Black Meat Chickens (Silkies) on the Drum

Should have saved these for Halloween dinner. :)

Those who raise poultry are familiar with the Silkie breed. They are small, fluffy, cute birds with black skin and dark, almost grey meat.
They are thought to have health benefits in some cultures.

I do not raise silkies but was able to get a couple from a friend (also some goat meat). Have not tasted them before so I gave it a shot. :)

I seasoned the birds with Tatonka Dust...

popped them into the Big Poppa Smoker UDS..... with a wild rice blend.

I added chicken stock and scallions to the rice.

Smoked at 275F with a bit of hickory...

These were the size of a large game hen.

I brought the birds up to an internal temp of 170F.  Tipped them up to make sure the juices ran clear.

This is where my sense of sight and sense of smell could not agree.
The chicken looked sooooo strange but smelled sooooo good!! :)

I closed my eyes and took a bite.

Tasted like chicken! :)

Not sure if I will ever raise this breed...... but now I know what they taste like. They were pretty good. :)

Cold Smoking and Canning Salmon

Been waiting for cooler weather to cold smoke some salmon in the smokehouse.

Came across a good deal at the local store for some salmon sides and have had them saved til the temps dropped a bit.

I mixed up 3 parts brown sugar to 1 part canning salt...

scored the salmon and rubbed the mixture on both meat and skin sides then into the cuts....

wrapped and let them cure overnight in the fridge..

rinsed and let the salmon dry a bit until "tacky" to the touch...

loaded them into the smokehouse...

some of the sides were heavy, I had better luck hanging them over the dowel and running a skewer through both sides...

Kept an eye on the temperature, wanted to make sure it stayed at 80 degrees or below...
Used a mixture of alder, apple and cherry woods.
Canning intensifies the smoke flavor so I only smoked these for 2 hours.

Just a "kiss" of smoke...not a billowing cloud...

After the 2 hour smoke...

This is not the same as Lox or the cold smoked salmon that you eat. It would need to smoke for a lot longer to be at that stage.

removed the smoked meat from the skin with a filet knife...

filled hot sterilized canning jars with the cubed smoked salmon...leaving head space.

added a sliver of onion and one teaspoon of veggie oil to each 1/2 pint jar to add moisture....

wiped the rims of the jars and placed hot lid on each...

ready for the pressure canner...

my pressure canner will hold 24 1/2 pints at a time if I stagger them...

for my altitude, I processed at 12 lbs of pressure for 100 minutes. Processing times and pressures are not all the same, be sure to check your pressure canner instructions.

the hot canned salmon ready to cool....

I space the jars a bit and let them sit on the counter to cool at room temperature.

 I checked the seals to make sure all had sealed correctly, let the jars cool down overnight on the kitchen counter.

Couldn't wait to taste it!

Made a batch of smoked salmon spread using  cream cheese, minced garlic, minced scallions, granulated garlic, onion powder, squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper...

As I was nibbling on my cracker I was thinking... hmmm a lot of work for this little cracker.. but totally worth it! lol

I'm set for winter now! :)

Dutch Oven Stuffed Onions....more camp food

I had not made these in a long time. Not sure why it has taken me so long, I really love em. :)

Had a bag of large sweet onions from the Rocky Ford Colorado area, so I took them camping with me.
They were pretty big so I halved them and scooped out the centers. (saved the center for other meals)

made my stuffing by combining 2 eggs, minced garlic, beef bouillon, ketsup and water...

then added bread crumbs.. I used a couple of slices of regular ole bread...

a couple of pounds of lean ground beef..

Added cubed potatoes to the bottom of the dutch oven...
stuffed the onion halves and topped with dry seasoned bread crumbs.

added a small amount of beef stock to the pot..

I let them bake for about one hour, rotating the lid every so often for even cooking...

did a bit of fishing while waiting :)

The beef stuffed onions...

These were really good. Normally I would stuff small whole onions, wrap in foil and cook in a bed of coals on the campfire, but these dutch oven ones worked out great. I was a happy camper. :)