Wednesday, September 8, 2010

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.

21 comments:

Spin-em said...

Bman...Did Walter Cronkite spin the news? Since when is it democratic news and reporters against republican news and reporters?? Isnt news news??....a George divided can---not stand

Bunkerman said...

Conkite had a known bias that crept in during his later years, but it was small copmpared to the biases that got very bad in the 1980s.

I think that the old Huntley-Brinkley did not spin.

I think the ratings game for news has caused them to take sides like a football game.

Bunkerman said...

Owners/management use them for propaganda, too.

I suppose the least biased is just reading the news on Internet. But there is bias there, too, in story selection.

In older days, people just read a couple sources & got "both" sides.

There was news bias from the earliest times.

Frosty said...

Bunky...so confused here...you look like hoss but act like hop sing...little joe's head is spinning.

Frosty said...

as market reporters go...jim always checks his bias at the door...you might want to pull out some fresh index cards and take some notes Bunky.

Spin-em said...

Bman....should America drive nat gas cars instead of oil??

Bunkerman said...

nat gas cars are intriguing

It sure would take a lot of $ to build the delivery infrastructure.

But it would get rid of the foreign oil.

Cars that would run on either nat gas or hydrogen would be better.

Then start building nuclear plants to make the hydrogen.

Over time, the dual system would work, I think, and provide some diversification.

Spin-em said...

Bman...at one time..was Mars Earthlike???

Bunkerman said...

what's with this hop sing baloney ... just because I'm polite and treat readers like humans with respect, (unlike a certain prolific writer), doesn't mean I'm obsequious.

I look more like a Russian weightlifter, btw.

Frosty said...

VOLT VOLT VOLT...anyone have a VOLT updater...thx in advance.

Bunkerman said...

re Mars, no.

it never had enough liquid water for prolonged periods.

Maybe like earth of deserts of Arizona.

Bunkerman said...

I think there's life on Mars, btw. Microbes.

Spin-em said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bunkerman said...

sheesh, it was either that or I not write. I overslept.

Bunkerman said...

besides, my many hometown readers want to know about my pemmican recipe.

Spin-em said...

looool kiddin bunk..here's your Russian pic

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/40/Bonk%26alexeev.jpg

Vasily!!!!!!

Spin-em said...

at the time nobody could beat him....

Spin-em said...

your hometown readers need to step up...

Bunkerman said...

yes, I remember watching him lift - a great one.

Bunkerman said...

yup, my hometown readers are a bit shy

I've encouraged them, but ...

Spin-em said...

How long will La Grande Douche keep his subjects waiting today?....