Commercially made solar oven with extra reflectors

Solar cooking. Something new under the sun

Once you cook your first solar meal, you’re hooked.

Does it cost less than conventional methods? It can, but you have to make it cost less. Is it more convenient that conventional methods? It can be, but you have to make it so. Does it cook better than conventional cooking? It can, if you learn how.

Campfire cookin is different

Cooking with solar is very much like cooking with an open fire, or a real barbecue. You have to be more involved with the process than when you cook conventionally.  And while the cost, convenience and cooking methods may not be better  than conventional ways, there is much peace of mind and confidence that comes with being able to cook “off the grid.” Let’s look at these three aspects of solar cooking: Cost, convenience and cooking method.

Cooking a chicken in a homemade solar cooker

If you make a $15 solar cooker out of a windshield reflector and an oven bag, and you use it seven times or so, you are ahead of the game financially. The more you use it, the more money you save. I live in a sunny climate and can use a solar cooker or solar oven nearly every day of the year. In time the savings add up. If you buy a commercial product and only use it now and then, it is not cost effective but it still has value in that it can be used when you have no electricity, gas, or wood. You can view it as part of your storm or emergency preparations. As long as it is sunny I can cook a hot meal and sterilize water.  A week after a disaster what is the value of a hot mean or safe drinking water? I think more than a solar oven costs. I used it after three hurricanes in six weeks knocked out power for a total of three weeks.

Solar Ovens have to be orientated

Is it more convenient? Yes and no. It depends on what you’re cooking. I regularly cook a chicken at least once a week in my solar oven. I prep the chicken and put it out in the sun around 10 a.m. solar time, 11 a.m. Daylight Savings Time. (I never go off solar time. See my article on said.) It will be done by 1 p.m. (see my video about it.)  Also, solar cooking is moist and gentle so if I forget it and leave it two more hours, no harm done. It will just be more tender. I do have to move the oven every hour to hour and a half to point it towards the sun, but even that is forgiving. Often I will be gone all the time I am cooking the chicken. So I point the cooker due south and plan on eating around 3 p.m.. My chicken will be done, as well as any vegetables I toss in.

Oddly there are a lot of presumptions about solar cooking on the internet about how hot a solar oven can get (and also how hot food has to be.)  Water is sterilized at 165º F. Yes boiling is the given standard but that was created for practical reasons not germ reasons. If you don’t have a thermometer, and most folks who are in the situation to sterilize water for emergencies usually don’t have a thermometer, then boiling is a non-thermometer way to tell the water is sterile. However, 165º F will do quite nicely and in fact solar ovens used in Third World Countries explicitly for sterilizing water are equipped with a device that indicates when the water has hit 165º F.

Depending upon the time of year, angle, and added reflectors, my solar oven can range from 275º F on a cold day near Christmas to well over 400º F on a warm summer day. Other than time spent cooking most foods are not affected by the cooking temperature. An exception is bread. If it is winter, I bake corn bread, if summer, whole wheat yeast bread.

Food in a solar oven (or cooker with oven bag) begins to cook at 185º F.  Normally, solar ovens and cookers approach 300º F degrees, more than hot enough to cook food. My solar oven and cooker takes about a half hour a pound to cook a chicken or other meat. Root vegetables about the same amount of time.

If I want beans and rice in a casserole, I cook the beans first in extra liquid then add the rice to finish off and absorb the remaining liquid. Solar cooking is very moist so water loss is minimal. Often I will use wild rice and toss it right in with everything else since it takes at least an hour to absorb water and is hard to over cook. In fact it is similar to something my mother used to do.

When I was a kid my mother would make what we considered authentic New England Boiled Dinners, mostly water, root vegetables, whole onions and a piece of meat. Into the pot it went and was boiled until done. One reason why she liked it was it kept on the stove. The dinner would stay warm on low and you could eat it anywhere over a several hour time span. Food cooked in a solar oven is very much the same way. It’s boiled dinner friendly. You can leave almost anything much longer in a solar oven than planned without having it over cook.  That adds to the convenience.

Just as one changes cooking styles for a crock pot, one changes them for a solar oven. Indeed, crock pot recipes work well in a solar oven. My oven will also do two pots at a time but the only time I might use two is for water for pasta. Usually I just plan on adding my pasta to the dish and letting it absorb what water it needs from the dish itself.

If one wants solar cooking can be cost effective, convenient, and fun. Since it is moist cooking and more gentle than a dry oven I think the food is more wholesome as well. The only down side I have run into is clouds that move in after I’ve started cooking. A look at the forecast solves that issue. Twice I’ve not checked the forecast and had clouds move in when my meal was half done. In those two instances I just finished them off in a conventional oven or microwave.

I have a commercially made oven, an oven I made out of a wooden box, a solar cooker made from a windshield reflector and a parabolic one made from an old beach umbrella. All work well. I haven’t covered solar fryers, which are big parabolic collectors and require sunglasses and constant attention but can fry (and burn food.) But, stand by… I am making one out of an old satellite dish and mylar.

Generally said the recipes below work for a lidded pot in a solar oven or in an oven bag in a solar cooker, or pot in an oven bag in a solar cooker. When ever “cooker” is mentioned the food must also be in an oven bag. Generally the solar oven or cooker should be redirected towards the sun every hour or so. Time of year, latitude and amount of solar collection influence slength of cooking.  Usually one cooks between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. with 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. being peak heat hours (solar time.)  Many insist you use only black pots but I have done quite well with glass pots with glass lids, particularly in the oven bags while using the solar cooker. While I have changed the recipes the originals are by the courtesy of the Solar Oven Society.

This recipe, however, is mine. I take any hollow squash, butternut for example, and drill a small hole in it to let off steam. Then I put it in my solar oven, hole side up, for about three hours. They cook quite nicely. Next what I need to do is make a larger drill hole and pour in some honey and spices….

Baked Acorn Squash

* 1 acorn squash cut into 2 halves and seeded

* ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper, or to taste

* ½ tsp. coarse salt, or to taste

* ½ tsp. ground cumin

* 2 tbs. butter

1. 1.Place the 2 squash halves in one long cooking dish.  2. Divide the other ingredients evenly between the two squash halves. 3. Put lids on the black cooking pot(s) and place them in the Sport solar oven. Clip the clear lid to the oven. Face the oven into the sun and then rotate it clockwise 30 degrees. Relax and do other things. The squash can be left unopened the entire cooking time. Check doneness in 3 hours. Cooking time: 4 – 6 hours, serves 2 –4

 Solar Baked Fresh Fish Fillets

Cooks quickly in 45 minutes to 75 minutes on clear day.

4 each, 1/2 pound, fresh fish steaks, 1–1½” thick (Fish fillets – any shell fish, tuna, salmon or any white meat fish.

The Sauce:      2 tbs. butter, 2 tbs. fresh lemon juice, 1 sprig of fresh, chopped, flat leafed parsley, salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Place 4 fillets in a baking dish, put ¼ of the sauce ingredients on top of each fillet.

2. Cover the pot and place in solar oven/cooker. Face toward sun with the shadow directly behind the oven. Do not open the oven to check for doneness until 45 minutes have passed. Serves 4.

Baked Potatoes

This recipe is based on potatoes weighing 1 lb. each. For smaller potatoes the cooking time will be shorter.

* 2 lbs. bakig potatoes per pot

* 2 tbs. minced flat parsley per pot

* 2 tbs. minced fresh chives per pot

* fresh ground pepper and salt to taste

* butter or olive oil to taste

1. 1.Wash and dry the potatoes. Prick each potato a few times. 2. Place half of the dry potatoes in each Sport cooking pot. Do not add liquid. 3. Put lids on the pots (black colored the best) and place them in the solar oven/cooker. The potatoes can be left unopened the entire cooking time. Check in 2 hours. 4. To serve, open the potatoes and sprinkle with the parsley and chives, add salt & pepper and butter to taste. Cooking Time – up to 6 hours, serves 4 – 6

 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts With Tomatoes, Olives and Capers

Cooks in 1 – 2 hours on clear day

* 4 each, boneless, skinless chicken breasts – about 2 lbs total

* 2 tbs. olive oil

* 1 sprig of fresh basil, chopped

* 4 oz of pitted and sliced kalamata olives packed in oil

* 2 oz capers, drained

* 14 oz of fresh or petit diced canned tomatoes, minced

* 8 tbs. olive oil

* salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Make the Dish

Wash and dry the breasts on paper towels. Rub each piece on all sides with the olive oil. Place 2 tbs. of the olive oil in the bottoms of each of the pots and coat the entire bottoms. Add two breasts to each pot, divide the sauce ingredients between them and salt and pepper to taste. Pour 2 more tbs. of olive oil over the ingredients in each pot. Mix the contents of each pot well. Cover the pots. This dish will be done in 1 – 2 hours. Serve at once. Serves 4.

 Pot Roast

One beef chuck or similar roast- about 3 lbs. Cut the meat into 2 or 3 chunks, put the roast into a pot. Empty one package of dry onion soup mix over the meat, cover, and cook in the solar oven for 4 to 6 hours at 200 to 250F, less if hotter, longer if cooler.

Baked Chicken

Take a three to four pound chicken, season with your favorites spices or use a zesty Italian dressing powder sprinkled all over it. You can put sliced potatoes under the chicken or around the top edge of the pot. On top they may brown a little, under the chicken that add flavor to the stock and come out like tasty boiled potatoes. Other sliced vegetables can be added as well. Cooking time two to three hours depending upon the conditions.

Tomato Horn Worm

Manduca Cuisine: Eating Green Gluttons

You’re picking tomatoes and suddenly there it is:  Big, ugly and green, a tomato hornworm. To which I say, get or the frying pan., well, almost.

Tobacco Horn Worm

Up to four-inches long the worm has a horn on the back end. That and its stripes help you identify it because two big worms like your tomatoes. If it has chevrons and a black horn it is Manduca quinqueaculata, the Tomato Hornworm (above)  If it has seven diagonal stripes and a red horn, it is  Manduca sexta , or the Tobacco Hornworm (right). It would have been nice if they had called the one with the red horn the tomato one but they didn’t.  Black horn = Tomato. Red horn = Tobacco. Numerous text and photo entries on the internet have them backwards.

The Tobacco Hornworm (red horn) is found chiefly in southern states, the Tomato Hornworm (black horn) in northern states but neither exclusively so. Both are edible after cleansing. Both are the larval stage of the hawk or sphinx moths and you can find both on the same plant. They are located on the outer areas of the plant at dawn and dusk, near the interior of the plant during the day. The larvae don’t like direct sun.

These hornworms feed only on Solanaceae plants, usually tomatoes or tobacco. However, larvae will also attack eggplant, pepper, and potato. There are many solonaceous weeds that also serve as hosts if tomatoes aren’t around including horsenettle, jimsonweed and various nightshades. Some of those are toxic. That is why you should keep the worm around for a few of days or more and feed it something wholesome (a bit of green pepper or red tomato) before cooking, or starve it for a couple of days until it offloads any toxic frass. Personally I would think twice about eating either hornworm that was found on tobacco. Nicotine is a powerful substance. It is also reduces clotting. Who knows, maybe dried Tobacco Hornworms who fed on tobacco can be used as a blood thinner should society fall apart.

As for the names, the genus Manduca (MAN-doo-ka) means “glutton” because these larvae eat a lot. Sexta means six-fold because the moth has six spots on its underside. Quinquemaculata (quin-cue-mah-cue-LAH-tah) means five spots because the moth has five spots on its underside.

Method of preparation; After purging, gently fried, sauteed if you will, or roast. Natives then strung them on a string and used them as a food necklace while traveling. If you want to raise them for food you can make them an artificial diet. There are several. Here is one:

Ingredients: One cup of non-toasted wheat germ, 1/3 cup non-fat dry milk, 4 tablespoons agar, one teaspoon raw non-boiled linseed oil, 1/2 tablespoon nutritional flake yeast,  one 1000 mg vitamin C tablet, two vitamin B tablets, two multivitamin tablets, one tablespoon sugar, 2.5 cups of water.

Place vitamin tablets in a blender and reduce to a powder. Add the wheat germ, powdered milk and sugar. Blend until well-mixed. Remove the dry mix. To the blender add 2.5 cups of boiling water. While set on a low speed, add the agar. Blend for one minute then add the dry mix and mix. Add the linseed oil, increase blender speed and mix well.

If plain sauteing or roasting is not for you here is a recipe from David George Gordon’s “Eat-a-Bug Cookbook”.

3 tbs Olive Oil

16 Tomato Hornworms

16 Basil Leaves

4 Medium Green Tomatoes, 1/4″ Sliced

White Cornmeal

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

1) Lightly fry the Hornworms in a pan for a few minutes. Be careful not

to rupture the exoskeleton with the high heat (aesthetics). Set aside to drain

2) Sprinkle Tomato slices with salt and pepper then coat with cornmeal.

3) Fry Tomato slices on both sides until lightly brown.

4) Top each Tomato slice with one to two Hornworm. Top each Hornworm

with a Basil Leaf.

Turtle soup with mushrooms and red peppers

The Shell Game: Eating Turtles

The evidence is clear: Man has been eating turtle for a long time. But which turtles and how?

While land turtles might be easier to catch you are safer off — gastronomically — with aquatic turtles. Land turtles eat mushrooms, and there is one case of suspected mushroom poisoning after eating a box turtle that had eaten mushrooms toxic to man (but not the land turtles.)  This can be solved by capturing the land turtle and feeding it for a while until any toxin might be gone. Just remember some land turtles are protected so don’t land in jail.

Cooter, note spots

Aquatic turtles do not eat mushrooms but they can often bite, and in the larger species, remove a finger or two, even after their head is severed. Some turtles, including one ocean going species with a hawk-like beak, have a poisonous sack in their neck or chest. These are the exceptions not the rule.

Whether oneth by land or twoeth by sea most turtles (and eggs) are edible. My great uncle, Arthur Blake, had a passion for turtle eggs. He also had a prodigious appetite, was always skinny, and very mean. That he was murdered over a keg of whiskey explains a lot. At least once he ate a dozen and a half turtle eggs at one sitting. The rest of the family found them … rubbery.  Among fresh water turtles look for eggs in warm sand banks.

Snapping Turtle

Almost the entire turtle is edible except the lungs, gall bladder, skeleton, skull and nails. The legs and tail are particularly esteemed, but remove the skin before eating.  What you might also want to do is take the fresh water turtle home live and put it in a wash tub with water. Change the water every day for three days which helps to clean the turtle’s system out.

Now, how to cook a turtle? As one might expect, and a point not lost on ancient man, the turtle comes inside his own cooking pot. After killing turtles can be placed directly on hot coals, bottom side down, and left until cooked. The turtle is done when the shells separate. The shell will also be brittle. However, that is primitive cooking yielding an edible meal but not the best possible taste.

Eastern Spiny, soft shell

While cooking methods vary most cultures have learned to follow one of two general procedures. Kill the turtle and drain of blood (which with some large turtles like snappers can take overnight.)  Drop it into boiling water for about 10 minutes, smaller than a plate less time, larger than a plate more time. Take it out, let it cool to the point you can handle it. Clean the outside, which will probably turn bright green. A lot of foul tasting stuff is on the outside of the turtle and the more you get rid of the better your turtle will eventually taste.  Now the methods vary. One way is to put it in new boiling water and cook until done (the feet will be tender.) Remove meat, eat.

Southern Painted Turtle

The second method does not do a second boil but goes instead directly to butchering. Once cleaned on the outside separate the top and bottom shells. The tail, neck and all four legs come with the top shell but there is still some other meat in the top and bottom shells. There are two little strips under the ribs of the top shell. Cut ribs to get them out. Remove the head (if still on) claws, the intestines, and gall bladder, the latter very carefully or a sour taste will pervade the meat. You now have several cuts of meat that can be cooked in a variety of ways.  Some of it is choice, some tough, and some fatty.  Opinions vary if you should removed any fat you see as it affects taste.  It’s a personal preference.  The meat then can be cooked like chicken though it does respond to slow and moist heat, particularly snapper. If you fry snapper it gets tough so soups and stews are best.  But if you want fried turtle it is best to cook it by boiling first, drying, spicing and then lightly browning it in the frying pan.

Chicken Turtle

As mentioned before, as reptiles turtles, especially snapping turtles, can be dangerous even after decapitation. You may also find the heart still beating in a parboiled turtle. They die hard. And while this is off the topic but related a headless, skinned, gutted venom snake can still wiggle and try to strike. This is not unique. My grandmother liked fresh eel but my mother hated to watch her cook it because the pieces would wiggle in the pan.

Alligator Turtle

Primitive cooking methods for turtle vary as well. Some will cook the turtle on its back until nearly done, flip it over, cut off the bottom half with the entrails and then eat the meat out of the inverted top shell, a meal in its own plate. Others, as above, put to bottom down and cook throughly then separate, picking out the meat. I think bottom down is best if cooked whole. The different approach depends whether you are a roughing it on the trail, shy on time, cooking for others, or flavor. I prefer viscera cooked below choice meat. Incidentally, that same turtle can be cooked whole in your kitchen oven as well. (Put a pan under it.)

In Australia the Aboriginals have their own way of cooking a huge turtle. First they decapitate it and remove the entrails from where the head was. Meanwhile they’ve made large fire. Then they fill the cavity with hot coals from the fire and put the turtle on top of the rest of the coals. When done they cut off the upper shell and enjoy.

Seven turtle recipes from the collection of Keith Patton

A turtle has about 4-5 different kinds of meat.  Some is tough and some is fatty like turkey dark meat.  I had turtle in the S. Pacific and have cooked it that way at home.  Simmer it in coconut milk, the kind in the can, not the water from the shell.  Season it with:

Two cups coconut milk

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 onion, sliced

1 ounce ground almonds

1 tablespoon ground coriander

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon minced ginger

2 stems lemon grass, trimmed and fleshy part bruised

3 teaspoons lemon/lime juice (substituted from 3 lime leaves)

2 curry leaves (substituted from 2 bay leaves)

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt, to taste

Grind the garlic, onion, almonds and corainder to a fine paste. Heat the oil and fry the paste to bring out the flavor. Do not allow to brown. Add the turtle, ginger, lemon grass, lemon juice and curry leaves, salt, sugar and coconut milk, and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender without cover and the coconut sauce has reduced to desired consistency. Serve serve over rice.ou can add more sugar for a sweeter dish.

Here are a few more.  If the recipe calls for pounded meat, use a meat mallet and pound it to about 3/8 inch thick.

In the Cayman’s they serve a turtle dish where it is pounded and then sauteed in butter kind of like a weinerschnitzel then served with a sauce over it.  Some of the following recipes are cajun and the sauce will tend to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the turtle.  For the Eutoffee you can use one or two bags of the eutoffee mix you can get at the grocery store, or make your own which is basically onions browned in butter with flour.

 BAKED TURTLE

1 or 2 turtles (skinned, cut into serving pieces)

1 cup flour

1 tbsp. lemon pepper

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/4 cup bacon grease or shortening

Wash turtle pieces in cold water, drain. Mix flour, lemon pepper, salt and pepper together. In an iron skillet, heat bacon grease over medium heat. Dredge turtle pieces in flour mixture, lightly brown slowly on both sides. Remove from heat. Cover and bake in preheated 275 degree oven 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until tender.

 SNAPPING TURTLE IN A POT

1 to 2 lbs. turtle meat

1/4 cup dry sherry wine

2 tsp. minced onion

2 carrots, sliced

1/8 tsp. dried basil

Salt

2 cups water

2 celery stalks cut into pieces

8 small red skin potatoes, halved

Salt turtle meat well and place in your slow cooking pot. Add all other ingredients. Then cover and cook on low heat for 6 or 7 hours or until turtle meat is tender. Remove turtle meat and cut into bite size pieces. Return meat to slow cooking pot, cover, and continue to cook on lo heat for an additional 2 hours or until vegetables are done.

TURTLE ESTOGADO

2 lb. turtle fillet

1 cup potatoes, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1/2 cup onions, chopped

1/2 cup green peas

1/2 cup green olives, sliced

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 cup dry white wine

2 cans beer

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt & pepper

2 jalapenos, sliced for garnish

Beat fillets lightly to tenderness and grill to medium. Cut fillets in julienne strips. Sprinkle with lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Place in casserole dish. Saute all vegetables separately in oil and add to turtle. Mix tomato sauce, wine and beer. Pour over casserole and bake covered for 45 minutes to 1 hour. At serving, garnish with jalapenos.

TURTLE ETOUFFEE

Oil

10 lb. turtle meat, cleaned

8 large onions, chopped well

3 bell peppers, chopped well

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Wash and drain turtle meat. Salt and pepper and brown in oil. Put in heavy pot and add all other ingredients. Cook on low heat from 6 to 8 hours until meat is tender.  Note: The only juice in this recipe is the natural juice of the vegetable ingredients – do not add water, wine, or any other juice.

TURTLE SAUCE PIQUANT

5-6 lb. turtle meat

1/2 cup flour

3 medium onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 medium bell pepper, chopped

4 tbsp. Kitchen bouquet

1 cup green onions, chopped

4 cup tomatoes, stewed, crushed or whole

1 large can mushrooms, optional

1/2 cup oil

Seasoning, creole or cajun

4 cloves garlic

Cut turtle in small pieces and season. Brown in cooking oil. (Most meat especially turtle gives up a lot of water. Cook until all water is gone and turtle is brown.) Set meat aside. To oil and drippings add flour and make roux. (Not too dark.) To roux add onions both yellow and green, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Cook until wilted. Add turtle, mushrooms, Kitchen Bouquet, tomatoes and bring to low boil. Then simmer for 2-2 1/2 hours or until turtle is tender. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

 BATTER FRIED TURTLE

Soak turtle meat in cold salt water about an hour. Drain, add fresh water to cover and add 1/2 teaspoon soda. Simmer until nearly done (or pressure cook 20 minutes at 10 pounds with salt water, not soda). Remove from juice and wash in cool water, debone it and set aside. Make a thin batter of 1 1/2 cup pancake mix, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, and water. Coat pieces of meat in batter and deep fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Handle with tongs and meat does not come loose from batter.

April’s Turtle Soup

Thanks to April Barkulis for the recipe.

~ 2 lb’s turtle meat, cubed

~ 2 sticks unsalted butter

~ 1 cup all purpose flour

~ 1 cup diced celery

~ 2 cups diced yellow onions

~ 1 1/2 cups tomato puree

~ 1 quart beef stock

~ 6 hard boiled eggs, chopped fine

~ juice of one lemon

~ 3 bay leaves

~ 1/2 tsp oregano

~ 1/2 tsp thyme

~ 1 tsp black pepper

~ 3 tbsp minced parsley

~ salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy saucepan melt the butter. When melted, add the flour and cook until the flour turns the color of a penny. This roux must be stirred at all times so it will not burn. When roux reaches the desired color add the celery, onion and turtle meat. Cook until turtle is brown and vegetables are clear. Add the tomato puree and simmer for 15 minutes.

In a stock pot, heat the beef stock to a boil. When stock is boiling, add the mixture from your saucepan and stir until soup is mixed and roux is dissolved. Stock should be smooth and have body. Simmer soup until turtle becomes tender. Add the lemon juice, diced eggs and parsley. Stir together.

 Baked Turtle

Thanks to R. Moore from Michigan for this recipe.

~ 1 turtle, cut into serving pieces, bone in okay

~ 1 carrot, chopped

~ 1 onion, chopped

~ 1 rib celery, chopped

~ flour

~ salt

~ pepper

~ garlic powder

~ 2-3 eggs

~ cracker crumbs, make your own from saltine crackers

~ butter, enough for browning

Place the meat, onion, carrot and celery in a large pot. Add enough water to cover. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Let set in juices to cool. When cool, drain and discard everything but meat.

In a shallow dish, beat the eggs. Season the flour to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder or use your favorite seasoning. Roll the meat in the flour. Dip in the eggs and then roll in the cracker crumbs. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Brown the meat on all sides. Place meat in baking dish. Cover and bake at 325F for 30 – 40 minutes.

Dano’s Turtle Tips and Mushrooms

Many thanks to Dano Williams for the recipe.

~ 1 – 2 lbs turtle meat

~ whole milk

~ 1 – 2 sticks butter

~ 1 cup chopped onion

~ ½ cup chopped red bell pepper

~ 1 lb sliced or whole fresh mushrooms

Soak meat in salt water overnight. Drain. Soak the meat in milk for 3 hours. Drain. In a dutch oven or large pot, melt ½ stick of butter. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and meat. Simmer over medium low heat adding more butter as it cooks down. Continue to simmer until done stirring occasionally.

 Southern Twice Fried Turtle

Our thanks to Bruce R. for sending this recipe.

~ 1 medium sized soft shell turtle, cut into serving size pieces

~ 2 cups flour

~ 1 tbsp black pepper

~ 1 tsp salt

~ 1 tsp garlic salt

~ 1 tsp onion powder

~ 1 tsp paprika

~ oil

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Fill a large cast iron skillet half full of oil. Heat to 325F. Coat the turtle pieces in the flour mixture and place in the hot oil. Once turtle is browned, reduce heat to medium. After the oil has cooled to a slow fry, remove skillet from heat and add 1 cup of water. BE CAREFUL!!! Remember to remove the skillet from the stove in case of boil over. Remember oil and water don’t like to mix. USE CAUTION! Return the skillet to the stove. Cover and cook until all of the water has cooked out. Uncover and fry turtle until it starts to get crispy. Remove and drain. Serve with your favorite side dishes such as gravy, grits and biscuits.

 Turtle Soup I

Our thanks to Jason Hunter from Texas for adapting a Paul Prud’homme recipe.

~ 3 lb’s boneless turtle meat

~ 5 bay leaves

~ 1 tbsp salt

~ 2 tsp white pepper

~ 1 3/4 tsp garlic powder

~ 1 3/4 tsp ground red pepper

~ 1 1/2 tsp onion powder

~ 1 1/2 tsp ground thyme

~ 1 tsp dry mustard

~ 1 tsp black pepper

~ 1 tsp dried basil

~ 1/2 tsp cumin

~ 4 tbsp unsalted butter

~ 4 tbsp margarine

~ 1/2 lb finely chopped spinach

~ 2 cup finely chopped onion

~ 1 cup finely chopped celery

~ 3 1/2 cup tomato sauce

~ 2/3 cup flour

~ 1 tsp minced garlic

~ 11 cups broth (preferably from turtle bones) or chicken broth

~ 1 cup lightly packed fresh parsley

~ 1/4 seeded lemon

~ 2 hard boiled eggs, cut in quarters

~ 1/3 cup sherry

Combine the bay leaves, salt, white pepper, garlic powder, red pepper, onion powder, thyme, mustard, black pepper, basil, and cumin together. Set aside.

Chop the turtle meat into bit size pieces. In a large dutch oven, melt the butter and margarine over medium heat. Add the meat and cook for 5 minutes. Add the seasoning, spinach, onion and celery. Cook for 15 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cook 15 minutes. Add flour and garlic. Stir. Add 9 cups of broth and cook for 1 hour. Chop the eggs, parsley and lemon together. Add to the soup along with the last 2 cups of broth and the sherry. Cook 10 more minutes.

 Turtle Soup II

Thanks to Jo Hampton for this recipe.

~ 1 lb turtle meat, diced

~ 3 tbsp chicken fat or butter

~ 1 1/2 quarts strained chicken broth

~ salt and pepper

~ 1 medium onion, chopped

~ 1 tbsp chopped parsley

~ 5 – 6 thin slices lemon

Prepare a richly flavored chicken broth seasoned only with salt. Set aside. In a skillet, melt the chicken fat or butter. Add the meat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until onion is soft. Add the meat/onion mixture and any fat to the chicken broth and heat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Dip servings into bowls and sprinkle with parsley. Top with a paper thin slice of lemon.

Whitey’s Turtle

Many thanks to Jeanne Smith for sending this recipe.

~ turtle meat

~ your favorite seasonings, seasoning salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc

~ flour

~ chopped onion, optional

~ minced garlic, optional

~ oil

Season the meat to taste with your favorite seasonings and then roll in flour. Heat a little oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic if desired. Add the meat and brown on all sides. Remove. Place the meat in a baking dish. Add about a 1/4″ of water. Cover and cook at 300F for 3 hours. Add water as needed.

Green Turtle Soup I

*  1 ten pound turtle, already prepared for cooking

* 4 qts. cold water

* 1 tablespoon salt

* 1/3 cup butter

* 4 tablespoons flour

* 1 cup Madeira wine

* 10 whole cloves

* ½ teaspoon peppercorns

* 2 bay leaves,½ bunch herbs

* 2 onions

* 2 tablespoons parsley, minced

* 8 hard boiled eggs

1. Place the upper and lower shell in a large kettle with 4 quarts of cold water, simmer gently until bones fall apart.

2. Put into soup kettle the head, fins, liver, heart, and all the meat; add all the seasonings, cover with liquor in which the           shells were boiled and simmer until meat is thoroughly done; strain the mixture through a fine sieve.

3. Melt the butter and brown the finely chopped onion in it. Add the flour and cook together until brown.

4. Add a pint of the soup, a little at a time, and cook until smooth. Combine with rest of the soup.

5. Add the cut meat, the hard boiled eggs chopped fine, and lastly the wine.

Green Turtle Soup II

* One turtle,

* two onions,

* a bunch of sweet herbs,

* juice of one lemon,

* five quarts of water,

* a glass of Madeira.

After removing the entrails, cut up the coarser parts of the turtle meat and bones. Add four quarts of water, and stew four hours with the herbs, onions, pepper and salt. Stew very slowly, do not let it cease boiling during this time. At the end of four hours strain the soup, and add the finer parts of the turtle and the green fat, which has been simmered one hour in two quarts of water. Thicken with brown flour; return to the soup-pot, and simmer mildly for an hour longer. If there are eggs in the turtle, boil them in a separate vessel for four hours, and throw into the soup before taking up. If not, put in force meat balls; then the juice of the lemon, and the wine; beat up at once and pour out.

Some cooks add the finer meat before straining, boiling all together five hours; then strain, thicken and put in the green fat, sliced into lumps an inch long. This makes a handsomer soup than if the meat is left in.

Force Meat Balls for the Above: Six tablespoonfuls of turtle meat chopped very fine. Rub to a paste, with the yolk of two hard-boiled eggs, a tablespoonful of butter, and, if convenient, a small amount of oyster liquor. Season with cayenne, mace, ½ a teaspoonful of white sugar and a pinch of salt. Bind all with a well-beaten egg; shape into small balls; dip in egg, then powdered cracker; fry in butter, and drop into the soup when it is served.

 Chinese Stewed Turtle

live soft-shelled turtle about 2 lb. (1 kg)

1/2 tsp. garlic , chopped

1 lb. (500g) boned chicken

5 whole Sichuan peppercorns

3 1/2 oz (100ml) vegetable oil or lard

3 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp. scallions, chopped

4 cups (1 litre ) clear stock

1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, chopped

2 tsp. rice wine

Cut off the turtle’s head and drain off all the blood. Place in a pot of cold water to cover and bring to a boil. Remove the turtle and scrape off the black skin. Remove upper shell and gut. Chop off the claws. Wash the turtle well and chop into 3/4 inch (2cm ) squares. Chop the chicken into 3/4 inch (2cm ) pieces and blanch briefly in boiling water for 2 minutes.

2. Heat oil or lard in wok over high heat to about 350F (175C), or until a piece of scallion or ginger sizzles and moves around quickly when dropped into the oil. Add the scallions, ginger, garlic, and peppercorns, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the turtle, chicken, and soy sauce, and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the stock, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours. Then turn the heat to high and bring to a full boil. Skim off the foam and add the rice wine. Remove and serve.

Note: This fish features tender and succulent meat in a subtly-flavored clear soup.

 Greek Turtle Soup

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 pound turtle meat, medium dice

1 cup each minced celery, white onion, green bell pepper

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon thyme

1 cup tomato puree

1 tablespoon hot sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 quarts beef stock

1 lemon, juiced

4 eggs, hard cooked and finely chopped

4 tablespoons spinach, chopped

4 tablespoons dry sherry

Melt one stick of butter in a heavy saucepan. Add flour and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the roux is a light brown. Set aside. In a 10 quart saucepan, melt remaining butter and add turtle meat, veal and beef. Cook over high heat until meat is brown. Add celery, onions, garlic, bay leaves and oregano and cook until vegetables are transparent.

Add tomato puree, hot sauce, Worcestershire and black pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Add stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Add roux and cook over low heat, stirring until soup is smooth and thickened. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Add lemon, eggs, spinach and sherry. Remove from heat and serve. If desired, at the table add one teaspoon of sherry to each soup plate.

 Louisiana Turtle Soup

2 Pounds of Turtle Meat (cubed)

3 Bay leaves

2 Sticks Butter (unsalted)

1/2 Tsp. Oregano

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp. Thyme

1 Cup Celery (diced)

1 Tsp. Course Black Pepper

2 Cups Yellow Onions (diced)

1 1/2 Cups Tomato Puree

Juice of One Lemon

6 Hard Boiled Eggs (chopped fine)

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Sherry

In heavy saucepan melt butter. When melted add flour and cook until the flour turns the color of a penny. This roux must be stirred at all times so it will not burn. When roux reaches the desired color add your vegetables and turtle meat and cook until turtle is brown and vegetables are clear. Add the tomato puree and cook for about 15 minutes on low fire. In stock pot simmer beef stock. While boiling add the mixture from your saucepan and stir until soup is mixed and roux is dissolved. Stock should be smooth and have body. Simmer soup until turtle becomes tender at which time you may add your lemon diced eggs and parsley. Each plate should be served with a shot of sherry on the side.

Rock Spring Run in winter

Canoes are the best way for you to sneak up on deer, unless of course you’re the kind of canoeist who uses the paddle and canoe like a drum set.

On a recent Sunday, I had barely turned up Rock Springs Run from the Wekiva River when four fat does spied me. They hesitated as they always do with a canoe, then ran into the brush, only to turn around and ford right in front of me. No, I did not get my camera out in time, but I have an excuse: I was actually in a skinny kayak, not my luxury liner canoe. Sudden moves in a kayak are wet moves. There will be another time. Farther upstream, I saw a doe and a near-independent fawn, both plump, as they should be, dining in on Cat O’ Nine tails.

It is said that if a lost person has found cattails, they have four of the five things they need to survive: Water, food, shelter and a source of fuel for heat—the dry old stalks. The one item missing is companionship. As a life-long bachelor and pseudo-hermit I am not sure about that. Seeing the deer reminds me the rivers of Florida were sources of food for Indians for thousands of years.

Surprisingly perhaps, all creatures living in Florida’s streams are edible, this includes snails, bivalves, fish, turtles, snakes, alligators and the like. They do have to be cooked, however, and many of them aren’t too tasty, especially the sails and bivalves. They are not Southern Escargot. They harbor bad bacteria and must be cooked. Even little lakes are full of “fresh water clams” in the mud, just off shore. But you absolutely must cook them, and make sure the lake water is wholesome.  As for alligator, no matter how they cook it, it always has a swampy taste. It would be a good survival food but it does remind me of a minor incident in 2004 or so.

I was canoeing in the same area with a friend, Joe Guida. We were floating through a very narrow area during seasonal low water, about seven feet wide and five deep. We startled a sunning alligator on the bank that nearly jumped in the 18-foot canoe with us. Joe’s version of the events are a bit more dramatic but then again he and the alligator were on the same end of the canoe. I was about 20 feet away….

If I may digress even further a moment… I used to do a lot of hook and line fishing. In recent years I have switched to castnets almost exclusively but way back in the 70s I was bass fishing in a lot of Florida’s one-acre lakes. One day while fishing a “lake” no bigger than a baseball field I got a good tug on my line. I was using a plastic purple worm. I pulled, it pulled. I pulled more, it pulled more then stopped. I started to reel it in, which is actually a matter of prospective because the alligator on the other end was now swimming towards me. It was about five feet long and it did not seem pleased… That I can relate this stories attests to how fast I can run….

The number of edible plants along the run and river is numerous… pickerel weed, water hyacinths, wapato, lemon bacopa, spatter dock, oaks … But for the record I also saw non-edible wild begonias, vining milk weed, asters, several lilies and water hemlock, definitely not an edible. It was a hemlock species, read a close relative, that was used to knock off Socrates.

The hemlock —not related to the hemlock tree — grows in many wet spots in central Florida and can kill you in less than 15 minutes, certainly within an hour. The last death of said on record was a park ranger who mistook its roots for wild parsnip. He reportedly said, before the symptoms hit, that it was quite tasty.  The state of Florida says in an official publication that the hemlock (Cicuta maculata et al)  is the source of a lot of accidental “poisonings and death.” I would guess intentional poisonings and deaths would be called attempted murder and murder. A mouthful is a fatal dose, and the demise is not as gentle as Socrates’ was. It induces extremely violent symptoms which are “practically impossible to administer.” I have often joked that if any acquaintances of mine die from a plant poisoning my door is the first one the police will knock on. The practical truth is you can’t know which plants are edible without knowing which ones are poisonous.

When I missed the photo opt with the deer, I was kayaking up a stream I have canoed virtually dozens of times. I know the log-strewn stream, its bends, its stopping places, a little strip of pseudo rapids, and its plants and animals. It was the kayak that was the new element. Canoes and kayaks are as different as cars and planes. One rides on a canoe, but one wears a kayak.

If man plans his paddling trip well, all he needs is a little salt and pepper and a rod or net, catching  and foraging for his needs along the way, just as everyone’s ancestor did not long ago. Most of the people in everyone’s family, save for the last 100 years, foraged for food most of the time, even when they grew some. There is also evidence that hunters and gathers were healthier than herders and growers.

If the civilized world were to end tomorrow and the survivors had to fend for food, the best advice is “get thee near water.”  Life grows in and about water, be it fresh or salt. Water is where the food is. The two streams I was on have been a source of food for Indians for thousands of years.

Rock Spring Run is fed by a 14-million-gallons-a-day spring that fire hoses out of the side of a small cliff, if 12 feet can be a cliff. That is 441 gallons a second, 38 million a day, and 14 billion a year.  The 72-degree water actually shoots horizontally out of a limestone grotto. Nowadays the grotto is barred like a jail – above and below water – and swimming is no longer allowed at the spring or basin. Years ago one could snorkel into the grotto, against the powerful current, and look for sharks teeth (all of Florida was once under ocean.)  I can remember doing just that many holidays more than twenty years ago when the park was closed and I was young, foolish, and in much better shape.

The runs joins the Wekiva River eight miles down stream near a second spring, called Wekiwa Springs.  Wekiva is Seminole for flowing water, and Wekiwa — with a ‘W’ — their word for bubbling water. Wekiwa Spring produces some 509 gallons a minute, 44 million a day, 16 billion a year. Combined at nearly 1,000 gallon a minute, 30 billion gallons a year, these springs create the run and the river. The water from both of these springs is called “young” which means the water flowing out today was rain 42 years ago, as opposed to hundreds of years ago or more.  Further, the rain fell much farther north, all the way up into Georgia.

There are several such springs in the area of smaller size and occasionally one will even see a blind, white crayfish floating up from the rocky deep. I even have some pictures of one.  They are edible I imagine, but it just doesn’t seem right, eating a blind, albino crayfish.

The Wekiva River flows north to the St. Johns River, and that flows north through the middle of the state exiting to the ocean at Jacksonville. The St. Johns is the only river in North American that flows north most of its length, and only the second one in the world to do so, after the Nile.

As for the deer, I now own my second waterproof camera. Let the kayak rock and roll. As for my first waterproof camera…. Maybe I will tell you some day what happened to it on Christmas Day, 2000.

ROCK SPRINGS RUN AND THE WEKIVA RIVER