces , tangy meat loaves and internationally flavoured meat pies , spicy venison meatballs , tasty Asian stir fries , tender pot roasts , delicious grilled steaks with local berry sauces ( blueberry in particular , chokecherry , and saskatoon ), and hearty stews .

When I first started my Alberta Outdoorsmen recipe column , I adapted most of my recipes from cookbooks of European or North American genre ; they generally featured only a few seasonings such as thyme , sage , or savory along with salt and pepper that are the western restaurant standards . British recipes are far better than popular belief , often very flavourful . In China “ five spice powder ” would be on the table in virtually every restaurant , along with salt and pepper . Over the years , I branched out into recipes from Asia , Latin America , and the Middle East that tend to feature mouth-watering flavour bombs .

I learned the hard way that not all cookbook authors and recipe columnists are honest . Some recipes have weird seasoning combos , erroneous cooking temperatures and times , and incorrect ratios of marinade ingredients . I ’ ve tested all my recipes to get them right and you can take that to the bank . Keep your guard up for bogus recipes , especially online , which are not subject to peer review .

Waterfowl ( in particular ) are aligned with national recipes such as China ’ s Peking Duck . France boasts Roast Duck à l ’ Orange .

Both of these iconic recipes are truly incredible gourmet dishes . Roast Duck with Port – Garlic Sauce is another tasty recipe of international prominence . Wild ducks and geese have dark meat . They ’ re not at all fatty . They can be substituted for domestic ducks in many international recipes ; however , wild ducks shouldn ’ t be cooked as long as domestic ducks .

Upland birds are well-suited for many recipes from the Middle East for chicken , such as Moroccan Spiced Grouse Breasts and Butter Grouse Curry .

There ’ s some history regarding mouthwatering fish , wild fowl , and game dishes . For example , various European countries have a distinct way of preparing a stew , whether it be England , France , Germany , Italy , or Poland . Poland has a national stew called Bigos that features venison while Hirschgulasch is Germany ’ s signature venison stew . Some of these stews can be made into soup simply by adding more water .

Roast Duck à l ' Orange

There are a lot of unique Canadian recipes for fish , wild

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