Changing The Game is a cookbook and tactical, practical “how-to” guide for sportsmen who want to optimize enjoyment of their harvests and home cooks who are hunting for new ways to up their food game with wild or farm-raised game or, domestic meats. The book provides detailed instructions on a combination of new and time-tested techniques for processing wild game – the author’s “7 Keys to the Game.” These essential elements, along with recipes featuring curated ingredients will change your game to deliver exceptional flavor and tenderness for gourmet, field-to-fork food. All of the main course recipes can be prepared with domestic meat (alternatives are noted throughout) and include suggestions for side dishes and wine pairings. An enjoyable and entertaining read, Changing The Game is peppered with personal anecdotes and references the author’s traditional Italian-American roots, which have influenced many of the book’s recipes that have since been refined with his personal flair.
Changing The Game clearly identifies and defines how to eliminate gamey flavor from game meat and how to process (butcher) game into tender cuts of meat. Additionally, this book identifies and elaborates upon “7 keys to changing the game” during the butchering and cooking processes that will allow the reader to execute the recipes within, turning wild game into delectable dishes.
Changing The Game provides readers with a strategic game plan to help them decide how to process game animals, so they have the cuts of meat they need to make the various recipes listed in the book.
Changing The Game provides and recommends side dishes and wine pairings for each main course offered and offers a few desserts for a complete dinner menu. It even has a chapter for mixed drinks.
The author intertwines some double entendre and humor along with anecdotes to keep readers interested while using layperson terminology to walk through butchering and meal preparation processes.
The anecdotes and intertwined humor provide a personal touch that makes this read more like a “feel good” book rather than a cookbook or how-to book that contains over 50 wild game meat recipes.
Check out the 5-Star review of Changing The Game from Readers’ Favorite here:
Changing the Game by Craig J. Tomsky is a lifestyle sport and cookbook that centers around hunting both large and small quarry as a food source, provided from the experience of an author whose roots in sourcing, preparing, storing, and successfully consuming game are generations deep. Tomsky begins with a bit of backstory on learning from his family and the desire to pay it forward for his own and all of ours. His game plan is comprehensive and begins with a well-placed shot and the harvest, what needs to be done straight away and what can wait a little while longer. He then moves into successful and safe field dressing. From here, Tomsky walks us through a range of information including tools of the trade, cooling and butchering for optimal taste and texture, processing and packaging, preparation and pairing, and a ton of incredible recipes among many, many other things.
My introduction to hunting came in very much the same manner that Craig Tomsky’s wife, Susan, was introduced to it as well. My wife does not hunt herself but her family is passionate about harvesting their own meat whenever possible, and along with that came countless meals that were prepared from this natural bounty. Changing the Game truly is a game-changer and Tomsky really is something of an encyclopedia on the subject, which bodes well in both the narrative and the authenticity of how he conveys the hows-and-whys of such a complex subject matter. His passion threads through the pages with consistency and conviction that is frequently lost in books intent on offering sound and professional guidance. The passing down of knowledge is capped off beautifully with Italian recipes that include recommended sides and wine pairings, but the real treasure is the stories behind each one of them. Ma’s Cacciatore is definitely in our future and this is a lifestyle book that is easy to recommend.
From Stephen Klobucar, Ph.D.:
I learned to hunt before I learned to cook and I learned to cook because I learned to hunt. Whether in pursuit of wild game or in creation of tantalizing meals from said game, mastery of either skill requires an iterative process that is truly never finished. For a well-rounded outdoorsman, the knack for one should represent a driving force behind the education of the other. There’s no singular right way to develop your skillset in the field or kitchen—adaptability is key, experience a virtue, and the willingness to learn, from both the good and the bad, is a necessity.
In “Changing The Game,” author Craig Tomsky, offers the groundwork to develop and enhance a winning field-to-fork process, no matter your know-how. Drawing upon over 30 years of trial and error and homegrown education, “Changing the Game” is insightfully written with an all-encompassing “7 keys to the game” approach to wild game preparation and execution. From ‘developing you game plan’ to ‘post-game analysis,’ Tomsky coaches the reader through his full ‘playbook’—a tactical and practical guide for processing and preparing wild game.
Grounded in Italian roots and a New Jersey upbringing, “Changing The Game” is more than a cookbook—it’s an authentic, worldly dive into Tomsky’s development of his wild game meals and methods. From entertaining anecdotes to flavorful recipes packed with their own personality, “Changing The Game” will lead readers of all culinary abilities to up their game when it comes to wild game.“
— Stephen Klobucar, Ph.D., Biologist and outdoors writer
From Alison Cummins, Editor, Serving House Books:
Author Craig Tomsky’s Changing The Game takes the reader from field to feast in a clear and humorous style. His passions are obvious: hunting, cooking and savoring the delicious results. In addition to recipes for the meals themselves, he tosses in suggested wine parings, and even a few desserts.
For more than 30 years, Tomsky has been honing his hunting and cooking skills, all apparent in the text. But there’s a third ingredient that informs the content. He’s also a scientist. These combined experiences make Changing The Game unique.
Targeted to sportsman and layman alike, Changing The Game is infused with laugh-out-loud anecdotes intended for relaxed instruction. It’s a fun and mouth-watering read.
— Alison Cummins, Editor, Serving House Books
Changing the Game Midwest Book Review:
Cooks who think of ‘game’ usually add a ‘y’ to the mental thought about game dishes, but Changing the Game: Your Guide for Transforming Wild Game into Game-Changing Meals fosters the idea that game cookery need not involve flavors that are challenging for everyday eaters.
Indeed, this cookbook and discussion adds an element of gourmet to the game equation, discussing the basics of how to pair game’s unique flavor with embellishments that make it not just palatable, but preferable. The key involves ‘unlocking flavor’ and knowing how to prepare and spice different kinds of game to make the most of its qualities, while making the resulting flavor palatable for all. Chapters review this process, discussing spices, herbs, marinades, and other ways of altering or enhancing the underlying qualities of game meat.
Many recipes, such as that for Savory Breakfast Sausage, are introduced by Craig J. Tomsky’s reflections on experiments conducted to arrive at the finished recipe recommendation: “I don’t even want to tell you how many times I attempted to get a “traditional” breakfast sausage flavor using mostly wild game meat. Lots of venison went into the multiple gyrations that got this recipe to where I wanted it. You can also substitute 7 pounds wild boar meat and 3 pounds fatty pork shoulder in this recipe.”
As for the recipes, these run the gamut from gourmet (Twice-Smoked Goose Jerky, Waterfowler’s Gumbo, or Smoked Breast of Wild Turkey made with Sweet Ginger and Mary Ann Rub) to everyday fare such as a Sweet Italian Sausage made with venison or large game. All that’s required for success is fresh game and a fresh new attitude towards cooking it for optimum crowd-pleasing results. This cookbook provides the rest…the ingredients and flavors which promise perfection, finished with side dish suggestions and wine pairings for added attraction.
