Patina On My New Opinel No. 9

I've been so enamored by my Opinel No.8 that I bought not long ago that I decided to pick up another. This time a size larger, No.9, and with a carbon steel blade.  I debated long and hard when I initially picked up my first Opinel whether to go with a stainless or carbon blade.  Ultimately I chose a stainless steel fearing that I would eventually get lazy and fail to properly maintain it and it would rust.

The Stainless No. 8 and The Carbon No. 9

After using the No.8 for about a month, I feel in love with it.  I started searching the internet admiring patinas that carbon blades acquire.  I began beating myself for not buying the carbon blade instead.  To ease my pain I just decided to pick up another knife.

Carbon blades require more attention than stainless steel blades as they are more prone to rust if not taken care of properly.  One unique feature is that they patina as you use them.  It's a chemical reaction that changes the color of the steel and adds a protective layer to the steel.  But to me that is not the reason, patina simply is aesthetically appealing and full of character.  Some like a uniform patina or a man made design but that's not for me.  I prefer a random pattern.  It's like a poor man's case coloring.

 

Many force patinas by stabbing their knives in a potato or wrapping a vinegar drenched paper towel around the blade or covering the blade in mustard for an hour or two.  I debated if I wanted to force a patina or to just allow it to happen naturally. I spent a first few days using the knife for normal kitchen duties and it slowly created some patina. I grew impatient and grabbed a lemon and stabbed it with the blade and kept it there for over an hour. The blade has now starting to build some character and will improve with age.  I'm digging the carbon so much I imagine the No.8 will not get much use anymore.

ROOSTER!!!

The Merkel 147SL With A Very Appropriate Sidelock Engraving.

This is the last weekend for the pheasant and dove season so I wanted to take my last shot at a rooster.  Despite his hectic schedule, Ed finally made it afield with me and Kaiser.  He arrived at my place just after 4am and we made our mad dash south.  We made it just before legal shooting time and prepared for the day.   Within the first few minutes we flush with the Rover a couple quail along the river.  There was no sense in pursuing them as they ran into a impenetrable fortress of brush.  A good sign.

We worked several fields with Kaiser giving us two points but produced no flushes.  The birds must have run on him.  Driving to some new areas for me, I was beginning to see more hunters in this area than I have ever seen.  With the mercury rising we found a field of shallow alfalfa around 11am.  Within this area were a flock of large unidentified shorebirds, Kaiser began to get bridy, thinking that these were the cause I half assed my way toward him.  As the large flock flushed so did a cock pheasant.  It took a few moments for my brain to process the information and finally took the first shot at about 40 yards.  In all the excitement I miss about two feet behind the bird.  This caused me to overcompensate with the second and the bird flew never to be seen again.

Lunchtime.

With the heat increasing we took a siesta and had lunch which allowed Kaiser to cool down and rest.  I really can't stand this SoCal weather.  Its December and it feels like the opener for dove season.  After lunch we worked the other side of the same field that  the rooster flushed.  As Kaiser started to slow down and work more methodically a hen flushed before me.  As we watched to fly away, we began to walk further and a rooster flushed to the right of Ed and he took his first shot.  I saw the bird buckle and appeared to start gliding downward only for a moment and the bird began to lift again.  Ed took another shot but failed to bring the bird down.  As I watched that bird fly away another rooster took flight in front of me and in a panic I wildly shot my first barrel.  I calmed myself and took a proper bead on the bird and took him down with the second shot.  Kaiser gave chase.  It was fun to see the bird and Kaiser play cat and mouse as the cock tried to elude him.  But eventually Kaiser gets his man. 

Kaiser's First Pheasant Retrieve.

This is Kaiser's first taste of pheasant and I'm sure it was sweet.  He has been on pheasants several times but I've never been able to connect with them.  I've always felt guilty about it but I finally got him his bird.  While Kaiser was retrieving the pheasant two hens flushed in front of Ed but of course he had no shot.

The One Inch Spurs.

We worked another nearby field without any success.  This was the field that the hens that flushed in front of Ed landed but even these birds seemed to have disappeared.

Just Some of the Magnificent Feathers of this Asian Import.

Most of the day proved difficult.  We tried our luck on ducks, quail and doves.  We saw all of them but proved difficult.  We managed to see a widgeon in a canal and after giving Ed some bismuth rounds he made a stalk.  Unfortunately the area proved a poor area to make a stalk and the bird flushed out of shotgun range.

We Wait For Dove.

Convinced I could get some doves for Ed, we worked a few productive areas.  The first was a bust.  The second was already occupied and we needed to work in a nearby area.  While there were several doves in the area none were within the shotgun range of Ed's Browning.  I had one which I hit, creating a big puff of feathers.  Despite this, the bird only flinched  turned around and kept flying.  That was it for us and in typical fashion with us while we were packing up several ducks and doves flew overhead.  Typical.  These roosters are now safe from Kaiser and I until next year.



Mentaiko Pasta

Mentaiko is marinated pollock (or cod) roe from Japan.  It can be eaten plain with rice which is quite good but it can also be eaten with pasta.

Ingredients:
Mentaiko
Spaghetti
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Soy Sauce
Chives
Nori
*Optional* Heavy Cream

Remove the roe from the packaging and place in a bowl.  The thousands individual eggs are connected by a membrane.  Open the membrane with a spoon.

 Scoop the eggs off the membrane with a spoon.  Remove the membrane and eat it as is or discard

Mix soy sauce and olive oil with eggs.  If you like a creamy pasta you could add a little heavy cream here as well but not too much as you do not want to lose the roe flavor.   I prefer it without it but you can try it either way. 

Add Chopped chives.  Set aside and cook your pasta in salted water.  Any pasta will do but it is usually served with spaghetti which I believe is best.

Once pasta is cooked al dente, drain and reserve some pasta water.  Then toss the pasta with the roe.  Make sure to coat the pasta completely.  Drizzle more olive oil and if the pasta is a bit dry add a little pasta water. Top with nori and garnish with more chopped chives.

If mentaiko is unavailable in your area this sauce is available in Asian markets in premade form and it is quite good but it is likely loaded with preservatives and it is always best to make it fresh.  I usually only use the premade stuff when I'm too lazy to really do any cooking or if I can't make it to the store to pick up fresh mentaiko.

Another Mauser M12 Promo

Rascher Coat- The X-Mas Gift For The Old Man

I picked up the old man's Christmas gift, it's a Rascher hunting coat.  Rascher is a long establish German hunting apparel company.  If you've been reading this blog for long this name should not be new to you as I wrote about the hunting pants I picked up a couple years ago.  Like the pants this coat is made in Poland and is of high quality.  It is a loden wool blend that is both waterproof and windproof.  The blend consists of wool/nylon/cashmere mix.

There are several pockets both on the outside and the inside.  The hand warmer pockets also contain tabs that can hold up the shell pockets for fast retrieve of rounds for estate or rough shooting.  

The shell pocket also holds another hand warmer pocket.  In the rear there is a is a zippable game pocket that is lined to protect against blood. Interior pockets consists of several lower pockets including to large velcroed mesh pockets on both sides.

On the left hand side, there are two pockets one with a flap and behind it is a vertical zippered pocket.  The opposite side contains one vertical zippered pocket.  All of these are good to hold iphones, wallets, knife or similar sized items.

The collar is lined with fleece and holds a rather unimpressive nylon hood which seems very much like they thought of this idea as an afterthought.  The coat is so nice but this hood looks and feels cheap.  Its a bit silly.  The waist band can be tighten for a tapered look.

Both the sleeves and back are articulated for great range of motion and ease of shouldering the gun.  The coat is lined with thinsulate so paired with the wool it should prove warm enough for any Eastern Sierra winter.  I've read complaints regarding the Continental zipper, the zipper is left hand side, which in the States indicates women's clothing.  I guess this bothers some but it doesn't and won't bother my father as our Barbour Beaufort coats are the same and I've never heard him complain about it.  I doubt he even will notice.

Lonesome Dove

I tried to get at least one of my buddies to come out with me but I must have heard every lame excuse this week, "I have a (bow) competition," "I have to work," "I have to go to my son's game," "My sister's baby is due this weekend." None of the them sounded legitimate to me so it was up to Kaiser and I to work the fields by ourselves.  With just the two of us I knew working the bigger fields would be difficult to get those pheasants to hold for a point.

Without anyone to wait up on, I accidently overslept an hour and a half.  I mistakenly turned off the alarm instead of putting it on snooze.  When I finally made it out I was stuck in traffic!  On a weekend before 6am.  Give me break.  I made the drive and arrived over an hour past the start of legal shooting time for pheasants.  I worked a field adjacent to thick natural vegetation.  The field proved empty at least the area I was working.  We made it back to the Rover and worked the natural vegetation.  Kaiser would go on point and I walked up.  Three Gambels quail would flush and I would miss badly despite the fact the bird looked as big as a softball in my mind.  As I reloaded a couple more could flush out.  We could not give chase as the area was too thick to ford through.  For the life of me I can not hit Gambels.  Granted I rarely go after them but every time I see one here I have always missed them.  In fact I've never taken a Gambels and its starting to piss me off.

Nice Point But These Are Not The Birds We Are Looking For

Most of the day was spent driving around looking for fields to hunt.  I finally found a few but none had even a hen within them.  I did manage to find a few dove in the ditches.  The first single I managed to take with one shot out of the IC barrel of the Merkel 147SL 12 gauge.  The others I missed poorly and I began overthinking my shots.  Swing through, pull away, constant lead, I tried them all and caused me to overthink very shot.  Worst mistake.

Running Out Of Time For the Day And For The Pheasant Season

This outing unlike last week, I had more opportunities to take game.   I even ran into another covey of Gambels in another area in the thick stuff.  One bird flushed out of a tree and I put my bead on him and shot without continuing my swing.  Missed with both shots.  Gambels need not worry about this hunter apparently.  Pathetic.

I managed to take down two more dove unfortunately I was unable to recover them.  Nothing upsets me more.  The first one few in stuff so thick I'd need a bulldozer to get him.  The other fell into an adjacent alfalfa field but we had two canals we needed to navigate past and when we finally made it to the field I lost my mark and Kaiser was unable to find the bird.  Legal shooting time now coming to an end I called it quits and headed back to the truck.  I had talked to a few hunters throughout the day and all of them flushed hens.  Despite bringing provisions for another day of hunting I decided to head home instead.  With no promise of roosters and without enough hunters to thoroughly work a field I thought it prudent.  We have one weekend left to see if we can get ourselves a rooster and with Ed committed and others interested we'll see if we head back out next weekend or if we try our luck on something else.

Simply Done Venison Steak

Thanks to Dave who gave me a few Venison steaks from the buck he took earlier this year in Idaho, I enjoyed a nice meal tonight.  I prepared the steaks simply, seasoning it only with salt, pepper and ground star anise, topped with herb butter.  Cooked to medium with the herb butter and olive oil.  Served with fries, roasted Brussels sprouts, and tomato Provençal.

I normally make my own herb butter (which I recommend) but due to laziness this time I used Kerrygold's Garlic & Herb butter which is a very good product.

Herb Butter:

• Leave a stick of butter at room temperature.
• Once soften, finely chop fresh rosemary, thyme, and a small clove of garlic.
• In a bowl squeeze a half a lemon and mix the garlic.  This will cook the garlic and make it less harsh.  Add soften butter and mix then mix the chopped herbs. 
• Take a spatula and remove all the butter mixture and place on parchment paper.  Form the butter in a straight line using the spatula to get all of it.  Roll the parchment paper and mold the it to look like a sausage and then refrigerate.
• Once molded and cold use on any red meat, seafood, poultry, game or bread.

Such Is Hunting

South of here lies farmland rich with game.  Pheasants were our target but would be happy to take a Gambel's quail, dove, waterfowl or cottontail if presented with one.  It's been a few years since I've hunted this area, at least five years.  Despite poor hunting years, I have always managed to at minimum come home with some sort of game so I hoped for the same this year.  I generally don't travel south as the hunting options are more limited and the fact that I would be sharing fields with illegals hopping the border fence with Border Patrol giving chase.

 

Worried not having been here in so long, my concern was that many of the fields may have been posted and hunting areas more limited than before.  It seems that this is not the case as most of the areas I wanted to hunt are still open to the public. 

 

Normally I don't hunt with rookies.  I don't want to have to worry about the gun safety of a novice, the safety of my dog and the safety of myself or the newbie.  It's tough enough trying to keep track of Kaiser let alone worrying about the muzzle disciple of another who has never felt the excitement of a wild gamebird flushing.  But despite this I took my buddy out for his inaugural hunt.  I made some ground rules before handing him my spare Merkel Model 8.  First until I feel comfortable with him in the field, he would carry the shotgun broken open and when a bird flushed or when Kaiser went on point would he be able to close the gun and prepare to fire.   Of course I went over the basics such as field of fire, muzzle disciple, use of safety and such.   After working a few fields, I was comfortable enough to carry normally with gun on safe and action closed.

All in all it was tough day, not surprisingly given this years state of hunting but we did see birds.  Hunting here is not really my cup of tea.  Don't get me wrong I like hunting farm fields and I like hunting pheasants but I don't like having to hop scotch to one field to the next.  Much of the day is driving around looking for the next field to hunt.  As Chul described it, it's like fishing a Blue Ribbon Steam, you end up driving looking for open holes more than you actually fish.  Its not physically exhausting but more mentally.

 

As we drove we must have flush over 60 doves and a handful of quail for the day with the Rover while searching for the next field.  None of them were really hunted as by the time we could give chase they were gone.  On our very first farm field, Kaiser became birdy and went on point, adjusted as the bird zigzagged trying to escape.  It flushed before me but as I began my mount, I realized it was a hen so no shot was taken.

We would spend much of the day driving around looking for areas.  Kaiser would give us three or four more points throughout the day but all the birds would elude us and no more pheasants would flush in the alfalfa fields.

Earlier in the day we worked more wild habitat and I managed to take a jack.  Toward the end of the day we worked the natural habitat near the fields.  I have had success here in the past flushing roosters, dove, quail and rabbits so this would be the last chance if we wanted to come home with some meat.

We would eventually flush a few pheasants none of which were within a firing lane nor were they easily identified as a rooster so no shots were taken at them.  Also quail flushed wild too quick and far for a shot.  They flew into the most dense area, impenetrable for us humans so giving chase was nearly impossible.  A few quail did run in front of us about a hundred yards but by the time we were even close to them they were gone too.

On the hike back to the truck, I did manage to take a dove with the last few minutes of legal hunting time.  With the light now fading fast it was time to drive back home.   I decided to give my harvested meat to my buddy so he could try it and also take the hide of the jack so he use it for tying or for use as lining on his new bow quiver.  It's was too bad I wasn't able to get him on any game but such is hunting.

We went for a white truffle burger at a new joint I hadn't tried yet.  Although it was fine, personally I should have just ordered a regular hamburger.  I'm not quite sure of these so called "gourmet" burgers, sometimes they are more gimmick than anything else. 

Some More Art

Monarch Of The Glen, 1851.  Edwin Henry Landseer.

Scene in Braemar, Highland Deer.  Edwin Henry Landseer

The Deerstalkers' Return, 1827.  Edwin Henry Landseer

Returning from the Hill, 1868.  Richard Ansdell.

Huntsman and Maid Having A Chat In The Kitchen. After 1850.  Franz Von Defregger

Poachers in a Mountain Cabin, 1876.  Franz Von Defregger.

Wildflower Honey Mallard Breast

Ingredients

• Duck Breast
• Wildflower Honey
• Celery
• Onion
• Carrots
• Thyme
• Bay Leaf
• Rosemary
• White Wine
• Butter
• Chives

Butcher the duck by breasting it and save the legs for something else.  With the remaining carcass take the head off and then quarter it.  on high heat in a sauce pan add oil and roast the bones.  Once browned add the onions, celery and carrots.  Cook until onions are translucent deglaze with white wine.  Be sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add about a cup of water and bring to a boil then lower the heat and shimmer for about an hour.  Add herbs for the last few minutes.

Preheat the oven at 375 degrees.  Brush the skin side of the breast with honey.  On medium low heat cook the breast skin side down in a cast iron skillet until fat is rendered and skin is golden brown.  Once that is done remove from the pan and place in the oven for 5 minutes then let rest.  Any juices that have been released, pour it in the stock.

Strain the veggies and bones from the stock.  Now on high heat boil the stock reducing it by three fourths or more.  Begin cubing butter.  Once reduced slowly add each cube of batter by whisking.  Add until the desired thickness has been achieved.

Slice the breast and top with the sauce.  Sprinkle with chopped chives.  I served it with braised tomatoes and sautéed oyster mushrooms.  Serve with crusty French bread.

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