Must admit when I flicked through the photos, I thought he's eating possum now!
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Must admit when I flicked through the photos, I thought he's eating possum now!
Me too, gotta say it looked better before it was cooked.
Actually I thought he shot/cooked the cat tooQuote:
Originally Posted by MB
Cooked a possum during the first lockdown - boredom got the better of me. Initially it was going to be for the dog, but smelt so good I ate the back legs. Very nice. Was a youngish female though - not a manky old buck, I imagine they taste worse than boot.
Did a pic collage for the kids doing home learning at the time.
You two sat up the back of the classroom in school, didn"t you?Quote:
Originally Posted by No good names left
yep, if I went that is.
and I married an Asian so it's not that unusual to think that.
https://youtu.be/c-hx0rZA17wQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
Check this video out regarding eating possums From 7:40min.
Man he's braver than me - reaching in to a hole and just grabbing one!
I've always been tempted to try eating possum, and the one I shot was super fat! But.... every time I skin one their smell puts me off. So I've never been brave enough! Oh; and I guessed the cooked possum pics would get the comments flowing... he he ;)
Yup,the bantams like cooked possum....
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if you are going to try possum there are oil glands at base of tail - cut these out generously with knife - if you get that oil on meat rather unpleasant taste - taste well similar to rabbit but not as good as hare - same as for rabbit and hare soak in salty water- first cut into pieces and leave in fridge for a good 6 hours - you could add garlic and onion to the water for last few hours - brown well and slow cook for 2-3 hours - add chicken stock - again my taste but I would not add wine -gives funny taste to meat in my opinion - beer might be okay never tried that but why not - dont expect much flavor really - try a possum curry I have not but should be quite okay - would at least give the coon some flavour as its rather bland - we used to mainly casserole it - its a feed about itQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
Yup; the glands would be the first to go ha ha
Bumblefoot, that sure is a tasty looking spread! I am trying to hook up access for some goats up my way at the mo. I love goat, hell I love meat. The salad looks mighty fine too.
A pork soup finished and total cost around $16 for goodness knows how many portions... Ingredients: meaty pork bones for the stock, 1 leek, 2 onions, garlic, 1 tin black beans, 1 tin tomatoes, 3 potatoes, 1/4 cabbage, cinnamon stick, smoked paprika, star anise, salt and pepper.
I'm going to do a series of videos based on a talk I once did at the local farmers market called "Cook Like Your Nanna". It was about how to stretch your dollars in tough times by using cheaper cuts of meat (I'm a qualified butcher). The talk went gangbusters, so there is an interest there...
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I'll be following with interest BBF, all your food looks and sounds amazing.
Unfortunately my Mrs won't let me cook certain foods until she's out of the house for a few days, leeks, beans etc
I'm starving now, cheers.
Something a bit different today... Growing puha in the vege garden... I reckon that if it grows like a weed, doesn't need spraying, then why not put it in the garden? So far; the seedlings transplanted really easily, but I did save some seed too...
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Looks like there's also both types of parsley, curly and Italian. I prefer the itai one.
Yup; just getting the gardens up and running properly :)
A year ago we planted 6 watercress seedlings in the stream. Bloody hell, went to check it recently and for 20m the stream is choked with the stuff!!!. Must look up some recipes...
Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
I've never tried puha, only recipe I've heard of was Billy T's skit "Puha & Pakeha"
mmmmmmmm thats always been a family joke if someone ran the bath too hot.Quote:
Originally Posted by No good names left
considering our ancestry its sailing rather close to the line all the same
@XR500 If you buy watercress from the supermarket you can eat all the tops and then put the bottoms into a bucket of water in a sunny spot. They sprout roots in about a week and you get a heap of seedlings to plant out :)Quote:
Originally Posted by XR500
Woo hoo! My Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) seeds are germinating! I left them outside to let the frosts stratify them. I have some stratified in the fridge too. 1 batch wrapped on damp tissue and some in vermiculite
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Man that is some big-ass fruit
PHOTO HEAVY! I've finally got the big chicken garden pen finally in action. The main run is along the front of the four 5x3m runs. Each run is gated. I've only got 2 of the runs finished so far. The idea is to have the chooks clear a pen, move them to the next pen, and plant the cleared pen with veges. I'm an old bugger now so want the chooks to do the hard yakka for me by clearing and fertlising the gardens.
Each garden will take 6-8 weeks to clear. Multiply that by 4 pens and there should be a 6 month rotation before they're back to clear the 1st pen.
The 1st pen is beginning to be planted up with veges while the White Orpingtons clear the 2nd pen. I've used old electric fence tape as a cheap option to keep the chooks from flying over the dividing walls. The tape is just a visual deterrent, it's not hot
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A magnificent edifice. That is a stationary version of the old chook tractor is it not?
Grandpamac.
Pretty much. But the chooks live a more natural life than squeezed into a chook tractor. It hasn't cost a fortune to do though. The iron are all the 1.8m end of roll pieces at about $15 each. I bought the posts on special for $17 each. But I'm sick of half arsed and it'll pay for itself very fast in dollar terms and hopefully the labour savings. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by grandpamac
looking at how you have planted...around perimeter so assumably can walk up centre.....consider raising your edge garden and digging out your walkway to fill it....so you dont need to bend so far to attend to plants.
we allowed our chooks free access to garden all winter,soon to be booted back out. they wont eat the cooch roots unfortunately.
@Micky Duck There's no point really as the chooks will just rip it all up when they go back in there. It's mostly going to be leafy greens in there so it'll be easy to harvest. I'm considering selling any surplus (if any) veges. As there is only me here, it'll be easy to satisfy my needs. But if I decide not to sell anything I'll just plant chicken greens in the pens and still rotate them around it.
I'm trying to make it as easy and labour free as possible. I don't want to be spending hours weeding and tending gardens for a few bucks, when I can simply chase down more writing work. But I'm also trying to diversify the income a bit with things I love doing. I've just turned 60 and want to spend my time doing things I enjoy :)
I've also considered doing possums. But it isn't really compatible with owning animals and a lifestyle block, unless I'm shooting or trapping handy properties...
The puha that I transplanted into the vege garden is looking wonderfully lush. It certainly likes garden soil!
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One of the nicest parts about growing your food is to give it away. A bag of puha fresh from the garden for someone who loves puha, but isn't able to gather her own anymore :)
And in return she told me how to "mukumuku" it to prepare it properly :)
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@bumblefoot What are the uses of Chinese Quince ? I tried some of what I was told were CQ and they were useless for anything I tried on themQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
I've made jelly from them and it was primo. I've also slow roasted them in an oven bag with goat legs and shoulders. The quince was lovely and cut through the richness of the meat. I reckon it would be good for roast pork too
Went for a walk yesterday and took a young billy. I didn't want to shoot any nannies as most still have small kids with them. I always put three 1.5 litre frozen water bottles in the body cavity and prop it open with a stick. The frozen water bottles have done a great cooling job (along with a cool night), and they're still half filled with ice nearly 24 hours later.
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When it's warm I try to go hunting in the afternoon as there's less time in the heat for the carcass. I can get it chilled quickly to make sure the meat quality stays optimal. I usually get back around 6-7pm so the temperture is cooling. I usually wrap them up with a duvet cover and hod it tight with clothes pegs. The duvet cover has less entrances for the flies, and I can usually wrap it around a couple of times to make it even harder for the flies!
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I always admire how clean your carcasses look post skinning and always seem in great nick.
@Sidetrack Thank you. :) Being a butcher I'm pretty anal about carcass cleanliness! I always have 2 buckets beside me when I'm skinning; 1 big bucket full of warm soapy water, and a smaller one to rinse my soapy hands and knife. I make the opening cuts on the ground (on the sheet/duvet cover it's wrapped in) and get all the cuts started by releasing the back legs. front legs and brisket. Then I hang it up and punch it all off. But I'm always washing my left hand that is holding the skin and never put it on the meat unless it's clean.
If you punch the skin off from the tail, down the back, and then towards the belly you get behind the belly skin and leave it on the carcass rather than on the skin. I used to tan a lot of skins once upon a time and the less meat on the skin the better! Once you' ve scraped a few skins you quickly learn to punch the skin off!
What I was told is 'chinese Quince' is quite different to both the standard type and the Smirna Turkish quince I have here and would not cook and softenQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
It is a false quince; not the European species. But like I said above it does soften when cooked......
".... I hang it up and punch it all off. But I'm always washing my left hand that is holding the skin and never put it on the meat unless it's clean.
If you punch the skin off from the tail, down the back, and then towards the belly you get behind the belly skin and leave it on the carcass rather than on the skin. I used to tan a lot of skins once upon a time and the less meat on the skin the better! Once you' ve scraped a few skins you quickly learn to punch the skin off![/QUOTE]
That sounds interesting, but I'm not sure if I fully understand your method Mr B. To get 'behind' the belly skin, how do you get enough slack in the skin to get your fist in there without opening the skin down the back? Thanks in advance.... Coote.
I do my cuts on the ground, same as bumblefoot, but then hang them by the head and skin head down. The membrane stays on the carcass. Because i dont normally keep the skin, I now split a deer skin down the spine and pull it off in two halves. I have done pigs like this for 30 + years. I leave the heads on and skin them for the dog as a reward, doesnt add much weight to the carry and keeps the chops clean.
The frozen bottle of water is a very good idea - note to self, remember this
