South Texas Antelope, chipotle risotto, grilled okra, espresso red wine reduction; photo courtesy Alcalde Grill, Gonzales, Texas
Scroll down to find a seasonal game recipe from Chef Austin Brown.
This is Passport to Texas
Hunters are beginning to fill their freezers with venison.
07—Most people will make stew out of it or they’ll grind up what’s left over and they’ll make sausage out of it.
Those traditional preparations are tasty, but Chef Austin Brown, owner of the Alcalde Grill in Gonzales challenges home cooks to get out of their comfort zones. And that means not using this common culinary crutch.
15— Get away from the Italian dressings and use brines. A heavily salted water with some sort of acid—maybe a little flavored vinegar in it—lemon juice, lime juices. Those things do the exact same thing as a marinade.
He says home cooks default to stews and sausages because those recipes mask the meat’s perceived gamy flavor. But Chef Brown says a properly cooked venison back strap or leg filet, for example, is sublime.
20— I would brine it in salt water and cut it into individual steaks; season it with just salt and pepper…a little bit of garlic and a little bit of butter, and grill it on the grill. Or sear it in a pan, cooking it to about medium rare and eating it that way. Some of the best deer that you can eat is just seasoned with salt and pepper and seared in a pan.
Find a recipe from Chef Austin Brown at passporttotexas.org.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
_____________________________________________________________
Sea Salt Quail, Chef Austin Brown
CRISPY SEA SALT QUAIL with Roasted Red pepper aioli
For the Aioli
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 cups of oil (use a neutral oil like canola or grapeseed)
- 1 cup of ice water
- 2 red peppers
- 1 smashed garlic clove
Over an open flame, roast the peppers until black on all sides. Place them in a Ziploc bag for about ten minutes to steam. Remove from back and peel off burn skin, and remove seeds.
In a blender combine egg yolks, peppers, 2 tablespoons of water and the garlic clove. Blend until smooth. slowly add the oil in a fine stream until a thin mayonnaise consistency is reached. More or less of the oil can be used. Once thickened, season with salt and pepper.
For the Quail
- 20 quail legs skin on
- 5 cups of flour
- Sea salt
- Cracked pepper
- Cilantro bunch( optional)
- 1 quart of canola oil
- Heavily season the flour with salt and pepper.
Wash quail to remove any leftover feathers. Pat dry with a paper towel and toss in flour to coat.
Over medium heat, heat about a 3/8 of an inch of canola oil in the bottom of a cast iron skillet.
Fry the legs turning only once to a golden brown. Be sure to not over crowd the pan, the name of the game is cooking these guys over really high heat so they are still juicy on the inside.
The hotter the oil, the crispier they turn out. Once finished place quail on a paper towel to soak up any remaining oil and season again with sea salt and cracked pepper
Serve with the red pepper aioli and garnish with cilantro.
Passport to Texas is a 
Passport to Texas is made available by: