Raw Packed Canning Venison (Deer) Meat

Brock my husband and his little brother are avid sports men. Between the both of them I'm not sure if we can fit any more meat into a freezer. We literately have meat coming out the Wazoo. They have one hunt left in the season that they both got elk tags for now to New Years. Last year they brought home two.....I just got a new pressure canner and wanted to give it a try. Ty my brother in law gave us 20Lbs of unprocessed Deer and 20Lbs of unprocessed Antelope. I processed one bag and the others are sitting in freezer bags in my fridge now. I looked up a few different recipes on line and decided that I would take a little from each of them, plus reference from my Blue Ball Canning book.  The goal was to  give it enough flavor that you could eat it right out of the Jar but not so much that it was over powering.

Raw Packed Canned Venison

Prep time: 30 Min       Processing Time: 75 min at 10lbs. per Pint

2 TBL Chopped Onions and Red Peppers 
#1.25 Cubed Venison
1/4 tea. Canning Salt
1/8 tea. Black Pepper
Dash of Cayenne
1 Tea Minced Garlic
1+/- TBL. Beef Broth (I used Swansons)

1. In clean pint size jars add ingredients in the order that they are given to 1" below the rim. Then with a rubber spatula pull the meat way form the sides allowing most of the air bubbles to be removed and the broth to intermingle. Don't worry about having all of the air removed as the meat makes its own juices and fills in all the gaps.

2. Wipe the rims with a clean damp cloth, secure the lids and bands

3. Fill the Pressure canner with 2-3" of water that is the same temperature as the canning jars. Cold jars in hot water break. Load the canner, secure the lid and turn up the heat and let the steam begin, allowing a steady flow of steam for about 10 minutes . If you are using luke warm water it takes my stove about 20 minutes before I put the air lock on.

4. Put the air lock on the steam valve, let the canner pressurize, once to full pressure for your altitude start the timer. After 75 minutes at full pressure allow the canner to cool and depressurize on its own. (My canner full takes 1-2 hours)

5. When canner is depressurized remove the lid away from your face. Taking the jars out and setting them on a clean dry cloth. Check the seals. Anything that didn't seal properly store in the fridge and use first.

Enchilada Casserole

My family and I were really feeling like a baked comfort dish. I wanted pasta but I also craving some mexican. So I whipped up some enchiladas, well kinda...

 Prep time: 15 min Bake time: 25 min

1 pound Shell Pasta
8 oz can Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 Cup-ish Oil
2 TBL Chili Powder
2 TBL Flour
1/4 Ground Cumin
1/4 Garlic Salt
Salt to taste
4 oz Cream Cheese.
1 can 16oz crushed tomatoes
1 can diced green chilis
1 can Black Beans drained
2 Chicken Breast (optional)
2 cups Graded Cheese

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375° F. Start boiling the water. Cook pasta to package directions. 

2. Heat 1/2 oil in a pan, chop and brown chicken, salt & pepper to taste.

3. In a seperate pan. Add oil, heat, then mix in chili powder and flour. Once completly blended, add tomato paste, water, ground cumin, garlic salt, cream cheese. Mix again.

4. Add crushed tomatoes,  green chilis, and black beans.

5. Mix enchilada goulash with drained pasta. Make the vegetarian dish in a seperate pan. Add chicken, make the meat dish in a seperate pan, obviously. (I always use glass cake pans)

6. Top with cheese, then foil. Bake for 20 min. Remove foil brown the cheese about 5 min. 

7. Top with sour cream, salsa and hot sauce.
  

Building Permits :)

It's official we have building permits!!!!

Our Beautiful Burnt Lot :)

When they said it's not easy to build a home that doesn't even compare to what it takes to get building permits. LOL.

So, the story goes something like this. Once upon a time in late August this year. Full of glee and excitement I went to the Summit County Health Department to pay them the fee of $200. The last thing that I need to do to get our building permits. Low and behold their was a really big hiccup. The HOA had appointed the least responsible people in the world. They had failed to do any of their contamination testing in the last 2 years or have a water system capable of supplying the community with enough water.... and the list goes on and on.

After talking with the Division of Environmental I found out that The HOA only needed to sign a document (and follow through with making the changes to the system to have enough safe water for the community) that would put the community in a corrective action plan. Did they sign the document. NO! Then they yelled at me for 11, yes, Eleven minutes straight; about how I ruined the water system for the WHOLE community. NO.... This process to this point had way exceeded the 6 week mark. My Brain was fried and I couldn't take much more of the lies and stress.

I hired an Attorney... for the first time ever. He was able to scare the HOA's attorney into submission. Drum Roll. 2 Months and 10 days later the HOA is now in a corrective action plan and we have our building permits. So Stay tuned and I will keep you up dated on what is going on.

Canned 15 Bean Vegetarian Chili

I originally built this recipe as a cook and serve meal. I love chili and the kind you can buy that's vegetarian is ether way expensive or not very good. I started with raw beans and just went for it.

Total time: about 4 hours Makes: about 9 pints.



1 bag 15 Bean Soup Mix or 20oz of mixed beans
2 cans Diced Tomato's
1 Lrg. can Diced Green Chili's
1 can Corn
1/2 medium Onion Diced
3 stalks Celery chopped
1 Green Pepper chopped
3 Bay Leafs
1 tea Ground Cumin
2 TBL Dried Oregano
1/2 TBL Salt
3 cloves Minced Garlic
2 TBL Chili Powder
1 TBL Ground Pepper
1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein) Optional


In a large stock pot rinse, drain, and sort beans. Add water to the pot to cover beans, plus 2 inches of water. Bring beans to a boil for 2 minutes and then let them soak for 1 hour or soak overnight.

Drain water, and rinse beans. Then add fresh water to 2" above bean level. Add canned items with liquid. Then add Veggies, and Herbs. Boil for another 30 minutes until veggies and beans are soft. Then add TVP about 5 minutes before canning.

Make sure that you have plenty of liquid as the chili will absorb more liquid then cook and serve chili.

Ladle hot soup into hot jars, leaving 1-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2 piece cap. Process 1 hr 30 min. at 10 pounds of pressure in a steam pressure canner.

 Serve with Cheese, Sour Cream and Crackers.

15 Bean Homemade Vegetarian Chili

15 Bean Homemade Vegetarian Chili

Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 1 h 30 min or more.

I absolutely love chili and this is amazing. Its one of the things that we love in the house that is so filling and really feels like home cooking. It can simmer on the stove for hours as long as you stir every once in awhile.
Yummy!!!!

1 bag 15 Bean Soup Mix or 20oz of mixed beans
2 cans Diced Tomato's
1 lrg. can Diced Green Chili's
1 can Corn
1/2 medium Onion Diced
3 stalks Celery chopped
1 Green Pepper chopped
3 Bay Leafs
1 tea Ground Cumin
2 TBL Dried Oregano
1/2 TBL Salt
3 cloves Minced Garlic
2 TBL Chili Powder
1 TBL Ground Pepper
1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein) Optional


In a large stock pot rinse, drain, and sort beans. Add water to the pot to cover beans, plus 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil for around 1 to 2 hours. Add canned items with liquid. Then add Veggies, and Herbs. Boil for another 30+ minutes until veggies and beans are soft. Then add TVP about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with Cheese, Sour Cream and Crackers.

Spicy Canned Apricot Salsa

Spicy Canned Apricot Salsa

 

One of my friends brothers has an apricot tree bursting with fruit. They were so gracious to let me pick a few boxes. 30 pounds of apricots later. I had to come up with dome ideas. The first 13 pounds I started a 5 gallon batch of apricot wine (about 24 bottles), the next 4 pounds I made 12 half pints of apricot pineapple jam. With 13 pounds to go and 3 different people say that apricots don't taste that great regularly canned. I decided to make salsa... I did a bit of research to make sure that the PH would be low enough to boiling water can them. I found that tomatoes are less acidic so we are in the clear with the regular salsa recipe that I started with. I ended up adding a few extra peppers, and lemon juice to counter act their PH. 

Spicy Canned Apricot Salsa

~7 pounds apricots skin on, pitted and diced.
~4 cups/8 large Anaheim or Poblano peppers seeded and chopped
~1 cup/4 regular jalapeño's seeded and diced
~1 cup chopped onion
~1 bushel of chopped cilantro
~1 cup vinegar
~1/2 cup lemon juice
~2 cups sugar
~2 tablespoons minced garlic
~1 teaspoon salt
~1 teaspoon pepper
~1 teaspoon chili powder
~1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder

1.Seed, core and chop everything.
2. Start your boiling water canner.
3.Put your salsa mixture into a large stock pot turn on high. Mix and heat about 10-15 minutes till mixture reduces and liquid is visible.
4. Ladle hot salsa into, hot clean pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headroom. Wipe rims, secure lids and process pints for 20 and quarts for 25 minutes. 

Pear Wine from Juice "Perry"

This is a wine that I would normally not make. I have heard that some people love it, while others think its downright disgusting. Last summer I was volunteering at the Utah Food Bank they had more then 40 boxes of pears that were to be throughout that night. I saw a few people taking boxes and I asked a women what she need a huge box of pear that were going south. She told me that she was planning on bottling them. That became my intention too. At the end of the night. I took a few boxes and started processing them the next morning. After a full days work we ended up with pear juice concentrate to make about 5 gallons. A year later, with 4 gallons and 3 quarts left I knew that fermentation was the only option.

I looked into a bunch of different Pear Wine (Perry) receipts they were all about the same plus or minus some sugar. I decided to go with one off of the wine making forum that seemed to be quite reputable. All the receipts that I found were only for 1 gallon and fresh fruit, so I had to make due.

Pear Wine from Juice

• Pear Juice to make 5 gallons
• 4 lb chopped or minced white or golden raisins (or sultanas)
• 8 cups Finely granulated sugar
• Water to fill the fermenter (more or less, depending on amount of fruit used)
• 7-1/2 tsp acid blend
• 2 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
• 1/2 +1/8 tsp tannin
• 5 crushed Campden tablet
• 5 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 packet Champagne yeast

This is were my receipt changes a bit. Have you ever tried to chop raisins in Utah. Everything dries out a bit.... mine were new in the package never opened and ROCK Hard. There was no reviving theses babies. So, I boiled them just enough to revive the life in them. I also dissolved the sugar in warm water, and started to let both the sugar water and the raisins cool. I used a fruit straining bag, poured in the fruit juice, added the cooled raisins and tied the bag shut, followed by mashing the raisins. I then add the concoction of chemicals, except the yeast. Followed by the sugar water to get my hydrometer to float to 1.080 as the original author said "Pear wine is best under 12% alcohol." Followed by topping off my fermentor with water. Word of the wise don't over fill this baby ferments like crazy. I then waited 24 hours and added the yeast, sprinkle style. I also checked my gravity reading and it was at 1.100. So, we are quite a bit over the 12% there... cover with cheese cloth and let the fermentation begin. I pulled the fruit bag out after about 5 days of crazy fermenting. with a gravity reading of 1.040ish I forgot to write it down (another drunken moment.) After fully fermenting I racked the wine into a glass carboy, and will re-rack every two-week or when I feel like it, until it is completely clear. Which takes about 3 months or so. These are my final instructions; if I'm a good girl I will follow them.  The wine must go 30 days without dropping even a few dead yeast cells. When wine pasts the test for no sediment, stabilize it with 2-1/2 teaspoon potassium sorbate and five finely crushed and dissolved (5) Campden tablet. Remove one cup of the wine and dissolve into it 1/4 pound (1/2 cup) of finely granulated sugar. Stir this into the wine, reattach the airlock, and set aside 20-30 days. If there are no signs of continued fermentation, rack into bottles and age 6-12 months.  Most likely I will I add the Campden a day or two before the potassium sorbate. I'm not quite sure that I will add the extra sugar, the Potassium Sorbate should take care of any secondary fermentation. I guess it's a wait and see kinda of thing...

Good Luck. I'll Let you know how it goes a little later....