Passport to Texas

Cooking at Barrington Living History Farm. Image from: wheretexasbecametexas.org

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This is Passport to Texas

January 6th is your chance to cook like an early Texan. That’s when Barrington Living History Farm hosts a hands-on cooking school where participants use the technology and ingredients of 1850s Texas to prepare a meal.

They end up cooking inside on a hearth.

Barb King is lead domestic interpreter at the Farm.

We do a couple of different types of foods to show the different ways of cooking on a hearth. So, we’ll do something that boils in a pot that hangs from the crane. We do a couple of baked goods that bake in Dutch ovens on the hearth, itself. And then we do a turkey or a chicken in a rotisserie–or a tin kitchen is more the period term. And that way people can see all kinds of methods of cooking as well.

If the class is full when you try to register, your name will go on a waiting list.

The joy of the class–since they’ve signed a waiver to do it–they get to eat what they cook. Normally when visitors come to the farm they don’t get to eat what we cook, because we’re cooking for the staff, and it’s not an FDA approved kitchen.

Barb King says the menu is seasonal–as it would have been in 1850s Texas.

Lots of root vegetables. Onions. We’ll do a roast that sometimes we’ll wrap in bacon. We do cornbread, because that’s a big staple in 1850–in the U.S. in general–but Texas in particular.

Find details for Barrington Farm’s cooking school in the calendar section of the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Preparing red snapper at Central Market Cooking School in Austin. Image: Bruce Biermann

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This is Passport to Texas

If one of your resolutions for 2018 includes catching, cooking and eating more fish, we’re here to help.

Freshwater and saltwater fish and shellfish are a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, something most of us lack in our Standard American Diet…the acronym for which is SAD.

In Texas, we have fishing opportunities statewide. But once you’ve caught them, then what? Some of us don’t have much experience preparing fish. So we steer clear.

However, this month’s Texas Parks and Wildlife cooking class collaboration with Central Market cooking schools, will help get you past this aversion. It’s a hands-on class that will have you preparing fish like a pro—with a citrus twist.

The menu for this class includes Fried Oyster Tacos with Citrus Salsa; Roasted Red Snapper with Citrus & Pistachios; & Blackened Redfish with Quick Cabbage & Lemon Butter. Happy New Year, right?

Classes are Tuesday, January 9 in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Plano and Southlake. Historically, fish and seafood classes tend to fill fast.

Find registration information at passporttotexas.org [click on the links above to the school closest to you].

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Wild turkey in Texas.

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This is Passport to Texas

Last quail season, bobwhite were at an all-time high thanks to a few years of great weather in a row.

We saw something we hadn’t seen in over 10 years, and it was quite special. And what comes up, must come down.

Robert Perez is Upland Bird Game Program Leader.

This past winter and spring we had average winter rains. Average spring rains. And so, we did have some quail production over the summer—that wasn’t phenomenal. But what we did have was so many birds that are still alive from last year that they carried over to this year. So, hunters can expect—in the bag—a lot of adult birds.

The season for Bobwhite, Scaled (blue) and Gambel’s Quail runs through February 25, statewide.

Scaled quail were phenomenal as well. Way out west in the Trans Pecos. There will still be great hunting opportunities out west at our WMAs.

If turkey’s more your bag, Perez says Rio Grande Turkey season is looking good.

Rio Grande turkey hunting in Texas is top notch. Populations in our state are at an all-time high. We’ll have two year old, three year old birds. Maybe not so much production this past year—a little bit below average—but, overall, Texas populations of Rio Grande turkeys are just through the roof.

Refer to the Outdoor Annual for seasons and bag limits for all upland game birds.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and funds quail research in Texas.

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

A wily, tasty flat fish: flounder.

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This is Passport to Texas

Flounder’s flat shape and ability to blend with its surroundings, makes it nearly invisible and difficult to catch—unless you’re Brian Treadway…

I think I’ve got a hit. Fish on! Fish on! I give you the southern Flounder. They live to be about six years of age. The state record’s 13 pounds. So, a 20-inch flounder’s considered a trophy fish.

Treadway fishes for flounder in Chocolate bayou, which he says is ideal flounder habitat.

The edge of the shoreline is a prime example of what you want to fish. It’s not flat. It’s simply curvy, and lots of points. Lots of edges. Drains are coming out of the marsh. It’s just a prime example of great, great terrain for the flounder.

December 1st -14th, the daily bag limit is two flounder, taken by any legal means. The current minimum size for a keeper is 14 inches with no maximum.

Oh, shoot. I stepped on him.

When Coe Parker’s not stepping on flounder in Christmas Bay, he’s gigging them.

The tools you need for gigging are a good gig—two prong preferably. I have mine marked off with the legal size limit. You have an underwater gig light, as well as a 12-volt deer feeder battery. That’s pretty much all you need.

Gigging with the best of them. Tomorrow.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Chef Cindy Haenel

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This is Passport to Texas

You may be tired of eating those heavy, Thanksgiving leftovers by now. If that’s true, it’s easy to find a nearby fishing hole where you can reel in something light, fresh and delicious. Chef Cindy Haenel says there’s nothing like catching your own dinner.

It’s fabulous. I know exactly how old that fish is, when it came out of the water and how long it’s been dead. And that’s important with fish especially. Fresh is always best.

Cindy, an avid angler, is a chef instructor at Central Market in Austin.

I love the saltwater as well as freshwater. But the saltwater you have more variety. You never know what you’re going to pull up. It’s exciting – like Christmas morning.

Immediately place your catch on ice, and if there’s a cleaning station on shore, Chef Cindy says consider doing the dirty work there. And when you get your catch back to the kitchen, be careful not to overcook it.

Most people, if they don’t like the taste of fish, it’s probably because they’ve overcooked it. And, as it cooks, and the oil of the fish starts to come out of the flesh, it burns very, very quickly. So, if you will undercook your fish, or protect that fish with either a salt crust, or even if it just has a little butter, or some kind of fat on the outside it still protecting that fish while it’s cooking.

Find fish recipes from Chef Cindy as well as a link to other fish and game recipes at passporttotexcas.org.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and works to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

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Trout Amandine
by Chef Cindy Haenel

Ingredients

8 (4-ounce) lake or rainbow trout fillets
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup (about 6 ounces) sliced, blanched almonds
Handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 lemon, wedged

Directions

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Combine egg and milk in a tin pie plate, beat with a fork. Place a cup of flour in a second pie tin and season well with salt and sparingly with pepper. Coat trout fillets in egg and milk, then in seasoned flour. Collect fillets on a plate until all of them are dredged and ready to be cooked.

Add 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to your skillet. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons butter to the pan. When the butter foams, add trout and gently saute 4 fillets for 2 or 3 minutes on each side, until golden. Transfer trout fillets to warm platter in oven.

Return pan to the stove and add 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. When butter foams, repeat cooking process. When all of the trout is cooked, add last tablespoon of butter to the pan. When the butter melts, add almonds and brown until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove trout from oven and pour almonds over the platter. Garnish platter with chopped parsley, lemon wedges, and serve immediately.

Serves 4