We've got lots of great information for you. From wild rice soup... to wild game... and other northern specialties... Share your favorites with us, and keep coming back for new recipes... A BUNCH OF NORTHERN RECIPES... Wild Rice: About Wild Rice; How to Prepare Wild Rice; Serving Suggestions; Popped Wild Rice; Wild Rice with Mushrooms Trailbreakers' Hardtack World's Greatest Wild Game Spaghetti Sauce Walleye a la Wisconsin Mother Nature's Salad Cranberry Lore & Recipes: Cranberry Sauerkraut Meatballs; Cranberry Cookbook; Annual Cranberry Fest in Eagle River, Wisconsin About Wild Rice... The Food Value of Wild Rice Wild rice is an organic food, free from all artificial growing aids. It is a rich, pure cereal grain that is very digestible. It is low in fat content, high in protein, and rich in Vitamin B. It contains niacin, calcium and phosphorous, as well as carbohydrates. It counts calories at 105 per serving based on one ounce (28 grams) of uncooked wild rice. Did You know: Of all the grain, wild rice is one of the highest in protein and lowest in fat. Did You know: That Indians still harvest wild rice today the same way as they did five hundred years ago. Did You know: That wild rice is now cultivated in paddies in Minnesota and California. Did You know: That 2 to 3 pounds of green wild rice is picked to make 1 pound of finished wild rice. WILD RICE: EASY TO PREPARE Stovetop Method Wash 1 cup uncooked wild rice thoroughly. Add to 3 cups boiling water, salted to taste, in heavy saucepan. Return water to boil; stir. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 30-45 minutes or just until kernels puff open. Uncover. Fluff with table fork. Simmer 5 additional minutes. Drain any excess liquid. For chewier texture cook for less time. Yield: 3-4 cups cooked wild rice. Oven Method Wash 1 cup uncooked wild rice thoroughly. Combine with 3 cups water in a covered 2-quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F. for 1 hour. Check wild rice. Add more water if needed and fluff with a fork. Continue baking for 1/2 hour. Wild rice should be moist, not dry. Yield: 3-4 cups cooked wild rice. WILD RICE: SERVING SUGGESTIONS Wild rice brings distinctive flavor and a delightful texture to appetizers, soups, meat and seafood casseroles, salads, vegetables and breads. --Add butter and serve hot as a side dish. --Brown filberts or almonds in butter; toss into wild rice. --Blend in chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, basil, thyme, parsley, or mint. --Add one cup cooked wild rice to pancake batter, scrambled eggs, or your favorite omelet filling. --Mound wild rice and mushrooms in the center of a garden vegetable platter. --Bake cooked wild rice in a ring mold and serve with a seafood sauce. --Garnish a soup or salad with popped wild rice. POPPED WILD RICE: See recipes in Kids Pages... WILD RICE WITH MUSHROOMS The delicious flavor of this grand dish goes well with duck, goose or any wild game entree. (Ron Miller, in the OWAA Campsite to Kitchen Recipe Book. Send us an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing the cookbook). 1 cup wild rice, washed, soaked and drained 2 cups beef or chicken broth 1 (10 ounce) can mushroom bits and pieces 2 tablespoons chopped onion flakes 3 tablespoons butter Salt and black pepper to taste Combine rice and broth in saucepan. Simmer, covered, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Saute mushrooms and onion in butter in separate pan over low heat until lightly browned. Combine cooked rice, vegetables and butter. Season with salt and black pepper. Serves 4 to 6 TRAIL BREAKER'S HARDTACK Bread, in one form or another, has been a staple of human diet for more than 10,000 years. This fact was documented when charred bits of loaves -- baked in the Stone Age -- were unearthed in the ruins of the Swiss Lake Dwellers. The 1936 expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art discovered the remains of loaves, which, through laboratory analysis, proved to be 35 centuries old. They were found in Egypt's Asasif Valley on the site of the Raameses temples. Today, we enjoy nearly a zillion varieties of bread, yet the vast majority do not travel well. The prerequisite for a trail bread demands it be lightweight, nourishing and impervious to mold or being sat upon. There is one bread that meets these demands and, when properly baked, you'll swear it is some of the leftovers from the Stone Age. Many times, that interval between breakfast and lunch is punctuated by an ominous rumble -- and it's no thunder from an approaching storm. It's usually coming from right behind your belt buckle. But you can silence that grumbling with a satisfying handful of hardtack. (Ron Miller, in the OWAA Campsite to Kitchen Recipe Book. Send us an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing the cookbook). 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 1/2` cup cracked wheat 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon salt 1 1/2 cups buttermilk Combine flours, cornmeal, wheat, sugar and salt. Add buttermilk, mix well, and knead briefly. Shape dough into golf-ball-sized portions. Dust with flour and roll very thin. Place on greased and floured baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees, turning several times, until lightly browned on both sides. Cool; then store in waterproof container. Kept from moisture, these crackers are guaranteed to keep for at least 10,000 years. WORLD'S GREATEST WILD GAME SPAGHETTI SAUCE This amount of sauce will generously serve about 40 hungry club members. If you make it for home or camp use, ladle it into meal-size containers, freeze and it's ready to go when you are. But if you do serve it at a gathering of the clan, be prepared to be appointed Clubhouse Cook for Life! Use caution in cooking the spaghetti. Many people overcook pasta to the consistency of something that might be found in a bait box -- this is unforgivable! (Ron Miller, in the OWAA Campsite to Kitchen Recipe Book. Send us an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing the cookbook). 3 pounds lean ground deer, caribou, elk, moose or other game meat 1/4 cup vegetable oil 4 large onions, chopped 6 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 tablespoon garlic powder 3 (24 ounce) cans tomato sauce 2 (12 ounce) cans tomato paste 3 (10 ounce) cans mushroom bits and pieces 2 tablespoons soft processed cheese spread 1/2 cup dry red wine 1/4 cup ketchup 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon black pepper 2 tablespoons oregano 1 teaspoon marjoram 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate 1 teaspoon paprika 5 (16 ounce) packages uncooked spaghetti 1 teaspoon vegetable oil Brown meat in oil in 2-gallon stock pot, stirring to crumble into pieces no larger than a grouse egg. Add chopped onion and garlic and cook over medium heat until onion is transparent. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, mushrooms, cheese, wine, ketchup, salt, black pepper, oregano, marjoram, cayenne pepper, monosodium glutamate and paprika. Simmer, stirring frequently, for about 30 minutes. Check seasonings and adjust accordingly. Prepare spaghetti according to package directions in lightly salted water with 1 teaspoon cooking oil added to prevent boiling over. Cook al dente -- firm but not hard, soft but not mushy. Serves 40 WALLEYE A LA WISCONSIN My wife, Kathy, and I tossed together this recipe while on a family camping trip in northern Wisconsin. The walleyes were biting, and we soon longed for an alternative to fried fish. We prefer walleye because it has flaky meat with little fishy flavor. It's an easy meal to cook over a campfire or barbecue grill and has become a favorite of guests in our home. We make each packet of foil in a serving size for two, then place a packet between each couple. The husband-wife way to eat is right out of the steaming packet where you can scoop up a fresh round of flavor with each bite. If feeding children, you may want to omit the mushrooms from their packet. We learned that right away. . . on the same camping trip. The recipe will work with different cheese, but be aware that some cheeses add a thicker consistency to the sauce and some cheeses don't melt well. (Jim Lee, outdoor editor for the Wausau Daily Herald, Wausau, Wisconsin, in the OWAA Campsite to Kitchen Recipe Book. Send us an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing the cookbook). 3 or 4 boneless, skinless walleye fillets (preferably 15-to-18 inch fish) 2 tablespoons margarine salt-less herb blend seasoning 5 slices American cheese or cheese spread 1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms, drained 2 tablespoons onion flakes Place fillets, former skin side down, in center of heavy-duty aluminum foil sheet, arranging lengthwise, alternating head and tail sections. Sheet should extend 4 to 6 inches beyond fillets at ends and about 3 inches at sides. Dot butter on fillets. Sprinkle generously with herb seasoning. Place cheese on fillets, alternating American and Swiss slices and covering all of the fillets, overlapping or adding extra cheese if needed. Chop mushrooms and scatter on cheese and top with onion. Bring sides of foil together and fold lengthwise twice to seal; then fold ends twice. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or longer for large fillets; mixture will start to appear at edges of foil near end of baking time. Remove, handling by lifting ends. Slide on serving plate, leaving fish in foil while serving. Serves 2 MOTHER NATURE'S SALAD If you can't find one of these ingredients, substitute what you can find. You can add dandelion blossoms if you use only the yellow part and strip off the green petals. In some locations, you will have morels or puffballs available, and in the West you can add miner's lettuce. (Tom Squier, in the Campsite to Kitchen Recipe Book. Send us an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing the cookbook). 2 cups chopped wild onion bulbs and tops 2 cups torn sheep sorrel leaves 2 cups plantain leaves, shredded 1 gallon chickweed, shredded 1 cup tender greenbrier shoots 2 cups violet leaves, chopped 1 cup violet or redbud flowers or combination 1 cup chopped daylily tubers 1 cup diced Jerusalem artichokes 1 tablespoon minced green wild mustard seed pods 1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts 1/4 cup bacon bits (optional) Light wine vinaigrette, oil and vinegar with herb salad dressing or other salad dressing Combine onion, sorrel, plantain, chickweed, greenbrier, violet leaves and flowers, tubers, artichokes, mustard seed, pine nuts and bacon bits, mixing thoroughly. Serve with salad dressing. Serves 22 to 24 Cranberry Lore and Recipes Did you know that Wisconsin is the nation's top cranberry-producing state? Here is a Prize-Winning Recipe From Eagle River, Wisconsin's, Annual Cranberry Fest... Cranberry-Sauerkraut Meatballs (1994 Eagle River Cranberry Festival Bake-Off Winning Recipe) 2 lbs. ground beef 1/2 cup water 2 eggs 1 cup finely crushed cracker crumbs 1 envelope regular onion soup mix Mix together the above, and shape into meatballs. Brown in a skillet; then Mix together: One - 16 oz. can sauerkraut, drained and snipped 2 cups water One - 8 oz. can cranberry sauce - whole or strained l/3 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup chili sauce or catsup Pour half of the sauce into a 9" by 13" baking dish. Arrange meatballs on sauce. Pour remaining sauce over meatballs. Cover with foil and bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Remove foil. Bake another 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot over noodles or rice. The Eagle River, Wisconsin, Chamber of Commerce is offering a cookbook of prize- winning -- and just plain favorite -- cranberry recipes from the Cranberry Bake-Off held during its annual Cranberry Fest. The 54-page cookbook includes previous years' winning recipes for Cranberry Chili Casserole, Layered Cranberry Lime Salad, Magic Cranberry Candy, and Orange-Cranberry Muffins, plus the most-requested recipes at the Cranberry Fest, such as Hot Spiced Cranberry-Apple Drink and Cranberry- Sauerkraut Meatballs. To order the cookbook, send $5.00 plus $1.50 for postage and handling ($6.50) to: Eagle River Chamber of Commerce, Box 1917, Eagle River, WI 54521. The Annual Cranberry Fest in Eagle River is held in early October each year. "There are cranberry bog and winery tours, cranberry fitness walk-run-or-bike, weaving exhibit, petting zoo, entertainment, and, of course, a wide array of cranberry-related foods, says Chamber Executive Marlene Mathison, "including fresh cranberries, creamy cranberry cheese-cake, hot spiced cranapple drink, gourmet cranberry meatballs, cranberry chili, cranberry mustard, and lots of fresh baked cranberry goodies." For information about Cranberry Fest and Eagle River, contact Eagle River Bureau of Information, 116 S. Railroad St., Box 218, Eagle River, WI, 54521-0218; phone 1-800-359-6315 or 715-479-8575. Ask for the Free 68-page Vacation Book. e-Mail any special questions or needs and we'll get back to you...