Time for Survival Camp

I see that my ordinary readers are somewhat weak-stomached, or else afraid that I might ask them whether they had actually tried their recipes. I have not tried any of these. I did have an episode of brain flatulence in which I decided I should run a little "survival camp" for my grandkids. They can learn to make fire by rubbing sticks together like I did when I was a kid. Maybe the graduation present from survival camp could be a Grandpa-built survival knife?

Anyway, found these little blurbs. For the squeamish, bug eating is Biblical. I really am not interested in an all-insect diet; I will leave that to the bats and shrews. I did find a place that said the best way to prepare grasshoppers was to kill them (freezing or heating them up, either works), break off the wings and big jumping legs, grab the head and remove it with the thorax shield and whatever insides come out (sort of like cleaning crayfish, but from the opposite end) to remove the crunchiest, stick-in-the-teeth stuff, and then cook. Maybe grilled? Cooking of bugs is recommended, since they can carry parasites. Eating raw is OK according to the experts (!!!) but is not the best practice.

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Grasshopper Fritters

¾ C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
¾ C. milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 C. grasshoppers
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl. Slowly add milk and beat until smooth. Add egg and beat well. Pluck off grasshopper wings and legs, heads optional. Dip insects in egg batter and deep fry. Salt and serve.

(from http://entweb.clemson.edu/k12/recipes.htm)

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How to Prepare Insects for Cooking

Those who are accustomed to eating animals probably know that most animals must be killed, cleaned, and cooked before one can eat them. The case is similar with insects. While there are many people in other countries who prefer to eat insects live and raw, and while it is true that you could probably get the most nutrients that way, I prefer food that won't crawl off my plate. I have tried eating live ants and mealworms, and in fact present a "recipe" for live insect consumption below; however, I would advise that beginning insect eaters start with cooked insects.

To prepare a batch of crickets or mealworms:

Take the desired quantity of live insects, rinse them off and then pat them dry. This procedure is easy to do with mealworms, but fairly hard to do with crickets. To do so with crickets, pour them all into a colander and cover it quickly with a piece of wire screening or cheesecloth. Rinse them, then dry them by shaking the colander until all the water drains. Then put the crickets or mealworms in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer until they are dead but not frozen. Fifteen minutes or so should be sufficient. Then take them out and rinse them again. You don't really have to clean mealworms, though if you want, you can chop off their heads. Cricket's heads, hind legs, and wing cases can be removed according to personal preference; I like doing so, since cricket legs tend to get stuck in your teeth. You are now ready to use the insects in all kinds of culinary treats!

(from http://www.eatbug.com/recipes.htm)

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Mealworm Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. oil
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. chopped onions
4 tsp. soy sauce
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 c. minute rice
1 c. cooked mealworms
Directions:

Scramble egg in a saucepan, stirring to break egg into pieces.
Add water, soy sauce, garlic and onions. Bring to a boil.

Stir in rice. Cover; remove from heat and let stand five minutes.

Chocolate Chirpie Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 12-ounce chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dry-roasted crickets
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture and insects, mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

(from http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectsasfood.html)

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Garlic Butter Fried Grasshoppers

1/4 cup butter
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup cleaned insects*

Melt butter in fry pan. Reduce heat. Sauté garlic in butter for 5 minutes. Add insects. Continue sautéing for 10 - 15
minutes, stirring occasionally. From Orkin

(from http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~cbader/ghprecwithinsects.html#Appetizer)

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Other reading:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2160.html

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That is what people learn to do in college.

Now back to baking bread.