'Tis Hunting Time—A smallish blog

[curls]

Stuffed mushrooms! I love them but haven't had any in years. Would you mind if I stopped by for a few? I can bring some chocolates with me. ;-)

[Shelby]

14 hours ago, curls said:

Stuffed mushrooms! I love them but haven't had any in years. Would you mind if I stopped by for a few? I can bring some chocolates with me. ;-)

Come on over!  I'm eating the last two as we speak, though......

 

Guys got back about 6:45 last night.  Deer were seen, but nothing tripped their trigger.

 

These were waiting for them when they walked in

 

 

Did anyone end up making that blue cheese, mushroom, green bean tart for Thanksgiving?   I didn't but I bought the ingredients.  Figured it would go good with the roast so I made half of one.  Should have made the whole thing because I love eating it the next day and there is only one little square left  .  Anyway, this is the cheese I used

 

And instead of blanching the beans, I threw them in the Instant Pot on high for 0 minutes.  Turned out perfect

 

Before baking

After

 

I forgot to take a picture of the roast.  It looked like roast lol.

 

Here is our hunter's plate

 

 

Side note:  Stuffed mushrooms are really better eaten right out of the oven.

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

Happy Friday!

 

I got so busy yesterday that I didn't even post .

 

The guys were gone all day.  Saw deer...a shot was taken, but missed.  It's all good.  Plenty of time left.

 

I started cooking about 2 pm.  I decided on an Asian meal and I have to actually look at recipes and think because it's just not something I do a whole lot of.

 

Isn't this a great cutting/cheese board in the shape of Georgia?  Our hunter gave this to me so I put it right to good use.

 

 

 I know that this appetizer isn't Asian, but after googling, I just wasn't inspired and I needed something easy so I went to old reliable....cheese, toasted bread and pickle roll ups

 

The pickles are ones I did over the summer.  I know you can't tell, but that middle guy is a monster lol.

 

 

[Shelby]

With appetizers out of the way, I moved on to the main meal.  

 

Out came the pork belly

 

I love pork belly.  

 

I looked at a zillion recipes for doing it in the pressure cooker and finally just winged it on my own.  I cut it in two because I was going to freeze half, but in the end decided to make it all--now Ronnie and I can have pho or ramen noodles or something next week.  Anyway, I opened that can of broth and it smelled just like the seasonings that I wanted to put on the meat, so I marinated it in there for a few hours along with some grated ginger.

 

 

Next, I decided to make the sauce for @Ann_THoney Garlic Chicken .  I had made that for dinner and while back and Ronnie sent a picture to our hunter.  He thought it looked soooo gooooood (thus the Asian themed meal idea was born).

 

My brother in law made this and gave me his last precious jar--he gave it to me on Thanksgiving and I'm already almost out  .  It's all red jalapeño along with garlic--perfect to use in place of Thai chili sauce IMO.

 

 

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed--there seemed to be so many things that had to wait until the last minute to get done....but then I had a glass of wine and all was right with the world.  I decided to go ahead and cook the chicken for Ann's dish and keep it warm in the CSO.  After all, the chicken doesn't stay crisp after it's put in the sauce.  It worked well that way.

Chicken marinating in the cornstarch, ShaoHsing (I used mirin) and sesame oil

And after being fried in the tempura batter

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

Confession:

 

I made the egg rolls a couple of weeks ago (thank goodness because I couldn't fit that in yesterday).  I make a huge batch and they freeze beautifully.

 

This is the recipe that I loosely follow

 

My changes are that I used pre-bagged coleslaw and I usually don't put any mushrooms in.

 

So, first I make the filling-- a pound (give or take) of ground pork gets mixed a T. of soy and a t. of cornstarch.  Let it marinate for a bit then throw it in a skillet with some oil and brown it up for a couple of minutes.  Then dump in the coleslaw mixture and cook for 3-4 more minutes.  If you're in a hurry, put it all out on a sheet pan to cool and then drain it well.  If you're not, throw it in the fridge overnight.

 

 

These make the lightest, crispiest egg rolls ever.  I'll never go back to using the thicker dough again.

 

 

Make a slurry of cornstarch and water in a little bowl.

 

I have to really fight my urge to over fill these.  Just use a T. of filling--maybe a smidge more or else they just don't seal up as well.  Put your filling in and do a roll

 

Fold one corner over

Then the other

In the above picture now is when you wet your fingers with the slurry and put it all around the top corner there.  Then roll it the rest of the way up.

 

 

Voila!

 

I put parchment on a cookie sheet and freeze them like this over night and then the next day transfer to a ziplock freezer bag.

 

 

[Shelby]

So, next I cut up a whole bunch of red bell peppers and onions and grated the ginger for the Honey Chicken.  

 

Then I moved on and cut up more onions and broccoli  for the lo mein.  I had some green beans that I had done in the Instant Pot left over from the tart the other day so I thought those would go good in there, too.  

 

Lo mein is super easy.  

 

Get a pint jar with a lid and put in 3T. of soy sauce, 1 t. sesame oil and 1t. sugar.  Shake it up.

 

 Boil your water and cook your noodles  --I use this brand

 

Heat a bit of oil in a skillet or wok and sauté what ever veggies you think sound good--I did onions and broccoli--didn't have to do the beans as they were already soft enough.  When the veggie are done to your liking add a shot of mirin and give it all a stir then add the drained noodles and your sauce.

 

I put the pork belly in the instant pot along with the whole can of broth.  30 minutes, high pressure, natural release.  Heavenly.  And, we have a whole bunch of really wonderful broth to use later.

 

Then, I used the other instant pot to make the rice.

 

Then I tossed the chicken into the honey sauce.

 

Then I fried the egg rolls.

 

Then I had like 20 glasses of wine.

 

Kidding. 

 

Maybe.

 

 

Here is everything finished

 

Honey Chicken

 

Pork Belly

Lo mein

 

 

Eggrolls

 

 

Our hunter's plate

 

 

 

And this is happening as we speak---Chum is in her lookout chair in the shootin' house.

 

 

 

[IowaDee]

I consider myself more of a gatherer  then a hunter but I sure would love that meal!  

[kayb]

Damn. Now I'm hungry. Really hungry.

 

I lust for that pork belly.

 

[Smithy]

Let's see...drive to Yuma, take a flight to Duluth, drive home, grab my huntin' gear, drive back to the airport, fly to Kansas City, rent a car and drive to your place.  Think I could make it before the season ended?  I really want to share those lovely meals! 

[Beebs]

I would like some spring rolls, please. Just send 'em on over. Thank you.

[rotuts]

Re: Chum

 

En Garde

 

nice.

[Shelby]

31 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Let's see...drive to Yuma, take a flight to Duluth, drive home, grab my huntin' gear, drive back to the airport, fly to Kansas City, rent a car and drive to your place.  Think I could make it before the season ended?  I really want to share those lovely meals! 

You mean you don't keep your hunting stuff in the p-mobile?????  

[rotuts]

Tomorrow

 

no questions

 

Filson

 

to the Library !

[Shelby]

14 minutes ago, rotuts said:

Tomorrow

 

no questions

 

Filson

 

to the Library !

You're allowed in here without the Filson 

[rotuts]

Ill wear Dark Glasses 

 

and and an odd  hat

 

this is NE

 

no matter re : Filson

 

Im only hoping that they might give me a reasonable 

 

consideration  

 

on that USD  0.20  cent fine !

[suzilightning]

7 minutes ago, rotuts said:

Im only hoping that they might give me a reasonable 

 

consideration  

 

on that USD  0.20  cent fine !

oh...... you missed Food for Fines month?

[IowaDee]

First half of shotgun season for deer begins tomorrow.  Heard a lot of big booms yesterday .  Hubby says the local good ole boys were "tuning their instruments" for opening  day.  Our trapper usually shares some ground venison with us.

[Shelby]

I'm just going to say it out loud.......I'm having a fear that for the first time ever, Saturday night game night dinner might not have any game.  .  It was very windy yesterday and nothing was moving around.  Added to that, the moon is full or almost full so it's super bright at night so the deer can come out and feed then.

 

 Maybe since I've said it out loud, it won't come true?

 

On to the food of yesterday:

 

Ham, egg and cheese sandwiches for their breakfast this morning

 

 

Last night was frog leg night:

 

 

Also thawed out some shrimp for appetizers

 

 

Threw together some cocktail sauce--somewhere around here I talked about Atomic Horseradish.  I know it's expensive but it is the BEST horseradish you'll ever have. Sinus clearing.  It doesn't have a super long shelf life.  For reasons that are beyond my scope, it loses it's hotness after a couple of months so don't buy a lot at one time.

 

 

Also made some tarter sauce--no picture of that

 

 

All fried up--I did the smooshed up rice chex method that I referenced somewhere upthread

 

 

 

I watched our hunter eat at least 8 legs 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

LOL it worked!

 

I just got a text message that says:

 

!! SCORE

[KennethT]

Not only is it almost the full moon, this time, it's also a Super Moon - when the moon is closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit - so it looks larger than normal.  After tomorrow, the next time it will be closer will be in November, 2034!

[Smithy]

Congrats to the hunters!  In the meantime, that dinner looks wonderful - as does all your cookery.  

 

Do you have a place to buy those frog legs, or are those caught and butchered from your back 40?  I've eaten frog legs but never tried to prepare them myself.  They just chirp and croak and shrill and clack at us from our pond in the summer, safe from predation unless kingfishers eat them.

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

Not only is it almost the full moon, this time, it's also a Super Moon - when the moon is closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit - so it looks larger than normal.  After tomorrow, the next time it will be closer will be in November, 2034!

Oh I didn't know it is a super moon!  No wonder it's so bright!  Our hunter texted me this picture this morning at about 5:30--taken with his cell phone.  

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

Congrats to the hunters!  In the meantime, that dinner looks wonderful - as does all your cookery.  

 

Do you have a place to buy those frog legs, or are those caught and butchered from your back 40?  I've eaten frog legs but never tried to prepare them myself.  They just chirp and croak and shrill and clack at us from our pond in the summer, safe from predation unless kingfishers eat them.

After the failed bullfrog hunt in September, I bought these from Cajun Grocer so that our hunter could eat them this time--I misread how many are in the shipment...lets just say that I will not run out of frog legs any time soon.   

[Shelby]

Mr. Buck is getting ready to be hung in the garage.  These are from earlier this morning.

 

Chum is very proud of herself.  She helped track the deer  

 

The gutting process

 

 

[Smithy]

If I may bring up meat handling and meat safety, I have some questions for your hunters.  In Minnesota and Wisconsin (and other states) there's concern about Chronic Wasting Disease. Hunters are encouraged to avoid the nervous system tissue (brain, spinal cord, etc. - there's more information in this Outdoor Life article.  There's testing for it with the harvested deer in Minnesota; I don't remember now whether it's mandatory or voluntary. Is it an issue in Kansas?

 

I'm also curious that your hunters are gutting bare-handed.  We were taught to use gloves in order to avoid contact with internal parasites. Is that not an issue? Did I get the 'girly' version of the training? 

 

Finally - how long will that meat hang, and how cold is it where y'all are right now?  During our hunting season it was usually cold enough to freeze the carcass if we waited too long.  My father, who hunted in the California foothills, had to deal with the meat quickly and carry dry ice on his trips.

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

If I may bring up meat handling and meat safety, I have some questions for your hunters.  In Minnesota and Wisconsin (and other states) there's concern about Chronic Wasting Disease. Hunters are encouraged to avoid the nervous system tissue (brain, spinal cord, etc. - there's more information in this Outdoor Life article.  There's testing for it with the harvested deer in Minnesota; I don't remember now whether it's mandatory or voluntary. Is it an issue in Kansas?

 

I'm also curious that your hunters are gutting bare-handed.  We were taught to use gloves in order to avoid contact with internal parasites. Is that not an issue? Did I get the 'girly' version of the training? 

 

Finally - how long will that meat hang, and how cold is it where y'all are right now?  During our hunting season it was usually cold enough to freeze the carcass if we waited too long.  My father, who hunted in the California foothills, had to deal with the meat quickly and carry dry ice on his trips.

I made my way into the garage where two football games and a basketball game are being intently watched and asked these questions.  Might not have been the best time to do this because the answers were very short .

 

We are in south central Kansas where there have been a total of 3 positives found for CWD.  It really isn't an issue around here and Kansas doesn't have a carcass transportation ban.

 

Regarding the bare handed gutting.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear gloves.  Not saying that one shouldn't, I'm just saying no one has ever had a problem that we've seen.  I don't think you got girly training  as being cautious is always smart.  

 

I wish it was colder, but the deer is still very hot right now and it's 61F outside.  Weather says it's a low of 41F so it'll be ok overnight.  We will cut it up tomorrow.  We've had winters years ago where we had to worry about the hanging deer freezing just like you do--I wish we would get back to those cold winters!