Shelby

Next pan ready to boil. My hands are SORE. Pig skin is tough to cut. The pieces got a bit bigger towards the end lol. These pig skins have FAR more fat so I'll have a ton to render. I guess this means I really, truly have to learn to make a decent pie crust.

I just opened my first package of skin. Looks like a few of the pork rinds are going to be a bit nippily LOL

Wow. My mouth is watering!

These would look better as Broncos....... These are great looking cookies!

After grinding up our venison and a bit of pork, I was left with a bit of pork skin. I decided to make homemade pork rinds. It's one of the most fun things I've ever done in the kitchen. I know, I know probably many of you have done this....but if it's been a while, I highly suggest doing it again Like I said, this piece of skin was not very big, but I thought it would be the perfect size for me to learn on. I used kitchen shears to cut the skin in to small squares. I wouldn't do them bigger than this because they really puff up when you fry them. Next I brought a pot of water to boiling and placed the skins in for a little over an hour. They curl up a little after boiling. I put the boiled skins in a ziplock and let them rest in the fridge over night so that the fat under the skin would congeal which makes it easier to scrape off. See the white part? That's the part you want to remove from the skin. All scraped I was left with a pile of fat that I'm going to render down this evening. All loaded in the dehydrator Done! I dehydrated them for about 10-11 hours at 155 degrees F. At this point you can store them in a bag in the fridge for quite a long time. Last night I decided to fry them to see if I got everything dry enough.....and, I just couldn't wait any longer to taste them I heated the oil to 400 degrees F and in they went POOF! These are SO fun to fry. I seasoned them with Tony's and happily munched away I had to test them you see because my husband came home with these So, I will be doing this process again today hopefully to have them dried in time for some Super Bowl snacking. Oh, and I'll have a lot more fat to render too. Something fun to do on this rainy Saturday P.S. I might have eaten a couple of pieces after I took them out of the boiling water.....pretty tasty with some salt and pepper........

Yeah, it gets hard on the outside. It's a bit softer in the middle....I think it would work. Now I need to get some grapefruit.

I don't usually eat anything sweet for breakfast....it gives me a headache for some reason. But, this morning I couldn't resist waffles that my husband made. Host's note: this delicious topic continues in Breakfast! 2015....

That sounds really good (and FUN) Smithy. Would a recipe for pavlova work for the meringue?

Red beans, rice, andouille sausage and cornbread

Happy Saturday! Buffalo wings and salad for us last night.

Life has been......full of stress to say the least, lately. Of course, that affects our food choices. My WONDERFUL egg suppliers chickens finally decided to begin laying again so we got a dozen eggs. Tonight we needed breakfast for dinner. Boudin, fresh eggs and fried taters

Happy Anniversary, PrawnCrackers! I don't think I've ever had langoustines. Looks right up my alley! Huiray, I haven't had tripe in years and years. I would like a big spoonful of yours. Venison burgers on homemade buns

Hamburger/sandwich buns

Norm--Your chicken has me drooling. It looks very creamy and comforting. Franci--Lovely pasta, as usual! Kim--SO happy that your husband is ok. I know that had to have been a trying, stressful wait for the results. Your chicken and dumplings look like just the ticket. I've never used tomato paste, but it's funny you mention it because I'm making pork broth as we speak and the recipe called for basting the bones in tom. paste. Do you find it adds a lot? BK--I'm sure that was an exhausting day. Your pork chops maybe made it all better Spaghetti night won out.

Elaina that looks SO good. I love the big chunks of veg in there. Would the meat have benefited from the longer marinade or was it great just the way you made it? Makes me want to thaw out a roast already

Between you and Rotuts you've made me quite curious about the bacon....I will have to try it. I'm craving spaghetti and meat sauce. I have hamburger buns rising, but I may have to put off the burgers until tomorrow....we'll see how I feel after a glass of wine I always think of you this time of year. I have been glued to TVG and Oaklawn. I was glad we had no plans to go over for opening weekend! I'd love to sneak over for the Rebel...we'll see.

It is a lot going to burger. We used to make a ton of steaks--thin ones for frying etc. and I used to save all of the roasts. We just didn't end up eating all of them and found ourselves grinding them up to make more burger. We used to eat a lot more steaks, but we just don't any more. Our tastes may change again and you might see tons of steaks etc. being packaged up next year. Will you be posting about your hunt? I hope you do Isn't it nice to have friends in high places These days --around here anyway--the illegal kill meat gets donated to local soup kitchens. A very worthy cause. Would love to see your stew--I bet it will be delicious!

After grinding some of our venison in to burger last night my husband was craving meatloaf. Spinach and macaroni and cheese to go with.

Oh wow! $40 is a lot lower than my google showed. I could do that price

Yesterday we drug out the grinder. We use this thing a LOT. I wish I had space to keep it in the kitchen and I bet I'd use it even more. For now, it lives in the basement. Bits of meat getting a bath in the sink to remove any pesky deer hair. Ready for the trip through the blades We bought some cheap hamburger at the store--the kind that comes in those big tubes--to mix in with the venison to give it some fat content. Some years we use brisket if it's cheap enough. We also decided to thaw out a pork butt and use the fat off of it. So, I got a bonus this year--freshly ground pork! That is very hard to find around here unless we make the journey to the Asian Market in the big city. Last time they were sold out! Anyway, Ground pork Ground venison Pork fat/venison mix Beef/venison mix All done for another year We got about 50 pounds of burger. That should last us until next season. Meanwhile, I'm left with these two big ole pork bones and piece of pork skin. Any ideas? Broth? Cracklins?