'Tis Hunting Time—A smallish blog

[Shelby]

Good morning!

 

Hunters came back without game again yesterday......but they had fun which is all that matters.  Deer could have been gotten, but they chose not to.  Still a day and half left for our guest so there is plenty of time.  They took a picture from the shootin' house.  I'd be happy just sitting in there and watching the deer run around.

 

 

Their breakfast for this morning.  The eggs look dark because I fried them in the sausage grease.  Extra tasty that way lol.

 

 

Appetizers

The jalapeño mustard that I canned went really well with the salami I cut up.

 

To my surprise, our guest wanted homemade pasta, sauce and venison meatballs (my favorite meal).

Pasta dough resting.

 

 

 

 

[Smithy]

Shelby, I think you've just inspired me to trot out the pasta maker.  That looks really good. 

 

 

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Shelby, I think you've just inspired me to trot out the pasta maker.  That looks really good. 

 

 

It's funny, by about 3 p.m. yesterday I had talked myself out of making the pasta.  I have some store bought linguini that would have been perfectly adequate.  Right after I made that decision I got a text from Ronnie that said something like "can't wait for homemade pasta tonight" and he added a little drooling smiley.

 

Welp.

 

There went taking the easy way out lol.  

 

I hadn't made pasta for quite a while.  The dough came together nicely and I found making it very relaxing.  I need to remember that.

[rotuts]

is that your pasta machine on the L of the pic ?

 

what brand is it ?

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

is that your pasta machine on the L of the pic ?

 

what brand is it ?

Yes.  I bought it about 6 years ago.  I love it.  It's an Imperia .  It's pricey but I wanted one that would withstand the test of time and this one got rave reviews.  

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

It's funny, by about 3 p.m. yesterday I had talked myself out of making the pasta.  I have some store bought linguini that would have been perfectly adequate.  Right after I made that decision I got a text from Ronnie that said something like "can't wait for homemade pasta tonight" and he added a little drooling smiley.

 

Welp.

 

There went taking the easy way out lol.  

 

I hadn't made pasta for quite a while.  The dough came together nicely and I found making it very relaxing.  I need to remember that.

Is there no end to your talents?  I have a manual pasta machine acquired somewhere along the line.   It's possible that I once made an attempt at pasta but if so the memory dissolved in the mists of time.   Likely it was such a complete disaster that my mind protected me from any recollection of same.   You have my unending admiration.  

 But of all the wondrous things in this post it is the salad that has the most appeal for me.

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

Is there no end to your talents?  I have a manual pasta machine acquired somewhere along the line.   It's possible that I once made an attempt at pasta but if so the memory dissolved in the mists of time.   Likely it was such a complete disaster that my mind protected me from any recollection of same.   You have my unending admiration.  

 But of all the wondrous things in this post it is the salad that has the most appeal for me.

 thanks, but I'm not talented.  I'm sitting here thinking about the squash you made on the dinner thread.  I'll trade you salad for squash  

 

The machine does all of the work.  I've never used a manual one but I would think it would be hard to do with just one person.

[kayb]

Add me to the list of Chum's admirers! (Lucy, the fat pug, says she would like to be like Chum when she grows up.)

 

[MelissaH]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

 thanks, but I'm not talented.  I'm sitting here thinking about the squash you made on the dinner thread.  I'll trade you salad for squash  

 

The machine does all of the work.  I've never used a manual one but I would think it would be hard to do with just one person.

I regularly use my manual pasta maker alone. It isn't hard, as long as you aren't trying to make noodles that are 10+ feet long.

[FauxPas]

I'm now craving jalapeño mustard. 

 

Was there a link to a recipe in the preserving thread or was that your own version, @Shelby? 

 

 

[Shelby]

29 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

I'm now craving jalapeño mustard. 

 

Was there a link to a recipe in the preserving thread or was that your own version, @Shelby? 

 

 

I think it's on the preserving thread but here it is again

 

I recommend reducing the sugar by at least a cup --maybe even more--and I don't recommend taking the seeds out because you want the spicy to balance out the sweet.

 

[Smithy]

Hmm, no more deer photos for the day.  I hope the hunters aren't regretting that they passed up those shots this morning.  By now you're all probably stupefied with a fabulous pasta dinner.

 

Incidentally, I wish I'd had such a photo tutorial the first time I shot a deer.  My hunting buddies were nowhere around.  I had seen the process in previous years but never done it myself.  I worked at one end until I ran out of ideas, then worked at the other, then back again.  I kept wondering where the heck the hearts and lungs were, until I realized that the diaphragm was blocking my view of those organs.  

[Shelby]

7 hours ago, Smithy said:

Hmm, no more deer photos for the day.  I hope the hunters aren't regretting that they passed up those shots this morning.  By now you're all probably stupefied with a fabulous pasta dinner.

 

Incidentally, I wish I'd had such a photo tutorial the first time I shot a deer.  My hunting buddies were nowhere around.  I had seen the process in previous years but never done it myself.  I worked at one end until I ran out of ideas, then worked at the other, then back again.  I kept wondering where the heck the hearts and lungs were, until I realized that the diaphragm was blocking my view of those organs.  

I didn't know you hunted!  Very cool.  I've never done it by myself (I admire you!!!)  ...I've seen it a million times but yet if I had to do it, I'm not sure I could 

 

The weather changed a lot and yesterday was very cold and drizzly/rainy so the deer hunkered down and were no where to be seen.  It's still kinda foggy and rainy and cold, so I don't know whether they will move around this morning or not.   If nothing is gotten, there are still many days that Ronnie will go on his own.  Or, there is a doe only season in January.  

 

So, the hunters came home yesterday afternoon, watched football and trimmed the meat off of the hanging deer that I showed earlier.  I was busy cooking dinner already so they placed the meat in clean trash bags for me to do this morning.  I like to bring them in the kitchen and rinse them off.....and, I guess I'm just a control freak because I like the way I cut up deer and I wanna do it myself .

 

Here is another pictorial of yesterday:

 

So, first you peel the hide off

Then get the front quarters off.  These were kinda shot up so not a ton of meat was savable but normally I would make roasts and trim some off of the legs for burger.

 

Next is the backstraps --these I will butterfly and make steaks

 

Then the hind quarters.  I'll make roasts out of these...also some burger meat....also some will be cooked up for the dogs.

 

 

 

 

They guys wanted me to be sure and show you their can cooker.  They take this with them and heat soup up etc.  Yesterday they put venison scraps in for the doggies.  

 

[Shelby]

I started cooking at like 1 p.m. yesterday.  I can take my time that way and clean up (mostly) as I go.

 

 I made some brownies.....that might be what's for breakfast......

 

Then I trimmed up the tenderloins

 

 

and butterflied them (not sure what the hell happened to this picture lol)

 

I seared them in a screaming hot pan with butter...simply salted and peppered.

 

For appetizers I did some shrimp and made some cocktail sauce

 

 

The tenderloins are small so I felt like we needed something to go with them--hunters are hungry by the end of the day  .  So, I thawed out some doves and some chicken gizzards and fried them up. 

 

After that, I put them in the Instant Pot and pressure cooked them for 45 mins.  SO tender and good.

 

To go with I made huge fluffy baked potatoes in the CSO and some broccoli cheese sauce to go on top.

 

 

I'm going to clean up a few dishes, hit the exercise machine, make some pizza dough and then start cutting up the deer........I showed pictures of that in my first winter blog, but I'll include some here just to make the flow of the whole deer process make sense.  

 

 

 

[Smithy]

That can cooker looks huge: 5 or 10 gallons' worth.  Why such a large vessel?   Do I spy some fry pans on that back wall also, to the leftof the can cooker? It looks like a good All-Clad stainless skillet near the lower left of the board.

 

I see what you mean about a nice fatty doe.  Do you use the fat for anything?

[Shelby]

Just now, Smithy said:

That can cooker looks huge: 5 or 10 gallons' worth.  Why such a large vessel?   Do I spy some fry pans on that back wall also, to the leftof the can cooker? It looks like a good All-Clad stainless skillet near the lower left of the board.

 

I see what you mean about a nice fatty doe.  Do you use the fat for anything?

It is big....I'm not sure why....but it's handy when there are hunters that want chili reheated and things like that.  Yes, Ronnie's garage, while not fancy, is a full-on man-cave complete with cookware he's pilfered from me inside lol.   When he's dirty from working or hunting or he's watching a game , instead of coming in, he'll cook something out there once in a while.  

 

I've never kept the fat....it smells...very deerish to me ....  but, if need-be I would.  Like an apocalypse or something....lol.

[MelissaH]

Are ticks and the diseases they carry a concern for you? Our county's health department just issues their annual cautions to hunters about rabies and Lyme disease; they said that most hunters will never see a rabid deer, but if you're a lucky hunter you will see ticks on the deer you get and you should be vigilant about checking for them on yourself as well.

[Shelby]

16 minutes ago, MelissaH said:

Are ticks and the diseases they carry a concern for you? Our county's health department just issues their annual cautions to hunters about rabies and Lyme disease; they said that most hunters will never see a rabid deer, but if you're a lucky hunter you will see ticks on the deer you get and you should be vigilant about checking for them on yourself as well.

This deer had no ticks.  I honestly don't ever remember a deer that we've gotten that had them.  Once it freezes they vacate the premises I guess lol.

[rotuts]

I don't think Lyme Disease has spread to KS  yet 

[rotuts]

a reference :

 

http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/reportedcasesoflymedisease_2015.pdf

[MelissaH]

Give it time.

[Shelby]

Well, our hunter is at the airport.  No deer this morning.  But that's ok  .  When they got home a nice little buck was roaming around in my field (we don't shoot anything here 'cause we enjoy watching our wildlife).  Our hunter always asks if he's allowed to shoot...and he's always denied ......lol he just asks to get a rise out of me, I'm sure.

 

Anyway, I realized this morning that I forgot to sear and serve the venison heart that I sous vide.  Sigh.  I swear I thought about it a million times yesterday and then dinner got hectic and I plain forgot.  So, I'll do that either tonight or tomorrow and post about it on the dinner thread.  I'm not sure our hunter was thrilled about having to try it anyway lol.

 

I just got done cutting and wrapping up the deer.  In years past I would have like 5 deer to do at once, so I kind of enjoy doing just one at a time.  Like I said earlier, the front end of the deer was quite shot up, so it reduced the roasts and meat, but that's ok.  We will get more.  So, here's some pictures.  I didn't get in to too much detail....you can see more in-depth on my first winter blog.  A link is in my signature.

 

Like I always do, I have two canning pots set up.  One for meat that we will make burger out of and one for scraps.

 

 

 

Sink 'O Meat #1

 

 

Sink 'O Meat #2

 

Roasts

Backstrap before trimming and a couple more roasts.  And a Newman that is completely enamored with the meat.

 

 

Steaks made out of the backstrap

 

Burger meat

All wrapped up in cling wrap.

 

I was cat-free on the first sink of meat, but then I think Dr. Lecter sent Newman down to do recon to see if it was safe to come out.  Newman never went back to report...he got a few tiny snacks of venison.  He's still purring from happiness lol.

 

 

Finished in freezer paper

 

 

The burger meat is in the fridge.  Ronnie will go hunting probably Tuesday and Wednesday.  They are calling for a major winter storm with significant snow (we'll see....the weather people here have trouble predicting snow) so the deer should be moving around a lot before the storm hits.  So, we will drag the grinder up after another deer is here and do it all at once.  Again, you can see the grinding process in my first winter blog.

 

I have pizza dough made and resting on the counter.  And, it's time for a glass or twenty of wine   .  

 

Again, thanks for keeping me company!!!!  I, and my hunters, have a lot of fun documenting all of this.  Oh and thank you to my hunters for taking pictures for us!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by Shelby (log)

[rotuts]

@Shelby  

 

exceptionally good post !

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Nice butchery skills!  I love cutting up meat.

thank you for sharing

Edited December 4, 2016 by Okanagancook
Sloppy tying (log)

[Anna N]

Too, too short.  Always too short. Thank you, Shelby, your blogs are always engrossing.