Tamarisk and water. 9News notices the First Gentleman's poor social media behavior. Homemade Tasso Ham. Delicious.
What is tamarisk and why does it matter?
Let's start with what it is. Tamarisk is a general term used to describe a family of shrubs (tamarix) which are sometimes invasive, sometimes native.
I put a Wikipedia link first below if you want some quickie context and/or a good jumping-off point for further reading.
Why does it matter? That's because this particular shrub handles dry and/or poor soils well and it is thirsty. It gobbles up water like I eat cake.
Oh, and it's all over the Southern parts of Colorado.
To give you a sense of why check out the animations in the second link below. With its root system the invasive versions are able to way out compete the locals for resources, esp water.
In other words, a single tamarisk starts to establish itself, grow like a weed, and then make a colony. A colony of these things can lower the water table, kill off locals, and because streams need water underneath the river to have surface flow, they can dry up streams.
Even lakes apparently. Check out the third link below for a (formerly) dry lake in NM that bounced back when the tamarisk were managed.
During a recent trip down to the Lower Arkansas River Valley, I heard about how they used to try and manage tamarisk down there a few years back. I also heard how those efforts had stopped and the tamarisk were back.
This is not too surprising, if you look at the 2003 (repeat 2003) Pueblo Chieftan article linked fourth below, you'll see the following (quoting):
"Whatever method is used, follow-up is needed for three or four years to keep the stumps, roots or seeds from coming back, [Grand Junction-based Tamarisk Coalition executive director Tim] Carlson said."
In other words a few fitful efforts here and there will not solve the problem. Getting rid of the invasive tamarisk, the one that is, according to the article, estimated to be using "...2 million to 4.5 million acre-feet a year more than native trees and plants would use" **, is going to take more than a few fitful efforts.
If this state is serious about being waterwise, why has this program been dropped? I hear lots and lots about "renting" (or whatever other euphemism you'd like) water, about buying water rights, about technological wonders that save water and let us squeeze more out of Ag.
Why not do some of the fundamentals too?
**Putting this number in perspective, the article says this amount would "...support 20 million people or irrigate 1 million acres or more."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarix
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20089
https://www.hcn.org/issues/issue-131/killing-tamarisk-frees-water/
https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/2003/05/30/national-coalition-targets-water-stealing/9117821007/
9News gets around to noticing the First Gentleman's poor social media behavior, especially with regard to ranchers and Ag.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they did, just wish they'd been as diligent about it as they are about reporting on conservatives' poor behavior.
The 9News article linked first below details a social media (Facebook in this case) exchange between our state's First Gentleman and Rancher Don Gittleson (if you've been following the attacks on cattle by wolves, that name will be familiar--Mr. Gittleson has been especially hard hit).
After a few contentious messages back and forth between the two, it seems that the First Gentleman's social media has been deleted. If you would like to see those messages, you'll find them in the article.
If you would like to see other exchanges with other Coloradans on social media on this same topic, check out the screengrabs attached (courtesy of a friend).
Our First Gentleman is an animal rights advocate. I might go so far as to call him an animal rights extremist, albeit a mild one. Maybe not three standard deviations from the mean, but outside of two.
But, and this is the point, he is not the only one. Extremism, views outside that meaty part of the bell curve, is not something unique to animal rights activists, conservatives, people who are fans of hot air balloons, politicians, etc. Extremism is a human condition. I have not seen studies, but I would bet my lunch that it shows up at roughly the same rate in many of the groups into which we sort ourselves.
But an interesting disparity reveals itself when you look at the coverage of different kinds of extremism and when you look at whose is right out on Front Street for display daily.
I want to point you in particular to the lack of coverage of our First Gentleman's decidedly ungentlemanly behavior by way of demonstration. Check the two links below the 9News story.
The first is my earlier newsletter about Mr. Reis trying to interfere in the legal troubles of fellow animal rights activist Kessler. Kessler had "rescued" some parrots, taking them home with her to live in atrocious conditions and police were there investigating animal cruelty allegations. Swampy as hell and largely swept under the rug.
The second is a Gazette op ed about Mr. Reis' public, personal, and often vitriolic words about reporter Rachel Gabel--words that Gabel told me many in the media condemned to her directly via text, but would not say boo about in public. If it's the GOP, condemnation for mistreating members of the media cannot come fast enough. Let it be the governor's husband and you'll largely hear crickets.
9News is a particularly good example to highlight here. Their pretense at balanced news coverage makes their bias stand out all the more. It's the giant pile of dirt looking all the more giant because when put next to a tiny crumb of dirt. It's the flat insistence of fairness in the face of reality.
They did (finally) get around to noticing the poor choices made by our governor's husband. They did point out his extreme leanings.
But imagine the discussions in this state, imagine the difference it would make if they had done this all along, if they had bothered to note and cover extremists of all flavors.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/colorado-first-gentleman-deactivate-social-media-wolf-argument/73-9834e172-1fe1-4782-802c-980b2b0d8cb9
https://coloradoaccountabilityproject.substack.com/p/reis-gov-polis-husband-swampy-phone?utm_source=publication-search
https://denvergazette.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-a-potshot-at-the-press-from-the-guv-s-mansion/article_db38baed-bd74-56ff-b9c8-fe13dc4bca2a.html?fbclid=IwAR3jZWsY1UsjEh0kmw-qLWcch21-MD5UtmQSAT8pavNU5fLZqc9i1cSEFeg
Homemade Tasso Ham**
That time of the week again: the last post til Sunday. I.e. it's time for something for fun, not related to politics.
I was flipping through a Ball book on preserving to check on some canning recipes and happened to notice a section I'd never seen before: how to cure and preserve meats.
The recipe for Tasso Ham (a cajun specialty) caught my eye.
It was cured meat with a hot spice rub which then had to be smoked. I was eager to try, but there's a problem. I don't have a smoker.
Then it occurred to me that I know someone that does!
A deal was sought and then struck. I'd buy, cure, and spice the meat if he'd smoke it and then we'd go half and half.
I took some pictures to document which I thought I'd share. Maybe it'll inspire you to seek a similar trade and perhaps cure and smoke some of your own meats.
The recipe called for 5 pounds of pork butt, but the smallest one I could find was 8 pounds, so step one was to cut the pork but into five one-pound chunks and then set aside the remaining three pounds for another use (keep reading). That is pictures 1 and 2.
The five tasso chunks were coated with a lot of salt and brown sugar then left in bags to cure in the fridge for 6 hours. At that point, it was chunks out and to the shower! I rinsed them off then put them on a rack in a sheet pan for about an hour to take off the chill. It was remarkable how much the meat firmed up from even just 5 hours of curing, noticeably firmer even as it warmed.
This is picture 3.
Picture 4 shows those same chunks with their spice rub on. I deviated here slightly from the recipe in that I didn't use a full quarter cup of cayenne pepper. I value my life too highly for such recklessness.
I instead chose ground chipotle powder so it would be milder (and the smoke flavor of the chipotle would reinforce the smoke from the smoker well). Off to the friend, into the smoker and that afternoon I had what you see in picture 5. Salty, spicy, smoky, and firm. Think country ham but hotter.
I told my neighbor that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Next on the list is honest-to-God Canadian and American bacon.
When it comes to using it, I'm thinking the best way to go about conceiving of tasso is as almost as much seasoning as meat. Put it in something bland so it's salt and spice flavor the remaining items.
I think it would be wonderful sliced thin and put with grits, put a slice on a pillowy biscuit and then top with a fried egg for a sandwich, add it as the meat in red beans and rice (in place of or in addition to andouille). Again, think places where its salt and spice would elevate other things.
As a grace note, let me return to the 3 lbs of extra pork butt I had. Not sure if you knew, but you can make your own (let's call it "rustic" to make it attractive) homemade sausage without too much fancy equipment. All you need is salt, spices, time, and a food processor.
I'm not expert, but I'll outline the recipe I found so you can get a sense of how easy it is.
First, you trim and cube the pork butt to about 3/4" pieces. Take off the excess fat and silverskin, but be sure to leave about a 1/4" fat cap on the pork butt before cutting so you have some fat in the sausage.
Weigh the chunks in grams. Yes, it needs to be grams because precision matters. Take that weight in grams and multiply it by 0.015 to find the amount of table salt you should add in grams to your chunks. Round that to the nearest gram, weigh out the salt needed and put it on the meat.
Let me reiterate, the salt amount varies and it's critical to get this right or it won't taste good or bind up into a sausage. Do not deviate from the above.
Now you season. The kind and amount you use may vary. Look it up online. I chose to do a halfway spicy Italian sausage, so mine had fennel, pepper flakes, etc.
Stir the spices and salt into the chunks and put it in the fridge for about 24 hours. Picture 6 shows the chunks before their rest in my refrigerator.
When you go to make the sausage, take the chunks out, put them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for about 35 minutes up to an hour to firm up. You don't want them frozen solid, just to the point where the edges have started to harden and the chunks are noticeably firm.
Working in batches about the size of 1 - 2 handfuls put the chunks in the food processor and pulse until the mix starts to work itself into, well, sausage. It will start to clump and smooth out somewhat. This is shown in picture 7.
Toss that into a bowl and continue til you're out of chunks. At that point get in there with clean hands and knead the mix til it starts to come together. Get in there good too. Don't be gentle. The idea is to get the proteins on the surface to tangle so it binds up to sausage instead of loose meat.
Now you're done. I made mine into some grinder patties (if you're from Southeast Colorado near Pueblo, you know), and then some bulk sausage to brown off in chunks for pasta, pizza, what have you.
Keep in mind that your homemade sausage will be, as I put it above, rustic. It's going to have some small clumps of whole meat left. You didn't grind it in a special grinder remember.
It will be, however, homemade and was taste all the better for it!
That's it for today. I hope that your week ends well and see you on Sunday!
**Note: ham here is a bit of a misnomer, the cut was actually a pork butt (shoulder).