snowangel

For the past 13 Thanksgiving Day weekends, three college buddies (we've known each other since the mid-70's!) head to Blue Fin Bay for a long weekend (three rules -- no kids, no pets, no husbands), complete with chick flicks, music and a ton of cooking. Bacon makes an appearance, and we all make a point of stopping at new-to-us meat markets in search of "artisnal" bacon. For the last six years at Blue Fin, we've had the same "neighbors." Somehow, as we've become acquainted with them (I think it was in the outdoor -- yes, we get into an outdoor hot tub in MN in November), the topic of bacon came up. So, I came armed with bacon from Hackenmeuller's in Robbinsdale and they came armed with bacon from Fred's IGA in Nashwauk. In the plain bacon taste test, they tied. But, the killer was the garlic pepper bacon from Fred's. That stuff, on toasted sourdough, with lettuce, mayo and oven-roasted cherry tomatoes was to die for. Might replace my current BLT fav, which is the jalapeno bacon from F & D in Virginia. Our neighbors and us agreed that we do need to be on the lookout for meat markets that smoke their own in small towns and have another exchange next year!

I was out of town on a girls' weekend for the recent long weekend, and for the first time in years, I made Tort Man Pla from Thai Food by David Thompson (page 494). Drop dead easy (I used my food processor instead of a mortal and pestal) and I'd forgotten how wonderful this is. My only deviation was to pan fry them instead of deep frying them. I used catfish instead of whiting or orange roughy because that's what I had. If you use a food processor, this dish can be on the table in about 10 minutes, excepting cutting the stuff for the Cuke Relish. I can see making this dish with almost any fish excepting tuna, swordfish or salmon. Shrimp would be great.

I now have 150 lbs. of venison in the freezer. Help! We can only eat so much venison curry (Thai) and chili. HELP! (yes, I'm screaming; 150 lbs. is a lot of meat.) Savoury, not sweet, please.

I'd probably use hazlenuts. Walnuts are sort of "bitter" (read, not sweet). IMHO, hazlenuts are less sweet than pecans.

Richard, what about almonds?

Suzi: What will your accommodations be like? If y ou will have cooking facilities, or even a mini-fridge, I have recommendations.

Thanks, Unknown, for the reference to Old World Meats in Duluth. I don't know how that one has escaped me, but we're going up to Duluth for a weekend in December, and it will definitely be a stop. And, glad, Matt, that you have enjoyed and has as many memories of Schmitt's as we have. I finally found my notes about a pheasant hunting trip we took last year (to New Richland to my best friend's family farm). We left early, and really took the long way there (road construction). From that trip: Pekama Meat Market in Jordan (they don't have a website). Bacon (slices to order, which I always like as I can specify how thick I want it -- half way between thick and thin). Outstanding, as were the brats. Odenthal Meats in Heiderberg, MN (just south of New Prague). Oddly enough New Prague (as German a town as you can find, next to New Ulm) doesn't seem to have a meat market (or at least a Google search didn't reveal one), but Heiderberg is just a couple of miles south. Bacon was fine (we've had better, and we've sure had far worse!), but the country smoked sausages were outstanding. We also hit a place in New Richland -- Morgan's Meat Market in New Ulm and Steve's Meat Market in Ellendale (interesting history on the name of Ellendale; PM me if you are interested). Morgan's was largely a meat locker with very little in a case to offer. Bacon at both was servicable, but I would not go out of my way for these two places. Oh, but I forgot about Montgomery, which we also hit on the way down. A town of 2,500, 3 meat markets. Edel's had absolutely wonderful brats. Good bacon. Not the best, but way better than average. The Montgomery Meat Locker was just that, primarily a meat locker. They had two types of brats, we bought two of each -- definitely way above average. Then there was Kenik's Meat Processing. Decent stuff. Since Montgomery is home to may of the Czech's in MN, we also got some kolochy's (sp?). For some reason, the more sophisticated the web side, the lower the quality, although there are many folks out there who would consider what is offered in these towns puts to shame what most supermarkets can produce. We're picky, and with good reason.

You might also want to think about the Wei Chuan series of cookbooks. They are very good, pictures for every recipe, including pictures not only of the finished recipes, but also of the process and ingredients. Paperback, one recipe per page. But, for an excellent into to Chinese cooking, don't overlook the masterful "Modern Art of Chinese Cooking" by Barbara Tropp. While this book doesn't have any photos, her explanations are outstanding -- from ingredients to techniques, and it's a book that's appreciated by beginners and experts alike. It's probably the most well-worn book in my collection -- I use it as much today as I did when I could hardly boil water.

I had a 13+ pounder that took 5 days to thaw in my regular fridge (it was in the coldest part of the fridge, but that fridge is opened many, many times during the day), so I think you'll be just fine.

My secret weapon is kids. Now that Diana is gone, Peter has assume the duty. Either he or I cook and the other does clean as you go. Oh, and Chris is so right about the towels.

We didn't keep the "below the knees" part. On a deer, it's a lot of tendons for a tablespoon's worth of meat. I'm thinking that an animal that is as active as a deer (they just "bounce" and they prance, the below-the-kneed part is a lot of muscle and very little meat.

Back to yesterday. Normal breakfast for Peter and I. Toasted bagels with cream cheese. We have a lot of these in the freezer. Just hope the cream cheese will cover the bagels. Lunch for me was a salad (since we bought the bis-ass box from Costco, I should be good to go). Dinner was a beef (venison here) with cilantro from Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. I have a mess of venison left from last year (about 10 pounds) as well a Thai Birds and cilantro that were on their way to be going, going gone. This morning, Peter had toast with butter and jam (the bread homemade and in the freezer), the jam peach/raspberry made by me. I had chocolate milk (1% with Quik). But, first off, after my choc milk, I took a picture of my little shop of horrors -- the upstairs freezer (we have a side-by-side. This freezer, unlike the one downstairs, seems to be the repository of all sorts of little bits and pieces. The single bun in a bag (multiples). The this and that, nothing labeled. The chest freezer in the basement is in much better shape. But, forgive me; two sins. I had to stop at the market today and buy pre-made treats; it was Peter's turn to bring things this morning for a before school Knowledge Bowl meeting, and for this afternoon for a Math League thing. Due to school regs, they have to be purchased, and in unopened packages. Granola bars for this morning, and Oreos for after school. I have further sinned. My FIL called last night to tell me he had gotten me a deer (read, he hunted) and wanted me to come over this morning to skin and quarter said animal. I have come to rely on him to get me a deer every year. He shoots it, we skin and quarter it, and I bring home the quarters and put them in nice little well marked packages. Although I don't have a photo of the doe hanging, I do have a couple of photos: breaking down the animal is not a pretty task, and I washed my hands more times this afternoon than most do in a week: Note the supplies at hand. Scale. Plastic wrap. Butcher paper. Sharpee marker. Masking tape. A book (Making the Most of Your Deer) -- which I really didn't need. This is the third year in a row he and I have done this, and the learning curve was in play this time. I didn't even need the book, although I would if I wanted to make gloves or mocs from the hide (we donate it). So, this was the result: Lunch for me today was some chicken wild rice soup and homemade bread (courtesy of my mother-in law). Since I was burning to get the doe off the bone and into packages, I left my family to their own devices, so they opted for two boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese. Tomorrow is my mother's 75th birthday, and her brother and his family are taking she and my dad, as well as me, out to lunch. I'm going to eat light and showcase some venison. Meantime, I'm off to make Heidi's lunch for tomorrow (she gets on the bus at 6:50 am ( ) so I can't do it ala minute. And, I'm off to take a shower because I smell like vension. After all of that meat and blood, I have no interest in eating. Cocktail time!

I spent a pleasant morning with my father-in-law today, skinning a deer. We removed the tenderloin things and the backstraps and then quartered the doe. So, I have the shanks. It's just way, way too much work to remove the meat. So, my (stupid) question of the day: Is there a different between the shanks from the front and rear quarters on a four legged animal?

I sure haven't. When I stopped at the supermarket (Not to buy groceries but pick up Heidi's prescriptions, they had a wall of canned pumpkin and evaporated milk in the entry way.

Well, I'm on a big burn to empty the freezer right how, as yet another deer will land on my doorstep this weekend. So, breakfast for Peter and I were bagels from the freezer. I had ramen noodles, adding some bean sprouts and a half of a leftover already cooked (and in the fridge) chicken breast, with some almost sad bean sprouts. Dinner tonight was sloppy joes (I had a pound of ground beef in the freezer (served on two partial bags of hamburger buns), some tater tots that were also rolling around in the freezer along with a salad. If I remember to get batteries tomorrow, I'll take a picture of my little shop of horrors -- the upstairs freezer. The downstairs one is quite well organized, I just need to go through the milk crates once I get the deer and reorganize so that what I have from last year is on the top, and make sure that there aren't any boxes of ice cream treats that only have one treat.

I have the Nordicware cast aluminum one, and it is quite heavy. I've been using mine for about 30 years. We love it, and I can't imagine going back to an electric one!

At the end of the last "stop shopping" challenge, I vowed to be better about the upstairs freezer (side-by-side fridge thing). The downstairs chest freezer is always well organized, filled with mostly venison and things foraged and well labeled. Well, the upstairs freezer is a nightmare once again. What's the deal with whomever (it could have been me) adding a bag with one hamburger bun. WTF? So, my first task today was to look in that upstairs freezer, and it was a good thing I did before the trash man came. It's looking better, and most of the stuff was new enough that I could actually figure out what it is. But, I'm on a burn to sort of empty the deep freeze, which still contains the better part of one deer, as I am expecting another one (I don't buy much meat). So, while no photos (I need to stop at the market to pick up prescriptions and batteries), this has been a good weekend and Monday. Saturday: Breakfast: Oatmeal Lunch: Lunch meat and sliced cheese that needed to be eaten. Dinner: Ribeyes discovered in the freezer. Along with salad and potatoes that were due to sprout. Sunday: Breakfast: the rest of the baked potatoes from Saturday, diced and fried. Bacon and eggs. Lunch: They were on their own. Dinner: I had a foot tumper. A package of four chicken thighs that literally feel out of the upstairs freezer (didn't cause any damage). A lemon that was needing to be used, rosemary, sage and thyme from the garden. Roasted, with more potatoes that were close to sprouting. A leftover asparagus salad. Monday: Breakfast: Paul doesn't eat breakfast. Peter had a toaster thingie that was in his halloween bag (he was burning to finish the last 25 pages of "Dune" in less than an hour). Heidi -- she has breakfast at school, as part of her OT. Me, oatmeal. Lunch: Peter and Heidi both had cheese sandwiches, along with cookies (homemade), each a piece (the last of the two) of Halloween candy, and they each had a banana. Lunch for Paul was whatever he ate (probably fast food). Mine was the "bits that fell off of the turkey I was smoking." Any meat smoker knows that "bits fall off." Along with leftover asparagus and two Haralson apples. Dinner: Monday's are tough. Paul was very late, and Peter was somewhat less late (math league). It was leftover night! Paul had the rest of the ribeye, thinly sliced on toast with the last slice of pepper jack. I had a nice bowl of leftover Slow-Braised Beef and Potatoes over rice, alongside the leftover asparagus salad. So, from the upstairs freezer. Every bit of the single buns were quickly whizzed in the Cuiz for bread crumbs. I did smoke a turkey that my cousin gave me, and I will return almost all of the smoked meat to him. Stay tuned for tomorrow. I do know that I will have to buy milk during the week, as well as yogurt as a vehicle for AED's for Prncess Heidi. I will add that I'm a Costco shopper, so when I buy something, it is not a splurge, but stuff we use regularly. ALthough lunches for the kids (think bentos) will be challenge, that big package of cans of tuna and PB are never just sitting there. They are used and used and used. Most of what is in my pantry are staples -- the bottles of soy, vinegar, etc., etc.

Bruce, I think what we didn't like was the poached chicken texture, even after stirfried (in this recipe, you poach it, but not until it's done, then stirfry). It didn't have enough kick, either. Also, shredding the partially cooked chicken was nasty.

I didn't brine because this was one of those "injected" turkeys.

For me, the biggest challenge this week is going to be bentos for Peter. Heidi's bentos are easy because her classroom has a full kitchen.

I like my turkey smoked nekked.

Bump! I'm smoking a turkey tomorrow. My cousin got one from work, and he didn't have room for it in the freezer (or the time to roast it right now). I didn't have space in my freezer, either, so it has been sitting in the fridge. I'm going to freeze some for my girlfriend weekend (Thanksgiving weekend) and give him the rest. Since Diana isn't here to split wood, I'll use the rest of the split apple, and augment with hickory, if necessary. Reminder that when she's home from college over Xmas, she has a task to do! Anyone smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving this year?

As I was looking through this book again last night, I want to add to Bruce's list of what we've liked and what sort of flopped. The Dong'An Chicken fell into the latter category. It was a textural thing, I think. Not bad, it just didn't turn anyone's crank in this household.

Thanks, Steven and group, for getting this going again. It seems like every time I open the freezer upstairs (side-by-side, something falls out and begs for a toe-banging dinner). I'm assuming the rules will allow for milk purchases, and bananas for Heidi (she won't eat her lunch if she doesn't have one) and yogurt, which is a vehicle for delivering medication.

I think there are only a couple of things I'm brand loyal to. Paper napkins. You get what you pay for. Keeping Heidi neat and tidy during a meal can use 4-5 bargain napkins. One Vanity Fair napkin. During the winter, when the tomatoes are crap, Salsa Lisa. No other brand comes close, and it's a local company. Interesting at my Asian market -- it doesn't seem to matter what brand you buy, the prices are the same.