Pemmican

The mountain men and 'coureur de bois' who explored and trapped in the old west and Canadian north needed a nutritious, portable food that would last for weeks or months. They carried and ate pemmican, which was made from dried meat, crushed nuts and chopped berries, held together with some rendered fat as a binder and made into sticks or bars.

I will be going on a canoe and camping trip in the northern part of Algonquin National Park in Canada in a couple week. As Bunkerman, I try to eat foods that have some historical or survival connection. I made some pemmican this weekend for lunches on the trip. Here's my recipe.

1. Two parts Jack Link's Premium Cuts - Prime Rib Beef Tender Cuts (aka jerky);
2. One part chopped walnuts;
3. One part orange flavored dried cranberries (from Trader Joe's)
4. Peanut butter (Jif Reduced Fat)
5. Wax paper

Put the jerky strips into a Cuisinart and chop into very small bits, then put into a sturdy bowl. Add the other two ingredients and mix well. Then started adding peanut butter and mixing (used a knife to cut the peanut butter into the mixture helps) until it sticks into a bar when you grab a bunch into your hand and squeeze.

Then take sheets of wax paper about a square foot in size, place formed bars of the pemmican on it and roll wax paper around the pemmican bar, then use a small piece of tape to keep the wax paper cover in place.

Store in your refrigerator until ready to hit the trails.

Word of the Day

"Self-wrought" - adjective (participial adjective) [$1000 ! yes, found only in the OED]
from "wrought" which is the archaic past and past participle of 'work'.
Self-wrought means produced or brought about by oneself.
Sentence: In two weeks, Bunkerman carry his self-wrought pemmican as a nutritious and historically accurate food on his canoe and camping trip in the north Canadian wilderness.