Friday Food: Sausage and Shelk

Friday 

Short version: Sausage variety, rice, carrot sticks, watermelon

Long version: We had plenty of meat around, since we spent all day cutting up the elk. This activity does not make me enthused about eating the elk, however. So instead of cooking any of the elk, I cooked some of the sausage I bought in the city when I was there on Tuesday.

I don't know if it's because this city is close to Texas, and thus Louisiana, or because the city has an Air Force base in it, but the store there had both boudin and andouille sausage. I cooked one package of each, and then, since I knew they would both be too spicy for Poppy, I also cooked two pieces of the plain smoked pork sausage.

It barely all fit in the pan.

So much sausage. And all eaten, except for one piece of the smoked sausage.

The watermelon also came from the store in the city. There were bins of watermelons outside the store, and I checked one on our way in to make sure they were seeded. The one I saw was, but the child that was with me picked out a watermelon just before we checked out, and we ended up with a seedless one.

You all know my feelings about seedless watermelons.

Nevertheless, we ate it. And you know, it was pretty good. Not as good as a really good seeded watermelon, but better than a bad seeded watermelon.

Saturday

Short version: Elk steaks and stuff

Long version: The day before while we were butchering, I had put some elk steaks in a marinade of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, ang garlic. I was at a baby shower in the afternoon with two of the children, but A. was home with the other two, and he grilled those steaks.

They were really good. The children who were with me had some of them when we got home around 6:30 p.m., along with some roasted butternut squash I had made the day before. The children who were with A. had them with bread and butter, I think.

Sunday

Short version: Asian pork ribs, rice, corn on the cob, pots de creme

Long version: When we make pork ribs, we always put a barbecue kind of spice rub on them. However, we had used up all our chile powder and paprika making elk chorizo, so I needed to do something else.

That something else was vaguely Asian, in the sense that there was soy sauce and ginger involved.

For the initital slow and covered cooking in the oven, I rubbed on salt, brown sugar, ginger, garlic powder, and a random sample of a spice mixture that included sugar, turmeric, and coriander. There was quite a bit of liquid left after the ribs were tender, so I drained that off, de-fatted it, and reduced that with soy sauce, vinegar, and more garlic powder and ginger. I poured that sauce over the ribs and then broiled them to make them crispy.

It all worked out. They were delicious. 

Oh, I think I never told you that I got tired of running out of chocolate chips and bought a 25-pound box of chocolate chips through the school Sysco ordering program. Twenty-five pounds of chocolate chips is a LOT of chocolate chips. It gives me a great feeling of security and abundance.

I decant some into that old peanut container there. That's a bit more convenient than hauling twenty pounds of chocolate chips out of the big freezer whenever I made pots de creme.

Monday

Short version: Various leftover meats, garlic bread, raw cabbage, watermelon

Long version: We had leftover elk steaks, ribs, and smoked sausage, which I apportioned out according to preference. 

I had made the garlic bread the day before while I was baking bread, so I just warmed that up in the microwave.

And the last of the seedless watermelon. 

Tuesday

Short version: Shelk loaf, baked potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette

Long version: I know this constant combining of words to describe our random meats is probably annoying, but I just can't help myself. This was ground sheep and ground elk. Hence, shelk.

Anyway.

I combined them because I thought that might tone down the sheep meat some. I find that to be quite strong in flavor, as does at least one of the children. That child--or anyone else--didn't seem to notice the sheep in this, but I sure did. It had an unpleasant aftertaste to me. Thankfully, I was the only one, and it was okay for me if it was mixed with everything else in my salad.

Wednesday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: I went straight from work to the first First Communion class with our future communicant, and we didn't get home until just after 5:30 p.m. This is why I had planned on leftovers. Most people had the shelk loaf, buttered rice, and salad. One child elected to have his shelk loaf in a sandwich. I had some in a salad.

Thursday

Short version: Pork, cornbread, sauerkraut, roasted green beans, rice pudding

Long version: A pork sirloin roast, slow-cooked and then broiled with mustard, maple syrup, and salt. I made the rice pudding because one child had a sore throat, and the oven was on anyway to cook the pork. And then, since there was rice pudding, I made cornbread.

My sister came for a visit this day and she brought the green beans from a store she stopped at on the way here.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

Growing Food: An Early-morning Tour

Let's see what's in the garden this sunny and cool morning in October, shall we?

Tiny calabacitas.

A not-tiny watermelon.

Exuberant calendula.

Stripey squash.

Healthy basil trio.

New growth from the asparagus.

And lots of green tomatoes.

All good things. 

However.

Our forecast is getting perilously close to freezing overnight this weekend. Specifically, on Friday. None of these plants can take any kind of frost. This time of year always comes with decisions about covering plants versus letting the garden season end with a frost. 

Whether we cover them or not mostly depends on if the forecast after that one night looks good enough that it would be worth letting the plants mature for another week. This year, given the delay in getting any harvests at all, I'm probably going to be more proactive about covering plants in an attempt to salvage a bit more food out of them.

We'll see what happens on Friday. I suppose if worse comes to worst, I can always start looking up green tomato recipes. Got any good ones?

Snapshots: Butchering

Before we get into the main event of our week, I'm just gonna drop this photo right here so the butchering photos aren't the first thing people see when they see the post.

This is a 1960 Studebaker coupe.

That was parked outside of church last Sunday. When one child and I stopped to look at it, the older gentlemen who just bought it came out to talk to us. It's apparently been sitting in a barn in the village for 30 years, and only has 29,000 miles on it. The guy who bought it is bringing it back to his home in Flagstaff, Arizona, to restore it.

Okay! Now on to the butchering!

Last Sunday, A. took the middle son hunting. He (son, not A.) had a tag for a bull elk in an area only about 40 minutes from our house. A friend of ours who is really into hunting had been bow hunting there just the week before, and had actually scouted the water tanks and so on in the area the day before son's hunt. He told A. exactly where he saw the elk, and how to get there. 

The hunters left at 6 a.m. and when the rest of us got back from church at 9 a.m., there was a message on the machine that they had a bull elk on the ground and were going to start skinning it.

If you've never seen an elk, you should know that they are very big. They're the largest member of the deer family here by far, and are second in size only to the moose on this continent. I have a photo for a handy reference.

Warning: Dead animal photo ahead .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

It dropped right where it was shot, so they didn't have to track it at all. Good shot, son. From a hundred yards, too.

Luckily, the kill was only about a mile from where the Honda was parked. But that's still a very large mass to move that mile. A. skinned it, gutted it, and boned it out right there where it fell. Then he put about half of it into a game bag and hiked it back to the car. He did the same for another trip, which means he did four miles round-trip, carrying around 100 pounds of meat on his back for two of those miles.

Son, meanwhile, carried back A.'s pack, which was almost as heavy as he was. Strenuous hiking all around.

The same friend who had been so helpful before the hunt had called me asking if they had had any luck, and upon hearing that they definitely had, actually drove to them and helped our son carry out the head. They brought the whole head out for two reasons. 

One is that sawing through the base of those antlers would require a saw much bigger than they had, so popping the head off at the neck with a knife was much more practical.

The other is that elk are the only land animals on the entire continent that have ivories. That is, they have non-functional teeth in the back of their mouths that are actually ivory because they are vestigial tusks. Son was very enthused about these, so of course they had to be packed out as well.

Red meat, especially game meat, needs to be aged for at least a week. This helps with both the flavor and the texture. We couldn't hang this meat because it was already boned out, and the weather was also too warm, so we put it in big coolers with big blocks of ice, draining off the water and adding more ice as needed, until Friday. That's when I was done with my work week and could help with the butchering.

Butchering an animal this big is no small task. We started at 9:30 a.m. and I didn't finish cleaning up until 4:30 p.m.

The butcher shop in action.

Of course, since all four children were home, all four of them wanted to help. They're all proficient with a knife, so I gave them the trimmed pieces to cut stew meat and steaks. They also spent a lot of time turning the grinder.

We ended up with three boxes of more than a hundred pounts of steaks, stew meat, ground meat, stir-fry meat, and some we ground with extra fat to make chorizo sausage.

Elk in a box.

And then I could finally scrub down my hard-working dining table.

Much better.

We've already tried some of the steaks, and I am so pleased to tell you that this elk is very, very mild in flavor. Such a relief, given the last elk I had to use that was in full rut and tasted like it.

This is just the beginning of hunting season. Between A. and the two older boys, there's still a deer hunt and two more elk hunts to come. Plus we have a ram that is going to meet his freezer reward this fall. 

I think it's safe to say that our iron requirements are going to be met this winter.

There you have it! My carnivore life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Handy Ham

Friday 

Short version: Tuna/salmon patties, garlic bread, tomato/cucumber salad, watermelon, stabby cake with chocolate whipped cream

Long version: I still have a few cans of salmon from excess commodities. The best way I've found to use these is to combine one with two big cans of tuna--plus bread crumbs, eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, and dill--to make patties. 

I used my own tomatoes to make the salad. Not my own cucumbers, but the salad also had finely diced red onion from commodities and mustard vinaigrette, and it was very good.

The watermelon also came from commodities. It had seeds, and it's one of the best we've ever had. So of course we saved the seeds. Someday we'll manage to grow a good watermelon in our garden. Someday.

This was the feast day of St. Michael, the archangel who led the armies of heaven in casting the devil into Hell when he dared to present himself as equal to God. Several years ago, I started a tradition of making a cake--supposed to be devil's food, but I just make Grandma Bishop's chocolate cake--and letting the kids stab it after we say the St. Michael prayer. Like St. Michael stabbing the devil, get it?

Anyway.

I rarely make frosting for the stabby cake. This year I made whipped cream to top it, but experimented with adding cocoa powder to it to make chocolate whipped cream. I really liked it--it tasted like chocolate mousse--but most of the family said they prefer plain whipped cream.

Saturday

Short version: Bull and potato casserole pancakes, frozen peas, more watermelon

Long version: I decided to use some of the food processed bull meat in another casserole, this one with shredded potatoes. I also threw in the liquid I had drained from the jar of pressure canned bull meat, the last of a bottle of ketchup, a little mustard vinaigrette, some sauteed red onion, heavy cream, and shredded cheddar cheese.

I discovered after this had baked for awhile that I definitely should have squeezed the potatoes dry. The casserole was wet and gluey and very unappealing.

So I spread it out on a parchment lined baking sheet and broiled it until it was crispy on top.

Casserole salvage.

Despite the end result looking very much like dog food, it actually turned out well and I got several compliments on it. Yay me.

We finished the watermelon, which was on the small side for a seeded watermelon, this night. Sadness.

Sunday

Short version: Baked ham, cornbread, mashed squash, cucumbers, rice pudding

Long version: This ended up being more of a Sunday feast than I had originally planned on making. The ham, a big bone-in one, I baked in the morning while the rice pudding was in the oven. Ditto the squash, which was a purchased one.

I made the cornbread because A. had been hunting with one of the boys in the morning. Said boy shot a big bull elk, which was a mile from the car and necessitated several round-trips to pack all the meat out. I figured they would need a very hearty dinner after hiking more than twelve miles with loaded packs. Ham and cornbread is pretty filling.

So is rice pudding. A hearty meal, indeed. And much appreciated by the hunter (and his dad).

Also, I definitely made that big ham with the idea that it would come in very handy for the rest of the week, which featured a lot of running around by me and not a lot of time in the kitchen.

Let's all enjoy the candlelight that now brightens our breakfast table before school:

Plus a lone sunflower and little bit of sage.

Monday

Short version: Split leftovers, cantaloupe

Long version: Half the family had the last of the leftover bull and sheep chili. Two children had the rest of the bull casserole, which I fried flat in a pan of butter to crisp it up. And I had two hardboiled eggs and a bunch of tomatoes with vinaigrette.

The tomatoes weren't mine. However, one of the teachers at school has a garden about an hour away that appears to be doing well, based on the fact that she's leaving produce on the counter in the front office for the taking. I am more than happy to take the tomatoes, since I have hundreds of green tomatoes in my own garden, but not many ripe ones yet.

The cantaloupe--from excess commodities-- was sweet, but still not soft. The disappointment of a crunchy melon is crushing, indeed.

Tuesday

Short version: Ham and cheese tortillas

Long version: I had to drive to a not-close city this day, so I wasn't here for dinner. A. fed the judo children in the fifteen minutes they had between getting home on the bus and leaving for judo. Based on what I found on the counter when I got home, I think it was leftover ham and melted cheese in flour tortillas. A very serviceable fast dinner.

Wednesday

Short version: Elk steaks, bread and butter, carrot sticks, double chocolate peanut butter almond cookies

Long version: Second son had a very successful elk hunt on Sunday, resulting in 200 pounds of elk meat chilling (literally) in coolers of ice all week to age. I had suggested to A. that he might take the tenderloin out and cut some steaks from it so we could try the meat. 

He ended up not having to continue driving the bus after getting to our house because some kids weren't riding, so he cut the steaks when we got home. And since he was cutting them up and I was already collapsed in my chair after work, I suggested maybe he could just go ahead and cook them.

So he did. And they were very fancy. There was beef tallow for frying and mushrooms and onions and parsley and heavy cream and some flat beer. Ta da! Fancy elk steaks.

They were very good. I was extremely relieved that this elk did not have the overwhelming musky flavor of an elk in rut like our last one did. It was so hard to get through all that meat. It will not be hard to get through this one. It tastes more or less like beef with a slight aftertaste that reminds you it's a game meat. 

I added the side dishes, because I'm mostly the only one who cares about balanced meals. And I was happy to slice some bread and carrots once all the real work was done.

Oh. The cookies. I used this recipe for this week's snack cookies*, except (there's always an except for me in following recipes) I used some white wheat flour, reduced the sugar by about a quarter, used chopped almonds instead of peanuts, and didn't bother with the salt on top. Winner.

Thursday

Short version: Ham and cheese chimichangas, raw cabbage

Long version: I was subbing at school, so I didn't have a lot of time between getting home and getting kids out the door for judo. Handy ham to the rescue again!

Diced ham and cheese in rolled flour tortillas, fried in butter. Chunks of raw cabbage, and that's a wrap for the week.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

* The two younger children still have a snack time at school, and I typically send in a wide-mouth pint jar of cookies for them to keep in their cubbies every week. For school snack cookies, I make somewhat heartier recipes with some protein, which means peanut butter, nuts, or oats. Or all three. And I usually slightly reduce the sugar, too.

Seeking Suggestions

Good morning, my fellow gardeners and vegetable enthusiasts! Today I would like to ask your help in my garden plans for next year.

We are still experimenting and refining what works best for us to grow here in our high plains garden. Some things I have eliminated just because we don't truly like to eat them. 

Swiss chard, I'm looking at you. 

Some things we have not figured out how to grow successfully here in our challenging growing environment.

Two things I have figured out are calabacitas and tomatoes. They will definitely always be in my garden.

But! I know there are some things that I probably could grow and would like, but I'm just not thinking of. Like the accidental rutabagas-that-were-really-turnips this year. I almost certainly would not have chosen to grow turnips, but once I had them on hand, I discovered the joy of sauerruben, and now I will probably grow them just for that purpose from now on.

This is where you come in. I need you to help me expand my vegetable gardening horizons. 

Hit me with your favorite things to grow, and your favorite ways to eat them, so that we may all learn from each other and possibly expand our seed ordering list for next year.

Thank you in advance for your assistance. 

Snapshots: Shoulder Season Flowers

I was somewhat surprised when I took a walk on Tuesday and found that the sunflowers have almost entirely given up the ghost. I feel like that happened very quickly this year.

Seed heads in the morning light.

I managed to find a couple sunflowers that were in good enough shape for the table. The flowers on the table are now joined by candles, because it's dark when the kids eat breakfast before school, and candlelight makes them happy.

As happy as they're going to be at 6:35 a.m. on a school day, anyway.

The calendula is still bravely blooming despite the ravages of weather and grasshoppers.

I have some hope it might even set seeds.

Oh look, more early-morning walk photos.

Good morning, schoolhouse.

And a shadow self-portrait in the school bus door.

There you have it! My life, snapshotted.

Friday Food: Bull and Sheep

Friday 

Short version: Pork tacos with homemade corn tortillas

Long version: This was the night of the school play. The kids were all there rehearsing and getting ready all afternoon, and they're fed dinner at school. So I just had A. and I and my parents to feed. This meant I could make corn tortillas without standing over the blazing hot griddle pan for an hour.

So I did.

After I made the tortillas, I fried the leftover pork on there with cumin and chile powder, and then put out all the toppings we had--onion, jalapenos, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese. 

And then when we got home from the play at 8 p.m., all the children were starving and had leftover spaghetti before bed. I have learned to have food on hand for them after the play, because they always seem to be hungry when they get home. Performing burns a lot of calories, I guess.

Saturday

Short version: Sorta beef stroganoff, mashed potatoes, green salad with vinaigrette, chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream

Long version: I don't think I've ever made a proper beef stroganoff, but this had beef (sirloin steak strips), mushrooms, and sour cream in it, so I called it close enough. It also used up the last of the pork liquid from cooking the picnic roast, which is always a flavorful addition,

The chocolate cake was one my mom bought at the silent auction bake sale we always have at school before the play. It was chocolate cake with white frosting, and it was pretty good. We already had the ice cream.

I spent most of the morning making and canning roasted tomato puree and applesauce. 

Round and round and round it goes, when it stops . . . applesauce!

Sunday

Short version: Sheep loaf, roasted potatoes, green peas, peanut butter cookies

Long version: Oops. When I originally posted this, I forgot to even write a long version. Here we go, a little late!

I made meatloaf with a bag of the ground sheep, which I flavored with some of the pureed roasted tomatoes I had in the refrigerator, zaatar, onion, etc. It was pretty good, but you could definitely tell it was not beef.

Monday

Short version: Lotta leftovers, bread and butter, raw cabbage

Long version: Two kids had the last of the sheep spaghetti, one had a hot dog leftover from the hot dog cookout the school did for families before the play, one had a hot dog and some sheep loaf, A. had sheep loaf and mashed potatoes, and I had a salad.

And then everyone looked at what his or her sibling had and asked why they couldn't have that. Because that's usually what happens on a day of apportioned leftovers. But they all ate what they had, because that is also what usually happens on a day of apportioned leftovers.

Tuesday

Short version: Chicken curry, rice

Long version: In my continuing efforts for Make-Ahead Tuesdays, I poached three giant chicken breasts, pulled off the meat from about half of it, and used that to make a curry. It also had onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and potatoes in it. Forgot the peas. Oh, and also some sour cream, because I think all curry is better with dairy. 

Actually, I think almost all foods are better with dairy. 

I actually used the curry powder leftover from dying Easter eggs to flavor it. This has been sitting in a jar in the back of the refrigerator since Easter, and it was fine. I should have used all of it, though, because the curry was a bit bland. Oh well. Still tasty enough.

Wednesday

Short version: Bull and sheep chili, sourdough rolls, cantaloupe

Long version: I made the chili the day before with about two pounds of ground bull meat, one pound of ground sheep,a jar of pressure-canned beans, the rest of the tomato puree that didn't fit in the canner, onion, garlic, and spices. I left it right in the pot and just heated it up when I got home from work.

This is 25 pounds of sheep meat, in case you were curious about what that looks like.

The rolls I had made when I last baked bread, which was the previous Friday. They were a bit hard, but fine for dunking in chili.

We got four cantaloupes from the lady who delivers the commodities food. I cut up two of them for dessert. They were very sweet, but still not soft enough. They were still eaten, however.

Thursday

Short version: Chicken fried rice

Long version: I was subbing for our school secretary, so I was planning on leftovers. Then I got home and saw the container of plain chicken I had pulled off those chicken breasts I poached on Tuesday. There was also still rice left, so I used those with onions from the freezer, frozen peas, eggs, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, and ginger to make the fried rice.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?