Canadian Peameal Bacon

One of the breakfasts during deer season. The peameal bacon I cured from that last pig...... making bacon



The cured bacon is not smoked. (you can if you prefer) It's rolled in yellow peameal, I use cornmeal.





I fried a slice for a quick breakfast in a hot biscuit....





Then rolled more sliced bacon in cornmeal and fried until golden.....



With some fried tatoes, eggs, toast with peach jam, it was tasty and filling.



The canadian peameal bacon was tender and juicy in the center. No one complained ......and I don't even think they cared that I used paper plates. :)

Venison for the winter...

The season isn't over and I have another tag to fill..... but it's a good feeling to have some venison in the freezer for this winter.



hanging in the old shop...





The front shoulders.. can't find my pics of the rest of the meat, backstrap etc..



Should be good eatin' this winter.
Hope everyone else has great luck! :)

Day Eleven of Deer Camp

I'm tired! lol
Lots of late nights, laughs and too much food.... Hope to post a few pics when I get a chance.



Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
and to my dear friends across the ocean who do not celebrate... Hope you have a wonderful day too. :)

Day 3 of Deer Camp

It's day three of deer season. Right now the weather is cold and rainy... which is great! We need the rain. :)
One 8 point buck has been harvested (not mine) and is hanging in the shed for cleaning later. Thought I'd post a few breakfast pics.



Chickenfried pork chops....
I seasoned the chops with salt and pepper, dredged in flour, then dipped in an egg wash and back into the flour.



I started a skillet of fried potatoes, then fried the pork chops in hot oil on the horizontal wood burner..



The danged wood burner was unlevel, and too heavy for me to move. (yes I'll recuit help lol )For the time being I leveled the skillet of hot oil by using a rock under the handle.



made some skillet gravy with the drippings...





Scootched the tatoes over and fried some eggs....then toasted a few muffins..









It was kind of tasty. The meal had a nice smokey flavor from the fire. :)



There are several more days of hunting to go. Hopefully I'll get a deer or two.
Good luck to all hunters! :)

Deer Season ...and Something For Women Hunters

First off, this isn't a picture of me... but it is a picture of the type of coveralls I wear when deer hunting in cold weather.
The picture is from the Carhartt site.

Opening day of deer rifle season is tomorrow and I wanted to pass this along to other women hunters, it might come in handy for you. Men, this post is for the women! :)

If you're like me and hunt in the middle of nowhere, there is a good chance you are not able to find a nice warm ladies room when nature calls. lol
I find it even worse when you have to take off your hunting vest, take off your jacket, and anything else your are wearing.......freezing BOTH your top and bottom during the "call of nature" process.

I've found a way to keep things a little bit warmer. :)
I have removed the stitching in the inside inseam of each leg of my coveralls and inserted long, leg length zippers. One on the inside of each leg.
I am able to unzip both legs and the coveralls almost form a nice floor length skirt or dress...thus keeping lower "moon" shots to a minimum. AND I do not have to remove a stitch of clothing from my top half. :)





Just thought it might come in handy for some of you.
Good luck with your hunting! :)

Good ole Fried Cabbage

Talked with friend Dave awhile back about what he has been up to this fall. He could work circles around me! Cutting wood, butchering hogs, running his farm, canning produce from his garden... he had a bumper crop of cabbage this year and put a lot of it up as freezer slaw.
One thing he mentioned was his love of fried cabbage. I couldn't stop thinking about it, I had to make a batch.
I love it too! I don't make it very often but it's one of my favorite comfort foods. :)

There are many ways to make it, I do it this way..
I sauteed sliced onions and minced garlic until tender in bacon drippings..



I added cubed smoked pork to the skillet....



then the cabbage....



Cooked until tender, seasoned with kosher salt and cracked black pepper, then gave the cabbage a quick squeeze of lemon juice.






I love the stuff. :)



Goes well with jalapeno cornbread too.



If you see this Dave, thanks for mentioning fried cabbage... lol

Thank You To All Veterans and Their Families

Thank you seems like such a small thing to say to express my gratitude..I really appreciate all you have done and are doing for me, my family, and my friends.
You are true heros....

Backloin (Canadian), Slab and Peameal Bacon in the Cure

This is the back and side bacon from one of the Spots... (the name of the breed :)).



I squared and trimmed the sides....







I divided the two slabs into 4 pieces. Each piece weighed between 5 to 6lbs.

I prepared the cure...

for two slabs I combined 1 TBS tenderquick (PER POUND) of meat
with 1 tsp of turbinado sugar (PER POUND) of meat
to this mix I added
I TBS garlic pwd
1 TBS black pepper
1 TBS onion pwd and
1 1/2 tsp cayenne

Rubbed the cure into the meat, making sure to cover the sides well.



I cured the third slab with
1 TBS tenderquick (PER POUND) of meat
mixed with 1 tsp turbinado sugar (PER POUND) of meat
to this I added 1 TBS black pepper



The fourth slab was cured with tenderquick, turbinado and jalapeno powder..





I wrap the slabs in clear wrap, then place in a pan to catch any drippings as the cure draws out the moisture.



The 4 slabs ready to cure for about 7 days...



Then I trimmed the back loins. You can leave the fat on but I like to trim most of it off. I store the back bacon in the freezer after smoking. The fat goes rancid quicker than the meat while in storage so I prefer to remove most of it.





I made a brine cure for the back loins
I use a mixture of Tender Quick and water
then add sliced onions
1/3 cup of turbinado sugar
10 cloves of garlic
1 TBS black pepper corns
and cayenne peppers (just a few)



I place a sheet of plastic wrap over the loins, then cover with foil. I also add a weight to keep the loins submerged while curing.

These will cure for 5 to 7 days.



I made peameal bacon with one small loin.

To the tenderquick water brine I add
about 1 TBS of each...
juniper berries
whole black pepper corns
2 bay leaves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp whole cloves



The bacons need to cure in the fridge or in a place where you can maintain a temperature between 36 and 40 degrees F.

I will turn these every day and check them on the 5th day to see how they are curing... they usually take 7 days. Then they will be ready to cold smoke.

The  Finished Smoked Bacon

Whole Red Snapper on the Grill

I brought a nice red snapper home with me when I visited the beach not long ago. I love blackened redfish but had not tried one on the grill.
I used the Hasty Bake for the cook.

The snapper was cleaned and scaled. I removed the fins, seasoned the inside with sea salt, lemon pepper, and added a few slices of fresh lemon and sprigs of thyme.



I rubbed the fish with olive oil and seasoned with more sea salt and lemon pepper.



I added a dish of rice, scallions and chicken stock to the smoker first...
then grilled a few leeks that were drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with kosher salt and cracked black pepper..



When the leeks had nice grill marks on both sides, I wrapped them in foil to let them steam on the top rack.



Then I oiled the grill grates, lowered the hot coal rack to a medium high heat setting, and added the snapper.



When the rice had absorbed the chicken stock, I removed the dish from the cooker and covered until time to eat.



I brushed the fish with butter seasoned with lemon pepper, then carefully turned it over to grill on both sides.



The total cooking time for the fish was about 45 minutes.



The grilled red snapper, smokey rice with leeks. (I added minced, grilled leeks to the rice)



ok...the missing eye didn't bother me, but it didn't look that great for pictures...
so I tried covering it with a slice of lemon...



then a cherry tomato (looked worse than no eye!)



I settled on a grilled leek pirate eye patch. :)



I removed the skin, the fish was nice and flaky...



I loved the grilled snapper... makes me wish I lived closer to the ocean. :)