Passport to Texas

Chef Lou Lambert in the field with colleague.

Food Week: Preparing Flavorful Venison Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas Food Week

Even if you hunt for trophies, there’s good eating attached to those antlers. Don’t let it go to waste.

Cooking venison can be intimidating, but Chef Lou Lambert, author of the Big Ranch, Big City Cookbook, is here to help.

I grew up hunting and fishing and still do today. But I think most of the lessons I learned about cooking game were more failures than things that worked out well when my mother was cooking. Because I had two brothers, father – we all hunted. So, we always had quail, dove, ducks and deer. And I remember my mother struggling to cook deer, because (and the biggest mistake she made) was not realizing because game is, if you will, grass-fed, all-natural – it does not have the fat content. And, because it is more in motion – the muscles tend to be a little bit tighter, which means tougher. So, lack of fat and more movement tells you that you have to do a slow, moist heat cooking method, unless you have it ground into sausage, or pounded for chicken fried [steaks], most of that deer – 80% — you need to either do a braise or a very slow barbeque smoke method.

Find wild game recipes on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Holly Heyser and Hank Shaw at McKinney Falls State Park

Food Week: Respect for Wild Protein Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas Food Week

Journalist Holly Heyser didn’t grow up in a hunting family. She took up the sport to spend more time with her boyfriend who is a hunter, author and chef.

I got sick of being alone on weekends when he was out duck hunting all day long. He would get up at two in the morning and be out forever….well…it didn’t take that for me to join him. What it took was for him to cooking a lot of ducks, and wild ducks, especially where we live in the Sacramento Valley. Amazing. Really great food.

It seems appropriate that on Thanksgiving, Holly shares how she gained new appreciation and respect for all animals—not just wild game—and the meat they provide.

Since I started hunting, I am so much less wasteful of meat. Even if I’m at a restaurant, if there’s a burger on my plate, I will not leave one single bite of meat on my plate, because I know an animal died for that. And when it’s animals you hunt, especially…we invest a lot of time. We can spend 12 hours and a lot of money on gas, to go and maybe get two ducks one day. That’s a precious gift, and you don’t waste it. So it’s really made me understand the value of the food we eat. And, I appreciate it a lot more than I ever used to. And the fact that it’s wild food and it’s absolutely delicious is icing on the cake.

Wild game is free range, organic, sustainable, and nutritious. Find game recipes on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

Happy Thanksgiving and bon appetit from all of us at Passport to Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Grilling venison loin.

Food Week: Chef and Hunter Jesse Griffiths Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas Food Week

We have a culture of hunting game, but when it comes to eating it, a lot of people pass. Their reason: too gamey.

Jesse Griffiths is a hunter, angler, chef and author. He eats everything he kills. While game has unique flavor, he says it is crave-worthy when prepared properly.

He chronicled a year of hunting, fishing and cooking in Afield: a Chef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish.

We just tried to present this book that was a guide to getting more out of fish and game for people. We wanted it to be a field manual, a recipe guide. And we put step-by-step photos and descriptions of how to break everything down from a crab to a deer. Just to teach people who are new to it, or maybe even more experienced with it how to utilize these animals more.

Jesse told me he wrote the recipes in Afield to be simple, recognizable and accessible.

There’s a lot of tacos in there, and there’s a lot of things like pot pies. Squirrel and dumplings. Things like that. Very accessible. I just wanted people to see food that was recognizable and translate that into game, and then that way encourage people to have the confidence to get out there and do this themselves.

Find Jesse Griffiths recipe for Grilled Venison Loin with Herbs and Horseradish Cream on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Chef Jeff Martinez preparing Alligator Ancho Relleno.

Food Week: Putting the Bite on Alligator Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas Food Week

Hunting alligator in Texas is an adrenaline pumping experience, but cooking it shouldn’t be. Chef Jeff Martinez of Austin whips up a Mexican inspired treat with alligator meat.

So, what I’ve done is I’ve taken the meat and I’ve ground it up in my food processor. And so what we’re going to do with this today is we’re going to make an alligator ancho chile relleno. I’ve got a hot pan here; we’re going to start by adding extra virgin olive oil in the bottom. We’re going to add our white onion which has been diced up. We’re going to add our garlic. Oh, I can smell it already; it’s already starting to smell good. Okay, so after that, we’re going to add our tomato. Now, we’re going to go ahead and add our alligator meat. It’s pretty much going to look the same as cooked chicken. And it doesn’t take very long. And that’s just about it. So, we’re going to add a little bit more flavor to this dish by throwing in some sliced green olives; and then we’re going to add some of these raisins, and we’re going to finish it off with slivered almonds that have been toasted. You see everything in there and it looks great. There’s a lot of color in there – a lot of color also means a lot of flavor. And then we’re going to finish it off with some fresh chopped parsley that’s going to add some freshness to the dish. And then to finish it off, we’re going to salt – just to taste. And we are ready to stuff some chiles.

See Chef Martinez in action, and find the complete recipe on the Texas Parks and Wildlife YouTube Channel.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Salpicon De Venado. © Fotógrafo Federico Gil para el Larousse de la Cocina Mexicana

Food Week: Venison with South of the Border Taste Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas Food Week

Before we had domestic livestock, humans on both side of what is now the US/Mexico border hunted and consumed wild game. Venison ranked high on early Mexican menus.

Venison is especially important in a ritual sense as well as a culinary sense.

Karen Hursh Graber is senior Food Editor for the internet magazine Mexico Connect.

The word ‘venison’ in English, and the word ‘venado’ in Spanish – are both from the Latin word ‘venari’, which is the verb ‘hunt.’ So, that’s pretty impressive that the word for deer is the same as the word for hunt. It just shows the symbolic hunting imagery of deer in both cultures.

Mexicans are well known for their ability to create delicious and filling dishes using smaller amounts of prized ingredients, such as venison. Take the dish Salpicon De Venado, for example.

Instead of serving a huge hunk of meat, they’ll serve small pieces, and put it in a taco or in a stew. Salpicon is like a cold meat salad – it’s a venison salad. It’s dressed with herbs and spices and they serve it is tacos.

If eating cold venison doesn’t appeal, you can always eat it warm. Meanwhile, find Karen Hursh Graber’s recipe for Cold Venison Salad at passporttotexas.org.

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For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Shredded Venison Salad: Salpicon De Venado
by Karen Hursh Graber © 2005
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/2381-shredded-venison-salad-salpicon-de-venado

This dish is found on restaurant menus throughout Mexico, but particularly in the western part of the country and in the Yucatan, where it is called zic de venado. This recipe is a good buffet dish, to be piled on tostadas or served with warm tortillas and habanero salsa. It makes an attractive presentation served on a bed of mesclun greens. Following are two variations on the traditional recipe, one savory and one sweet-and-hot.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds venison, cooked and shredded (venison is lean and shreds nicely, like flank or skirt steak)
• juice of 4 bitter (Seville) oranges or use half sweet oranges and half limes
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped radishes
• salt to taste

Preparation:

Place the venison in a non-reactive bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients and let them rest for 15 minutes to combine the flavors. Add the mixture to the venison and serve immediately or refrigerate and bring to room temperature at serving time.

Serves 8-10 as part of a multi-course buffet or as an appetizer.

Variation I:

Omit the radishes and add ½ cup chopped green olives and 1 firm-ripe avocado, diced.

Variation II:

Omit the radishes and add 1 green mango, diced, 1 diced plantain and 2 (or more, to taste) Serrano chiles, seeded and diced.