Cousin Reunion 2014 - Recipes

Held the Cousin Reunion this week-end.  Had cabins at Turkey Run for those who needed a place to rest the ole head.  Then everyone came to the farm on Saturday for photos and a meal.

First Cousins / Spouses & Zeus at the Lecklitner / Seager Homestead Sept 2014
Not pictured:  The Nelson family (flight got cancelled - bummer)
(Jim - Please note the Oregon Sweatshirt has made yet another appearance)


And man did we put on a feedbag.  I smoked elk tenders and chicken wings, grilled elk steak, deer steak, and Clinton County pork patties.  I also cooked some Italian Goose.  Guests brought veggie trays, desserts, and all kinds of dips.  Of course Sandy had her spin as well with pasta salad and cheesy potatoes, along with some desserts too.  A few beers may have been consumed.  Land Shark seemed to be the favorite, followed closely by Modelo and Shiner Bock.

The smoked meat was dry rubbed with equal parts of: chili powder, seasoning salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.  They were left overnight in the fridge.  I wet smoked the wings for 1 hour, turning at 30 minutes.  Afterwards, I drowned them in a sauce of apple juice, honey, and BBQ sauce.  The BBQ sauce was warm, and the kiddos along with a few adults thought they were too warm.  I kept the elk loins on for 2 hours - all meat smoked at 250 F.  I probably should have pulled the elk off at 90 minutes as they were starting to get dry.

I then grilled the pork patties - with no additional seasoning.  Finally, I threw on the elk and deer steaks.  I had seasoned them with McCormik's Montreal Steak seasoning, pounded them, and then soaked them overnight in Coca Cola.  The acid in the Coke pre-cooks / tenderizes the meat and the corn syrup helps sweeten them a bit.  Absolutely NO gamey taste what so ever.

The deer seemed to go over better than the elk, but that's just because we corn feed the deer here in Indiana.  There is no finer eating.

The goose could not be distinguished from prime roast beef.  I took 2 goose breasts, added one packet of dry zesty Italian salad dressing, and then covered the breasts with Sprite in a crock pot.  I cooked on low for 8 hours.  After it was done, I shredded the breasts with forks, drained the crock pot, put the now shredded meat back into the crock pot and added half a packed of salad dressing.  I then poured the juice from two small bottles of peppercini peppers into the pot.  I cooked on low for 1 hour.  Normally, I would have added peppers, but I was not sure everyone would eat them, so I left them "on the side" for folks who did want them.  I call this Italian Goose.

The eating was awesome!  Or as Grant would say, "Epic!"

The kids had an absolute blast driving around on the Gator.  They suckered in any adult they could to go with them so they could drive.  Many stories were told, including the one about what you never want to hear come out of a Seager's mouth.  Too funny.

Many thanks to all who had to commute to join the gathering.  Your sacrifice was greater than any inconvenience we had to endure to host the event.  Very happy you could all make it.

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