Dog Days of Summer

August is an excellent time to start cleaning out the freezer. You may have some venison packages tucked in the back, perhaps a duck breast or pheasant buried in the deep freeze. Some of this meat may even have a little freezer burn on an outer edge. But before you decide to cook them up for the pooch, here are some ways to make those lost freezer relics tasty.

First, defrost the meat safely in the refrigerator. Then look for any whitish discoloration along the edges where it may have gotten freezer burn and trim this off.

Stir Fry with Seasonal vegetables (and out of season meat)
1/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium preferably)
1/4 cup sherry or chicken broth (or water if need be)
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. ginger
1 Tbsp brown sugar or honey
pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb. game meat (such as venison steak, duck breast, pheasant or quail) sliced- you may want to tenderize the meat before slicing by pounding it with a meat mallet.
2 Tbsp. flour, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper
2 cups of fresh sliced vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, sweet peppers, brocoli, greens beans, etc (you can use frozen veggies in a pinch)

In a small bowl mix together the soy sauce, sherry (or chicken broth), garlic, ginger, brown sugar or honey, and red pepper. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet or wok over medium high heat. Dredge the meat in the seasoned flour and put in skillet with hot oil to brown meat. Cook about 3 minutes and then add the vegetables. Cook for another minute or two stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce mix and stir until sauce thickens, 1-3 minutes (if sauce doesn't thicken enough to your liking, you may add 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed in 1 Tbsp water or chicken broth to the pan). Serve over whole grain rice.

Smoked Lake Trout

Seneca and Cayuga lake provide delicious lake trout, brown trout, rainbow trout and landlocked salmon. Seneca Lake is hot right now for lakers (with less spiny water fleas to mess up fishing lines). You may keep in combination up to 5 fish a day (to include no more than 3 lake trout and no more than 3 landlocked) with a minimum length of 15", though there is an 18" minimum for landlocked salmon on Cayuga lake. DEC has a nice, one page fishing regulation guide for the Finger Lakes region to print and have on hand. Some of the lake and brown trout caught over the weekend had a lovely orange hue, similar to salmon, due to the carotenoids in the flesh from the fish eating small crustaceans. Wild trout is very nutritious, being high in Omega-3 fatty acids and an excellent source of vitamin B12, Niacin, and protein.

To fillet the trout start with a very sharp fillet knife (a good fillet knife should have some flex to it). Place the fish on a cutting board with it's spine facing you. Cut behind the gill in a slight arc to the backbone and slide the knife in a gently see-sawing action along the backbone and ribs to the tail. Leave the fillet attached to the end of the tail and turn the fillet over so the skin side is down. Then, starting where the fillet is attached to the tail, gently slide your fillet knife along the skin, keeping the skin taught, to remove the skin from the fillet. West Virginia Extension has an excellent Trout processing resource, including pictures and videos on how to butterfly fillet trout.

Once you have filleted and rinsed your trout place it in a brine for 6-12 hours. Brine should be kept cold, such as in a refrigerator.

Brine for trout:
1/2 cup pickeling or sea salt
2 qts. cold water
2-4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp pickling spices (you can experiment with other flavors, such as dill and lemon peel, garlic, asian flavorings of soy, ginger and lemongrass, etc)

Mix all ingredients, making sure the salt dissolves. Make sure the brine is cold when fish are placed in it. Use a glass or ceramic container, do not use a metal bowl.

After you have brined your trout fillets, place them on slightly oiled metal racks (can use the smoker racks) and let them dry for about one hour to form a slight glossy shine, a pellicle. This locks in the juices and flavors. A fan can be used to speed up the process.

Preheat the smoker and then smoke your fillets according to the directions of your smoker. Usually the fish will be smoked at 225 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees (about 2 hours).

Smoked Trout fillets are excellent served with crackers and cheese as an appetizer. They also make nice sandwiches, salad (similar to a tuna salad), and a spread when mixed with cream cheese, spices and spread on crackers or crusty bread. Delicious!

You May Eat the Bass

The third Saturday in June was the opening day to keep Black Bass (largemouth/smallmouth) with a daily limit of 5 and a minimum length of 12". Penn State offers a free publication, "Proper Care and Handling of Fish From Stream to Table", which is a helpful guide to help begin your culinary bass experience. Activeangler.com has some delicious looking bass recipes including the following:

Grilled Cajun Bass Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of bass fillets
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp. cajun spice
• 1/4 tsp. onion salt
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Preheat barbecue grill or prepare open fire. Lay the bass fillets flat on aluminum foil. (Do not overlap the bass fillets) Baste bass fillets with butter. Sprinkle remaining ingredients evenly over fillets. Wrap heavy-duty aluminum foil around the bass, making a sealed cooking bag. Make sure to seal tightly so no steam escapes. Place bag on grill and cook for 7-10 minutes. (Do not flip) Use caution when opening foil.

Why Hunt?

California Waterfowl has put out a thought-provoking video, "Why Hunt" "...to promote greater understanding of hunting's place in a healthy and balanced ecosystem and to help hunters explain how hunting intimately connects us to our environment, especially through the food we eat and share with others".

Opening day for Spring Turkey...

Wild Turkey opens today in Seneca County. DEC has excellent information on Turkey hunting, including all the rules and regs. The above photo is from the National Wild Turkey Federation (Stephen Bauer), which also offers helpful information about turkeys, including conservation efforts and recipes. Wild turkey is an excellent source of lean protein. The leg meat can be quite tough, but the breast meat is tender and abundant.

Take advantage of the warm weather and try your turkey on the grill. After breasting the turkey, rinse off the breast, pierce it all over with a fork and marinate it overnight in Italian dressing. Then grill. You may want to put some horseradish mayonnaise and cheddar cheese on the top for the last few minutes of grilling (that gourmet hint is courtesy of Keith Tidball). Enjoy!

Bullheads!

Bullhead fishing is in full swing, as are Bullhead dinners at local clubs and restaurants. The bullheads for the purchased dinners are primarily farm raised in Canada, but there is great bullhead fishing here in Seneca County. If you are fishing for local bullheads, seek out muddy flats near vegetation (the top of Cayuga lake is a good place to look), fish the bottom with worms, and go at night when they feed. DEC has a publication on fishing for panfish, including bullhead and how to clean them.

Here is a recipe to try, besides the traditional bullhead fish fry (it also works great for left-over fried bullheads)...

Bullhead Patties

2 lbs. filleted bullheads or other fish (can use previously cooked fish)
1 large raw potato
1 small onion
1 large egg
2 tbsp flour

1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or dill (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

Directions
Coarsely grind uncooked fillets (if using cooked bullheads, simply flake the meat from the bones), grate potato and onion. This can be done in a food processor, blender, or by hand. Mix with remaining ingredients and form into ½” thick patties. You can form small patties (1” rounds) to serve with tarter sauce as an appetizer or larger patties (3”) to serve on a bun as a sandwich. Heat olive oil in a fry pan and drop patties into hot oil. For a crispier patty, you may coat the patties lightly in fish fry batter or seasoned panko breadcrumbs before frying. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve with tarter or cocktail sauce, or lemon wedges.

Opening Day for Trout

photo source:U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Trout and Salmon fishing seasons opened April 1st! New York State DEC issued a handy tips and reminders publication for opening day of Trout that has great information on stocking, public fishing maps, license and regulation information, and local fishing forecasts.

Here is an easy recipe for baked trout...

Creamy Parmesan Baked Trout

1 lb. trout fillet (any species)
1/4 cup sour cream, light preferably
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise, low fat preferably
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley (optional)
paprika to sprinkle on top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease (with butter) a 13"x9" baking dish.
In a small bowl mix sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, parmesian cheese, onion, salt and pepper. Place cleaned trout fillets in greased 13"x 9" pan and then spread the parmesan cheese mixture evenly on top of fish. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley if desired. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until fish flakes lightly with a fork (being careful to not over cook the fish).