Pemmican recipes

I been searching for a new source of food while in the backcountry. One that will neither melt, nor freeze into a concrete block. The old standbys, Cliff Bars and Power Bars, are getting real old, so I need something original. While reading stories of expeditions in the Himalayas, I came across countless examples where Pemmican was used as a staple. A quick google search revealed that the pemmican of today is not the same as yesterdays. Nowadays, Pemmican is a brand of beef jerky. As I continue to search for the pemmican of the new millennium, I will add them to this blog, so that everyone can share. The first one came from this site, EasyFunSchool. Pemmican, in it's purest form, is a very simple and often easy to make concoction. The most important ingredient has got to be beef or venison jerky. Store bought jerky is not recommended. The very thought of having fresh venison as the base, sends my taste buds into a frenzy. I will have to make deer hunting more of an effort next year. This year season has already come and gone. Below, is the recipe from the link above.

SUPPLIES/INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Jerky, either beef or venison
1 cup dried blueberries*
1 cup un-roasted sunflower seeds or crushed nuts of any kind
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup peanut butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. This version uses peanut butter rather than melted lard as the binding agent, which is much better suited to today’s tastes and need for conscious diets.
2. Grind [or pound] the dried meat to a mealy powder.
3. Add the dried berries and seeds or nuts.
4. Heat the honey, peanut butter until softened. Blend.
5. When cooled, store in a plastic bag in a cool dry place.

Supposedly this will keep for months, but it doesn’t last long at our house. If you can’t find or use dried blueberries, please feel free to use other dried fruits. You can used dried cranberries, raisins, applies, apricots, peaches, etc.


Also, I found a really good blog about surviving day to day. Here is the Daily Survival take on pemmican. It is a little long to paste here, so you'll just have to follow the link. Lastly, The Campfire has a nice write up with step by step pictures for those of us that have yet to learn to read!