Passport to Texas

Beautiful, yes. But also an important protein source for hungry Texans.

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Hunters for the Hungry, a program of Feeding Texas, welcomes legally harvested and tagged deer from hunters to help feed hungry Texans.

This is a wonderful program that helps us fight hunger.

Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas says a bill passed during the 2015 Texas Legislative session, allows hunters and anglers to make voluntary cash donations to the program when buying a license.

The option on the license is you can (voluntarily) donate one, five, ten or twenty dollars. In addition to the donations we’ve received through the hunting license option, individuals have supported the program through a donation option on our website.

Last year hunters and anglers, donated 110-thousand dollars to Hunters for the Hungry.

So, for the first time this year, we had funds to help reimburse processors for their costs of participating in the program. And that funding stream is what’s going to allow us to greatly increase the pounds of venison that go through the program next year.

Even with limited promotion, hunters donated more than 55-thousand pounds of venison to the program.

Collectively, we serve 3.5 million Texans every year. About a million of those are kids. We’re looking to grow [Hunters for the hungry] in those areas where there are lots of opportunities.

Find details at feedingtexas.org; click on the “get involved” tab, and then Hunters for the Hungry.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This is one of the faces of hunger in Texas. Image from Feeding Texas Facebook page.

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Hunger is widespread in the US and in Texas.

Our food banks collectively provide food and other services to about 3.5 million Texans every year. They do that through a network of approximately 3,000 private charities. They manage to get food and other services out to hungry Texans in all 254 counties.

Celia Cole is CEO of Feeding Texas.

Feeding Texas is the state association that represents all of the food banks in Texas – there are 21. And we’re all part of a network called Feeding America.

Hunters for the Hungry is a program of Feeding Texas.

We work with hunters and meat processors to involve them in the program. Hunters donate excess venison they hunt, to the processor who then grinds it up and packages it and makes it available to our network for distribution to the hungry people we serve.

Last year, hunters donated about 55-thousand pounds of venison to the program.

We are really hopeful that we can greatly increase that amount. It’s a matter of getting the word out to hunters that this program is available, and then also recruiting enough processors that there are enough outlets for hunters to take their deer to.

Learn how to help hungry Texans when you buy your next hunting or fishing license. That’s tomorrow.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

White-throated sparrow and Carolina Chickadee. Images: National Audubon Society.

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It’s not uncommon to find the white-throated sparrow and Carolina chickadee in backyards throughout Texas.

Most Texans have these – especially in the eastern two-thirds of the state

Cliff Shackelford, nongame ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, says these birds are whistlers.

They have very clear, clean whistles. Sometimes you might even think it’s the neighbor whistling – but it’s a little bird!

If whistling like this comes from ground level, it’s likely the white-throated sparrow.

If it’s a little higher up– maybe up in the trees – it’s probably the Carolina chickadee. We get a lot of phone calls from people saying: what is this bird with that has this crystal clear whistle in my backyard? And it’s probably going to be one or the other – either the chickadee or the sparrow.

The chickadee is finch-sized with a gray body, white underside and black and white head. The sparrow is plump with a black and white head, white throat, gray underside and little yellow eyebrows.

You can hear the chickadee whistling year-round, but the white throated sparrow leaves for southern Canada where it’s nice and cool in the summer while we’re here melting in the summer months.

Learn more about Birds in Texas on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife restoration program supports our series and funds wildlife surveys throughout Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Dove Carnitas a la Killer Chefs. Photo: Jesse Morris.

Beyond Bacon: Dove Carnitas a la Killer Chefs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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With dove season underway in the north and central zones, bacon wrapped dove breasts will soon show up on the tables of hunters everywhere.

People don’t really like eating doves, they like eating bacon, if that’s the only way that they cook it.

Jesse Morris is a hunter and chef with Killer Chefs in Richardson, Texas. He says there are more inventive ways to enjoy dove—including carnitas.

Everybody’s go-to recipe—and there’s nothing wrong with it – is bacon wrapped dove. It’s nice to actually use all the bird. So, you can use the heart in the carnitas, and the legs, and the breast meat, and everything. Cooking that down low and slow; finishing it off, letting all the sugars come out in the product. It’s something good.

If you’re a new hunter and longtime foodie, you may be tempted to “go gourmet” when preparing dove or any game. Jesse recommends to start simply.

People get off on wanting to cover them in sauces or gravy, and things like that – when they’re really not tasting the bird, or whatever game that it is that they’re eating. When you’re first starting out cooking wild game, cook it simply: grill it; salt and pepper. See what the flavors that the actual game is, and then work with that.

We have Jesse Morris’ dove carnitas recipe at Passport to Texas dot com.

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

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Killer Chef’s Dove Carnitas Recipe
by Jesse Morris
One of my all time favorites and go to recipe is carnitas. They are flavorful and easy to cook. My version of the recipe is not totally traditional. I like to lighten it up and use things that I can find around me in the late August early September months. If you don’t like the idea of using real sugar cokes, then don’t use it. You may substitute piloncillo, an unrefined sugar, and water.

Ingredients
1 pound salt pork, large cubed
Pig skin or pig ears, you may use the skin from the salt pork
1 white onion, rough chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 pound block of lard
10 dove plucked and cleaned doves quartered and hearts (trust me)
1 bunch fresh thyme, whole
1 bunch fresh oregano, whole
2 sticks Mexican cinnamon
1 Meyer lemon (or small orange), peeled, rind and juice
3 Mexican real sugar cokes

Instructions
In a deep, heavy bottom pan or Dutch oven brown the salt pork.
Add onions and garlic to pan and sauté for a few minutes.
Then add lard and allow it to melt and begin to slightly fry ingredients in pan.
Next add dove and remainder of the ingredients and simmer for about an hour on medium/high heat until meat is tender and the cloudy look of the coke and lard turns semi clear.
Pick all the meat and some of the lemon peel out. Pull apart the meat to prep for serving.
Finish off on flat top or cast iron pan till caramelized.
I prefer to garnish with charred jalapeno, chimichuri and a slice of lime or Meyer lemon.

Ready for dove.

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Jesse Morris is a hunter and professional chef; he traded his chef’s jacket for a new career that allows him to spend more time with his family.

I felt that I needed to have a creative outlet to continue food. Two of my greatest passions were food and hunting, so I decided what better way to celebrate what I was doing than to put those together; and that’s how Killer Chefs was born.

He shares these passions through the Killer Chefs website. Dove season is underway in the north and central zones. Jesse says: don’t expect this bird to taste like chicken.

When people think about wild game, the thoughts in their head are: ‘It tastes livery.’ That’s the word that they use. It has a flavor to it. But, what will give it that ‘off taste’ is not handling it properly.

Dove has a good flavor, but needs proper handling to ensure full enjoyment.

The very first thing in terms of food that you really want to think about, especially it being as hot as it is, is getting that animal cooled down. I always put the birds in a cooler right after they’re shot. Getting that body temperature cooled down as quickly as possible – that’s the most important thing.

That one act can mean the difference between delicious and disaster. Tomorrow: beyond bacon.

That’s our show… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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