Turtle nuggets

Until recently, when someone told me we'd be eating turtle, I instantly imagined a lovely dessert with chocolate, caramel and pecans. Then the Hubby found a snapping turtle on the road and decided he wanted to eat it. "T.E.O.T.W.A.W.K.I. Turtle" is what he calls it. (For those of you not up on "prepper" jargon, that long acronym stands for The End Of The World As We Know It.) Ok, ok, redneck jokes aside, I rolled my eyes and tried to get in to the idea of consuming reptile.

My only reptilian culinary experience was with alligator fritters, which I found tender and delicious. They were lightly battered, had consistency like fish, but were decidedly more chicken-like in flavor. I was cautiously optimistic that snapping turtle might lend itself to the same mild flavor.

As we got closer to the day when we would actually prepare the turtle, while the kids were huddled around the stock tank admiring it resting benignly beneath the water, I began to lose my nerve about dispatching the thing. It seemed harmless enough, after all. But then the Hubby enlightened me to the well publicized fact that snapping turtles are responsible for maiming cattle every year, as they bite off the teats of wading cows. Well, that did it. With new resolve, I gave the nod and the Hubby began his quest to find a decent way to prepare our new game meat.

Hubby scoured the internet for info on killing, cleaning, and cooking snapping turtle. Thankfully, the southern part of the U.S. is loaded with the things (imagine herds of udderless cows with hungry, frustrated calves) and there are no shortage of hillbillies with video cameras ready to impart their wisdom on YouTube.

First you need a good "whomping stick". You don't actually kill the turtle with the stick, you just "whomp" it in the nose like you're driving a golf ball down the fairway, and then run up to its head while the turtle is seeing stars and decapitate it before it wakes up and takes off your hand.

Once head and turtle are separated, you need a cutting board with a nail protruding from it, sharp side up. That's for sticking the turtle parts on so they don't crawl away while you're slicing the meat off of them. Oh, yeah. Reptile muscles require no connection with a nervous system to continue to operate. That's why snake heads can still bite you after they've been removed from the body. I didn't quite anticipate the impact this uniquely reptilian adaptation would have on me. I usually have a pretty strong stomach for butchering and processing game, but something about limbs recoiling as they're being severed turned even my stomach. I couldn't watch, so there are not many pictures of the processing part.

Big biting muscles mean there is lots of good meat on the head.

Once the meat was in the bowl, it could have been mistaken for pork, if it weren't for the fact that the pieces were still twitching. All the pieces went into a soup pot filled with water and were boiled for about 2 hours.

We drained the meat, and Hubby created a batter. As usual, he used every spice in the cabinet so I have no idea how to tell you to reproduce it. Sorry. I did observe him dipping the pieces in egg batter, then rolling them in his seasoned flour, breadcrumb mixture.

Then, we pan fried the nuggets.

Amazingly, the nuggets were delicious. They were decidedly more dense than alligator, with more of a pork-like consistency, and no fishiness. The kids loved it so much they wanted more turtle nuggets for dessert, begging in sing song "we want turtle, we want turtle". And to think we have friends whose kids will only eat peanut butter and jelly.

While I'm fairly certain a chain of Turtle-Fil-A restaurants will not spring up across the U.S., I can confidently state that snapping turtle is indelibly inked onto a growing list of T.E.O.T.W.A.W.K.I. menu items. Who knows, I may even eat it again in a non-starvation survival scenario.

Wild Asparagus Hunting

In December of 2011, we lost an 8-month long battle with the Town we live in over property rights. We endeavored to defend our farm's 100+ year agricultural use in the face of a 20 year-old zoning code that allows horses, but not cows. After the town judge found us guilty of "possession of cattle", we began to search for cow pasture, which resulted in God leading us to a very unique property, with some wonderful new friends, just 4 miles away from our town.

Our new friends, SS & FF offered to house our cattle in their pasture in exchange for us doing a little work around their 140 acre farm. As their farm is outside of city limits, they experience all the freedom and autonomy we only dream of having on our place. They can lawfully hunt, fish, farm, shoot, grow, house livestock, and do whatever else strikes their fancy. So it's probably no surprise that for the last 3 months, we have spent nearly every weekend at our cows' new home, building fences, planting trees, cultivating garden areas or just sharing meals with SS, FF & their kids.

Last weekend when we visited the Farm to work on a new section of fence, I found SS down at the edge of the lake with a bag and a knife harvesting wild asparagus. I've only ever heard tales of asparagus growing wild in ditches and along waterways, and had never hunted it myself, but I grabbed a bag & headed over to see if I could participate. SS turns out to be a legendary asparagus hunter, spotting the tender new shoots amidst the dead marsh grass & old gray stalks. A total novice, I had to identify a stand of live, leafed-out stalks to recognize the emerging harvest, but got better at spotting our quarry toward the end. I've scarcely had so much fun and I think hunting produce actually fulfilled some ancient primal gathering instinct that has long been ignored.

 We came back to the house with two grocery bags overflowing with asparagus stalks. I brought mine home and soaked them in cold water to minimize the bugs and grit, and then prepared them by snapping off the woody ends, drizzling them with olive oil, and then sprinkling fresh minced garlic and salt over top. After soaking for around a half hour, I threw them on the barbecue until they were tender, but still crisp. This is my new favorite way to prepare asparagus courtesy of another friend and culinary genius, LP.

The kids were a bit put off by the much stringier texture of the wild asparagus, but I found the top 4 inches of the stalks to be sweet, tender and better than any bruised, wilted asparagus hailing from the grocery store.

A few stalks were too mature to eat, so I threw them in a glass of water to see if I could force them to seed. If I'm successful, I will plant my own perennial asparagus in my garden.

Beautiful, beneficial lemon balm

Lemon balm (Melissa Officinalis) is a lovely little herb in the mint family with countless culinary, medicinal and home uses.

Andrew Chevallier, author of Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine claims lemon balm was traditionally used to lift the spirits, heal wounds, relieve palpation, relax the heart and treat toothache. Additional medicinal uses include healing cold sores, treating anxiety, depression, tension, overactive thyroid, chicken pox, shingles, flu, anxious nausea, and stomach ache.

Wikipedia adds: Lemon balm contains eugenol, which kills bacteria and has been shown to calm muscles and numb tissues. It also contains tannins that contribute to its antiviral effects, as well as terpenes that add to its soothing effects. Traditionally this herb has been used as a sedative, and as an antispasmodic.

According to a guide published by The Herb Society of America, "Lemon balm had historic use as an attractor of honeybees. Research has shown that the plant contains several compounds found in the worker honeybee’s Nasonov gland, which helps bees communicate about food sources and hive location. Both contain citral and geraniol, and honeybee pheromone contains nerolic acid, which is similar to the nerol found in Melissa officinalis."

Oh, yeah, and you can crunch it up and rub it on your skin to repel mosquitoes. Holy smokes! That's one beneficial herb, and we haven't even scratched the surface of its lovely cooking aspects!

I have used a lemon balm infused chapstick to ward off cold sores for years, but never really appreciated how easy to grow, harvest and use this lovely herb was. At the food swap a few weeks ago I brought home a small bunch of the fresh herb and made it into pesto by blending 2 cloves of garlic with about 1/4 cup of lemon balm leaves, a pinch of salt and about a 1/4 cup of olive oil. Served on bread or grilled meat, it was divine! Not only was it delicious, but it actually cured a cold sore I had brewing.

A few days ago, my friend JD gave me a gallon baggy full of fresh lemon balm, so with my new-found confidence with integrating it into my cooking, I made up this marinade, which I used on pork tenderloin and barbecued. Here's what I did:

Lemon Balm Meat Marinade

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh lemon balm
• 2 large cloves garlic pressed
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp white wine
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

Mix ingredients in a ziplock bag, add meat & marinate 2-4 hours in refrigerator, turning occasionally.  Barbecue over medium heat until meat is fully cooked.

The pork was fork-tender and melt-in-your-mouth juicy...a difficult feat for pork. The citrus-y, herb-y, minty flavor would suit Greek cooking perfectly, but I simply served it with fresh baked French bread, fresh salad greens from my garden and some steamed broccoli, also from the garden.

I hope you plant, harvest and use this easy brilliant herb. I know I will continue to experiment with it and of course, will share what I learn as I go!

One dish wonderful

Finding fabulous new ways to prepare ground meat is always a challenge, but finding one that takes less than 45 minutes to prep from start to finish and leaves just one pan and one mixing bowl for me to clean...well, that's priceless. I came across this recipe and it never ceases to please with its sweet, savory blend of flavors and textures. The kids love it & the hubby always dusts the leftovers before I have a chance to put them in the fridge.

 Spiced Beef Cornbread Cobbler 

Filling:
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground meat (I've used ground beef, turkey, antelope, elk...you get the picture)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can corn drained

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Pour oil into large oven proof skillet. Saute onions for about 2 minutes, then add garlic and meat and saute until meat is browned and onions are transparent. If there is more than 2 Tbsp of fat in the pan after browning the meat, pour it off. Then, add spices, tomatoes and corn & bring to a boil. Simmer about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the cornbread.

Cornbread topping:
I usually just use a box of the Jiffy brand cornbread mix, but if I'm out or feeling particularly motivated, I'll make my own. I do that by whisking together the following ingredients:
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg

Spoon cornbread over top of filling. Put the whole pan in the oven for 15-25 minutes or until cornbread is golden on top & toothpick inserted into center of it comes out clean. Top with grated cheddar cheese and serve with a crisp green salad or other green veggie to round it out.

If I could somehow post the aroma of this dish on my blog, everyone would jot down the recipe!

Sweet and simple chicken corn chowder

It was a cold, windy, wet spring day yesterday and we all had a craving for some hardy soup. A friend of mine shared this delicious, easy recipe for chicken corn chowder and, though I tweaked it a bit, we all agreed it totally fit the bill. The best part was it allowed me to use the meat from one of our aged laying hens who we culled a few months back. It's no small feat finding a recipe in which you can use the world's toughest chicken meat, but this one minimized the toughness and you'd never know I didn't use a supermarket rotisserie chicken. Here's the recipe, and I'll go over the chicken info in a minute.

1 ½-2  cups cooked chicken, cut into small pieces

½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic minced
3 Tbsp butter
3 chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in 2 cups of water
1 ¼ tsp ground cumin
2 c. half and half
1 can cream style corn
1 can sweet corn, undrained
2 4-oz. cans green chilies, undrained
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
½ tsp Tabasco sauce (adjust to your personal taste)

In a large soup pot, sauté onion & garlic in butter until onion is translucent. Add chicken and cumin and stir to coat chicken, sauté for 1 minute or until chicken is heated through. Dissolve bouillon cubes in hot water & add to pot with remaining ingredients. Bring to boil and simmer 15 minutes or until it reaches desired thickness. Serve with shredded cheese and chopped cilantro.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It would be simple to make this recipe with your grocery store's rotisserie chicken or any leftover cooked chicken you may have in the fridge. But if you want to incorporate some of your less-than-prime, home-grown meat, here's what I did:

First, I de-boned my chicken. Using a sharp knife, I cut the breasts off the carcass, leaving the wings attached, then I removed the leg-thigh portions. My chicken was skinned, but if yours is not, now's the time to do it. Next I separated the leg from the thigh and sliced along the thigh bone to debone the thigh. For the leg, I just sliced around the tendons at the foot-end of the leg, but you could probably skip that step. I threw everything, including the carcass into a stockpot full of water (enough to cover). I diced one onion and one carrot, sprinkled with a little salt & garlic powder and boiled the whole thing for about 5 hours, occasionally adding boiling water as necessary to maintain water level. 

After 5 hours, I used tongs to remove the chicken pieces and set them aside to cool. I poured the stock through a sieve into a bowl and put it in the fridge. There, the fat will rise and congeal for easy skimming and I will freeze the stock in 2 cup quantities in Ziplock freezer bags until I come across a recipe that calls for it.

Once the chicken was cool, I pulled the remaining chicken off the bones and diced and shredded the meat for use in the chowder. The combination of the long cook time of the chicken, plus being served in this creamy soup made it surprising tender, so this one's definitely a keeper!

Hope you enjoy!

Last minute fried rice to the rescue

Ever get to the end of a day and realize...oh crap, what's for dinner? It's because of days like those (like the one I had today) that I keep the following ingredients handy:

• Frozen peas
• Green onions
• Ham slice (I buy 4 packs of these at Sam's Club and keep them in the freezer for emergency meals)
• Eggs (we usually have these thanks to our productive hens)
• Leftover rice (I also keep Minute Rice in the pantry as a back up)
• Soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil

Here's how to make it:

1. Dice the ham & about 5 green onions
2. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl
3. Heat the wok over medium-high heat
4. Pour about a tablespoon of high heat oil in the bottom then add  eggs. Stir fry them quickly until they are set...consistency of scrambled eggs, remove them and set aside
5. Pour another tablespoon oil in the pan and add the diced ham, onions & about 1/2 cup frozen peas
6. Stir fry for about 5 minutes or until everything is warmed through
7. Return eggs to pan and add 4-6 cups already cooked white rice
8. Drizzle with 1/2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 1/2 Tbsp. sesame oil, and 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
9. Mix in pan and continue to stir fry for about 8 minutes, allowing the rice to cook to crisp slightly on the bottom between stirs

My hubby loves this served with Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (the stuff with a chicken on it). Delish! Even Little Sister can partake of this one since there's no dairy to be found.

I hope it serves your family as well as it always serves ours!