Post by ogeezer on Oct 25, 2006 11:32:23 GMT -6
Hunters spending long hours in the blind typically don't eat the way they should so, here's some trail mixes worth carrying along on your trip to deer camp.
JERKY
Jerky is said to keep for years, but it’s so good that around my house it’s shelf life is usually measured in minutes. Here’s my favorite recipe:
1-1/2 lbs. very lean ground meat—Any meat that isn’t fatty, including fish and birds, especially turkey. Avoid pork or bear.)
1/4 cup soy
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
Combine all the marinade ingredients and pour over the meat. Refrigerate until the meat absorbs the solution. Chilled meat is also firmer and easier to work with. Roll the ground meat out and cut into strips about 1/4-inch thick and an inch or two wide. The strips can then be dried either on plastic screens or in a food dehydrator or in an oven if the door is open about 1-1/2 to 2" so the moisture can escape (closed the oven cooks the meat instead of drying it).
MODERN PEMMICAN
Ingredients:
Cut the suet into chunks and render (melt) it over low heat, until it becomes a rich golden-brown liquid. Continue to heat until all moisture is removed. It’s important to remove all water from the fat to prevent it from going rancid. Strain it and throw away the solids. Allow it to cool—it will turn white. This is tallow. Rendering twice will make the tallow harder and give it better keeping qualities. Tallow, when cooled, resembles candle wax in color and consistency. In fact, if you have any left over, it can be made into candles. Lewis and Clark took cotton wicking along with them for that purpose, and wrote their journals by the smokey light of tallow candles. Add some beeswax or paraffin to make them burn better.
In a blender, grind the dried meat to a powder. Chop or grind the dried fruits and mix them with the dried meat powder.
Heat the tallow again. Make sure it is as hot as it can get without smoking (smoking means burning). Pour the tallow into the dried meat mixture, adding just enough to moisten the particles. If it’s too cool you will have to use a lot of it to stick the mixture together and the pemmican will be too rich and fatty. At this point, if the tallow is cooling down too quickly to allow it to soak in properly, you can microwave the whole mixture to warm it up.
Form the warm pemmican into blocks or bars or patties. Allow them to cool and wrap in waxed paper or store in plastic bags.
HARDTACK
Essentially a very hard cracker, hardtack was the standard traveling fare for soldiers, sailors, and pioneers up through WWI. Originally made from only salt, flour, and a little water, it was universally despised. It was traditionally either dipped in coffee, or soaked in hot water and then fried in bacon drippings. This updated version is far more healthy and tasty, and just as easy to store and transport.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh whole wheat flour (Best if you grind
it yourself—wheat berries lose nutritional value
rapidly once ground.)
2 cups fresh corn meal (Again, best if you grind it
yourself right before baking.)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1-3/4 cups water
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add water. Knead until moistened but not sticky. Roll 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch squares or rounds. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Score with a knife to facilitate breaking later. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Can be stored indefinitely in an airtight container.
PARCHED CORN
Sold in stores as "corn nuts".
Parching corn makes these hard kernels softer for your teeth and much more digestible. It’s a lightweight, high energy food that was carried by Indian warriors and hunters. It can be eaten as is, or ground and added to soups and stews. You’ll be surprised at how it revitalizes you.
Heat a small amount of butter or lard or oil in a skillet on low. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel so that only a thin coat remains—just enough to prevent the corn from sticking. Pour in enough dry kernels to almost cover the bottom of the pan. Stir constantly to prevent burning. The kernels are done when they swell and turn light to medium brown and begin to pop. It takes from 1-5 minutes. Dump the corn out onto a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up any remaining oil or grease, then re-oil your skillet and do some more. Enough for a day will fit in a plastic bag in your pocket.
On your next outing, try traveling light. Jerky, pemmican, hardtack, and parched corn will keep you going all day, without utensils to clean, or trash to dispose of, or the need to stop and cook. For dinner, pemmican stewed with whatever greens or tubers you’ve foraged, thickened with parched corn and served with hardtack will give you a lift.
JERKY
Jerky is said to keep for years, but it’s so good that around my house it’s shelf life is usually measured in minutes. Here’s my favorite recipe:
1-1/2 lbs. very lean ground meat—Any meat that isn’t fatty, including fish and birds, especially turkey. Avoid pork or bear.)
1/4 cup soy
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
Combine all the marinade ingredients and pour over the meat. Refrigerate until the meat absorbs the solution. Chilled meat is also firmer and easier to work with. Roll the ground meat out and cut into strips about 1/4-inch thick and an inch or two wide. The strips can then be dried either on plastic screens or in a food dehydrator or in an oven if the door is open about 1-1/2 to 2" so the moisture can escape (closed the oven cooks the meat instead of drying it).
MODERN PEMMICAN
Ingredients:
- Very dry jerky.
- Fresh beef suet. (the raw fat from around the kidneys and loins).
- Any seedless dried fruit not preserved with sulfites (optional).
Cut the suet into chunks and render (melt) it over low heat, until it becomes a rich golden-brown liquid. Continue to heat until all moisture is removed. It’s important to remove all water from the fat to prevent it from going rancid. Strain it and throw away the solids. Allow it to cool—it will turn white. This is tallow. Rendering twice will make the tallow harder and give it better keeping qualities. Tallow, when cooled, resembles candle wax in color and consistency. In fact, if you have any left over, it can be made into candles. Lewis and Clark took cotton wicking along with them for that purpose, and wrote their journals by the smokey light of tallow candles. Add some beeswax or paraffin to make them burn better.
In a blender, grind the dried meat to a powder. Chop or grind the dried fruits and mix them with the dried meat powder.
Heat the tallow again. Make sure it is as hot as it can get without smoking (smoking means burning). Pour the tallow into the dried meat mixture, adding just enough to moisten the particles. If it’s too cool you will have to use a lot of it to stick the mixture together and the pemmican will be too rich and fatty. At this point, if the tallow is cooling down too quickly to allow it to soak in properly, you can microwave the whole mixture to warm it up.
Form the warm pemmican into blocks or bars or patties. Allow them to cool and wrap in waxed paper or store in plastic bags.
HARDTACK
Essentially a very hard cracker, hardtack was the standard traveling fare for soldiers, sailors, and pioneers up through WWI. Originally made from only salt, flour, and a little water, it was universally despised. It was traditionally either dipped in coffee, or soaked in hot water and then fried in bacon drippings. This updated version is far more healthy and tasty, and just as easy to store and transport.
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh whole wheat flour (Best if you grind
it yourself—wheat berries lose nutritional value
rapidly once ground.)
2 cups fresh corn meal (Again, best if you grind it
yourself right before baking.)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1-3/4 cups water
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add water. Knead until moistened but not sticky. Roll 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch squares or rounds. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Score with a knife to facilitate breaking later. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Can be stored indefinitely in an airtight container.
PARCHED CORN
Sold in stores as "corn nuts".
Parching corn makes these hard kernels softer for your teeth and much more digestible. It’s a lightweight, high energy food that was carried by Indian warriors and hunters. It can be eaten as is, or ground and added to soups and stews. You’ll be surprised at how it revitalizes you.
Heat a small amount of butter or lard or oil in a skillet on low. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel so that only a thin coat remains—just enough to prevent the corn from sticking. Pour in enough dry kernels to almost cover the bottom of the pan. Stir constantly to prevent burning. The kernels are done when they swell and turn light to medium brown and begin to pop. It takes from 1-5 minutes. Dump the corn out onto a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up any remaining oil or grease, then re-oil your skillet and do some more. Enough for a day will fit in a plastic bag in your pocket.
On your next outing, try traveling light. Jerky, pemmican, hardtack, and parched corn will keep you going all day, without utensils to clean, or trash to dispose of, or the need to stop and cook. For dinner, pemmican stewed with whatever greens or tubers you’ve foraged, thickened with parched corn and served with hardtack will give you a lift.