Archev's adventures in the Berlingo

[securespark]

...but my eyes are not what they once were!

 

[Susanna]

@securespark - I thought they were deer…….

 

[Archev]

...but my eyes are not what they once were!

The eyes are reasonable, it’s the rest that’s concerning

 

[Archev]

Gotta book to see a play coming up in Edinburgh called The Croft based on a true story from Applecross.

 

[securespark]

@securespark - I thought they were deer…….

I told you my eyes were no good!

 

[MG Clive]

I told you my eyes were no good!

Oh deer.

 

[Archev]

Oh deer.

I was just checking if anybody was awake and still reading this stuff

 

[OriginalBigAl]

@securespark - I thought they were deer…….

They were deer, they are now venison and chilling inside Archevs freezer.

 

[Susanna]

@OriginalBigAl - haha! I thought I was just ignorant about (weird looking) breeds of sheep in Scotland

 

[Susanna]

I was just checking if anybody was awake and still reading this stuff

Of course, I look forward to reading about your adventures

 

[Archev]

They were deer, they are now venison and chilling inside Archevs freezer.

Not ALL of them, I’ve only got a wee freezers don’t have a beef at me

 

[MG Clive]

I was just checking if anybody was awake and still reading this stuff

I was just looking at the nice pictures mate.

 

[Archev]

The Berlingo notched up another point on the economy scale today. It’s up to 3.6 miles per kW. Not in the same ballpark as the MG5 but it is a bigger car and has less of an aerodynamic aspect. On the plus side for Berlingo is the fact that it’s totally crap as a sports car but still a delight to weave along A roads in a very comfortable manner at 45 to 55 mph. The regen braking is about equal to that of the MG5 and works well once the top 10 to 15% of the battery storage is used up.
The lofty driving position is fantastic for driving and sightseeing in equal measure. The seats themselves are grand and on my car there’s five individual units and the rears all but disappear into the floor when required.
I saw a few different tailgate and side awning tents at the two campsites I stayed at and will continue to think about them.
I’m no further forward converting my Daughter to an ev. She is on the cusp of changing from her manual diesel Hyundai hatchback to a Citroen/ Peugeot/ Vauxhall/Fiat/Toyota clone MPV van. It will most likely be diesel and manual. I’ve tried to persuade her to at least go for the eight speed semi automatic gearbox which I found on the two six speed diesel versions I had to be faultless and very frugal. She baulks at that saying she feels more in control (with a clutch and gear-lever as extra bits to take up one’s attention ??). Her Mum was exactly the same so an ev conversion to Daughter might take a while yet.

 

[Archev]

@OriginalBigAl - haha! I thought I was just ignorant about (weird looking) breeds of sheep in Scotland

Sheep / deer - looks / taste I’m ambitastsrous myself.

 

[T1 Terry]

Deer is a bit like kangaroo, you have to be careful cooking to avoid it being tough as they have very little to no fat marbling the meat. Either very hot plate and sear the sides with the inside looking as though a bandaid could have them back in the paddock, or real slow, but don't keep turning the meat, that will make it tough ......

T1 Terry

 

[T1 Terry]

"What do they eat when they can't get tourist?" "The locals."

When I started my last job as a Veterinary Investigation Officer in Edinburgh, management was stressing its brains out over the possibility of West Nile Disease (or was it Bluetongue? possibly both) getting into a' meanbh-chuileagan. The thinking being that we haven't been able to make a dent in them despite our best efforts when the only reason for doing it was that they're a bloody annoying pest. The prospect of them carrying serious disease as well is not a happy one.

You win, the only thing Google could come up with was a female poet, and I'm guessing that wasn't a correct translation of what ever one of those creatures is .....

T1 Terry

 

[Everest]

They looked a little deer!

I'll go with that - look like Muntjacs to me

 

[Archev]

The fab weather continues- Ive put the tent up in the garden basically to air before I roll it up properly.
I had a terrific trip of about 550 effortless miles. Left home with a full battery, topped up at Tesla Fort William, CPS Kyleakin and again at Tesla at the fort. Oodles of power left as all those chargers filled the car so fast the battery was full each time before I got back from a comfort break and a coffee. Total cost including house charge before I left was about £35. I missed the cheaper rate Tesla times on both occasions.
Both camp sites were excellent, Faichmard Farm site at Invergarry was very good and very peaceful with good facilities but pricier at £18 per night. My favourite has to be Applecross for £10 a night with great facilities and now a very good snack van on site. There’s also a huge poly tunnel behind the reception and the Applecross Bothy or whatever the snack bar is called. The tunnel has a bunch of picnic tables set out so it ought to be quite comfortable should the unthinkable ever happen and the west of Scotland ever suffered a rainy day.
One or two midge bites (“skin so soft” seems to work well for me ) and I think I escaped all the ticks despite walking the rough trails up the hill a few times for my views and pictures of Skye etc .
The power bank and induction hob worked well - used around 25% of the power but deployed the solar panels during most of Wednesday’s slightly hazy sun and recouped about15% so pretty chuffed with that for the cooking.
It never fell below about 8 degrees C at night so I never used my wee electric heater nor used my heated gillet as an electric blanket. This latter was a boon over in Aviemore’s freezing early morning in the roof tent on Magnette the MG5 last year.
Could have done with the log burner to help keep the midges at bay more but neither site allowed fires and I was actually keen not to burn anything.

 

[securespark]

Deer is a bit like kangaroo, you have to be careful cooking to avoid it being tough as they have very little to no fat marbling the meat. Either very hot plate and sear the sides with the inside looking as though a bandaid could have them back in the paddock, or real slow, but don't keep turning the meat, that will make it tough ......

T1 Terry

Not that I eat meat anymore, but as the main cook, I still cook for everyone and they all eat meat, so I do roast beef, pork, chicken and lamb and a pulled pork that I do in a slow cooker. You need to be really patient, and that, Mrs Secure isn't!

Ideally if you have a traditional butcher, you want a nice hunk of pork butt. This is not the rump, but the upper part of the shoulder/ neck. I tend to go to a supermarket (I know, shame on me) so I get boneless shoulder. I buy as big a piece as I can find.

I take the skin off and salt it then slow roast it for crackling. This renders some fat that I use to seal the meat later.

I make a mix of ground black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, brown sugar, smoked paprika, mild chilli powder, oregano and salt.

I can't tell you the quantities as I just chuck them into a bowl.

Once everything is in the bowl, I mix well, then chuck in the lump of shoulder, ensuring that I massage the mix into every nook and cranny.

Then I put it into a large bowl covered in cling film into the fridge for 24 hours. As often as I can, I take it out and carry on massaging in the spice mix.

After 24 hours in the fridge, I take it out and let it come up to temperature for 30 minutes.

Then I put some of the rendered lard in into my wok and on a medium heat fry all sides of the pork.

Into the slow cooker I put two finely chopped large onions and 400mls of stock. Onto the onions I lay the pork. Close the lid and leave it to slow cook for 24 hours.

Once time is up, hoik the pig out onto a board and pull it apart with a couple of forks. The onions can be served with the pork in soft baps, along with homemade red cabbage, carrot and celeriac slaw and a BBQ sauce.

You can make one, but my youngest likes Sweet Baby Ray's.

I've also done a game stew in the slow cooker and it's great for cheap cuts that you can slow cook and tenderise.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Lovely , I'll be around about 19.30 if that's alright , wear a bow tie so I don't confuse you with Nigella.