Beef Jerky Recipe

2 # ground lean beef or venison
1 # ground chicken, turkey, or duck
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

You can certainly use all beef or venison.  I mix it really well with my hands.  Fill the jerky gun, and use the "ribbon" fitting.  Fill the dehydrator trays.  (Three lbs. of ground meat fills the four trays of my dehydrator.) 

(Where's the "cure" you ask?  If that's the main reason you haven't been making jerky, well, come on down!  I hate sodium nitrite.  Imagine my surprise when at my Master Food Preserver Class, Barbara Ingham, Wisconsin's Extension food scientist and our teacher, said I didn't have to use it!  There was a catch.  Without cure in it, you will store it in the refrigerator.  If you are going on a camping trip, etc., it will keep for 2 weeks out of the refrigerator, but not indefinitely.  This more than covers me for a day long shopping trip, or Rick for a day of pheasant hunting.)

After filling the dehydrator, set it at 145 - 155 degrees for at least 4 hours.  Then place the dried strips on a baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated 275 degree oven for 10 minutes.  This last step makes sure that bugs such as Salmonella and E. coli are killed.  Jerky should not end up "crispy".  When you bend it, it shouldn't snap in half -- that is the kind of jerky you chew, and chew, and chew.

Done jerky will have fibers that still hold together when you bend it.
If it snaps -- overdone.
You now have a traveling piece of protein!

 Linked To: Homestead Barn Hop


.....jean

Simple Salmon

     Rick (my husband) has started to fish for salmon on Lake Michigan.  This Sunday was our first taste of fresh salmon on the grill.  As my son put it, (as he was taking a bite), "this isn't even 9 hrs. since he was swimming".  That's pretty fresh.  Here's our absolute favorite way of having salmon.

Simple Salmon

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 TBL. brown sugar
1 tsp. rice vinegar

6 salmon fillets -- no skin, about 1 inch thick, serving size

Mix all ingredients except fish in a bowl.  Pour into a gallon size resealable bag and add the fish.  Turn the bag over and over to make sure all the fish is coated.  Refrigerate for 1/2 hr.

Remove fish from the bag and discard marinade.  Cook over the grill for about 5 minutes per side.

Enjoy!



In the marinade.





Just off the grill.






Can't beat fresh salmon!!

 .....dr momi

Linked to:    http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

Big Pheasant Feed




We work Billy very hard around here :-)

       The first Big Pheasant Feed as my husband calls it, was on Christmas Eve.  Our second Big Pheasant Feed, is about to happen this weekend for my son's birthday and the third Big Pheasant Feed will be for my other son's birthday in April.  As you can see, only special occasions are worthy of a Pheasant Feed. :-)
     My husband and son's along with their hunting dogs, (Billy is my husbands dog) bagged enough pheasants this year for 3 family meals.  We never have a Feed before Christmas Eve.  This is what a Big Pheasant Feed consists of : pheasant from the fall harvest, sweet corn frozen from the garden, and smashed potatoes from the garden.  That's it.  No variations.  No extras.  (the guys have made the rules :-).
   
This is how we make the pheasant to feed 12 adults and a bunch of toddlers.

Boil pheasant breasts (we use about 10 birds for everybody) in enough water to cover until meat is done.  Save the water, cool the pheasant and debone.  Cut into bite size pieces and place in a super large cast iron pan. Add 3-4 large onions diced, 2-3 sticks of butter (remember this is a special occasion), 1 box of chicken broth and the pheasant water to fill the pan.  Now let it simmer till the water is gone and the pheasant and onions brown well. (keep scraping when it starts browning).  Salt and pepper to taste.

I can smell it now.......

The Big Pheasant Feed