Eating and chatting outdoors with Force of Nature
All photos courtesy of Natalie Rhea
There’s nothing like a meal prepared with intention. One chosen to complement all aspects of what’s on the table, including what you’re drinking. With natural ingredients that connect you with where your food came from as opposed to making you feel far removed. To put this feeling on the menu, we teamed up with All Hands and made our way down to Texas to talk with the folks from Force of Nature—who work to produce regenerative and conservation-focused meats—to put together a recipe that embodies the outdoors and can be enjoyed outdoors. One that brings that sense of belonging back to the forefront and, most importantly, one that will wash down nicely with a crisp canned vodka cocktail.
- Recipe of Choice: Wild Boar Choripan with black garlic chimichurri sauce
- Cocktail of Choice: All Hands Vodka Tonic
What national park would you find yourself in while cooking this meal and sipping this cocktail?
Force of Nature’s wild-caught Texas boar is a nutritious and delicious solution that helps manage the state’s $52 million annual wild boar problem. This Wild Boar Choripan with black garlic chimichurri sauce is easy, flavorful, and portable and the unique chimichurri calls for a clean and refreshing All Hands Vodka Tonic. We would best enjoy this duo against a west Texas sunset overlooking Big Bend National Park.
What’s your favorite way to spend time outdoors?
Cooking meals over an open fire between fishing and hiking and enjoying Big Bend stars at night makes for an epic day.
Wild Boar Choripan with Black Garlic Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 pack of Force of Nature Wild Boar “Lone Star blend” sausage links
- 1 fresh baguette
Black Garlic Chimichurri sauce:
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 red jalapeño, finely chopped (seeds removed)
- 3 black garlic cloves (minced)
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- kosher salt to taste
- ½ cup finely chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 Tbsp. finely chopped oregano
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions:
Add the black garlic chimichurri ingredients into a clean bowl and stir to combine. Once combined, place the chimichurri sauce into the refrigerator for a few hours for optimal results. Pro tip: to add more sweetness to the chimichurri, pour All Hands into the mix.
Slice each sausage link lengthwise and carefully open the link with your hands (do this gently so you do not separate the link).
Heat up your charcoal or gas grill. Place the opened sausage link on the direct heat of the grill and cook until the skin is brown and crispy and flip (2-2 ½ minutes per side). Once the entire sausage is browned and crispy, remove from the grill.
Slice the baguette into your desired sized sandwich and slice it again down the middle creating two slices of bread. Gently coat the inside of the bread with extra virgin olive oil. Place the bread on indirect heat and toast for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the grill when the inside of the bread is browned and toasted.
Assemble the sandwich by combining the cooked wild boar sausage link and top with chimichurri sauce.
