Getting back to living off the land.....

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Roast goat, leek, onion, garlic, ginger, Jerusalem artichoke, mushroom, spinach, capsicum and tomato soup for lunch... I used the leftover slow cooker liquor for the base of the soup; it packs tons of flavour!

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Perfect for the upcoming cold evenings. Getting real chilly.

We had goat shanks in the crock pot the other night. Unbelievably good!

This is a great thread, I appreciate all the ideas. Thank you to all the contributors especially bumblefoot .

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Originally Posted by MB

We had goat shanks in the crock pot the other night. Unbelievably good!

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I'm about to upload a short video of a slow cooked leg off a billy that was at least 5-years old! After 3-hours in the crockpot it was super tender and when we tried it there was no gamey taste. I've been a butcher since I was 16 (58 now!) and I would never have thought that would be the case! It just goes to show how much of the "all billy goats are stinky/gamey is a load of tosh.

Having said that; it wasn't rutting; so had no "goaty" smell. also; when I skin them I always have 2 buckets of water beside me; 1 soapy and 1 fresh. I ALWAYS frequently wash hands when skinning them; especially my left hand that touches the skin and meat. It minimises the chances of transferring hair, dirt, smell to the meat

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

I'm about to upload a short video of a slow cooked leg off a billy that was at least 5-years old! After 3-hours in the crockpot it was super tender and when we tried it there was no gamey taste. I've been a butcher since I was 16 (58 now!) and I would never have thought that would be the case! It just goes to show how much of the "all billy goats are stinky/gamey is a load of tosh.

Having said that; it wasn't rutting; so had no "goaty" smell. also; when I skin them I always have 2 buckets of water beside me; 1 soapy and 1 fresh. I ALWAYS frequently wash hands when skinning them; especially my left hand that touches the skin and meat. It minimises the chances of transferring hair, dirt, smell to the meat

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and make sure its cold water for washing, otherwise your skin pores open and the stink gets in. also a cold shower before the warm one

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

I'm about to upload a short video of a slow cooked leg off a billy that was at least 5-years old! After 3-hours in the crockpot it was super tender and when we tried it there was no gamey taste. I've been a butcher since I was 16 (58 now!) and I would never have thought that would be the case! It just goes to show how much of the "all billy goats are stinky/gamey is a load of tosh.

Having said that; it wasn't rutting; so had no "goaty" smell. also; when I skin them I always have 2 buckets of water beside me; 1 soapy and 1 fresh. I ALWAYS frequently wash hands when skinning them; especially my left hand that touches the skin and meat. It minimises the chances of transferring hair, dirt, smell to the meat

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and make sure its cold water for washing, otherwise your skin pores open and the stink gets in. also a cold shower before the warm one

I just make sure I don't shoot them when they are stinky 🙂

Goat loin stir fry marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, mint, garlic, salt and pepper...

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Goat loin stir fry marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, mint, garlic, salt and pepper...

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Classic Mediterranean flavours. Works very with goat for obvious reasons. We did something similar with goat backstraps recently.

I've been experimenting with cooking older wild goats. This goat was probably over 5-years old; an age where if it is not rutting I'd mince the meat. After taste testing the fillets and finding them to be tender and very mild, I decided to slow cook the leg. Here is the verdict about the meat tenderness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5rJdcZEyB4

The last goat I shot was mid-size. Did the back legs in the crockpot with those Mediterranean flavours and swimming in olive oil, no water. Threw a few potatoes in as a well. Quick sear of the meat at the end in a hot frying pan to add a little extra flavour. Obviously not a recipe for someone who doesn't like oily food, but that's how the Greeks do it and I think it's bloody good!

Yes, you have described my situation perfectly

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Originally Posted by berg243

like your goat recipes just dont have any goat to try them.:oh noes:

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This evening’s contribution.

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Originally Posted by MB

The last goat I shot was mid-size. Did the back legs in the crockpot with those Mediterranean flavours and swimming in olive oil, no water. Threw a few potatoes in as a well. Quick sear of the meat at the end in a hot frying pan to add a little extra flavour. Obviously not a recipe for someone who doesn't like oily food, but that's how the Greeks do it and I think it's bloody good!

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By swimming you mean that you used an unholy amount of oil to cover the leg?

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Originally Posted by Russian 22.

By swimming you mean that you used an unholy amount of oil to cover the leg?

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Pretty much. It's the secret to my mum's great cooking. That and salt by the metric ton!

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

I've been experimenting with cooking older wild goats. This goat was probably over 5-years old; an age where if it is not rutting I'd mince the meat. After taste testing the fillets and finding them to be tender and very mild, I decided to slow cook the leg. Here is the verdict about the meat tenderness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5rJdcZEyB4

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Greetings Bumblefoot,
Long ago, before the days of slow cookers we ate a lot of goat. Over time we grew to prefer the meat of the billy goats as it seemed to have more structure and flavour. This did not extend to the rutting billy goats though which could be detected by smell evens from several paces. Your carving fork also brought back memories as my parents had one just like it.
Regards Grandpamac.

@grandpamac That fork is my gran's (she was born in 1902) :) Mum passed away about 18-months ago and I have a lot of her kitchen stuff here. The billy leg was as nice as hogget; albeit, leaner. I'm a qualified butcher (did my time from 79-83) and eating these older billies has blown away my preconceptions about eating their meat. As long as it's not rutting and piss covered; you're pretty good to go.

You also have to be careful skinning them. I always have 2 buckets of water; 1 soapy and 1 clear; to keep my hands and knife scrupulously clean when skinning. I think the "myth" of not eating older goats comes from people eating stinky rutting billies and passing judgement on that. And of course it becomes a "true fact" after years of re-telling.

Oh; next one I'll try on a low heat in an oven bag in the oven and try that

Processing time. Gotta love the vacuum pack.

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Originally Posted by MB

Pretty much. It's the secret to my mum's great cooking. That and salt by the metric ton!

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Interesting. Surprised you're not a fatty who's had 2 heart attacks by now

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Originally Posted by Russian 22.

Interesting. Surprised you're not a fatty who's had 2 heart attacks by now

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Haha! I'm not overly convinced by the dangers of (some) fats or salt. There's lots of talk about the Mediterranean diet and longevity and guess what, there's lots of oil/fat and salt in the real deal (rather than the trendy version in lifestyle magazines). I'm not an expert by any means and not giving dietary advice, just some observations.

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

Processing time. Gotta love the vacuum pack.

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interesting...the Mrs makes same shape bags for us...but they have opening on narrow end...work great for lb of mince ,slide it in and seal the end...the vac pac does seem to keep the meat a bit longer without freezer burn.

Wild pork, mushroom leek, onion tomato and capsicum casserole started. That's dinner sorted...

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Finished wild pork casserole

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I see onions...my arse is burning already...other than that YUMMMMMM

Experimenting with a goat shoulder slow roasted in the oven on top of quince, turnips and onions. Seasoned with lemongrass, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon...

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Looks very appealing.

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Originally Posted by Coote

Looks very appealing.

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Thanks; hope so. It's an experiment. I'm cooking it at 150C in the oven rather than the slowcooker. Also; be interested to see how the quince works. Well it's the Chinese false quince; (Pseudocydonia sinensis)

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Just out of the oven, slow-roasted young wild goat shoulder.... The roasted quince (no added sugar) is amazing with it

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This is cool! Makes my efforts with goat seem pretty paltry..... The Chinese way of barbequing an entire goat. The goat is scalded as you would a pig instead of being skinned. Not too sure about the soup though ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxk01f73368

Anyone cook up young roosters Cleaned up 2 today and have 2 more to do tomorrow. My plan is just to do them the same as chicken as in roasted.

Bumblefoot looks like your doing quiet well for yourself living off the land. We are going to spend the next year trying to become a little more self sufficient in terms of food. We (2 adults and 1 child) spend at least $12,000 a year on food despite having unlimited milk, chickens for eggs, and more than enough meat available from the farm and hunting. We are going to wait until the spring to get our garden up and going. My biggest worry is making the change from convenience foods, we live such a busy lifestyle and everyone loves their grab and go snacks and if there isn’t 100 options available or if anyone has to “make” something to eat they think they are going to starve. Not sure how I’m going to break that habit with hubby and our son. They love their snacks! That’s probably easily 1/3 of our food bill.
What’s been the most difficult for you trying to live off the land? Any tips for making things easier?

The only way to wean them off snacks, is for them to get involved in making your own snacks, and freezing/storing them for later use. An old possum tapper I knew of would set aside half of every Sunday to make his week's food and freeze it all. That way during the week he could devote every waking moment to hunting possums. (Back in the late 1970's when a good one was worth $25!!!!)

YT is your friend. There's millions of recipes and neat ways of making your own snacks, chewy bars etc etc. A dehydrator could be useful come Autumn, and cheap fruits abound that you can dry and store for later use in making fruit and nut bars.

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Originally Posted by XR500

The only way to wean them off snacks, is for them to get involved in making your own snacks, and freezing/storing them for later use. An old possum tapper I knew of would set aside half of every Sunday to make his week's food and freeze it all. That way during the week he could devote every waking moment to hunting possums. (Back in the late 1970's when a good one was worth $25!!!!)

YT is your friend. There's millions of recipes and neat ways of making your own snacks, chewy bars etc etc. A dehydrator could be useful come Autumn, and cheap fruits abound that you can dry and store for later use in making fruit and nut bars.

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Thanks. A dehydrator is a good idea, I have been thinking one could be useful. I plan on setting aside some time to do a big bake up before the calves start hitting the ground next week.

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Originally Posted by Mauser308

Yep, dehydrate fruit chips - wifey does them for the sprogs and they love them. Cooking up spare fruit in the season like apples and pears etc, and keeping it for deserts and on cereal in the AM. Rest of it is a LOT of shooping around, certain things can be had in bulk for not a lot more per pack than a supermarket, we go to Gilmores and things like 1Kg dates high grade at the supermarket are the same price as a 2.5Kg of 'cooking' grade (designed to be baked so identical in every respect other than appearance) as an example.

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Do you still have to have an account or business to shop at Gilmore’s? I think we have one over in Rotorua but last time I tried to shop at Gilmore’s about 6 years ago we had to have a business account.
The fruit idea is good. I have tonnes of fejoas to collect off the lawn tomorrow and we have a few fruit trees but they are still a good year or two away.

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Originally Posted by Chelsea

Bumblefoot looks like your doing quiet well for yourself living off the land. We are going to spend the next year trying to become a little more self sufficient in terms of food. We (2 adults and 1 child) spend at least $12,000 a year on food despite having unlimited milk, chickens for eggs, and more than enough meat available from the farm and hunting. We are going to wait until the spring to get our garden up and going. My biggest worry is making the change from convenience foods, we live such a busy lifestyle and everyone loves their grab and go snacks and if there isn’t 100 options available or if anyone has to “make” something to eat they think they are going to starve. Not sure how I’m going to break that habit with hubby and our son. They love their snacks! That’s probably easily 1/3 of our food bill.
What’s been the most difficult for you trying to live off the land? Any tips for making things easier?

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We’ve recently moved from Lower Hutt to a pretty rural spot half an hour from shops and our budget has gone up a bit but our actual spending (coffees, snacks, dinners out etc.) has dropped significantly. We were shocked at how much we are saving simply by not being around places to spend money. It helps massively we both work from home so I can spend more time tending the vege garden and making meals but not having places to spend the money is what’s done it for us I think


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by Chelsea

Do you still have to have an account or business to shop at Gilmore’s? I think we have one over in Rotorua but last time I tried to shop at Gilmore’s about 6 years ago we had to have a business account.
The fruit idea is good. I have tonnes of fejoas to collect off the lawn tomorrow and we have a few fruit trees but they are still a good year or two away.

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The Rotorua one closed about 4 years ago. Closest to us now is Hamilton. Pays to do your diligence before you go there. Some stuff is a great bargain, but mixed in between it all is stuff in bulk that's more expensive than the 500gm packets in Pacnsave.

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Originally Posted by Chelsea

Bumblefoot looks like your doing quiet well for yourself living off the land. We are going to spend the next year trying to become a little more self sufficient in terms of food. We (2 adults and 1 child) spend at least $12,000 a year on food despite having unlimited milk, chickens for eggs, and more than enough meat available from the farm and hunting. We are going to wait until the spring to get our garden up and going. My biggest worry is making the change from convenience foods, we live such a busy lifestyle and everyone loves their grab and go snacks and if there isn’t 100 options available or if anyone has to “make” something to eat they think they are going to starve. Not sure how I’m going to break that habit with hubby and our son. They love their snacks! That’s probably easily 1/3 of our food bill.
What’s been the most difficult for you trying to live off the land? Any tips for making things easier?

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If you want to get a vege garden going then now is the time to get it ready. Clean up the area, dig, rotary hoe or maxitill etc and cover with a heavy layer of weed seed free mulch like old baleage. In spring just make a hole through the mulch to plant

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Originally Posted by bumblefoot

Just out of the oven, slow-roasted young wild goat shoulder.... The roasted quince (no added sugar) is amazing with it

Attachment 168802

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Did you eat that false quince or were they there just for flavour ?

Thanks all. I’m actually in the process of making the challenge that I have to make, hunt or raise everything we eat. So I should hopefully only need to buy the basics such as flour, sugar and some dried herbs etc.
we have got the chooks in the garden at the moment letting them destroy the lot because the potato seeds from a few years ago took off and smothered a lot of the stuff we grew. We are in south Waikato and it gets pretty frosty here so we can’t plant much until closer to spring. We will spray it out and run The rotary hoe through it later in winter. I might get some seeds started that I can get using indoors like herbs and maybe a couple of lettuces. We have a few broken troughs out the back I might fill with soil and plant some vine plants in those when the times right.