NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/417216
10 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2014 Late-season Deer Hunt By Jeff Kurrus When I first started hunting deer in Nebraska, a colleague at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission told me how deer migrate to new haunts late in the season. But I didn't believe him. To prove him wrong, I spent 21 straight days in December and January hunting those same places I'd been in September without seeing the first deer. I'm a slow learner. Where they could be found, I learned, was near thermal cover, such as cedar trees and tall grasses like big bluestem. But they may not move much, knowing the caloric trade- off that such forays require. When they do move, it will be toward food sources still viable throughout the winter, foraging for waste grain in crop fields and nibbling on any green they can find in alfalfa fields. Now, when I stop seeing deer in my early-season honeyholes, I know it's time to move to my late-season stand locations. ■ I know it is the holiday season when I enter the house in my snow-covered boots after a morning of December deer hunting and am instantly greeted by the smell of fresh baked treats. The warmest memories, such as these, are those that will last a lifetime, and one of the best ways to create these memories is by doing some seasonal cast iron cooking. A nice, sweet ham is a Christmas favorite. Most folks, my family included, have a special recipe to make the ham just right. This recipe will get you started, but feel free to write down notes and adjustments to the recipe for next time, until you've made it your own secret recipe. If you regularly cook with your cast iron, you've probably already established a nice patina of non-stick seasoning on your irons, from years of tender loving care. But if you're new to cast iron cooking, you'll need to season your cookware before getting started. The object is to put a layer of resident grease on your iron to protect it from rust and aid in cooking. To do this, make sure your iron is scrubbed clean and dry. Then, spread a thin layer of vegetable oil on it and place it upside down in your oven at 375 degrees with a piece of tin foil under it to catch the grease drippings. After 1 hour, let your iron cookware cool, and then you should be ready to cook with it. Start out with a thawed spiral ham and stud the cloves onto the ham, then use toothpicks to stick pineapple all over the outside of the ham. Next, cover the ham and pineapple with a good coat of brown sugar. Pour pineapple juice into the pan, too. Then, add soda in with the pineapple juice – a can of Sierra Mist will work just fine for this. Now, you will put the lid on and begin to cook this with 24 charcoal bricks on top and 12 on bottom because you'll probably be using a larger Dutch oven. To make the honey glaze, just mix brown sugar and honey in a heated pan to melt the sugar. Feel free to add some nutmeg to this too. As the ham continues to cook at about 180 degrees, add the honey glaze and cook to your liking. Cooking this at 180-200 degrees will put a good amount of flavor in the meat but will take longer too, usually 2-2½ hours. Experiment with the heat and cook time until you find what works best for you. A Christmas meal with friends and family usually includes a cobbler of some sort as well. Peach cobbler is my favorite. A very simple cobbler recipe is this: one cup of flour, one cup of sugar, and one cup of margarine or butter. Mix this together until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Grease the bottom of your pan with butter. Pour in your pie filling of choice into the pan, cover it with your flour topping, mix, and put your Dutch oven lid on. Every brick usually brings about 15 degrees of heat when using smaller ovens. So to cook this at 350 degrees you'll need about 13 bricks on top and 11 on the bottom. This should work for 10-14 inch ovens. Visit OutdoorU.org and start your own pathway to exciting and memorable experiences. Get outside and see what the Nebraska outdoors has for you. ■ SKILL LEVEL: Beginner Intermediate Advanced ✔ PHOTO BY JEFF KURRUS By Dylan Tegtmeier, Nebraska Outdoor U! Cast-iron Cooking for the Holidays