Deer for Nate

Nate, here are couple of pictures of deer that were harvested here this week. These were not taken by me, but by my company.
I believe these pictures are of two 8 points, one 7 and one 6.

I still have one week left to fill my last tag.

Sunday

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving. :)
I've been busy this last week with deer hunting, Thanksgiving and company. My house is "deer camp" for my friends....some from Oklahoma and some up from Texas.

We had a nice time hunting heavily, eating way too much and laughing til our cheeks hurt.
Now that my friends have departed for their homes, I am enjoying the stillness of my house....but I can't wait til next year. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving day. :)

Venison Meat for the Winter

I hope these photos do not offend anyone.
My Father taught me a lot about self reliance.
The "you shoot it or catch it...you clean it" rule was instilled in me at an early age. lol

I process my own deer. These pictures are future burger, sausage, steaks, pastrami, etc.. from the little buck I got on day 2 of deer season.

It does feel good to have a bit of venison stashed away for the winter months. :)

Day 2 of Deer Season

OK... I probably shouldn't have done this, but it was just too tempting.

I'm not a trophy hunter, I only shoot for the meat. The time I spend in the brush is so enjoyable, I dislike getting a deer during opening weekend.... I want to prolong the whole hunting experience. .....I do have another tag to fill, so I will be going out into the brush again soon.


While posting pictures this morning of my 1st day of deer season, a nice little 6 point buck walked past my window.
I stepped out onto my porch and shot him with my 30-30.

Dispite the looks of my photo, I did not rope the buck and hit him on the head with my shovel. :)
I actually used the rope and a come along to get him into the bed of my farm pickup.
He field dressed at 165....I'm happy, I now have a bit of venison meat for this winter, and still get to go out during the next two weeks to look for more. :)

Day 1 of Deer Season

I have access to a 2,000 acre plot of land belonging to a good friend. The area consists of river bottom, trees, plum thickets, grape vines, tamaracks, sage, yucca and sandhills.
The deer hunting is excellent, but I mainly go for the fresh air and the beauty of the land.

While out yesterday I passed on 4 deer, saw several coyotes, 1 bob cat.... Also saw my friend the land owner with his 2 sons and nephew. They are so kind and generous...and always treat me like family. I really enjoyed my day. :)

Scotch Eggs

I made some spicy chaurice sausage for something else and had a bit left over, so I decided to make some scotch eggs.



I had two hard boiled eggs....


Covered them with the spicy chaurice....



Rolled the sausage covered eggs in seasoned bread crumbs....



Fried until golden....about 10 minutes


Drained on paper towels....


They were very tasty, I really liked the spicy, crispy fried chaurice. :)

This is the recipe for the chaurice sausage...

5lbs ground pork about 20% fat included

2 TBs kosher salt

2 tsps dry thyme

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 TBs cayenne

1 medium onion, chopped

2 TBs dried parsley

1 bay leaf crushed

1 cup of beer

I combine the spices and stir them into the beer...then set the slurry aside while I grind the pork. Mix the spice slurry into the meat, cover and chill overnight.

You can stuff the sausage into 32 mm casings, make patties...what ever you like.

I rolled this batch into 2" balls and smoked them with a bit of hickory.

Deer Season

Deer season starts Saturday.
I'm really looking forward to it.
The time spent out in the brush is one of the most enjoyable times of the year for me.
I have my deer tags, my rifle cartridges and my little diamond earrings ready. :)

Chicken Bog

This is another favorite of mine, especially during the cold winter months...
You can make it as spicy as you like.
This recipe makes a large batch, you can cut it down and use chicken pieces instead of a whole hen.

Place one plump hen in a pot and add 8 cups of water.
Then add...
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne powder ( more or less if you like)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons of seasoned salt

Add 1 pound of sliced smoked sausage....

Cover and let the chicken simmer on low until tender.

I do turn the hen over for even cooking....

Remove the chicken and bay leaves, bring broth to boil, add 8 cups of instant rice....

Cover, reduce heat to low...simmer until rice is tender..

After the chicken has cooled, remove from the bone and add back into the pot....
I like large pieces.....



Add kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste...add more cayenne if needed...

I divide the batch and freeze portions for an easy meal....

The bog warms me up on a cool evening... :)

Smoked Pork Eggrolls

I placed a few thick sliced pork chops in a container with sliced onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and one bay leaf. Then covered with cool water and let them brine for about 4 hours...

Into the smoker with a skillet of sliced onions, jalapenos, and garlic, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with a bit of kosher salt and cracked black pepper.....


These smoked for about 4 hours with a bit of hickory.....


I chopped 2 cups of the smoked pork, minced the smoked onion, garlic and jalapenos..

Added some chopped water chestnuts for crunch and a bit of green onion....


I combined all in a skillet with 1 cup of napa cabbage and sauteed until the mixture was heated through and the cabbage was tender crisp. Then let the mixture cool before rolling...







The rolls turned out very tasty. I made my favorite pot sticker dipping sauce, but the rolls were actually better without the sauce. :)

Quail Season

Quail season started Saturday, I didn't have the time to go out.

While smoking some pork on my horizontal pit Sunday, a nice covey of blue quail came into the farmyard.... heading for grain in the pig pen.

I stepped inside and grabbed my 20 gauge. After snapping a picture of this one, I checked the wood in the smoker and headed out for more birds, ending up with 6.


Seems like my smoking sessions always get interrupted by something. lol

Scrapple

Original scrapple is made using the scraps or trimmings from the pig, my version uses pork shoulder and smoked sausage.

This is enough to make 2 loaves... I mixed up the two loaves separately, or did this in 2 batches.

I add 1 lb sliced smoked sausage to

4 1/2 lb pork shoulder (bone in)

4 quarts of water

1 bay leaf

4 cloves of garlic

1 medium onion, sliced

1 tsp of whole black peppercorns

Let this simmer until pork is very tender.

Remove the meat and chop fine....strain and save the broth.

(For each batch)

Measure 2 quarts of broth....add

1/2 tsp of thyme

1/2 tsp summer savory

a bit of cayenne

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp sage

Add salt if needed...

Let this simmer for a few minutes, then add half of the meat..

( taste the broth, you can spice it up as much as you like..)

Stir in 1 1/2 cups of white cornmeal.... a small bit at a time. Mixing well....

The mixture will be thick...


Spread into loaf pan and chill overnight....





Flour the slices and fry in butter til crisp and golden...

Serve with warm maple syrup or plain...

I like mine with the syrup, also fried extra crispy. :)