Marylin's Mexican Moose Dip

Last year was the first time I got involved in shooting a shotgun and boy is it fun...even with the sore shoulder. And since I love Alaska's outdoors as much as anyone, I became determined to hone my skills enough to accompany my fiance and the Klondike Kid on a remote fly-in trip for opening day of duck & goose season last year.

As I found out, there is a LOT of walking and packing on these remote trips, through marshes of knee-high grasses and miles of mud flats in less than comfortable attire and gear. And it definitely burns a lot of calories during the course of a day. So hunting camp menus require some extra considerations for providing meals and snacks which can stoke the fire in the old boiler for the next day's activities.

Here is the way I made a hot mexican dip I brought along on that first duck & goose hunting trip last year. In my mental cookbook there is a category I call Cabin Food. This falls under that, but for everyone else, I guess it would be considered a Dip.

Cabin Food is stuff you make in a cast iron skillet and set on the back of the woodstove for anyone who drops by hungry or not! Which is one of the courtesies of homestead days that is pretty much lost. I think everyone goes to 7-11 now. Ugh. So, we will call this Mexican Moose Dip.

Cut onion and cheese into cubes, set aside. In a cast iron skillet or pot, brown mooseburger. Add onion and cook till the onion is done, then drain. Start adding the cheese cubes and part of the salsa, stirring as the cheese melts to prevent scorching. Add remaining salsa and set on back of stove to keep warm. Have a bowl of tortilla chips handy and this will disappear! You choose the degree of hottness by your salsa choice.

Caribou or bear burger can also be used and will provide their own unique flavors.

8/2000 Update: Timothy Edmondson sent us a note to let us know that there is now a Velveeta MEXICAN Cheese with a spicey tang to it. By dividing the cheese ingredient of this recipe equally between the regular and Mexican Velveeta, you can give the dip a pretty good "bite."

Good Cookin',

P.S.  YES, I did get my first duck on that trip! In fact you can check it out in the Photo Gallery.