General Day-to-Day Meaty Chat

This can be a daily chat thread about what meatiness we have all been up to, as opposed to specific recipes and so on - these can spin off from here if needed, but general daily meat talk and discussion can be contained in one thread without sprawling all over the section.

And to kick us off, I have just taken the Guanciale I laid down in cure last week out and rinsed and hung it. It stayed ten days in the cure rather than seven in the end but should be okay for that. The smell as I opened them was utterly divine and it was all I could do not to drink all the leached out fluids the cure tasted so yummy. They need to mature for three weeks now before being ready, and that's going to be a difficult time to wait.

I made another batch of bacon from a small pig that I happened upon a few weeks ago - it wasn't one of mine, it was a Long White/Wild Boar cross but really quite tiny, scarcely 40kg of carcass. As a consequence the bacon has come out rather unpalatably salty to my taste so I am soaking it all now in the hopes of redeeming something from the experience. Probably be alright as cooking bacon.

The Blood Loaves have turned out a resounding success: we gave some to a friend of ours who is going to have a baby in the next few days and she loved it, ate almost half a loaf in a day, which I admit made even me feel a little queasy. The children are very fond of it too. It is a bit more 'puddingy' than standard black pud - less earthy and almost sweet tasting, with lots of mace. Like Grandma's rice pudding, only with blood, was how one friend described it.
I did however discover some Blood Loaf Residue in the kitchen today. Sounds like a Captain Beefheart album but was actually rather unpleasant after four days.

Am thinking about doing a mutton ham next.

Middle son surprised us by taking a moderate sized rabbit in the back garden with a BB gun yesterday. Good clean headshot he says. Dressed it himself. Chilled overnight. Looks like rabbit stew tonight!

We have a pheasant hanging that was shot today. I'm not really looking forward to prepping it. I know the men (dh and his mate) like being hunters but I would do some of the not so pleasant stuff too.

Decided not to do pigs this year

Think I'll go and stay with Billy instead

I have a hen who is 3 1/2 yrs old, a good broody mama BUT lays very occasionally, messy soft shell eggs all the time now and has now taken to eating the other hens eggs every day...

I think we will be eating slow cooker chicken stew or chicken soup in the next day or so....

I have two cooked pigs heads in their jellied stock that I am trying to decide what the heck to do with. Thinking maybe scrapple?

Not sure though.

Still 4 weeks before we know if we get teh empty pen at 4H

I reallllllly hate to wait for things!

bronze wrote:We have a pheasant hanging that was shot today.

that's err, a little late in the season isn't it? 3 weeks after the close of the pheasant season in fact.

Unless you really absolutley have to roast it, why don't you just skin it? Takes a fraction of the time of plucking. I can skin and gut a pheasant in about 3 minutes flat as opposed to about 20 mins for plucking.

If you are bored with pheasant casserole and roast (why do people roast pheasants, really? almost always dry and cottony) you could try making some pheasant sausage - I did some pheasant port and cranberry sausages with my last batch of the year and they are really nice - gamey, but not challengingly so. The kids love them.

I know good cranberries can make a fantastic dish, especially with strong meats. I just don't like them. My MIL makes the BEST cranberry and nut citrus chutney. Full of wonderful flavors, goes great on a roast, or as a side itself. Perhaps the best cranberry dish I've ever had. Still don't like cranberries though.

That said, I could get you a recipe if you want, lol.

mr_sfstk8d wrote:I know good cranberries can make a fantastic dish, especially with strong meats. I just don't like them. My MIL makes the BEST cranberry and nut citrus chutney. Full of wonderful flavors, goes great on a roast, or as a side itself. Perhaps the best cranberry dish I've ever had. Still don't like cranberries though.

That said, I could get you a recipe if you want, lol.

Yes please! Having never met a chutney I havnt hated, would like to keep trying

I'll see what I can do.

Wilhelm Von Rhomboid wrote:

bronze wrote:We have a pheasant hanging that was shot today.

that's err, a little late in the season isn't it? 3 weeks after the close of the pheasant season in fact.

yes but dhs 'mate' (well he thinks hes a friend I think he can be a bleep) says he shot it by accident thinking it was a rabbit.
I'm not so sure to be honest but I'm not going to let it go to waste. I've had words believe me. After all if he can mix up a rabbit and a pheasant...
Strict instructions to only go for pigeon now (unless dh is alone then rabbit is fine)

Well if this daily meaty chat - we ate meat for supper tonight! I made a chicken casserole, don't know when I last did that. It was going to be for two nights, but the chicken thighs didn't look that big and we were hungry, so I've got to come up with something delicious for tomorrow now.

My original plan was to just put the thighs in the oven to bake as it seemed a quick, low fat, easy to prepare meal, but I got carried away. I even popped the broccoli in towards the end to save on saucepans!

A friend of ours has just popped out a baby this morning (no I am not going to eat the placenta). G von R was looking after their otehr child during the process and I offered to make them supper so they don't have to worry about that. Chicken casserole seemed a good way to go as they can just bung it in their Aga bottom oven and eat it whenever they want rather than something that they have to sit down and eat when we drop it off.
So I trundled down to the field and killed a couple of likely looking chickens and brought them home to turn into stew.
Imagine my surprise when, as i was processing them, one of them squawked at me!!!
Now I am used to the antics they get up to dancing around in their death throes, but they don't usually get vocal with it. Not only that but by this stage, this bird had had its head removed, guts and internal organs removed and been skinned. Which ought really shut the thing up usually.
Further investigation revealed that it was indeed dead (just as well given the lack or internal organs etc) and I must have squeezed its voicebox . I managed to replicate the noise a couple more times with diminishing returns before the novelty wore off.
Better that than when the pot was opened the bird began to sing though.

Wilhelm Von Rhomboid wrote:A friend of ours has just popped out a baby this morning (no I am not going to eat the placenta). G von R was looking after their otehr child during the process and I offered to make them supper so they don't have to worry about that. Chicken casserole seemed a good way to go as they can just bung it in their Aga bottom oven and eat it whenever they want rather than something that they have to sit down and eat when we drop it off.
So I trundled down to the field and killed a couple of likely looking chickens and brought them home to turn into stew.
Imagine my surprise when, as i was processing them, one of them squawked at me!!!
Now I am used to the antics they get up to dancing around in their death throes, but they don't usually get vocal with it. Not only that but by this stage, this bird had had its head removed, guts and internal organs removed and been skinned. Which ought really shut the thing up usually.
Further investigation revealed that it was indeed dead (just as well given the lack or internal organs etc) and I must have squeezed its voicebox . I managed to replicate the noise a couple more times with diminishing returns before the novelty wore off.
Better that than when the pot was opened the bird began to sing though.

That's hilarious!!

Gawd Billy I just about feel off me chair.

I just about leapt through the ceiling.

Wilhelm Von Rhomboid wrote:I just about leapt through the ceiling.

I BET you did!!!

Its a pity that pig tongues are small, they are a prime bit of tasty meat!

Billy - That's funny. Bet you jumped like anything though!

Mrs C

G von R and the kids came upon a pheasant in the middle of the road today alive but not moving. They brought it home but the poor thing had clearly been clipped by a car and its back was broken.
I put it out of its misery and now we have a very late season pheasant to enjoy.
At least its life has gone on to continue the cycle of life.

Did you find its voicebox before cooking it?? 'When the pie was open the birds began to sing..'

I took a packet of chicken leg quarters, put them in the smoker for three hours with a mix of apple wood and maple wood chips as cool as I can get our smoker. Then I took the golden brown meat, bunged it in the oven and cooked it till meltingly tender.

Its good

This morning I shot a raccoon, skinned, gutted and cut into six large pieces. Put it all into a roaster pan, covered with water and cooked at 350f all day long.

Mmmmmmmmm Yummy!

And tomorrow will roll chunks in seasoned flour and fry till crisp and then make gravey with the pan juices.

And then soup.

And then sometime in the not too distant future shall thaw out the extra cooked meat that I put in the freezer for an easy fast dinner.

And sometime this week shall smoke the belly I have brining in the fridge.

They only weigh 25 pounds or so but daaaaang, many many meals can be had from one

yesterday I killed ...um... 21 cockerels. Couple of little bantams, a dozen 4-5lb hefty ones and 7 huge fellows. They're hanging now. Going to skin and gut them all tomorrow.
Also need to deal with the 8 lungs, 4 livers and front and back leg of pig that need to be got rid of from the chest freezer so probably making some soppressata and faggots over the next couple of days. And pate.