Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Once deer season arrives freezers will be full of venison. That’s why I attended a Venison Do-It-Yourself class taught by Chef Jesse Griffiths, a hunter and chef from Austin. He says use the correct cooking method when preparing this perfect protein.

18—Either you’re going to cook it a very short amount of time or not even cook it at all—raw in the form of tartar—which is excellent. Or you’re going to cook it where it’s just got a nice brow crust on the outside, and it’s still rare or medium rare on the inside; or, you’re going to cook it at a very slow rate for a long time like a braise or a very slow roast.

Chef Griffiths says slow cooking allows fat, sinew and collagen to melt, which makes the meat juicy and tender.

15—So, braising is a good way, because it’s a moist cooking. You brown it off first, develop flavor, and then cook it in liquid. And so that keeps the moisture in there. Then cook it gently—don’t boil it—you have to get a nice simmer. Keep it in the oven. The secret is just to have patience.

Chef Griffiths also does all his own processing, because prefers to use all parts of the animal, including liver, kidneys, bones and more.

07—I think it’s just a shame to waste anything off of any animal. Especially when we put so much work into hunting.

Read about my experience in Chef Griffiths Venison DIY class—with pictures—in the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_____________________________________________________________

The following recipes are not from Chef Griffiths, but tasty just the same, and a great way to use the perfect protein known as venison.

Venison Jerky Recipe
Venison Tamales

Cooking Venison Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Jesse Griffiths working with wild game on the grill

Do-It-Yourself Venison Processing Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

I love to cook and I love venison. So I attended a Venison Do-It-Yourself class taught by Jesse Griffiths, a hunter and professional chef in Austin, who says it pays to process your own deer.

:29—You know, there’s just a lot of reasons why doing it yourself is so much better… because, you don’t know what they’re mixing it with. Maybe you’re not even getting your own deer back. Maybe the people that they’re mixing your deer with –they didn’t take very good care of their deer. Maybe they did the whole, carry it around on the top of their Suburban in some hot weather for awhile. So, you don’t really know. And by putting it in your own hands, it’s really going to do everybody a little more good.

Chef Griffiths advocates using all of this perfect protein cooking.

:12—We’re going to use the liver and the kidneys and the bones, and the neck—everything today. I just want to show people how good that stuff is and if you’re taking the time to kill it, then take the time to enjoy every little bit of it, too.

Throughout the class we watched as Chef carved the venison into familiar cuts of meat: loins, ribs, cutlets, roasts, and flank steaks. After cutting came the cooking.

:05—I want to get people beyond the bacon, jalapeno situation that most game cooking is in.

Tomorrow: how to maximize the flavor of venison. You can also read about, and see pictures from, my Venison Do-It-Yourself experience in the October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport fish and Wildlife Restoration program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

You’ll find more than a dozen species of horned lizards in North America.

Texas actually has three species of horned lizards.

And the one known as the Texas horned lizard – or horny toad — is disappearing from its historic range.

The Texas horned lizard has really utilized a variety of habitats, because it was once found across most of the state, with the exception of, maybe, far east/southeast Texas.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Horned Lizard Watch, and is president for the Horned Lizard Conservation Society. A survey project is underway through the Society, which encourages volunteers to survey rural cemeteries for the spiky lizard.

A lot of these rural cemeteries actually retain a lot of native habitat. And just recently one of our members of the Horned Lizard Conservation Society came up with an idea, based upon some of his experiences, that these lightly maintained, semi-native habitats might be good habitat for horned lizards.

The information gathered will help researchers understand the animal’s needs, and factors surrounding its decline. There’s more information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… working to increase conservation efforts in Texas.

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

Horned Lizard Watch Brochure
Horned Lizard Watch Monitoring Packet

Searching for Horny Toads in Cemeteries Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Texas’ beloved horny toad is the subject of an ongoing citizen science project called Texas Horned Lizard Watch, where volunteers collect data about this vanishing Texas icon.

It’s been going on for ten years now. So we’ve gotten some wonderful information from people – all across the state – about how horned lizards are doing.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the program. Among other uses, the data helps biologists like Linam establish predictors of horned lizard decline.

Our horned lizard watch data, that our volunteers put together, show that in fact, that the presence of fire ants is kind of the strongest predictor as to whether or not you’ll find horned lizards at a site. And, of course, it’s generally not a good relationship.

Red harvester ants are horned lizard’s food of choice — but good luck finding them when fire ants are around.

Fire ants often drive out native ant species; they feed on small vertebrates, especially animals that lay their eggs in the ground.

There’s a new opportunity for people wanting to participate in Texas Horned Lizard Watch.

If they’re interested in the survey project in cemeteries they can get in touch with us.

Spooky…we’ll have details on surveying horned lizards in cemeteries tomorrow. That’s our show… we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration Program… working to increase conservation efforts in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Horned Lizards: An Icon in Peril Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Non-game and game animals—and their habitat needs—get their due this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series. Series producer, Don Cash has details.

One theme that runs throughout all of our topics is conservation of the resources, and people getting out and enjoying those resources. Take a couple of stories on horned lizards—an icon of Texas, everybody loves them. And, they’ve been disappearing, partly because, we have been losing the land where they live.

So, as always, a lot of different things in October, and catch it on your local PBS station.

Thanks Don.

That’s our show… we receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

TPW TV: October Highlights Play Now | Play in Popup | Download