Jalapeno and Cheese Sourdough

The baking process

Finished product allowed to cool for 1 hour minimum

mmm fine crumb

Heat up the Dutch Oven

Oven is 230c

Put the dough on the dutch oven

Score the dough to allow rise

Into the pizza oven with lid on for 30 minutes

First rise then the lid off

Baking nicely

15-20 minutes uncovered

Edwards (Kolety) River Quick Visit

We visited the Edward River, or Kolety, an anabranch of the Murray River. We had been to Deniliquin (NSW) for the weekend and on the trip home decided to drown a couple of worms and give Helen a break at the bridge near Picnic Point, Mathoura (NSW).

Sorry I can't I'm baking bread today

I have a renewed appreciation for the process of fermentation, the unique flavour and texture of sourdough, and the satisfaction of creating something from scratch.

I think I'm addicted. . .  for now . . 

This one was made the day after the one below.

White sourdough and an olive and rosemary loaf.

Books

Pumpkin Sourdough

Game Bags

I made some bags to pack and protect any hunting harvest. I use natural Calico Meat Bags which are, washable and reusable. Breathable calico allows meat to cool quickly which helps prevent spoilage and keeps meat clean after it has been field dressed.

These are lightweight and easily rolled up and kept a pack while hunting. Once an animal is harvested the individual quarters can either be boned out or placed whole into a game bag each.

Back at camp the bags can be suspended individually from a tree branch allowing the meat to cool quickly while keeping flies off your meat.

Carabost State Forrest NSW

Carabost State Forest is a large, mountainous forest in the Riverina region, north-east of Holbrook, north of Albury in New South Wales covering 22,000 hectares.

In NSW, you can hunt on private or public land, provided you hold an appropriate licence and the permission to hunt issued by the landholder.

To hunt on public land, you must hold a NSW Restricted licence (R-Licence). You are then able to gain permission to hunt by logging in to the online licence holder services portal and booking a spot in your preferred state forest.

The steps are basically:

• Have a current valid R-Licence
• Apply for written permission to hunt through the NSW Hunting Portal
• Download the current hunting maps showing hunting and exclusion zones to your GPS-enabled device
• Download and carry either a physical or digital written permission with you while hunting
• Read, understand and comply with all the conditions that apply to hunting in NSW.

R-Licence holders must carry an operational GPS-enabled device when hunting on State forests. This is a mandatory condition for public land hunting. The device can be a smartphone, tablet or specific GPS device.

You must not obstruct or impede the right of any other person while you are hunting.

You must not hunt when there is a Total Fire Ban in place.

You must hold a current firearms licence

You may only hunt using a firearm during day-time, being from 30 minutes before sunrise through to 30 minutes after sunset.

You must wear an item of blaze orange at all times while hunting. The item must be worn externally on the upper part of your body and must be visible from all sides.

I did not find any deer or deer sign in the section I was in but did get very close to a pig and saw a goat from a distance. Oh and lots of kangaroos, black tailed wallabies and thousands of wombats.

Dead People Tour

At the start of July I went and paid my respects and visited lost family and friends. A sad time.

My Mother (Bendigo, Vic)

My brother in law (Bendigo Vic)

My father and his beautiful wife Kit (Fawkner, Vic)

My best mate Clem (Cranbourne, Vic)

Sourdough Bread

My first loaf

Second Loaf

Third Loaf

Sourdough bread is naturally leavened and slow fermented without yeast. It rises using a bubbly, active sourdough starter. This starter gives the bread its signature tangy flavour and chewy texture.

First

Second

Third

A sourdough starter is a fermented mixture of flour and water that contains wild yeast and bacteria it gets from the air. Wild yeast exists everywhere in nature, including in the flour used and even from the baker's hands.

While it takes at least 24 hours from start to finish, you can create a great loaf of sourdough bread at home.

My Charcuterie Herbs and Spices

My Charcuterie Herbs and Spices

Pepperoni Sausage Experiment

Pepperoni sausage is an American semi dry fermented sausage typically made of pork and or beef. Peperoni is seasoned with paprika and aromatic herbs, has a soft texture, is slightly smoky, and bright red in color. It is a popular pizza topping and a snack cold meat.

Pepperoni

80/20 lean and pork fat

30 g salt per KG

2.5 g Cure #1 about 1/2 tsp per KG

5 g sugar - 5.0 g about 1 tsp per KG

3 g black pepper ground, about 1½ tsp per KG

8 g sweet paprika ground, about 4 tsp per KG

2.5 g anise seeds ground; about 1 tsp per KG

2 g allspice ground; about 1 tsp per KG

2 g cayenne pepper about 1 tsp per KG

2 cloves fresh Garlic per KG

2g Fennel seeds per KG

1/3 cup Red wine per KG

Chop meat in small cubes

Mix ingredients into slurry and mix with meat

Leaver in fridge overnight

Mince coarse then fine blade

Fill casing in sausage filler.

Ferment at room temp for 24 hours.

After fermentation smoke the pepperoni for 3 hours at 65C.

Check internal temp of pepperoni.

Place pepperoni in a drying chamber fovernight.

Cryovac

Overnight marinade in spice mix

Minced twice

Natural Casings

Pepperoni left at room temp for 24 hours to ferment.

Smoked at 65 c

30 minutes

3 hours

Cool overnight

Cryovac

Results: Good, not great. The pepperoni is well spiced and tastes like pepperoni but lacks the strong tangy flavour of a good fermented sausage. Meat will naturally ferment when left at room temperature, but I think next time I will use a starter culture to accelerate this process and hopefully result in a better sausage.

A starter culture (available from sausage supply places online) and some glucose to feed it will be better for the fermentation stage of this sausage’s creation.

This starter culture is used to induce good natural bacteria into the meat mix during the fermentation stage. Inducing good bacteria helps ward off bad bacteria from developing in your meat in the early stages of curing. It is a slower culture, ideal for salami and other Italian meat recipes.

Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is a disease where abnormal skin cells grow uncontrollably, often due to overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. The three main types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma. 

I had a Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) it is the second most common type of skin cancer, originating from the flat cells (squamous cells) in the outer layer of the skin if left untreated, it can spread to other parts of the body.

Surgery is the most common treatment. Non melanoma skin cancers are almost always removed and in my case the surrounding tissue needed to be removed to make sure that all of the cancerous cells have been taken.

Too much sun. I hope I never see this shit again.

The culprit.

The planned excavation.

The outcome.

Endone is my friend.

1 week after surgery.

16 days after surgery with stitches out.

Six Weeks after surgery