_common Sense And Cards Recipes

_STEW

Steps:

• My pocket dictionary defines stew as "to boil slowly" or "a dish of stewed meat and vegetables served in gravy". So even for those folks whose cooking talents are stretched by just trying to boil water, they only have to add some meat and veggies to make a stew. In other words, beginning Dutch oven cooks and stews were made for each other. Someone with a new Dutch oven, wanting to cook something, is just like a student pilot landing an airplane. Any landing you walk away from is good, some are just better than others! For first time Dutch oven cooks, that translates to if your dinner guests do not leave the supper table in search of immediate medical attention, it must've been okay! As with flying and many other things for that matter, the results usually improve with a little practice.You can make a stew as simple as Tony Latham's "Warden Stew" or create a masterpiece containing exotic vegetables and spices. If you're bored with just plain old cooking and you want to try "ethnic cooking" there is no better place to start than with a stew. For example, take your Great-great-great Grandmother's stew recipe which she brought West in a covered wagon and add some oriental vegetables and seasoning to create a stew with a distinctive, new taste.Most of us who hunt big game, when rummaging around our freezers, leave those packages of meat labeled "stew" until everything else has been used. At least the way I cut up my animals, the amount of stew meat always exceeds what I'd call prime cuts.Though you can't cut chunks of elk shank with a fork when fried in butter, to me it's no reason to leave it till last. Cooked slow in a Dutch oven with your favorite veggies and spices, an old elk shank will produce as many oh's and ah's as tenderloin sauteed in butter and garlic! A good mathematician could fill a fair sized room with nothing but stew recipes by calculating all the combinations and permutations of possible ingredients for stew. So if you fancy your self a creative person, take your new Dutch oven and a "Stew" recipe and create a master piece! Around my house or camp, stew tends to end up as a "kitchen sink" dish. i.e. everything except the kitchen sink is likely to be thrown in the pot. As a result no two are the same. Besides being easy to make, nothing tastes better when one comes in from the cold than a steaming bowl of stew and a chunk of homemade bread. On more than one occasion the last night in camp, dinner consisted of some leftover meat and everything else left in the bottom of the camp box with some baking powder biscuits to soak up the juices. What ever the occasion, whether at home or in camp, A Dutch oven stew will fill'em up and keep'em smilin'A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales - Camp Chili, Stews, Soups and Sauces

_HOW TO COOK A COOT

Steps:

• If you're not a duck hunter or married to a duck hunter, just skip this recipe. Personally, I've never tried to cook a coot, primarily because I've never even shot at an "Ivory Billed Mallard". Remember, this is the guy who will eat every thing except grits and green lima beans. In this modern age, it seems to me, too many people blame events in their childhood for the mistakes or failures they make as adults. Some rightly so, but I can't help but feel a lot of it is over done!So where is all this leading, you ask yourself? Yup! you guessed it, my childhood. Since my dad first took me duck hunting at age three, the list of things I've done in life longer than I've duck hunted is fairly short. Memories of those first duck hunts are still vivid. Back in that distant past, I learned that the preferred duck of those who wait at home while others duck hunt, to be mallards. Those of the green headed variety! My dad, being a pretty fair hand with a shotgun, seldom got skunked in those days. He'd been there before, but it was a new experience for me, just four years old. About the only thing flying in the marsh that day were coots, which Dad had several different adjectives to describe. I didn't understand why dad didn't shoot them as they patterned by. At that time I obviously thought-ducks are ducks! Wrong! How long I pestered Dad to shoot them, I can't remember. What I do remember is him saying, "Mother didn't like any kind of ducks except those with green heads" and it wouldn't be very smart to take something home she didn't like. Though I was just four years old, that part I understood! I'm sure Dad first passed this recipe on that day. Over the years, Dad repeated this recipe so many times I've memorized it without ever having cooked it.A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales - Fowl & Fish

_LAS PIEDRAS

Steps:

• For those of you who didn't take high school Spanish this translates to 'The Rocks'. Las Piedras Ranch owned by Dwain and Sandy Riney of Montgomery, Texas, is aptly named. Located in Real County, WNW of San Antonio, Las Piedras Ranch exemplifies the Texas 'Hill Country'! Their ranch, though not large by Texas standards, supports a healthy population of native wildlife and is also host to numerous exotic species. These wild, free ranging exotics escaped from neighboring ranches years ago. Dwain and Sandy recently invited me down to cook for some of their hunters. This particular hunt is a 'special hunt' for both the Riney family and the hunters. Once a year Dwain and Sandy donate a hunt for exotic species at Las Piedras to the Montgomery County Cattle Barons' Ball and benefit auction. The money raised from this annual event benefits the Montgomery County Unit of the American Cancer Society. In the course of my visit Dwain pulled out the 'ranch recipe box' and selected several favorites of his and Sandy's that he thought I'd like. In addition Sandy has since called me with a couple of other old family favorites. We hate to think of family heirlooms disappearing, but it happens when you prepare these recipes. My thanks to Dwain and Sandy for sharing them and inviting me down to share their corner of heaven in the Texas Hill Country!Spiced with More Tall Tales - Appetizers

_COMMON SENSE AND CARDS

Steps:

• "That will never happen to me!" How many times in life do we say this to ourselves! Whether a fleeting thought or an actual verbalization, human nature kicks in when we see a news report about someone lost in the woods. The more time a person has spent beyond roads end, the more likely the thought crosses the mind of "How could anyone be that dumb!?" Yet year after year we read in the paper of folks who are overdue and the local search and rescue unit gets called out. Often the subject of the search is not some 'Pilgrim' on a maiden hike into the wilderness, but someone the reporter describes as knowledgeable and woods-wise. The majority of time the lost soul ends up walking out or is located in good condition by the searchers. We all like happy endings, but unfortunately some searches result in calls going out to contact the next of kin and the coroner.Over the years I've been called to assist with several search and rescue efforts. The time of year, weather, age, and condition of the subject, plus a host of other variables come into play as to how long someone can last in the woods. More often than not the actions of the lost person will determine how long it takes searchers to find that person! Maybe it's human nature, but it seems that once a person realizes he's lost, he feels compelled to walk. Because he starts walking and keeps walking in the wrong direction, searchers end up looking in the wrong places. It boils down to...a moving target is harder to hit!Prior to hand held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers becoming widely available, a map and compass were the best insurance someone heading into the woods could take. It doesn't matter whether you're hiking up a creek for an afternoon's fishing or headed into a wilderness area for an extended stay, the potential for getting lost always exists!When we head for the woods there are all sorts of emergency items one can carry, but two major ones stand out in my mind. The first and most important being "Common Sense" and, secondly throw in a deck of playing cards!I taught hunter education for twenty-one years. When students were told of those two items, without exception everyone in a class would get a puzzled look and ask, "Why?" when I made this suggestion. The cards go hand in hand with the first, most important thing one can carry in the woods, the "Common Sense." When a person first realizes he is indeed lost, the most important thing he can do is STOP! Once a person gets as comfortable as possible given the situation he should pull out the deck of cards and begin playing Solitaire! Before he knows it, someone will be looking over his shoulder telling him to play the Red Ten on the Black Jack. To some, this may sound facetious, but someone telling me how to play Solitaire ain't near as bad as spending time and energy walking in circles waiting to be found!Spiced with More Tall Tales - Introduction