Does anybody else read cookbooks for fun? I have WAY too many cookbooks. There are cookbooks in every room in our house, in the camper, in most of the vehicles and lots of them at work. Yes, I am obsessed with food. Could be worse - I mean - we eat well... That's good, right? Since DG is obsessed with hunting, I've been reading recipes with an eye to cooking with game.

Since the DG and I have already determined the the elk meat in the freezer is extraordinary, there was no challenge to that. I was trying to find just the "right" recipe for our first antelope dinner. I've heard an awful lot of stories about nasty pronghorn meals. Now understand dear reader, I'm not, not, not a carnivore exclusively. I love vegetables; I just don't want to eat driftwood, sagebrush, sand or anything that tastes like autumn olive trees. So with all this in mind, I'm just a little bit concerned about cooking with the antelope. Don't they live on sand surrounded by deadwood, sage brush and autumn olive trees? Hmmmm?

My dear husband tells me that he discussed the fact that I was concerned about palatability with Chuck Cureton, his guide. Not to digress, but Chuck does a REALLY fine job; his company is called Ridgemaster Outfitters. They are based in Kaycee, Wyoming. The story of the hunting trip is for another day. Chuck took DG to an area where the antelope graze on hayfields with cows. (I don't think it's cheating, just results oriented hunting.) DG thinks the antelope even went to the feed troughs with the cows. Since the door guru wanted the animal for good food, he bought a license, called a tag, for a doe. Geeze, I digress; back to the meal.

Lately I've been reading the online blog ThePioneerWoman.com. Whoo hoo - can she cook! I found, weirdly enough, that she (Ree Drummond, author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks,) posted a recipe by Jaden Hair, another blogger (and author of another new cookbook called Steamy Kitchens.) The recipe for Beef with Broccoli is not complicated and allows the flavor of the meat to work with the oyster sauce and soy flavorings. And boy is it good!  Here is the addy:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/jadens-beef-with-broccoli/

The flavor of the antelope is not covered up and the recipe really works.  I used leg steak for this and sliced across the grain on a diagonal.  My thanks to Ree and Jaden.