'Tis Hunting Time—A smallish blog

[rotuts]

its important that they be " Atomic "

[suzilightning]

6 hours ago, Shelby said:

To us (and most other people around here) teal is the "creme de la creme" of ducks.  Very mild in flavor and tender.  Other duck such as mallards, wood ducks etc. are much stronger tasting.  Some can be almost "muddy".   And, they are tougher.  I'm sure you could confit it but I think you'd prefer it just done on a raging hot skillet.  I SV'd some the other day just to try it...it was super good.  Like a nice rare steak.

 

The bad thing about both doves and teal is that they really just don't freeze well.  The meat is so tender that it gets freezer burned no matter how well you wrap it.  We do freeze them--wrapped in Saran and then vac. packed-- but we prefer to try to eat them as we get them.   Which, at this time will be a challenge considering how many doves are in my fridge right now.  

For the ducks is it the difference between the dabblers vs the divers as they seem to eat different things?  (running for my bird books NOW)

 

[chileheadmike]

4 hours ago, rotuts said:

consider :

 

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6253

 

and 

 

http://www.theblackpeppercorn.com/2012/03/atomic-buffalo-turd-jalapeno-poppers-aka-a-b-t/

 

fantastic when done properly

 

Yes, this. Sorry Shelby, work got in the way of my good time. 

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, suzilightning said:

For the ducks is it the difference between the dabblers vs the divers as they seem to eat different things?  (running for my bird books NOW)

 

Teal are strictly grain eaters.... so yeah that's why they are SO good.  

[suzilightning]

Actually according to my books  all are dabblers and the teals eat seeds from the surface as opposed to the others that tend to eat material from deeper down.  The woodies are also said to eat acorns .....ewwwwwwwww.  I dislike vension that eat acorns as they tend to be too tannic,

[Shelby]

Suzi, I love all of your knowledge.  Yeah, no wonder I don't like wood ducks.

 

 

I am totally done in.  I have dinner pics but I will post tomorrow.  I am SO full I am not sure I'll make it upstairs to bed lol.

 

See you guys in the morning.

[kayb]

10 hours ago, Anna N said:

@Shelby

 

 It is never too early for wine.  My motto and that of most of my family is that the sun is over the yardarm somewhere in the world!

In the immortal words of Jimmy Buffett, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere."

 

[IowaDee]

Oh yes the woodis eat acorns.  Until last week, we had six of them on the pond and they made several trips a day into the yard to  eat acorns.  They liked them much more then the cracked corn we put out.  Funny, people pay a premium for acorn fed hogs  Squirrels feast on them too but are still considered tasty. Wonder why they  think acorn fed ducks are not as good? .   I saw a video of a hunter popping acorns out of a dead woodie's craw.  He got 11 from the bird.  

[catdaddy]

21 hours ago, Shelby said:

Thanks, everyone, for reading along.  And, good morning!  

 

I'm slowly moving around.  I feel like I should start cooking already for tonight.  I wish it wasn't too early for wine lol.

 

I walked into the kitchen and found this zillion lb. bag of jalapeños from my brother-in-law

 

 

His neighbor planted like 40 jalapeño plants so he is sharing with half the county lol.

 

I guess I'll pickle and can some.  Maybe some jalapeño jelly?  Any other ideas?

 

In retaliation I stuffed his car with zucchini.  He will never learn that he should lock his doors.

 

 

Smoke/dry some.......homemade chipotle.

[Shelby]

Good morning!

 

It stormed almost all day yesterday and now this morning is gray and chilly.  Wind out of the north.  Feels like fall   Come on snow!!!

 

Ok.  I'll get right to it.

 

Here are the teal hearts, livers and breasts

 

 

I thawed out a rabbit, rested it in some buttermilk, dredged it in seasoned flour and fried it.  Here it is in the Instant Pot getting ready to be pressure cooked for 30 mins.

 

Doves and a few teal breasts with jalapeño and bacon, seasoned with pepper and garlic and Dale's

 

Deviled eggs/ cheese and salami for snacks

 

 

Doves on the grill

 

 

Fried rabbit and fried teal livers and hearts

 

Okra

Mac and cheese

My plate.  Not as pretty as our hunters the night before lol

Whoops.  Out of order.  The finished doves and teal

 

Edited September 25, 2016 by Shelby (log)

[Anna N]

No wonder you are exhausted!   I could not imagine making that much food for one meal. But I'd be very happy to help eat it!   Except for that damn okra.

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

No wonder you are exhausted!   I could not imagine making that much food for one meal. But I'd be very happy to help eat it!   Except for that damn okra.

Our hunter is skinny as rail and can eat like nobody's business.  Makes me jealous lol.

[Smithy]

I know you've talked about this in the Instant Pot topic, somewhere, but that's already in its fourth segment.  Please remind us of the sequence of events for pressure frying that rabbit.  You fried it first and then pressure-cooked it after, right? Did the crust stay crisp, or get soggy?  What happens if you do it the other way around?

 

This looks like a grand hunting party.  I must say, the food my buddies and I used to eat was never as elaborate as what you're serving; on the other hand, there were only 3 of us, all outside, with nobody willing to stay home and cook!

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I know you've talked about this in the Instant Pot topic, somewhere, but that's already in its fourth segment.  Please remind us of the sequence of events for pressure frying that rabbit.  You fried it first and then pressure-cooked it after, right? Did the crust stay crisp, or get soggy?  What happens if you do it the other way around?

 

This looks like a grand hunting party.  I must say, the food my buddies and I used to eat was never as elaborate as what you're serving; on the other hand, there were only 3 of us, all outside, with nobody willing to stay home and cook!

Yes, I fried the rabbit first and then pressure cooked it on high for 30 mins.  The crust does not stay crisp at all....some may not like it, but we love it.  It's not gooey or anything...I wouldn't even say soggy.  I'd say soft lol.  I've read debate on the internet about doing it the other way around.  My brain seems to think that the breading/crust would not stick to the meat if it was pressure cooked and then fried.  But, I've yet to try it.  Need to add that to my list of experiments.  

[Smithy]

One other question: this is wild rabbit, right?  Is that why the pressure cooker is a good thing for it? Would the meat be tough without a long slow cook (or a pressure cooker)? 

[Shelby]

6 minutes ago, Smithy said:

One other question: this is wild rabbit, right?  Is that why the pressure cooker is a good thing for it? Would the meat be tough without a long slow cook (or a pressure cooker)? 

Yes, wild rabbit--twas one of the bandits eating my garden.

 

And, yes, the rabbit is tough if one were to just fry and eat it.

[Shelby]

Well, the hunters have returned and shortly our guy will be taken to the airport.  But! Never fear, he will be back on the last day of November for the opening of deer season....soooooo, that means I'll blog again iffin' ya'll will read it .

 

I'll leave you with a few pictures from this morning.

 

The duck pond at a stormy sunrise.  I think that's Ronnie's brother with his dog Buck setting out some decoys. 

 

 

Chum retrieving

 

 

Today's haul

 

 

 

And with that, I'm off to do some dishes, bag up more teal and put my feet up for a bit.  Thanks for keeping me company this week!

 

 

[Okanagancook]

MANY THANKS!  It was all very interesting.

[HungryChris]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

No wonder you are exhausted!   I could not imagine making that much food for one meal. But I'd be very happy to help eat it!   Except for that damn okra.

I'd be happy to tuck into it all, okra included.

Super fine effort, Shelby!

[Anna N]

 Thank you so much and I look forward to November but only for your blog not for the weather it brings.

[ElsieD]

Thank you, Shelby.  And Chum, too!

[cakewalk]

Great blog, thank you very much. It's fascinating to see a slice of life so very different than my own. Do your dogs ever eat the ducks? I admire their restraint! (And their training.)

[Shelby]

Just now, cakewalk said:

Great blog, thank you very much. It's fascinating to see a slice of life so very different than my own. Do your dogs ever eat the ducks? I admire their restraint! (And their training.)

Thank you!

 

Yeah, dogs at times eat the ducks.   Chum did occasionally when she was younger.  She doesn't anymore though.  She went to "duck school" (a trainer) for a few weeks and learned a lot.

[kayb]

Made me miss having hunters around. Looking forward to venison!

[robirdstx]

Thank you Shelby!