Wild game, fish and a dash of camaraderie.
By: Sarah Winkelman
"Man didn’t live this long to get to the top of the food chain and eat grass."
That’s the motto Jim "Doc" Applegate and his wife, Carol (a.k.a "Mom"), live by. It is also the crux of the couple’s annual Beast Feast.
"We’ve been doing this meal for six years for the kids and even longer for our friends and family," Dr. Applegate said.
The Applegates own Simonson’s Tree Farm on Dey Road. Dr. Applegate, who was a professor of ecology and wildlife biology at Cook College from 1971 to 2003, said his experience at the school made him realize how distant most people are from an understanding of where food comes from.
He said everything at the Beast Feast was either caught or grown by him and his wife.
"The venison for the venison stroganoff was caught in New Jersey, the clams for the clam linguine were gathered in Great Bay, the goose for the slow cooked orange goose was killed on our property and the salmon for the planked salmon was caught last year in Copper River, Alaska," he said.
The Applegates also served bison simmered in a Dutch oven with red wine and carrots grown in their garden. The meal also included fruit salad, Italian spinach pie, parsnips, and scalloped tomatoes and dirt pudding for dessert.
There were 15 people sitting around the Applegates expansive dining room table on April 8 for the feast. Most were members of the Cook College Green Print newspaper.
Marcos Orozco, a senior environmental policy major, said that every year the Cook College senior class has an auction as its major fund-raiser for the year. For the auction they ask faculty and staff to donate items that can be bid on by members of the class.
"Professors usually donate a meal at their house or tickets to a Broadway show or something," he said. "Well one year someone asked Dr. Applegate to donate a meal at his house and he did. That first year the staff of the Green Print bought the meal and now we always bid on it every year. One year the price went above $800."
At 4:30 p.m., the Applegates were going over the night’s menu to make sure they hadn’t overlooked any of the items. Once they were sure everything was on schedule, they put out hors d’ouevres and drinks for the students, who arrived in a pack around 6 p.m.
Everyone stood around the open kitchen talking and snacking on the wild game sausages and smoked salmon caught by Dr. Applegate and smoked in his backyard smoker. Standing at the stove clad in a white apron, Dr. Applegate took in the scene with a huge smile on his face.
"This is what I love," he said. "We really enjoy having the kids around."
Once the kids arrived, though, it was show time. The big event of the evening was the making of the linguine with clam sauce. Dr. Applegate brought out an enormous cast iron skillet to cook the dish in.
"This thing takes up all four burners," he said.
He started with a generous serving of olive oil and then he sautéed some chopped garlic until it was fragrant. Then the chopped clams went in and finally the linguine was added so it could be tossed with the sauce. The entire contents of the skillet were dumped into a serving bowl and topped with handfuls of fresh chopped parsley.
Once the linguine was finished the scalloped tomatoes and spinach pie could come out of the oven. The table was set, serving bowls and plates were laid out and everyone was called to the table. The senior members of the Green Print staff walked around the table with some of the dishes so they could serve the other guests.
Then it was time for a toast. Everyone thanked the Doc and Mom for inviting them over for such a wonderful meal and then the room went silent as everyone began eating.
But the Applegates did not sit down at the table. Instead they stood off to one side, arms around each other, smiling at the happy, hungry students before them at the table enjoying the fruits of their labor of love. They exchanged secret smiles before finally being cajoled into getting a plate and eating some of the food they had prepared.
But despite all the happiness surrounding the annual Beast Feat, this might be the last year for the event, at least for the college students. Dr. Applegate said this year’s seniors are the last class to have known him as a professor at the college, which means once they graduate, no one will remember Doc Applegate.
"If the meal is put up for auction, no one will known who I am," he said. "We’ll miss doing it, but we can always have a reunion with all the past Green Print staff. Part of growing up is letting go of things so you can move on to different things. But this is what I’ll miss the most the kids."
Cheechako Grilled
Salmon Steak
1 ½ pound salmon steak or a 3 to 4-pound whole filet with skin
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
lemon wedges for garnish
Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the salmon. Allow to marinate at least one hour.
Meanwhile, soak a cedar plank in water for at least 20 minutes or as long as 4 hours. Prepare a medium fire in a grill. Place the plank on the grill, close the lid and heat until the plank begins to smoke and crackle.
Place the salmon, skin side down, on the plank. Close the lid and grill until the salmon is cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges.
Yields 4 servings.

