Wild ones: Try a more interesting meat at home

Burger Burger's Impossible burger, a plant-based meat alternative. Photo / Supplied

Are you game to try something beyond the usual chicken and beef rotation?

The Impossible comes to town

Here's a twist on meat as you know it. The Impossible has arrived in New Zealand. It's taken the world by storm already (this California-based plant-based meat producer launched in 2016, and can be found in restaurants from New York to London), and now Kiwis in Auckland, Mt Maunganui and Christchurch can try the Impossible product for the first time.

Bite into Burger Burger's The Impossible Beef & Cheese Burger, and you'd be hard-pressed to realise that this is not a beef pattie you're biting into. Juicy, crispy and dripping with aioli and cheese, this is a burger for meat-eaters who want lower their footprint without lowering their standards.

Launched just last week, you'll now find the Impossible beef at Burger Burger stores around NZ, and, in Auckland only, at Fatima's (try Impossible koftes and chawarmas), and Cantine at Bar Celeste, in a mince and cheese pie at Ashby in St Helier's, and in lasagna at Waiheke's Vino Vino. impossiblefoods.nz

Burger Burger's Impossible burger, a plant-based meat alternative. Photo / Supplied

Oh my deer

There are the meats we cook at home – chicken, beef, fish and bacon – and there are meats we order in the restaurants – whole fish, fillet steak, new season's venison. If venison has always fallen in the too hard basket, First Light's collaboration with Lewis Road Creamery should be the trick to bring it home for you.

Venison is healthy – lean, rich in protein and high in iron. This is farmed venison, raised to strict welfare standards, so expect the flavour to be milder than wild venison.

The packs contain a perfect portion of venison, and a dab of garlic and parsley butter – simply sear your medallion, rest, add butter, and eat.

Venison is famously lean, so don't overdo it. The process is as simple as preparing beef steak, but faster and, with the butter pat, easier too. All need is oil, salt and pepper and a hot pan. Three minutes a side, then rest under foil and a teatowel, with your butter pat left on top to melt down and be absorbed by the steak. You can buy directly from firstlight.farm, as well as New World, PaknSave, Farro and Moore Wilson.

First Light's venison with Lewis Road Creamery garlic and herb butter. Photo / Supplied

The G.O.A.T.

Why don't we eat more goat? It's tasty, lower fat, and affordable. And there's nothing that serves your curry better. A few weeks ago, Auckland's favourite game restaurant Cazador was serving up divine goat burgers with salad and fries, and at nearby Paradise Indian they serve a delicious spicy goat biryani. If you're game for goat, it's not hard to come by. If your local butcher can't help, order online at premiumgame.co.nz where you can find wild goat osso bucco, sausages, shoulders, shanks, salamis and more (as well as other wild meats such as tahr, wallaby, fallow deer and hare). Then head to eatwell.co.nz to find recipes for whole roasted goat leg, goat tacos, goat curry and more.

Try goat - a simple way to change up your home cooking. Photo / Supplied