Eat what you kill: ‘Hunt Chef’ episodes suggest best use of game harvest, savory recipes
Jeremy Critchfield works with a West Virginia doe harvested the previous night by Garrett Ayersman for an upcoming episode of Hunt Chef.
Alex Charlton works with Jeremy Critchfield on a recent Hunt Chef episode filming on venison at the Stone House Butcher Shop and Provisions.
Jeremy Critchfield cuts the finished product -- a pan seared venison tenderloin on a baguette with fresh mozzarella, basil and marinara sauce.
Left: Jeremy Critchfield works with a West Virginia doe harvested the previous night by Garrett Ayersman for an upcoming episode of Hunt Chef.
Above: Garrett Ayersman films Jeremy Critchfield as he discusses the different cuts of venison for an episode of Hunt Chef. (Photos by Olivia Goudy)
Though Jeremy Critchfield launched the Hunt Chef concept in 2009, he partnered with MTN TOP Outdoors this year to film processing- and culinary-based online episodes with his motto, "Eat What You Kill."
Jeremy Critchfield prepares the ingredients for an episode of Hunt Chef. (Photo by Olivia Goudy)
Garrett Ayersman, Jeremiah Voithofer and Alex Charlton discuss filming ideas for an episode of Hunt Chef.
On any given day, Jeremy Critchfield is bustling between several mountain-area businesses, a catering company with regional bookings, the gym, his home and family, and the outdoors while hunting or fishing.
A recent addition to his plate, though, is a combination of his passions — being in the kitchen and the great outdoors.
This fall, Critchfield became an active partner of MTN Top Outdoors with his brainchild, Hunt Chef.
“I did the corporate documents to create Hunt Chef Inc. in 2009, and had just been sitting on it since then,” Critchfield said with a laugh.
Now, Critchfield can be seen at the Stone House Butcher & Provisions or a nearby rustic kitchen, in front of the camera, preparing episodes of Hunt Chef.
MTN Top Outdoors founder and president Jeremiah Voithofer said he approached Critchfield in January of this year about becoming an active partner with his mountain-based media company. Currently, there are two other partners on the platform — Flippin Bucks and Smokin Eyes.
“We wanted to show that there’s real world application here. An average guy that can have a job, have a family life, take a big deer and prepare it properly for his family,” Voithofer said. “That’s where Critchfield fit in.”
Action
Earlier this month, Critchfield met with Voithofer, Flippin Bucks partner Garrett Ayersman and Stone Road Media camera guru Alex Charlton at Critchfield’s Chalkhill-based butcher shop to film several episodes for their social media platforms and website.
Critchfield isn’t a stranger to working with wild game. Whether it’s regular menu items or specialty dishes at events, wild game typically can be found in his kitchens. During the filming, though, it was a West Virginia doe harvested during archery by Ayersman the evening before.
After quartering the deer, Critchfield walked future viewers through the various cuts of meat, setting aside several of them to later make specialty dishes out of for the episodes, the first of which being a pan seared venison tenderloin on a french baguette with fresh mozzarella, basil and marinara sauce.
“I can do any type of farm-raised game at any time. But this — it’s the whole idea of Hunt Chef, taking it from the field to the fork,” Critchfield said. “Hopefully people will learn how to prepare it better, or maybe it’ll reinforce what they already knew.”
For Critchfield, there’s a sense of excitement with the creative process in the kitchen. And with that comes the constant education, whether it’s from learning something new or passing something along to a viewer — whether it’s in the culinary world or the outdoor sport.
“You can never stop learning, and everyone is always looking for new ideas,” Critchfield said. “As you get older, you think about what’s already been done before. But the way I see it, there’s a new generation of hunters every single year. Not everyone has the same way to go about it. I was born into it with my granddad taking me, but not every starts out that way.”
Previous episodes of Hunt Chef, which can be seen on their Facebook page and website, www.mountaintopoutdoors.com/huntchef, feature recipe videos for trout, walleye, turkey, elk sirloin, bass and pronghorn tenderloin.