Liver and Onions

 

Liver and Onions

      

1 lb. liver (preferably pork) but feel free to us beef or venison
1 cup whole milk (optional)
3 medium onions
3 cloves garlic
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. pepper
1 stick butter


Soaking the liver in milk for 20-30 minutes tames the taste. If you don’t like that sharp flavor that that liver has, try this.

 

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large cast iron skillet (or other fry pan).   Add onions and garlic and cook until tender and slightly browned. Remove from pan and cover with a piece of aluminum foil to keep warm.

Combine flour, paprika and pepper in saucer. Drain milk from liver and dredge liver through flour mixture.  Coat really well and shake off excess. Dredge through a second time if there is any flour left.

In wiped out skillet add remaining butter and let it melt over moderately high heat. Add liver; cook 2-3 minutes per side until no longer pink inside. Add onions and garlic back to skillet to warm.  Serve with mashed potatoes and stewed tomatoes…or whatever your favorite sides are.

 

© Crackerberries 2020

Elephant Stew

ELEPHANT STEW

1 Elephant (medium sized)

2 Rabbits (optional)

Salt

Pepper

Brown Gravy

2 cups white beans, soaked overnight

6 cups water

1 tsp. salt

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

½ tsp. fresh ground pepper

1½ cups chicken broth

Cut the elephant into small bite size pieces.  (Plan ahead, this should take about two months.)  Add enough brown gravy to cover.  Cook over kerosene fire for about four weeks at 465º. About two hours before the elephant is cooked, combine beans, water, ½ tsp. salt and bay leaf in Dutch oven or kettle.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover partially and simmer until the beans are tender (about 1- 1½ hour).  Drain the beans reserving ½ cup liquid.  Discard bay leaf.

Combine reserved liquid and ½ cup of the cooked beans in a bowl or food processor and mash until it forms a paste.  Stir the bean paste into the cooked beans and set aside.

Add olive oil to the kettle to heat.  Stir in onion, carrots and celery, garlic and cook 10-15 minutes until tender crisp.  Stir in salt, pepper, beans, elephant, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer until the stew is bubbling and thick.  Serve with croutons. If more people are expected, two rabbits may be added, but do this only if necessary because most people do not like to find ‘hare’ in their stew.

This is a great recipe when company comes unexpectedly.  If an elephant is not available, simply use the rabbits, or one venison neck roast and instead of cooking over kerosene fire for four weeks, simmer in Dutch oven for 2-3 hours until cooked and tender.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: I would never cook an elephant!

Interesting Facts about Elephants

• Elephants are capable of human-like emotions such as feeling loss, grieving and even crying. They remember and mourn their loved ones, even many years after their death. When the "Elephant Whisperer" Lawrence Anthony died, a herd of elephants arrived at his house to mourn him. 
• Elephants are avid eaters. Daily, they can be feeding for up to 16 hours and consume up to 600 pounds of food. 
• The average life span for an elephant in the wild is about 50 to 70 years. The oldest elephant ever was Lin Wang, an Asian elephant, who died on February 2003 at the age of 86. 
• Elephants use mud as a sunscreen, protecting their skin from ultraviolet light. Although tough, their skin is very sensitive. Without the regular mud baths to protect it from burning, insect bites, and moisture loss, their skin suffers serious damage.
•  Elephant females undergo the longest gestation period of all mammals - they are pregnant for 22 months.
• Elephants recognize themselves in a mirror, the same as magpies, dolphins, and toddlers.

Welcome to the 2018 A-Z Blogging challenge.  This will be my fourth year. Every year I take on the challenge with hopes of disciplining myself to keep writing throughout the year as much, if not more than just through the monthly challenge. (It certainly is a challenge.)  Some years are better than others.  Some I just lose track of time.  This year I have decided to put my favorite hobbies together. A recipe that is tried and true as well as some thoughtful insight.  Please note some of these recipes have been shared before, however they have gone through years of testing and this is the perfected recipe.  I really hope one of my recipes or “Food for Thought” inspires you to do something great.  Enjoy the read and the photos, try the recipe, share your thoughts or comments, and most of all, have FUN with the challenge this month!

Cheers,

Venison Sloppy Joes

Open-Face Venison Sloppy Joes

Venison Sloppy Joes

10 oz can of diced tomatoes with Chiles, drained, reserving liquid

3 oz tomato paste

½ cup chopped onion

1 small green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup water

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp cayenne pepper

6 oz cooked venison meat*

1 cup fig BBQ sauce*

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onions, garlic and green pepper for 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water and spices and cook until bubbling.  Add meat and BBQ sauce and cook until heated through.  Serve over herbed pizza crust, or between if you'd rather have a sandwich style sloppy joe.  This herb crust is thick enough to slice.

 *Substitute venison and fig BBQ sauce for any meat and BBQ sauce of your choice.

Herb Pizza Crust

1½ tsp active dry yeast

½ cup warm water

½ cup whole wheat flour

1¾ cup all purpose flour

½ tomato juice (reserved from diced tomatoes)

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves

4 fresh basil leaves, snipped

1 tsp olive oil

¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

Sea salt

Combine all ingredients in bread machine and select dough option.  If a bread machine is not an option follow these instructions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water in medium bowl.  Stir in remaining ingredients except for the all purpose flour, then add the APF ½ cup at a time to make dough easy to handle.

Turn onto lightly floured surface and gently roll dough in flour to coat.  Knead dough for about 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic.  Spray a medium size bowl with nonstick cooking spray.  Place dough in bowl and cover with dish towel.  Let rise in warm place on hour or until double in size.  (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)

Punch down dough and roll out on lightly floured 13 x 9 inch metal baking pan.  Using pizza cutter, slice dough almost all the way through into six portions.  Let stand 10 minutes while oven preheats to 400°.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake 20-23 minutes, until lightly browned on top.

© Crackerberries 2013

White Bean Stew with Venison

Tuscan White Bean Stew with Venison

2 cups white beans, soaked overnight

6 cups water

1 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

1½ cups chicken broth

1 cup venison neck meat

Combine beans, water, ½ tsp salt and bay leaf in Dutch oven or kettle.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover partially and simmer until the beans are tender (about 1- 1½ hour).  Drain the beans reserving ½ cup liquid.  Discard bay leaf.

Combine reserved liquid and ½ cup of the cooked beans in a bowl or food processor and mash until it forms a paste.  Stir the bean paste into the cooked beans and set aside.

Add olive oil to the kettle to heat.  Stir in onion, carrots and celery and cook 10-15 minutes until tender crisp.  Stir in garlic and cook until softened (2-3 minutes).  Stir in salt, pepper, beans, venison, and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer until the stew is bubbling and thick.  Serve with croutons.

Croutons: 

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, quartered

2 slices bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

In large cast iron fry pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and sauté for one minute.  Remove from heat and let stand for ten minutes to infuse garlic flavor into the oil.  Remove and discard garlic and return pan to stove over medium heat.  Add bread cubes and stir often cooking until lightly browned 5-7 minutes.  Transfer to bowl until ready for use.

Venison Neck Roast

1 4-5 lb deer neck roast

Marinade

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp liquid smoke

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

¼ cup canola oil

1½ cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

Combine marinade ingredients in large zip lock bag.  Add roast and let stand overnight in fridge.  Remove roast from marinade and place in crock pot.  Discard marinade.

Pour 1½ cups chicken broth over roast.  Add salt and pepper and cover.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours flipping roast half way through cooking time.  Remove and let cool before pulling meat from bone.

© Crackerberries 2013