Best _shoestring Bull Recipes

THE A&E BLOODY BULL+

Steps:

• Add the Bloody Mary mix, lemon juice, sambal, and Worcestershire sauce to your blender carafe and blend on medium high for 3 seconds. Strain through a fine wire strainer or sieve into a bowl or large measuring cup. Depending on the strainer, you may need to coax the liquid through with a ladle or large spoon. Discard the solids. Your yield should be between 24 and 28 fluid ounces.
• Combine the strained mixture with the stock and the vodka and serve over the rocks or shake to chill and serve straight up with the garnish of your choice.
• Now, that's enough for a small party but here's what we do: We split the batch in half, which leaves 20 fluid ounces. This is what goes into the aspic. Here's how.
• Pour half a cup of the Bloody Mary into a wide bowl or cup, sprinkle the gelatin over it, then whisk it in. Now here's the thing...when Elizabeth and I did this, we only used 2 teaspoons of gelatin, but our stock was super concentrated, so it brought a fair amount of gelatin to the party. If your stock is homemade, odds are you could use as little as 2 teaspoons (8 grams) of gelatin, but if you go with 3 teaspoons (same as 1 tablespoon or 12 grams), then you absolutely know it will set. So...judge accordingly.
• Allow the gelatin to "bloom" in the cold mixture for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, whisk it again and microwave on high for 1 minute. Then stir and check the temperature, which should ideally be between 130 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Whisk the gelatin mixture into the remaining 16 fluid ounces of Bloody Mary and pour into a shallow glass or metal pan, any vessel that results in a 1/2-inch depth (an 11-by-7-inch baking dish is perfect). Refrigerate at least 3 hours to set.
• To serve, it's easiest to cut in the pan using a butter knife or small metal spatula. Scoop out the cubes and serve either on a salad or, as we do...on shucked oysters. I also like them on cottage cheese, but let's face it...I'm strange.

_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

_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

CRIADILLAS - BULL FRIES

Steps:

• Remove the membrane from the outside of the testicles.
• Bring a pan of water to the boil with the next four ingredients.
• Simmer meat for ten minutes; remove from liquid and pat dry.
• Slice into 1/4 inch slices.
• Combine the breadcrumbs and seasonings.
• Preheat oil to 350F in a frying pan.
• Dip slices in beaten egg followed by a dip into seasoned breadcrumbs.
• Fry until golden brown and serve immediately.

BLOODY BULL

Steps:

• To make Bloody Bull:
• Rub pre-chilled glass rims in bowl of fennel spice rub or your favorite spice rub. Pour a beer in each glass, top with bull mix. Stir with a spoon and serve.
• To make Fennel Spice Rub:
• Put the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a heavy pan over medium heat. Watch carefully, tossing frequently so the seeds toast evenly. When light brown and fragrant, pour the seeds onto a plate to cool. They must be cool before grinding, or they will gum up the blades.
• Pour the seeds into a blender and add the salt. Blend to a fine powder, shaking the blender occasionally to redistribute the seeds. Store in a tightly sealed glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.
• To make Bloody Bull Mix:
• Combine tomato juice, scallion jalapeno, horseradish, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour in a pitcher and refrigerate until ready to serve.

SHOE STRING FRIES

Steps:

• Heat about 2-inches of oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 365 degrees F. Line a pan with paper towels.
• While the oil heats slice the potatoes into shoestring fries with the thin julienne attachment of a hand-held mandolin or vegetable slicer. Swish the cut potatoes in a bowl of tepid water, and then spin them as dry as possible in a salad spinner. Spread them on towels, and blot with more towels-you want the potatoes bone dry so that they don't spatter in the hot oil.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, and working in batches, carefully add the potatoes to the oil and fry until brown and crispy, about 4 minutes. Scoop the fries from the oil with a slotted spoon, and drain on the prepared pan. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes, making sure the oil returns to 365 degrees F. before adding each batch. Season with salt and serve.
• Copyright 2005 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.

_SHOESTRING BULL

Steps:

• The mountain men and free trappers who explored the Intermountain West in the early 1800's referred to it as their "possibles" sack. A small leather poke sack with essentials they might 'possibly' need in the course of their travels. Such items as flint, steel, tinder, whetstone, needle and thread were staples along with other small items each individual deemed essential. Today's equivalent takes the shape of a fanny pack or day pack in which we carry things we might need during our trip outdoors be it a day hike or an extended stay. Today's "possibles" most likely include matches in a waterproof container, a map and compass, an extra shoelace, etc., and other important small items excluding of course cell phones and GPS Receivers!What's included with one's "possibles" varies according to a person's wants and needs. Sometime when you're out in the woods with a bunch of folks, sit down after dinner and have everyone go through their "possibles" to see the variety of things that folks consider essential. For sure there will be things peculiar to each individual and include items which at first glance appear insignificant! But...there are those occasions when one of these seemingly insignificant items tucked away in the bottom of a day pack saves the day. Such a day occurred for my pard, Rich Rodgers, on a cold, snowy day in mid-November, 1983.Rich, Tom and Bill Beck, and I were hunting deer and elk out of a horse camp on Indian Creek Airstrip on Middle Fork of Salmon River. A wall tent with smoke wisping from the stack and the glow from a lantern greeted Rich as he trudged in about an hour after dark on the third day. Before he said a word, we knew from the grin on his face and blood on his boots that he'd connected. His first elk, a six-point bull, needed packed out the next day. Starting out as a city kid from Glen Ellyn, Illinois, another dream came true for Rich that cold, snowy November day. Other dreams already realized by Rich included being a collegiate All-American football center at 5' 10" and 210 pounds, obtaining a MS in Range Management on a NCAA scholarship, becoming a farrier under the tutelage of Henry Ketchie, and marrying Sue.Happy hour that evening extended until way past supper as Rich told and re-told the story with more detail each time. After describing where the bull was down, the trail, and the heavy snow conditions, we decided to walk in leading a packhorse, bone the elk, and backpack the meat up to a ridge top where we could get the packhorse with minimal difficulty. One of the details Rich had added the third or fourth time he told the story concerned the steepness of the hill where the bull lay. He told us he'd tied the bull to a short, scrubby tree to keep it from sliding down into the bottom of Mowitch Creek.Rich, Tom, my Black Lab, 'Snoose,' and I left camp in the gray light of dawn leading Black Jack, one of my packhorses. Where Rich's tracks from the previous day hit the horse trail I loosened his cinch and tied him securely to a tree about forty feet off the trail. If recollection serves me correctly, we dropped about 500-600 vertical feet through a foot plus of snow on a mountain steeper than a cow's face to get to the bull.It wasn't the fact that Rich had tied the bull up to keep it on the face of the 'earth' that struck me. It was how he tied it up which caused Tom and I to bust out laughing! The previous day Rich had quickly realized how precarious a position this bull was in if he expected the rest of us to help pack it out. Had the bull slipped into the bottom, it would have been easier to just pack in a frying pan and eat him on the spot! To stabilize the critter, he'd started with a piece of rope from his day pack and tied it to the antlers. This chunk of rope was way too short to reach the only scrubby Doug Fir tenacious enough to grow on such a steep slope. Scrambling up to this scrubby Doug Fir, he tied his remaining piece of rope and stretched it out towards the first line. Guess what? We've all been there! He was still short! Having once been a football player, Rich knew the importance of having an extra shoelace. Connecting the two lengths of rope was a shoelace from among his "possibles"!Whenever campfire talk turns to elk hunting, this bull will forever be known as the "Shoestring Bull!" The last time I saw Rich before he passed away from cancer, the telling of this story again brought the smile from that cold, snowy November night in the wall tent back to his face.Spiced with More Tall Tales - Dedications