A Taste Of The Wild: Gourmet Moose Burgers

Everyone has a favorite burger. This is mine. It is different in that you substitute the standard burger bun for two slices of Naan bread. Naan is a leavened oven-baked flatbread popular in India, South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The Naan “bun” replaces the doughy flavor of a regular bun with a crisper buttery wrap for your burger. A second element that adds to the gourmet flavor is to smash the burger very thin. What’s on the burger is also different in that I replace the standard lettuce, tomato, pickle finish with sauteed onions and mushrooms. So on to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS (for each burger) This scales perfectly.
1 quarter pound wild game burger patty smashed to about 3/8 inches thick.
2 slices Naan Bread (available at many grocery stores and at Costco)
1 slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese
Butter
Mayonnaise
Sliced sweet onion
Sliced baby portabella mushrooms
Salt, pepper, smoked paprika
(other condiments like ketchup and mustard if you choose)

PREPARATION
Brown two slices of Naan bread on both sides in a tiny amount of butter and set aside.

In the same pan, add a bit more butter, sauté mushrooms and onions until transparent and set aside.

Season the burger patty with a small amount of salt, pepper, smoked paprika and fry until there is no pink inside. (Maybe two minutes on each side)

ASSEMBLY
Prepare the Naan slices with condiments you like, or none at all to preserve the butter taste. I like a little mayonnaise and a touch of mustard.

Lay the cheese on one slice of Naan and then top it with the cooked burger patty right out of the pan. Top with sautéed mushrooms and onions. Add the second slice of Naan bread as a topper and enjoy.

This burger goes well with a macaroni salad, corn on the cob, or coleslaw.

Rodger Recommends: Great Company

As I write this, I am only five weeks away from attending one of my favorite writer and reader conferences: Bouchercon, September 3 - 7 in New Orleans.

I’m proud to be invited to be a panelist on Mysteries and Thrillers Infused with Espionage and Intrigue, a genre that precisely defines my writing in the Team Walker Series. 

The panel includes five extraordinary writers. I’m familiar with two of them from previous conferences. The other two I know only by reputation and their remarkable success. The moderator is an amazing writer herself, A.M. ADAIR draws on a career in naval intelligence to create gripping stories. I read her book, A New Game, from cover to cover on a flight last year.

I was the moderator on a panel at Bouchercon previously and one of my panelists, CHRISTOPHER SWAN, a Georgia based writer had to cancel at the last minute. But in preparing for the panel, I read his Shadow of the Lions, set in an elite small school in the south. His characters, especially Matthias Glass, are so real that you can hear them talking to you. The story is a mystery set in a setting that cannot hold mysteries; a simple ‘what happened’ that becomes ‘is this even possible?’ I am looking forward to finally meeting Christopher.

DACO S. AUFFENORDE, is an award-winning author from the south. Her background is in creative writing, but family experiences give her a deep understanding of technology, science and human strengths and weakness. I just bought her book, Cover Your Tracks, a story of complex lives, just trying to survive in a rugged outdoor setting. As an Alaska based writer, any story set in mountains, storms and snow intrigues me. I look forward to meeting Daco.

BRETT BATTLES is the kind of professional author that someone with less than a decade of fiction experience, like me, is in awe of. A California writer, he has written over forty novels. I read his novel The Deceived years ago and I studied his remarkable plot and a little of his style filtered into my work. The Deceived won the prestigious Barry Award. He understands the business of writing like few others, and the first part of that is to write great books. I’m honored to be seated close to a legend.

A.C. FRIEDEN could not have a better background for writing espionage and intrigue. Born in Africa and educated first in science and then in law including studying law in Moscow, he speaks at least four languages, and his wife Elena helps him with his Russian when needed. His international law practice takes him all over the world. We met at Bouchercon a year ago and became friends. The hero of his stories somehow gets dragged out of New Orleans and into impossible situations that a small-town lawyer should never face. I’ve now read two of his books, Midnight in Delhi and The Pyongyang Option. A.C.’s personal travels in North Korea, made The Pyongyang Option a favorite, as few writers have ever visited the hermit kingdom. We’ve both roamed all over the globe and the authenticity of his settings, both geographic and culturally is extraordinary. I love his work.

Rodger’s 2 Cents: Politics And Fishing

I recently went on a fishing trip with an old friend and two new ones, an exercise in learning. The others, one a retired federal attorney, another an architect, and my close friend Mark, a retired business and real estate attorney, were all committed progressives. I’m a relatively conservative independent, one who understands the appeal of the Trump Presidency to much of the nation. We were fishing the same day that about five million Americans participated in the “No Kings” protest. My two new fishing friends were appalled that anyone could support the President. We became friends, but there remained a little tension even as we dined together. 

Our conversations of what was right and working in the country versus areas of crisis were tinged by a genuine hatred for Trump. But in the end, what became clear is that we could not have a civil debate because we didn’t even agree on the definitions of what we discussed. It began with a difference over the founding of the country. 

LIBERTY:
The state of being free within society from OPPRESSIVE restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or views. The primary founding vision for THE UNITED STATES is LIBERTY. Liberty applies to all of us and is critical in a nation where we are free to have very different views. It is why it is so difficult to settle the divide on issues like abortion rights. The supreme court decision that the federal government has no role in this issue fits the definitions of liberty in our constitution but infuriates those who saw the federal government as a policeman enforcing their views on the issue.

EQUITY VS EQUALITY: 
EQUITY is the quality of being fair and impartial. A person or group attacking a problem with equity in mind focuses on being impartial to all in looking for solutions. It is the basis for demanding educational performance to give all citizens the best possible chance to advance themselves. It demands that authority (like government) treat everyone the same but understands that we are all different with different backgrounds and skills, and outcomes.

EQUALITY is the state of being equal, especially in status and rights. Where those who focus on equity try to level the playing field, those whose focus is equality do whatever is necessary to assure an equal outcome. Unless all finish the game relatively equal, the rules to the game need changing. Again, government is often called on to tip the scales to the desired outcome.

EMPATHY VS SYMPATHY:
EMPATHY is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. Can you step into their shoes even if you have never been in the same situation? Approaching with empathy demands that you support that person’s strengths and help them learn the skills to overcome.

SYMPATHY is a feeling of sincere concern for someone who is experiencing something difficult or painful. A person approaching a problem from a sympathy perspective must do everything possible to make the others pain go away to make their own pain stop.

One approach sees an imperialistic government solving problems: the other a liberated citizen.

Rodger That: A Writer’s Learning Curve

When I began publishing under my own name, I had a clear vision of three distinct book series. One would be a series that emphasized how a person’s early life leads to a roadmap for their future. The first book would be semiautobiographical and follow-on books would be drawn from the adventures of others with similar backgrounds. That book has not yet been published; it is coming soon. The follow up books are filled with the adventures and hard-fought achievements of those who survived brutal childhoods and given the choice of continuing the pattern of pariahs on society or making the world a better place, choose wisely.

The second series could be mistaken for the books of Cussler, Clancy, Brad Thor, Steve Berry, or even Stephen Coonts, writers who I love. They are thrillers, each a mixture of political and military adventure and techno-thriller. But there are three major differences. First, all are drawn from actual current conflicts, well researched and possible headline stories soon. Second, while the small teams brought to life in the stories are capable and powerful, there are no super-heroes; just diverse characters challenged with deadly situations who must find a way to win. Third, the old slogan, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter applies. I want my readers to understand why the bad guys are bad and that the heroes are not perfect. In other words, imagine if you were faced with an international crisis that threatened your family and way of life, what would you do? (Be part of my story.) Every military strategist will tell you to know your enemy. The more that enemy believes that they are right, the harder they will fight. To defeat them, you need to dig deep to find that one weakness, develop a strategy that challenges you to be your best, and refuse failure. The fourth book in this series, draft title Diamond, is due out Spring 2026.

The third series would be a purely fictional adventure series that follows one family from the 1820’s for a century and a half. Each book would be as true as possible to the culture and setting of the period. Each book would be a thriller taken from the history and politics of the times as well as a love story. Before I published the first book, I had five books in draft form and outlines for the final three books. I’d spent decades in the business and political world, but publishing was new to me. It never occurred to me that my readers were like me in that they loved to read the first book in the series and then progress from book to book. So, I started with book three, Enemy Patriots, set in the 1940’s. It was only late last year that I got around to publishing what should have been the first book, Tempest North.  In between I published two others, also out of sequence. Two more books are finished books and the last two in the series are in draft form.

I will be sequencing all the books in order, refreshing the covers and publishing those missing. When finished there will be eight books and the series will end. After all, a series that follows succeeding generations challenges and adventures need a minimum of a couple of decades to produce the next generation.  

A Taste Of The Wild: Grilled Red Salmon

Most of these columns are drawn from hunting trips, where game becomes food for my family or for special dinners. This column is different. Every year in July, Carmen and I spend a week at our cabin on the Iliamna River. Mid July is a special time to be there. A million or more Red (Sockeye) Salmon will school where the river flows into Alaska’s largest lake. The fish will be bright chrome, only a couple of days from their ocean journey. There is no better seafood than fresh Red Salmon.

We will catch a fish every other day to eat, cooking fillets so fresh that they curl on the grill. Then a day or two before leaving, we will harvest about twenty fish to freeze for the winter. If fresh from the water salmon is an A, frozen Sockeye Salmon is an A- while most frozen fish struggle to be a B. (Okay we are spoiled having Halibut, Ling Cod and King Salmon in the freezer.)

Whether fresh or frozen, my favorite preparation for salmon is on the grill. Here is my favorite recipe.

First, make a simple bar-b-que sauce. (This is for four pieces, adjust for more or less)

Mix
½ C. of Famous Dave’s traditional store-bought sauce

¼ C. of your favorite salsa

2 T. of Worcestershire sauce 

2 T. of hot sauce, (we like Cholula sauce)

1/3 C. dried shredded onion

¼ C. vegetable oil

Add a bit of salt and pepper as desired, and if you have it some smoked paprika

Let the mix sit until the onion is soft and then mix thoroughly. (I make a fermented jalapeno sauce, but that recipe is a family secret.)

On a charcoal, pellet or gas grill, spray the grates with oil and heat to medium.

Your salmon fillet should have skin on one side. On the flesh side, apply a thin coat of oil and lay on the grill, flesh side down. Watch for the first signs of tiny white drops of fish oil cooking from the filet and then flip the fish, depending on grill heat, after three minutes.

Next, spoon the sauce generously over the flesh side of the filet. Continue cooking until the sides are well covered in white bubbles and the edges of the fillet begin to crisp slightly, generally about three minutes.

The fish should be flaky and just cooked. If you overcook salmon, it is still good, but the texture becomes dry, and you lose some of the flavor which comes from the oil of the fish combining with the sauce.

This goes with almost any side, from simple white rice to corn on the cob for picnic settings. A nice green salad always compliments this meal.  

Rodger That: The Price Of Certitude

As a writer and political scientist/economist, with decades of business and political experience across the globe, I am fascinated by the political evolution of western politics. Decades of media and academic posturing on what it means to call your country a democracy is fading. In its place, is a renewed vision of the importance of culture and self-reliance. Progressive governments are being replaced by conservatives who believe in democracy. 

Even where traditional liberal governments are holding on across the western democracies, they are shifting their emphasis. Where once unchecked migration was heralded as humane and beneficial to society, now governments are tightening access to their borders. Where DEI was the hot button of both government and non-governmental agencies, it is now being tempered by a rebirth of belief in merit-based advancement. Where government was called on to somehow create equity among its citizens, many of those same governments have refocused on overall economic growth believing that a rising tide raises all boats.

The international community has believed since the end of the second world war that free trade helps all the citizens of the world. After all, how could the steady decline in the cost of goods not benefit everyone, especially the less fortunate? But in the United States and from Japan to Hungary, the electorate is punishing elected officials who do not favor local production. Farmers in France are up in arms. Trade labor members voted for Donald Trump and his strategy to bring manufacturing back to America. Canadian farmers block cheese imports from the USA.

So, what has changed, what went wrong, or is it that the public has lost its mind? The one world order movement which began at the end of the second world war did change people’s lives. But as the decades rolled by, in the developed economies of the west, what started off as positive turned sour. The free movement of people, free trade, was to create wealth for the citizens of the world. But somewhere along the way, first a few and then many got left behind. The values they’d grown up with, social and religious, were diluted and when they voiced their concerns, they were labeled bigots or racist.

Walter Isaacson, one of the most liberal of all writers and news executives, a former head of CNN and the Aspen Institute and a lifelong believer in the new world order is now a critic. He offered a clear description of why he changed his mind. “I realized that those institutions of free trade allowed people to go to a Walmart and buy a flat screen TV very cheaply on a Sunday night, but maybe there wasn’t a job at the Maytag factory on Monday morning.” He added, “I think people like me underestimated people being left behind, and the harm and resentments they would feel.”

Like the radical right of conservatives in the late 1970’s, the radical left that will not change their absolute belief in what they think is truth and cannot see the world for what it is instead of what they believe, are floundering. Much of what they believe, even the parts that are positive, are being destroyed by them screaming “fascists” at those who believe differently, and their refusal to listen. What an amazing moment it is to be a writer.

Rodger’s 2 Cents: Extraterrestrial Life

A story in National Geographic launched me into fifteen years of study. The cover read, “Are We Alone?” For years science fiction stories introduced us to intelligent life from other planets. But that was fiction. If there was intelligent life elsewhere, why hadn’t they introduced themselves or at least transmitted electronic signals that screamed, “We Are Here!”

How naive of me. With literally billions of suns, many with orbiting planets, the odds were in favor of life out there. If you define life as the chemical process that creates life or you believe that creation is the work of a supreme power, the odds favor life. If it’s all science, the odds of the right mixture of chemical, temperature, and atmospheric conditions allowing the creation of life are probably billions to one in favor. And even the most devout must consider that a Supreme Power wouldn’t stop with earth. We may be just one experiment, maybe not the most successful.

So, why haven’t we detected extraterrestrial life yet? We have hundreds of dishes pointed into space, all designed to detect electronic transmissions. Land and space-based telescopes search for planets orbiting foreign stars. Then the search is refined to look for chemical signatures of their atmospheres, searching for the telltale signs of life as we know it. Just this month another planet with a promising atmosphere was found, but no smoking gun.

As a writer, I spend much of my mental energy figuring out how to make implausible situations turn out to be real, that’s a big part of creating drama. It has slowly occurred to me that the same may be going on ‘out there.’ If scientists believe that life will only be found where we would look for it on earth, perhaps we are missing the big picture.

Perhaps there are very different forms of intelligent life. Think what might have happened when a society far advanced from ours created artificial intelligence to serve their population. But if competing populations destroy the environment, all that may be left is AI, which can function in entirely different environments. Or what if some massive crises, like a huge meteor strike or a corona blast from their sun destroyed the terrestrial atmosphere? Given enough planning and time, intelligent beings may have figured out how to survive and rebuild underground where they could draw on the planet's resources to create a life allowing atmosphere, energy source and sustenance. There would be no detectable telltale signs of life.

Astronomers have detected planets orbiting suns only tens of light years from earth. They have not detected life there, but what if… 

For more than a year now, I’ve been working on a book that explores the possibilities of first contact. I believe the big story that might come from contact might be overshadowed by how human’s foibles deal with it. That is, until we truly listen to the message.  

Look for the book this fall…

Rodger Recommends: Robert Dugoni & Travis Davis

One big part of writing for a living is the relationship with other authors and learning from them. One of the most encouraging authors I’ve worked with is Robert Dugoni, a Seattle based author of dozens of fascinating books. His primary genre is crime based mystery, a genre that has earned him tens of thousands of followers; a genre where he could teach a master class in connecting character and motivation. Unlike most cop crime thrillers, Bob’s hero is a woman.

Years after reading my first Dugoni novel, I was privileged to read The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. It was totally different in that it told a fictional story of a young boy faced with the kind of life challenges that none of us should ever see. It was a great read. 

Later, Robert wrote a spy series with an older male hero, Charles Jenkins. Much of the action in the series takes place in Russia where I’ve spent a lot of my life. Bob’s settings and characters could be lifted from my months of experience and locations from St Petersburg to the Russian Far East. I enjoyed doing a tiny bit of tweaking, helping with book accuracy, including aviation scenes for Bob, but mostly I learned from reading and watching his books evolve to final published versions.

An attorney, with a great eye for detail, Robert also has a non-fiction book out. The Cyanide Canary is co-written with an environmental investigator and it tells the story of an environmental disaster in Idaho and the extreme difficulty in making what was an obvious criminal case. I don’t usually recommend books that I haven’t finished, but this is a great read, and testament to how a great writer’s skills make a great book, no matter the genre.

One of the best books I’ve read in the last couple of years is One of Four, from Texas based author and friend, Travis Davis. I haven’t figured out whether Travis is an exceptional writer, or if his brilliant mind just kicked out a story with characters and a plot that was so unique that I think it’s a must read. One of Four is Travis' third book.

In studying his work, I wanted to see how he handled a plot that many might have written. So, I bought his first book, Flames of Deception, which he recently re-released. Again, I’ve just started reading it, but like in Bob Dugoni’s book, this too is a good read, and for me a chance to watch a new writer’s skills evolve to the point that he could create One of Four by his third novel. Both are worth your time and a few dollars.

A Taste Of The Wild: Grilled Game Kabobs

Over the years, as a wild game cook, I’ve encountered a number of people who are reluctant to try wild game and have met others who are so tuned into the blah flavors of beef or pork, that they dislike the taste of wild game meat. This incredibly simple recipe is one of my favorites for new initiates to hunter’s table fare and for those who will “try it but I don’t really like it.”

(serves four)
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs. game steak (Moose, venison, elk, sheep) either sirloin or backstrap steaks, cut into 1 ½ inch chunks
1 C. Yoshida’s Teriyaki Marinade mixed with 1T. black bean-garlic paste, and two large green onions, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
1 large sweet onion, just the outer leaves, leaving about a one-inch core for later use, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
1 zucchini cut into ½ inch pieces
12 baby bella mushrooms
3 C. cooked white rice

Preparation
Marinade the meat in the teriyaki marinade for four hours. Remove meat and save marinade.
Place alternating vegetables and meat on foot long metal skewers, spacing the meat between onion and pepper slices. (You should end up with about 6 skewers.)
Heat grill to medium and place the skewers on the grill for twenty minutes, turning about every five minutes until edges of vegetables are charred slightly and meat is cooked through. 

To Serve
Heat leftover marinade in the microwave oven or on a burner until it just starts to bubble.
Strip meat and vegetables onto rice and then pour the heated marinade over the mix and serve.
The flavor of most wild game actually complements the teriyaki flavoring. Enjoy! 

Rodger Recommends: Overcoming Conflict

(How the beliefs of Max Webber might help each of us)

A story without conflict is like rafting on a river without rapids. You will move from where you start to where you finish without raising your heart rate, or the challenge of survival. As a writer, conflict is critical to what I do and to what I present to my readers. 

With that said, I’ve tried for years to craft a story around the level of political conflict in the United States today with little success. The Eel And The Angel, The Shadow Game, and The Dragon, The Eagle And The Jaguar all are built around international conflict. But the left-right anger in my own country lacks ingredients for a good book. For literary conflict to work in a book, it must be rational and realistic, and there must be a promise of solution.

To better understand today’s political conflict, I went back to one of the most fascinating and influential men of the early 1900’s. Max Webber was a German sociologist, historian, jurist, and economist. His most famous work, The Protestant Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism, explores how the Protestant Ethic drove the expansion of capitalism in Europe. The primary drivers were hard work, thrift and a rational approach to life and work.

His Bureaucracy Theory described how clear bureaucratic structure, rules and specialization is the most efficient way of organizing large organizations. These two, Protestant Ethic and Bureaucratic Theory became the model that led to the explosion of wealth and the creation of the middle class.

A third theory, Social Behavior Theory, however, seems to be coming into play more and more in the 21st century. This theory emphasizes that social actions are influenced by the meanings individuals attach to their own beliefs and the actions of others. Today, many citizens social beliefs are so entrenched that they see evil in the actions of those whose beliefs differ. This becomes even more troubling when citizens’ own beliefs in certain areas conflict with their beliefs in other areas. 

Webber challenged society to balance their Ethics of Conviction with the Ethics of Responsibility. A great example is the murder of the President of United Health Care. To many that company fails to live up to their beliefs in covering the cost of health care. I get it. But to many of those same people, someone killing the CEO of the company fails to live up to their beliefs in the sanctity of human life.

In politics, Webber challenges us to carefully evaluate the limits of compromise of our belief system versus the compromise that may be needed to win an election. Again, how do we balance wanting to promote our values with the perceived necessity to take money from those we might otherwise disagree with, or to be less than honest in a campaign?

Webber would abhor how we now deal with those with different beliefs as the enemy, often disregarding some of our own human values to promote what we believe in.