A Wisconsin Fish Boil

Tonight we had our 1st Annual Family Corn Roast
and Fish Boil,
featuring sweet corn, red potatoes and onions from the garden.
The corn soaked in salt water for 20 hours, and then was roasted over the open fire until it looked like it was totally burnt.

    

The little bit that chars is actually the best part.
Roasted corn has just enough of a different taste
than boiled corn that it is totally worth the effort.

Usually a fish boil uses whitefish or lake trout.
We substituted a fresh caught King Salmon.

For 10 people
Bring to a rolling boil, 2 gallons of water
1 cup salt
3 Tbl. Old Bay Seasoning
(in the seasoning section at grocery store)
3 bay leaves
1 Tbl. ground white pepper

Add 20 whole small red potatoes and 6 carrots.
Boil 15 minutes.

Add 10 medium peeled whole onions
Keep boiling 10 more minutes.

Add salmon serving size chunked, with skin on.
(Ours was a 14 lb-er)
Keep boiling 10 more minutes.

Serve with melted butter.

I can't describe to you how good it was!
(the picture does not do it justice)

A wiffle ball game and popsicle for dessert.
It doesn't get any better than this.......

.....dr momi

Linked To: Homestead Barn Hop #72

Salmon Patties Revisited :-)

Check out my post from last year on salmon patties.

It's what's for supper.....

.....dr momi

Chicken Liver Pate

Before you go "blech",  I will just have you know there were three crackers on this plate
and I unconsciously ate 2 of them before I took the picture! YUM!
THIS is what I want my organic chicken livers to become each year!!
(I will work at a better cracker underneath it.)

Organic Chicken Liver Pate

1 # organic chicken livers
1 cup milk (I used goat milk)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 TBL, olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3-4 small garlic cloves minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. salt - or to taste
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup brandy

Put liver into milk and refrigerate for two hrs. (or overnight if you just forgot about it like me :-)
Melt butter, add oil and onions and cook over med. until soft, then add garlic.  Cook a little longer (do not brown).
Add liver and spices cook until liver is brown with just a bit of pink inside.
Remove skillet from burner and add brandy.  Put back on burner and light the brandy. 
Continue cooking until all liquid is gone.  Let cool.  Remove bay leaves.
Blend till smooth. (I used an immersion blender - worked good)   Refrigerate until very cold. Freezes well.


.....dr momi


Linked To: Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Decorating Cookies...Kid Style

Traditional Sugar Cookies

1 cup lard
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
(don't you love how yellow free range eggs make the dough?)
2 tsp. homemade vanilla
5 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
Mix, chill, roll, cut, place on greased cookie sheet, bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.


Side note:  do you think if I forgot the 2 cups of sugar in the sugar cookies that anyone would notice??
That's what I did the other day...uuggghhh!  So much for speed baking.

Frosting

2 lbs. of powdered sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 TBL. vanilla
enough milk to make a good spreading consistency.



So, we decorated the sugar cookies with the grandkids last night.

They had a great time,

....and made some beautious masterpieces.



However,





 

...there was an awful lot of








....finger licking going on!









....adult cookie seekers were forewarned.





When they were all done, they got to pick one cookie to eat.     .....decisions



.....jean

Ice Fishing Sunflower Seeds

 ......or Road Trip Sunflower Seeds
 ......or Fly Fishing Sunflower Seeds
 ......or Redneck Sunflower Seeds?  :-)

     Whatever you want to call them, you'll never get fat eating roasted in the shell sunflower seeds.  They are fun to eat when you want to stay awake, or just give your mouth a work out, or if you like to spit; but you sure won't eat them fast enough to get fat!

     Three years in a row I have tried to dry sunflower seeds.  This is the first year I have a harvest.  Oh, they've grown just fine all 3 years.  The harvesting is the tricky part.  Harvest too early -- the seed doesn't develop inside the hull.  Harvest too late -- the birds have a feast.  According to the National Sunflower Association you are suppose to let the sunflower head dry on the stem.  I'm thinking that just doesn't work for mammoth sunflowers.  Every year they have molded on me before drying, whether I leave them on the stem or cut the head off and try to dry them in the garage.  The black oil sunflowers I did let dry on the stems.  When I went to harvest them I realized the finches had eaten their winter supply of bird seed a smidge early!  They were 90 % gone.

     This year I harvested my mammoth sunflowers and took the seed off the head right away.  I let them dry in the house on newspaper.  Finally I have a harvest.  Some will be bird seed for the winter, some will be chicken food when it's 20 below zero (I only feed small amounts of sunflowers when it's really cold out, otherwise there is just too much fat in them for feeding to chickens in any amount.), and some have been roasted in the shell .



These sunflower seeds have been drying about 3 weeks now.
There is about 1 1/2 qts. of seed.  I sifted out the chaff.



There was plenty of stuff I didn't want mixed in.

     
     The National Sunflower Association says to cover the unshelled seeds with salted water using 1/4 - 1/2 cup of salt per 1/2 gal. of water.  The first batch I made I used 1/4 cup salt per 1/2 gal. of water.  I didn't want them too salty, but I thought they ended up not salty enough, so this time I used the 1/2 cup of salt.




I rinsed the seeds well before putting them in the salted water.
I weighted the seeds into the water with a dish, and let them soak overnight.

     

     In the morning I drained off the water, added 3 TBL. of melted butter, sprinkled some seasoned salt to taste (at least 1 TBL) and mixed it well so every seed was coated.  I spread them evenly over a cookie pan and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.  I stirred them about every 10 minutes.

     The first batch of seeds I roasted, I thought I would slow roast them.  So, I put the oven at 300 degrees and roasted them till golden.  Turns out it is harder to get the seeds out that way.  The second batch I roasted at 350 degrees.  At this temperature the hulls get very crispy, so when you crack it open in your mouth the seed just pops right out.  Much easier to eat them if you don't have to work that seed out of the shell.






I'm very happy with the results.
I have visions of grandchildren spitting sunflower shells......



.....jean

Linked To: Farm Friend Friday

Pico de Gallo

     This is a favorite when the tomatoes are fresh.  We (as in the whole family) have it about 3 or 4 times when the garden is overflowing.

Pico de Gallo always reminds me of Mexico.
....ahhh sunning on the beach, watching the pelicans fly by,
sipping pina coladas (..er diet coke), someone else cookin' for me,....
...oh, OK I'm back.

Pico de Gallo
     (for a crowd)

20 roma tomatoes
1 lg, red onion
1 lg. jalapeno pepper
1 sm.banana pepper (feel free to mix 'n match peppers)
4 cloves of garlic
juice of 2 limes
2 TBL. olive oil
1 bunch of fresh cilantro
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper




Cut the stem off the tomatoes, slice them in half lengthwise,
"v" out the hard core, and then dice.






















Do the same with the pepper.  Take out the seeds and "pulpy stuff".
Don't touch your eyes with pepper juice hands....you'll be sorry :-)






















     Dice the onions and garlic.  Fine cut the cilantro.  Throw in the lime juice, oil, salt and pepper.






...and mix it all together

Enjoy!























     I forgot to take a picture of the final stir LOL!  I can easily make this my whole meal it tastes so good.  I get lots of questions about how you can can pico de gallo so it tastes just like it does fresh.  Aaahhh....not going to happen.  Eat the fresh when you have it.  Follow a tested recipe to can salsa, and that's what we eat in the winter.  When you are canning salsa, please don't add vegetables just because you like your salsa that way.  Vegetables (onions, peppers etc.) change how acid the recipe is.  If you are not following a tested recipe, it can quickly become unsafe to can.

.....dr momi

Linked to:  Women Living Well Wednesday
Linked to:  Simple Lives Thursday
Linked to:  Farm Friend Friday
Linked to:  Living Well Blog Hop

Elderberry Jam Review



                                                      Rita's Gr-Gr-Mom's Elderberry Jam
                                                                     Here's the recipe.

It jelled to the perfect consistency with no added pectin.
You have to really watch it the last 10 minutes -- stir constantly.







I agree with Rita's Great Grandmother -- it is DELICIOUS!
Tastes "elderberry-y" with a hint of orange at the end -- different and good!

I must have used an apple that doesn't go "mushy" very easy.  I cooked down the
apples till most was smooth.  But, even after the extra 30 minutes of cooking, I still had some
apple chunks.  Don't get me wrong, it still tastes wonderful,  I would just dice the apples next time.
I love the whole elderberries in it -- just plain pretty to look at :-)

The recipe made 10 half pint jars.
(Christmas presents!!!!)


.....dr momi

Linked to:  Works-For-Me Wednesday
Linked to:  Living Well Wednesday's
Linked to:  Time Travel Thursday
Linked to:  Farm Photo Friday



Rita's Gr-Gr-Mom's Elderberry Jam

r

     I begged this recipe off my friend Rita.  We were talking elderberries, when she told me about her great grandmother hand writing her recipes -- elderberry jam being one of them.  I had the recipe with me when I attended the Master Food Preserver Class. "Is there anything wrong with canning this recipe?" I asked my teacher, Barbara Ingham, the head food scientist for the state of Wisconsin.  "This should be perfectly fine.  Do you know why? --- Because everything in it is an acid."

     So there you have it.  It's not a tested recipe.  But, it's got the o.k. from the very top.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rita's Gr-Gr-Mom's Elderberry Jam

1 quart of elderberries

5 cups sugar

12 large cooking apples

3 medium size oranges

1 lemon

Cook apples until mushy.  Add elderberries, oranges, and lemon chopped fine.  Grate the rind of 1 orange and the lemon.  Mix all with the sugar and boil 30 minutes.  Delicious

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     I love the "delicious" at the end. :-)  If you are canning it, you would fill the jars to 1/4 in. and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.  You'll notice there is no pectin in the recipe.  I'm sure that's where the apples and the orange and lemon peel help out, they are full of pectin.

     I'm making it today, I'll let you know how it turns out.  Thanks for sharing Rita!!

.....dr momi

Linked to:  Homestead Barn Hop

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/

Bread Kinda Day

     Back in Feb. I posted my "Way Good Bread" recipe, but I had no pictures.  Today is the first time I've made it since then!!  I said we didn't have it too often  :-)  Taking pictures while you are making bread is very hard......I'm sure there is some dough on my camera :-).


     I'm not sure what is making this a bread kinda day.  I'm a bit bummed about my new plants out in the garden.  The wind was blowing at 30 - 40 mph.  --- all day, with gusts to 50 mph!  It almost looks as though we will have to start over with some tomatoes and peppers.  Maybe I need some comfort food today.  There is also soup simmering on the stove as I cooked up one of the last "roosters" in the freezer.  Wild rice chicken soup and homemade bread......I'd call that comfort food.      



Here is the Feb. post ---- pictures added.


 If I made this too often it wouldn't be good.  ..... for the hips I mean.  That's why I got rid of my bread machine.  It was too easy to make the bread and we ate way too much of it.  This tastes WAY good, so it's only made once in a while.   It takes a certain amount of effort, I have to plan ahead, but, that way we don't over do it.  The other reason I don't make it too often is because I make it with all white flour.  You can use a couple cups of whole wheat in it instead of white if you want.  I find it just makes it drier and doesn't keep as long.  I figure if I am only making it once in a while, at least it doesn't have any preservatives in it, and it's better than buying bread. 
     This recipe makes 6 loaves of bread.  Why go through all the hassle for 1 or 2 loaves?  If I bake them all, I hand some out to friends and neighbors.  Otherwise I will freeze the dough to make a fresh loaf another day.  This bread WILL make your meal special.......

Way Good Homemade Bread

1/4 c. yeast....................(I buy it bulk and keep it in the freezer)
2 c. warm water............(too hot will kill the yeast)
1/2 c. sugar or honey....(use a little less honey)
1 c. dry milk..................(another reason not to make it too often)
1 qt. warm water
1/2 c. lard or coconut oil
1/8 c. salt
12 c. flour......................(at least use unbleached :-)

In a super large 12 or 13 qt. bowl, mix the yeast, 2 c. of warm water, sugar/honey, and the dry milk.  Let it sit a couple of minutes.  Mix the lard/coconut oil in the 2 qts of warm water.  Let it melt some.  (it won't melt all the way) and pour into yeast mixture.  Add salt and flour.  Mix well with spoon or hand dough hook, or your dough hook on your processor.  When it is totally mixed, cover with a wet dish towel and let it rise to double.




I LOVE the hand dough hook I got for a Christmas present
from my sister-in-law.....Thanks Sharon!



Cover with a wet dish towel to rise.

 



Get the pans ready that you will be using.  I use regular bread pans, a french loaf pan, a small 4 loaf pan, or sometimes I just make it a rustic round loaf.  You could make them into buns too.  Spray the pans, and turn on the oven to 350 degrees.

When done rising, punch down and cut the dough in half with a knife. 

Flour your table so the dough won't stick when you are working it.  Pull out half and cut into three sections.

 Work one section on the floured table, you can either stretch and pull the dough, or knead the dough for a about 10-15 times.  Keep sprinkling flour so things don't stick too bad.  Shape the loaf according to your pan shape and plop it in.  If it isn't beautiful -- who cares, it will taste wonderful!

  Repeat with the other 5 loaves, unless you will be freezing some.  In that case, knead it, put it in a gal. size freezer bag, and immediately into the freezer. (don't wait for the others to get bagged up -- it will start raising right away)  These I will pretty much make into a rustic round loaf. (Take frozen dough out early in the morning, let it thaw and rise, fresh bread with supper.)

When all the loaves are in the pans, wet your dishcloth again and lay it over the top as they rise.  Let them rise about 1/2 their size.  When your oven is hot, put in the bread and bake until the crust is golden brown and when you snap it with your finger it gives a little hollow sound.  When done, take out the pans and let cool a little while on cooling racks, but, the loaves have to come out of the pans soon or you will have a soggy bottom crust.



Can you smell it?


 They should just pop out with a little nudge from a knife.  If they don't  --- just keep struggling until you drop the whole pan on the floor, and then it will just pop right out :-) --- on to the floor.  (That's what happened to me last time :-)

If you time this so the bread comes out of the oven hot just before supper ---- perfect.



The perfect accompaniment to wild rice chicken soup!



Wild Rice Meat Pie

     A couple years back my daughter and I went to a "green" fair at The Menominee College in Keshena, WI about 9 miles north of us.  It is on the Menominee Indian Reservation.  For a nominal fee, lunch was served.  "Meat Pie" and "Corn Soup" was served up and cooked from scratch by some fantastic Native American cooks!!

    We were raving about one of the meat pies that was extra special, and didn't that cook sit down with us and tell us just how she made it!  At home, "from my head", I tried to duplicate it.  A few practices later it has become one of my husbands favorite meals. (Although we don't have it often :-)

Making The Wild Rice

4 cups of water

2 cups of wild rice

1/4 tsp. salt

Put it all in a 4 qt. pot.  Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for 50 minutes.

Make sure it is a pot with a tight fitting lid, not one with "steam vents".

After you know it's simmering, absolutely no peeking!

This makes enough for two "pies".  I put 1/2 in the freezer till I make another.

Making The Pie Crust (2 crusts)


Mix together 2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of lard, & 1/2 tsp. salt
with the pastry blender until "pea size".















Add 1 beaten egg, and 3 TBL. cold water.
Mix just until it all holds together.  Use a smidge more water if you need to. 
Divide into 2 balls (shown is 1 crust)



















Roll out the bottom crust.
Don't even worry about making it "perfect" size.
Put it into a 9 x 11 pan.
(Grandson Logan was supervising)

 






















Making The Meat Filling.


Brown 1 lb. of hamburger or venison.



















When hamburger is browned, add 3 cups of water with 
 2 heaping TBL. corn starch mixed in till smooth.
Add 2 heaping spoonfuls of "Better Than Beef" flavoring.
("Better Than Beef" is in the bouillon section of the store.  It's a paste in a jar.)
Add the rice. (1/2 of the recipe)
Now let it all simmer until a gravy is made. (It doesn't take too long.)
Pour it all over the bottom crust.



Add the top crust and prick.
Again, the president isn't coming to supper.
Don't stress over making it pretty.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until crust is brown.




Wild Rice Meat Pie --- Yum!
  Caution!! Wild Rice has lots of fiber!
You're going to want to eat more than maybe you should :-)