Shredded venison enchiladas

This follows the same basic premise as the primalcotti recipe. Same shape, same crepe, just new stuffing and toppings. You could use a pork or other roast with this recipe, too.

A quick broil gets the top layer of cheese nice and browned.

Shredded venison

• 1 large venison neck roast
• Taco seasoning
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 jalepeno peppers
• 1 white onion, quartered
• 6-8 cloves garlic, to taste

Rub the venison with the taco seasoning, covering the entire roast. Cut a few slits in the roast and stuff with some crushed cloves of garlic. Place the venison in a crock pot or roasting pan with about 2 inches of water; cook at low heat for 6-8 hours, basting once or twice. When the roast is 2 hours from being finished,turn it over and drop in the whole peppers, quartered onion and the rest of the garlic. At this point, begin basting it frequently.

Use a scoop of enchilada sauce on the meat to up the flavor factor and keep it moist.

Pull the roast from the pan. Separate the meat from the bone and place the bone in a large bowl. Put the peppers, onion and garlic on a plate. Pour the stock you’ve created from the pan into the bowl with the bone and set aside.

Let the meat cool until you are able to pull it apart into small chunks with your hands. Place the pulled meat back into the roasting pan. Chop the roasted veggies into small pieces and stir them into the meat, along with a half cup of stock. Slow-cook it for another hour, then use two forks to finely shred it.

Enchilada sauce

• 2 cups stock from shredded venison (or storebought stock. Also, if you didn’t get enough for 2 cups from the above recipe, add water to fill it out. It will be strong enough.)
• 1 8oz can tomato paste
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp almond flour
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the almond flour and stir with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds. Add the chili powder and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock, tomato paste, cumin, oregano and salt and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Sauce will thicken as it simmers, and more as it cools.

The Enchiladas

• Shredded venison
• Enchilada sauce
• 10 egg crepes
• 2 cups shredded chihuahua cheese
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese

Egg crepes are used in place of tortillas.

Use a large spoon to stir one spoonful of enchilada sauce in with the shredded venison. Spoon a little sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 pan as well. Lay out an egg crepe and put a large spoonful of shredded meat in the middle, and top it with pepper jack cheese. Roll it up and place in the pan. Repeat until you’ve filled the pan and used up all your stuffing ingredients.

Top the stuffed crepes with the rest of the enchilada sauce, and then the 2 cups of chihuahua cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes — just until the cheese is completely melted and bubbling. Turn the oven to broil and let the cheese brown lightly. Keep watch, it will only take a minute or two.

Perfect taco meat

Most pre-mixed taco seasoning has corn starch or other thickeners in it. This recipe has all the flavor of those packets from nothing but spices and seasonings.

Taco salad made with perfect taco seasoning

• 2 tbs. chili powder
• 1 tbs. paprika
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 to 1/5 lbs. ground grass-fed beef or diced chicken breast

Cook ground beef in a large skillet. Just before the meat is fully cooked, add the seasonings and 1/2 cup of water. Mix thoroughly, leave on low heat to simmer away any extra liquid. Serve with chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, olives, red onion, sour cream, and roasted green tomatillo salsa.

Directions if you intend to dehydrate taco meat

Prepare taco meat as directed, using as little water as possible to incorporate the seasoning into the meat. Be sure to crumble the meat into the smallest pieces you can, which will make for a better re-hydrated meat.

If you have trays for your dehydrator that hold liquid, spread a thin layer (no thicker than 1/4″) on each tray. If you have a grate, you can cut parchment paper to put on top of the grate. As long as your taco meat is thick, it won’t soak through. Dehydration times vary by model, but once the sheets of meat are pretty dry, you can break them up into small pieces and redistribute. That will speed up the final drying time.

Depending on your tray size, you can get 1 to 1.5 servings from each tray. Measure dried taco meat into vacuum-sealer bags for optimal storage. Add dehydrated onions and peppers to the bag, if desired. Re-hydrate with about a 1:1 ratio of water to dried chili in the plastic bag and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes, agitating it now and then to help mix it up. It’s better to add a little too much water than not enough; you can always cook off the excess water. Cook over a fire or your camp stove, stirring often.

Roasted green tomatillo salsa

This is Tyler’s creation. The roasted flavors in this salsa are fantastic on taco salad.

Roasted green tomatillo salsa

• 2 poblano peppers
• 1 serrano pepper
• 5 jalapeno peppers
• 10 medium tomatillos
• 6 cloves garlic (4 for roasting, 2 fresh minced)
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• juice of 3-4 limes

Remove the outer wrapping on the tomatillos and rinse them to remove the sticky residue. Place the three types of peppers, the tomatillos and four cloves of the garlic on a baking sheet. Put it under the broiler until the skin on the peppers blackens, about 10 minutes. Turn the peppers to roast the whole surface area. The garlic can be wrapped in foil if you’re worried about them burning.

Once the peppers are fully roasted, peel off the blackened skins and remove the stems but keep the seeds. De-stem the tomatillos. Put the peppers, tomatillos and roasted garlic in a large food processor and puree. Stir in the chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped fresh cilantro and lime juice.

Fish tacos

After a trip to San Diego for a friend’s wedding, fish tacos quickly earned a spot on the list of food favorites. This is a great adaptation, replacing the taco shell with a cabbage leaf and traditional breading on the fish with almond meal and unsweetened coconut flakes. The amounts are flexible, you can eyeball your way through this whole meal.

Cabbage leaves make the shell for these light and summery fish tacos.

• 2 to 3 filets wild cod, cut in strips
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup (more or less) unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup (more or less) almond meal
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 head cabbage
• 1/2 cup sour cream or lebne
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 limes, halved
• 1 avocado, sliced

Peel off some larger cabbage leaves to use as taco shells. Shred the rest for filling.

Mix the almond meal, coconut and cayenne pepper together in a shallow bowl. Heat the coconut oil in a pan on medium heat. Dredge the strips of fish in the egg, then the almond-coconut, then place gently into the hot pan. Cook on all sides until golden brown, then place on a paper-towel-covered plate.

Mix the sour cream/lebne with the chopped garlic, cilantro, and the juice of half a lime.

Assemble the tacos by putting some shredded cabbage into a cabbage leaf, add a few strips of fish, some slices of avocado, and top with the sour cream mixture and a squeeze of lime juice.