Keepin' Warm

Got hit kind of hard with this last snow storm. I have no idea how much snow we received. The wind was so strong, some spots had barely two inches while other places had 4' drifts.

Checking on the cattle has been the hardest part but I'm glad the cows were bred for a later calving date. No little ones to worry about!

I started to make a pot of venison stew.... seasoned some cubed venison with salt and pepper, dredged in flour and gave it a quick browning.

Added the meat to a pot of cubed potatoes, onions, barley, beef stock and seasonings.  I threw in what ever sounded good. :)   Garlic, thyme, basil...

I'm not a fan of cooked carrots so I left those out and added corn instead. Then let the pot simmer on low all day until the venison was fall apart tender.

I'm not sure if it qualifies as stew but it turned out to be pretty tasty and it warmed me up..... just what I was aiming for. :)

With this last snow, I foresee green pastures and maybe even a good morel mushroom crop this spring! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Hope everyone stayed safe and warm!

Chivo Goat Leg Tacos....Huevos Rancheros....and Nachos

A friend who raises boer goats gave some chivo meat to me awhile back and I finally took the time to cook it.

I made a mixture of garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, rosemary, thyme.. About one TBS of each.

Then combined 1/2 cup A-1 steak sauce, 1/4 cup of worcestershire sauce, about 1/4 cup of bufalo chipotle sauce and 1 cup of water..

Poured the mixture over the goat and let it chill in the fridge overnight. ( I flipped the bag several times during the night).

Placed in the Big Poppa drum (with the marinade and a small kiss of mesquite) at 275 degrees F..

made some refried pinto beans... Lard, onion, garlic, beans salt and pepper. I didn't add any jalapenos this time...just kept them simple.

peeled some yuca roots, removed the inner stem, cubed, parboiled in salted water then browned in a skillet with butter..

After 2 hours of catching some smoke, I added beef stock and covered the pan with foil and simmered til the meat was tender.

the meat was fall off the bone tender..

I made some tacos first...

the fried yuca root and beans....

The meat was so tender and tasty. I loved it. The best goat meat I had ever eaten was cooked in an underground pit but this was just as good. I will be using this recipe again.

The next day I made huevos rancheros with the meat...

and that night I had goat meat nachos for supper...

I placed the tortillas on the plate, a layer of tender goat meat, then a good sprinkle of Slap Yo Daddy Chicken dry rub, next a bit of smoked cheese and minced onions. After heating I topped with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
The combo was great. Didn't need salsa or sauce. The SYD rub has a slight kick and combined with the  lime juice it added just the right flavor I was looking for.

It's tempting to add a few boer goats to the farm but I know how much work they are. lol  I've taken care of a few before.  Think I'll just stay in good with my boer raising friend. :)

Slap Yo Daddy BBQ Chicken Rub

Award winning Pitmaster Harry Soo from  Slap Yo Daddy BBQ   recently contacted me about his new chicken dry rub. The same chicken dry rub that won him the  KCBS chicken championship for 2012. Harry kindly offered to send a sample of the chicken rub for me to try.
I couldn't say no... who would? :)
I was thrilled at the opportunity to give the dry rub a taste.

Harry mentioned that the rub is designed to be used by itself...nothing else is needed. So that's how I used it. Straight-up chicken and rub.

I let the dry rub sit on the chicken for about 2 hours before placing in the BPS drum at 300F...
allowing the rub sit for awhile gives the chicken a nice coating.

Added a skillet of potatoes...

I let the chicken cook just until the juices ran clear...

and the tatoes were tender...

The chicken smelled incredible...I couldn't resist!!

The piece that should be sitting on the right side of the pic didn't make it to the house. :)

The chicken was so moist and tender, and the flavor was out of this world!  I loved it!
No Q sauce needed with this rub, I wouldn't want to hide the flavor of the rub with sauce. Straight-up chicken and Slap Yo Daddy was all that was needed.

Not sure if you will see this Harry but thanks again for the rub! I can see why it's an award winner. It's some of the best dry rub I've ever tasted. (and I've tasted a LOT) lol  Can't wait to try it on some of my shrimp too. :)

Happy Valentine's Day.... and some Serviettenknödels (napkin dumplins)

Hope everyone who was supposed to remember Valentine's Day remembered it. There's still time if you hurry!
Give your loved ones extra hugs today too. :)
I'm going to treat myself to lobster tonight. Not sure how I will cook it but the store had a kazillion of them and I couldn't resist bringing one home.

I made my first Serviettenknödel recently. Had not tried these before. A friend in Austria described them to me and I wanted to give them a go.

I combined two eggs, salt, pepper, minced onion, parsley and about 1 cup of milk..

added day old bread cubes... I guessed on the amount. Wanted the mixture to be moist.

Rolled into a piece of cheesecloth. Kitchen towels are used but I tried it with cheesecloth instead.

then I let it simmer in salted water until firm...

sliced and served.  I also tried some sliced and fried in butter, they were tasty too!

While making this, I had a pot of venison buck and bourbon simmering on the drum smoker.
Heated a bit of bear lard..

seasoned some venison with salt and pepper then dredged in flour and browned in the lard...

added onions and garlic...

a bit of bourbon...

beef stock, margoram, thyme, coarse salt, pepper, oregano... about two pinches of each.
Then into the drum to catch a bit of smoke.

The venison simmered until tender, about 5 hours.

The venison buck-n-bourbon with "napkin" dumplins..

It was pretty tasty. I can see adding all sorts of spices and herbs to these dumplins to change up the flavor. Will be making these again for sure. :)

Hope everyone has a great V Day!