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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Venison Summer Sausage

Venison summer sausage is easy to make and the logs freeze well. They can be thawed in no time for a nice snack with crackers, cheese, beer or wine. :)

These are the finished logs, ready for the freezer.





I clean any sinew or fat from the deer meat and cut the meat into cubes.



I prefer to mix my venison with pork fat or a fatty bacon. This batch was made using 1 part pork bacon to 3 parts deer meat.

I grind the pork and deer meat together using a medium coarse blade.



After grinding, the spices are mixed into the meat by hand.
3 lb venison burger
1 cup water
1 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. onion flakes
2 TBs. Tender Quick
If you are not using a smoker, add 2 TBs liquid smoke.




The seasoned meat is bagged and chilled overnight.




After hand shaping into logs, I sprinkle their tops with coarse cracked black pepper, then the summer sausage is placed on the smoker.
The meat needs to be smoked at around 225 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
If baking in an oven, bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hrs.






The finished logs ready to slice and eat or bag and freeze.








Supper.












Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Raising Freshwater Shrimp

I raise freshwater shrimp (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) in my small windmill pond here on my farm. The shrimp are bred and hatched out in salt water and then introduced to fresh water for "growing out", this is what I do.
I purchase 30 to 60 day old juveniles, stock my pond in May. I feed a 32% protein sinking catfish feed and harvest the shrimp before cold weather sets in in the fall.
The shrimp do not survive in water temperatures under 65 degrees or in water temperatures above 95. Any shrimp that I do not harvest will not survive the winter here.







This is a 60 day old juvenile...



I float the bags of juveniles on top of the pond for at least 15 minutes to equalize the water temperature....






Then I introduce some of the pond water into the bags...





Then I release them into the pond....








I keep track of their growth during the summer. Some are more aggressive than others and grow at a faster rate...
My tailgate serves as my office. :)

About three months in the pond...


The longer you can leave them to grow the better. My growing season lasts from the end of May when I stock to about the first or second week in October. It all depends on the weather and water temperature.


I harvest using crawdad traps...

What shrimp I do not use right away, I freeze for use during the rest of the year.
This is a batch of Smoked Shrimp Parmesan ala DINGLE (a friend) . It is one of my favorite ways to fix the shrimp...
Smoke the shrimp for 30 minutes or so...


Top with marinara or spaghetti sauce, cheeses and parsley and back onto the smoker until hot and melted..





I also like them marinated in sherry, evoo, garlic and soy. Wrapped in bacon and smoked.


These were smoked with a bit of olive wood...


Pretty good home grown eats!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Future Heading Heeling Fella

From my front door.....





Did I mention I like wide open spaces?

Smoked Pork Tostada









Try smoking a pork roast with hickory chips, shred and top a crispy fried corn tortilla. It's a great use for leftover smoked meat.

Topped the crispy tortilla with some of my home canned pinto beans....added the smoked pork.
Topped with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes...served with salsa, mexican creme and guacamole on the side.

Green Tomato Pickles




I canned the last of my green tomatoes for the season. They will be nice this winter. :)
This recipe is for 5lbs of nice firm green tomatoes
Fresh dill or dillseed
Cloves of garlic
Whole cloves (the kind you use to stud a ham)
4 cups of cider vinegar (make sure it's 5% acid)
1/3 cup of salt
4 cups water
For the brine, combine the water, vinegar and salt in a pot, let it heat to a boil to disolve salt. Keep the brine hot.
Wash and slice tomatoes 1/4 inch thick.
Clean and sterilize quart canning jars.
To each quart jar, add one clove of garlic, one whole clove and either 3 or 4 heads of fresh dill OR 2 TBS of dill seed.
Add sliced tomatoes, cover with hot brine, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Seal and process in water bath canner for 20 minutes.
Makes 5 quarts.
These are good chilled. When battered and deep fried or pan fried, they are a cross between a fried green tomato and a deep fried dill pickle. :)
You can add a hot cayenne or jalapeno pepper to each jar if desired.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin

Another way to smoke a pork loin
I butterflied a pork loin open to lay flat, seasoned with cracked black pepper and kosher salt....covered with sauted bella mushrooms and garlic. Topped with scallions and jalapeno strips. Rolled "sushi" like and topped with bacon.

Threw into the horizontal smoker with some hedge hardwood and applewood chips.












Did some homegrown shrimp/cream cheese stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon also some evoo drizzled heads of garlic and tatoes sprinkled with cracked black pepper and kosher salt.

They all came out pretty tasty!

My Green Smiley Face Imitation








Drying my hair by the campfire....
I did cut about 6" off not long ago... it just keeps growing back! I do keep it pinned up out of my way while working on projects.



I've been known to wear bows on my head.


There's 30 seconds of your life you'll never get back!