In those adolescent years planning a hunt with him was a burden I couldn’t be bothered to shoulder. He came back grinning I was hooked.Įventually, I started hunting with friends and making plans that didn’t include my dad. He hustled away into the soft morning light, and I waited, shaking from excitement. Dad turned with a finger to his lips, then he stashed me at the base of a big, ancient pine tree and whispered to stay put. As the black of the morning faded to grey, ghostly shapes passed over the grassy meadow in front of us. Bleary eyed, I pulled on boots and a hand-me-down camo jacket, then shuffled behind him through the dark. One morning when I was eight, he woke me early. In the last few years we’d been lucky to share a hunt together each fall - he always said the same thing.Īs a boy, Dad and I hunted elk on the slopes of the towering mountain that loomed just off the back porch of our eastern Oregon home. Anymore, I guess I just like being here.” I glanced up from my book and studied him, “I know, Pops.” I stood and killed the propane lantern.
“You know,” he started, “I really don’t care if I kill an elk Sam. He turned a page in his book, exhaled, and he lay the book on his chest. His socked feet adjusted and the old cot creaked under him. Opposite the stove, a blue enamel coffee pot poured steam, simmering with the dregs of that day's cowboy coffee.ĭad lay on his cot in the corner furthest from the stove, headlamp glowing in the dingy light. Occasional sparks escaped the wide-open draft, expiring on the damp ground beneath. The ancient wood stove nestled in the northeast corner of the tent groaned and exhaled. Inside, the canvas walls glowed yellow in the lantern light. The wind had picked up in the late afternoon, and now gusts roared through the towering pines surrounding camp. The panels of our makeshift corrals clinked metallic as horses and mules brushed against them in the dark. The stock shuffled quietly, hooves striking hollow on the frozen rocky ground.
#Elk meat for sale houston tx pro#
Follow his pro tips above, and give it a whirl at home.Elk In The Twilight Years Story By: Sam Averett Location: Oregon And while it’s always fun to cook big hunks of meat on the grill, shanks are a great choice for slow-cooking.īelow, Schmidt shares his recipe for grilling elk. When acquiring elk or other wild game, Schmidt suggests working with a reputable supplier to source the best cuts. Generally, two to three minutes per side equals rare, and two to four minutes per side gets to you medium rare. Stoves and grills vary, but Schmidt says to aim for 450 to 500 degrees, cooking the meat over direct heat to form a good sear.
The elk’s lack of fat also means it will cook more quickly than beef or chicken, so watch the clock. “Between home cooks and restaurant chefs, us restaurant chefs tend to use more salt, but our food isn’t salty - it’s about the right amount and timing.”
“I season the meat and then set it out to come to room temp, so it has time to absorb some of the salt before cooking,” he says. The lack of fat also means that seasoning the meat is extra important. When cooking elk, it’s important to note that it has almost no intermuscular fat, so it can overcook easily, explains Schmidt. And the green chile reflects the time he spent cooking in Santa Fe prior to his tenure at Rainbow Lodge. “It is a nice and hearty dish, but not heavy,” he says. Schmidt says that he likes to keep dishes regional when possible, and Texas loves its enchiladas, so he thought root vegetable enchiladas would make a good accompaniment to the elk. One favorite menu item is the grilled North American elk chop served with root vegetable enchiladas, New Mexican green chile sauce and radish salpicon. All these years later, it’s still one of the best spots in the state to score elk, bison, venison, antelope, duck and quail. Situated in an early-1900s-era log cabin on lush grounds, Rainbow Lodge has been serving wild game and seafood since it opened in 1977. Few people know this better than Mark Schmidt, a 30-year restaurant veteran and the executive chef at Rainbow Lodge in Houston. Firing up the grill for beef, chicken and ribs will never go out of style, but there’s something particularly satisfying about cooking and eating wild game.
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