What's for dinner?

Well I started doing cold plunges. I went out in a lake here and layed down for a couple minutes. It was pretty neat but not so easy. I'll be doing it again tomorrow.

The experience made me crave some piping hot comfort food, so I made a pot of moose chili to warm me up this evening. Extra spicy so it gets the sweat going a bit. Nothing fancy, but Holy jeez does it hit the spot.
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I just made some chili tonight! Delish, I added some diced sweet potatoes, yummy
 
I made a commercial-sized stockpot of ham & bean soup w/ carrots, onions, and celery in it. Simmered the 7 lb. smoked ham end for about 7 hours on low heat to make the broth. Cooled the meat, chunked it up & put back in the broth, along with 4) #10 cans of Great Northern beans, plus 3) 40.5 oz. cans of the same beans. Added some smoked paprika for a little smokier taste. I froze 5 containers of it for future quick meals, and we'll have probably 4 or 5 days-worth of eating from the remainder in the pot. Having some hot ham & bean soup at the ready in cold weather makes my wife happy. It's an easy thing to make once - and eat from many times going forward. Gonna have some for lunch w/ a sandwich.
 
I finally got some time to make one of my favorite recipes. Belgian style deer shanks. In September I got half a red deer from the neighbor as payment for my help with the shooting, gutting, skinning, etc. The shanks got dredged and seared and put in the slow cooker with the veggies and spices. Absolutely dynamite after a cold plunge. Not much to look at, but incredibly rich and flavorful.

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I finally got some time to make one of my favorite recipes. Belgian style deer shanks. In September I got half a red deer from the neighbor as payment for my help with the shooting, gutting, skinning, etc. The shanks got dredged and seared and put in the slow cooker with the veggies and spices. Absolutely dynamite after a cold plunge. Not much to look at, but incredibly rich and flavorful.

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IMO shanks are the perfect cold weather food. Low and slow helps heat the house and I am certain that bone marrow absorbs through your stomach wall and migrates straight to the inside of your ribs. That looks dynamite!
 
IMO shanks are the perfect cold weather food. Low and slow helps heat the house and I am certain that bone marrow absorbs through your stomach wall and migrates straight to the inside of your ribs. That looks dynamite!

Finished it off after my cold plunge today. The marrow was phenomenal. I need to find a better way to get it out of the bones, though. I've been using a chopstick, and it's not ideal.

From now on I'm keeping all my marrow bones from deer and cutting the ends off before I freeze them. Wish I could go back in time and get all those moose bones we threw out for fox bait.
 
Telemark on his daily plunge?
 
Telemark on his daily plunge?

Hah! If I could ice skate I would give it a try. I don't have the ankles for it.

I've been hiking in Stryn though. Beautiful place. And that's where we bought my dog.
 
Hah! If I could ice skate I would give it a try. I don't have the ankles for it.

I've been hiking in Stryn though. Beautiful place. And that's where we bought my dog.

The skating is the absolute least important part of that scenario! Girl, fire, booze, etc...
 
Whenever I roast a chicken, I take the carcass and throw it in a small sauce pot. I grab all the last bits of veggies in the fridge and add them to the pot, cover with water and simmer for an hour or more. Then I strain it and start reducing. Basically it is stock, but I reduce it down until the whole pot fits in one or two cubes in this silicone ice tray. Let cool and then freeze. Once frozen I wrap in Saran Wrap and keep them in a bag in the freezer. Add one of those bad boys to a pot of soup later or shanks, you name it and it kicks it up a few notches.
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Just remember to stick em in the fridge before you go to bed…


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