An old high school buddy recently hosted a boys’ weekend at his farm in Virginia. We spent two glorious days fishing, cooling off in swimming holes, and sipping whiskey at sunset. Before I headed back to New York, he sent me off with a box full of frozen venison. He had harvested the deer the previous fall, and a local game processor had turned it into sausages, backstrap, and steaks.
Back in Brooklyn, I seared the lean, ruby-red cutlets in French butter, spooned over a dollop of cherry jam, and paired them with a bottle of Daou Soul of a Lion. My girlfriend agreed: it was one of the finest—and healthiest—dinners I’ve ever cooked.
Game meat appeals to me as both an epicurean and a fitness enthusiast. I’m an ace at cooking steak, but venison, elk, and bison present a fresh challenge in the kitchen. I work hard in the gym, and game meat—lean, protein-rich, and packed with B vitamins—is fare fit for gladiators. The Liver King may have a screw or two loose, but he’s onto something when he urges us to eat more like our Paleolithic ancestors. Long before the domestication of cattle, pigs, and chickens, wild game was a cornerstone of the human diet.
Sadly, in most Brooklyn grocery stores, you’re more likely to find tofu “meat” than game meat.
Elk, bison, and venison in my freezer? Game on, cowboy.
Well, I’ve found a game-changer, if you will. A gym buddy recently tipped me off to Force of Nature Meats, an Austin-based company that ships frozen game right to the stoop of my Bed-Stuy brownstone. In addition to bison, elk, wild boar, and venison, the company sells top-shelf grass-fed beef, pork, and chicken. All of its meats are free of added hormones and antibiotics, and the animals are humanely raised and slaughtered.
My first order was The Best Damn Steak Box, an assortment of premium beef with a smattering of entry-level game meats.. Alongside a bovine bonanza of ribeyes, picanha, and flatiron steaks, it included venison medallions and lamb chops.
I was as giddy as a Neanderthal with a fresh mammoth on the ground when that big, brown, cold-to-the-touch package arrived from Texas. That evening, I whipped up a chimichurri sauce and seared a ribeye in my cast-iron skillet with butter and olive oil. I uncorked a beautiful bottle of Palmaz Cabernet Sauvignon—a big, bold wine that cries out for a marbled steak. As you’d expect from grass-fed, grass-finished beef, the ribeyes were lean, marbled with pale yellow fat, and deeply beefy.
When it came time to cook the venison medallions, I dusted them with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and a touch of ground coffee. The meat was so lean that a quick sear on each side was all it needed. I served it alongside roasted sweet potatoes, strawberry compote, and a glass of Pinot Noir. For a fleeting moment, I fancied myself seated at Jim Harrison’s table in Montana.
The flatiron steaks found their way into Tex-Mex tacos, the charred, juicy slices wrapped in warm flour tortillas with guacamole, sharp cheddar, and a few hits of Crystal hot sauce. I licked the plate clean.
My diet is healthier thanks to Force of Nature, and it’s given me a wonderful excuse to tinker with recipes for meats I’d never cooked before. My next order will be either the Wild Game Box, an assortment of wild boar, venison, bison, and elk, or the Ancestral Blends Box, which comes with sausages and mince blended with ground organ meat.
