Cooking on the Wild Side

So you have a freezer full of game and no chance to go hunting again until turkey season opens in the spring? Well, you can use that down time to bone up on some gourmet wild game recipes and learn more about hunting and fishing in Idaho at the same time. Hagerman Chef Kirt Martin explores the delicate flavors of wild game and the wilds of Idaho on Cooking on the Wild Side premiering this Saturday, January 19 on Idaho Public Television at 10:30 AM MST (9:30 PST). Chef Martin says his goal with the show is to take the mystery out of cooking wild game, and what better place to feature a wild game cooking show than Idaho, where nearly half the population hunts or fishes? An outdoorsman himself, Martin says the idea of preparing an elegant meal comes down to one thing, "Pride. It comes down to pride. I mean, a guy spends forty-five thousand dollars on an automobile and a $25,000 boat, and the time it took and the clothing. If you add it all up and it comes down to this product, be it fish, duck or something, and now, what do I do with it? So I want to show them. Out of pride for them to be able to present that dinner to their friends or their spouses and say hey, look what we did. Then sit down and enjoy it with a nice glass of wine." Cooking on the Wild Side also ventures into the wild outdoors. The program features field trips to extraordinary Idaho locations. For example, an upcoming show with recipes on trout also features a field trip to the South Fork of the Snake River where fishing for rainbows is a dry fly angler's dream. Other field trips include the dance of the sage grouse on the high deserts of Idaho, majestic moose in the forests of North Idaho and fishing for sturgeon in Hells Canyon. Chef Martin, owner of the Snake River Grille in Hagerman, has built an excellent reputation with his classic French style cooking. Although all his dishes can be adapted to domestic meats, the show features elegant wild recipes like Pheasant Breast en Croute, Herb Crusted Elk Steak or Sturgeon Roulades. He prepares each dish from start to finish with simple ingredients and easy techniques, a sure solution for a freezer full of game. Editor's note: For more information and photographs of Chef Martin cooking wild game go to http://www.cookingwildside.com