Maybe it we are hard wired from millennia of living a life where you had to plan for the days of scarcity when things were either cold or dry. But despite the fact that I live in a privileged world where I can get food no matter the climatic season, I find that in the late summer and early fall I am processing food like crazy, getting it in the freezer to prepare for the winter ahead. In my own mind, I am not doing this because of the cycle of harvest. But, I suspect that is just me rationalizing it to myself.
The Hunt
Of course, one of the most primal of activities associated with this activity is the hunt. You go out. You find the prey. You kill it. You bring it home. You smoke, dry, or cure it in someway so you have nourishment to carry you through.
These days, of course, the hunt is a bit different. Your fearless primal hunter, de-I, gears himself up, prepares himself mentally. "Be one with the prey. Think like the prey. Act like the prey." And he heads out to the area where experience has told him there is the best possibility of a successful hunt, the best hunting grounds. It is an area spoken of with reverence in the lore. It is.
COSTCO
It does not disappoint. In no time at all, our fearless hunter has bagged 30 pounds of packaged protein using is trusty Visa Card. Coming home I break it down into individual portions, wrap and put into Ziplock bags, carefully organized in then in the freezer. Ah! The feeling of being back with nature.
However, there is actually some food preparing being done.
Pulled Pork
One 10 pound piece of pork shoulder, brined for 24 hours
I have waxed rhapsodically about my Yoder smoker
Which in harmony with our theme of 'back to our primal roots' takes the intense concentration and craftsmanship as turning on an electric light.
But who is to complain when 13 hours later you have this!
Grilled Chicken
I like to have food that is already cooked in the freezer and decided to split and grill a chicken using the brick weight mechanism for enhancing the cooking time.
Marinade
I have been playing around with yogurt based marinades and have very pleased with the results. It seems to tenderize the meat more and get more flavor imparted. I use a wide variety of flavor combos. I did a Middle Eastern/North African inspired flavor for this one. But my favorite so far has been using Southeast Asian flavors.
I actually had to do some really cooking effort! Chicken needs a good long cooking time so I rigged up a way to get more indirect heat to the bird.
It turned out very good. (of course I forgot to take a picture. This is de-I. I have a reputation to maintain).
Make Use of Everything
The smoked pork shoulder has a big layer of fat and skin on the top of it. Normally, after smoking, I throw this away. But, I reasoned, I never do that with chicken. I make cracklings out of them. So I decided to do the same. Came out great.
I like to take a bit of them, crisp them in a frying pan before adding eggs and green chile.
3 comments:
You are a wise ant! But perhaps grasshoppers suffer less now that big box stores exist.
omg the pictures take it really to the next level! The grilling looks incredible. The Yoder has been a great addition to quality of life in general it seems
When I was still living on the farm (left at age 18) we butchered cattle, pigs, chicken and even deer. We cooked the fat from the pork I think and made cracklings. Not to waste anything, cooked heart, liver, and tongue. We also ate pigeon and wild rabbit. It was a different world!
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