Recipes

Story and photos by Renae Blum The tree sap begins to flow. It looks — and almost tastes — like water. But, after being boiled for an hour, it reduces into what Dan Hejl calls “liquid gold” — syrup he collects himself. It’s a tradition Hejl looks forward to every year. The Pleasant Dale, Nebraska, man collects sap from the same woods he hunts in, and gifts landowners with a jar of the highly prized black walnut syrup. Black walnut …

By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes Ingredients: • 1 pound of venison stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but cold • Salt and freshly cracked pepper • 4 tbs. all-purpose flour, separated • 1 pound of baby bella mushrooms, quartered • Cooking oil • 1 medium onion, chopped • 1 medium to large carrot, peeled and large diced • 2 anchovy filets packed in …

They strike often. They fight hard. They are easy to clean and cook. They are wonderful to eat and have tremendous health benefits! THEY are stocked rainbow trout in Nebraska waters. A hooked, pan-sized, stocked rainbow trout puts up a fight as it nears the shoreline of the Nebraska state recreation area lake. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. A major asset along with many of its excellent qualities as a cold-water game fish is the fact that …

By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Mulberries should be peaking right now, and one of my favorite ways to eat them is in a muffin — or two. A couple hints on using mulberries: One, collect a combination of ripe and unripe berries for better flavor; ripe mulberries are sweet, but flat-tasting, and the acidity of unripe berries will improve the end result. Two, mulberries are so delicate that they can be a pain to handle. Forget about trying to remove the stems …

Recipe by Kim Rutten, Edited by Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Ernie was Kim and Ben Rutten’s mother, who prepared the family’s favorite meal of fried and steamed snapping turtle before her passing in 2018. Below, Kim shares her mother’s recipe the way it was taught to her. To read Jenny’s story on the Rutten family’s tradition of hunting turtles, visit: https://magazine.outdoornebraska.gov/2022/06/the-turtle-family/ The season for snapping turtles is year-round, with a bag limit of five turtles and possession limit of 10. Ben Rutten …

As I glance around my Omaha yard from the mailbox, my eye catches bright yellow blots dotting the front lawn. Hmmm … I know this plant. I know its flowers. I know its leaves. And I can eat them. All of them! What is it? Why, it is the dandelion, of course! No, don’t stop reading the blog, stay with me here, please. Look, I know the dandelion is the scourge of yards, lots, flower beds, gardens and fields this …

Topside photo of a dryad’s saddle, a.k.a. pheasant’s back or hawks wing, in Nebraska. Photo by Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Hey, what’s that mushroom? Hmmm … Wonder if it’s edible? Along with finding and picking morel mushrooms, there is another edible wild fungi growing in your moist woodlands that you should know and consider harvesting and making for dinner — the dryad’s saddle. Dryad’s saddle? The dryad’s saddle (Cerioporus squamosus, formerly known as Polyporus squamosus), and referred to as …

If you’ve been to a sushi restaurant, then you’re likely familiar with miso soup. Miso is a Japanese seasoning made of fermented soybeans, salt and the fungus koji. Find it in the refrigerated section, sold as a thick, yellow-brownish paste stored in small tubs. Although miso’s main flavor is salty, it also can be nutty, earthy, savory and slightly sweet. And its uses far exceed just soup. White miso enhances flavor wherever it’s added and is not overpowering. For this …

As a conservation professional, I get sick and tired of people calling snow and Ross’s geese nasty nicknames and saying that they are downright unfit to eat. Look, they are not “sky carp,” “rats with white feathers,” or “trash birds.” No, not by a long shot! Your blogger displays snow geese harvested during a recent Light Goose Conservation Order hunt in south-central Nebraska. Photo courtesy of Greg Wagner/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. They are classified as light geese — snow …

The Hardest Part is Deciding Which Flavor to Make Of all the outdoorsman’s food groups, trail mix, sausage and salami are good, but jerky is the best in my book. Packed with protein and low in fat, it’s just enough to get you through a long morning in the deer stand or waterfowl blind. In a pinch, it can even double as a meal. Heart doctors might frown at the amount of salt it contains, but aside from that, it’s …