Lovely birds, Annie! Too bad about the packaging trouble, but worth it in the end, right?

My favorite recipes aren't recipes at all, and impossible to follow if you don't know what it's supposed to end up like. Here's one of my own that I wrote up awhile back because I was asked. It's very interpretable, and reducible, and, as is, is over-detailed because it was written for non-cooks. More of an Autumn dish, but yummy.

JC's Harvest Chicken Pot Pie
yield: 4-5 9" baking dishes
25-30 dinner portions

Pie ingredients
10 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Moondance Marinade or other brown, flavorful (umami) sauce
2 honkin' big sweet potatoes (long skinny kind), about 4-5 cups peeled, sliced (1/4-1/3") and quartered
5 large parsnips, about 4-5 cups peeled, sliced (1/4-1/3") and quartered
1 bag pearl onions, peeled
8 not so honkin' big celery ribs, about 2 cups (?) diced small
1 bag sugar snap peas, a bit over 2 cups when cut in thirds
Dozen (??) Small yellow patti pan squash, cut in sixths, about 3 cups
1 package little tomatoes various colors, about 2 cups, skin punctured with the point of a small knife
Light olive oil
Balsamic vinaigrette

Pie gravy
light olive oil
Wondra flour
1 cup half and half
about a cup of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, but on the flowery side)
about 7-8 cups chicken stock
a little curry powder (shake on to taste)
salt and pepper

Pie crust
4 cups whole wheat flour (King Arthur)
4 TBSP buttermilk powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp curry powder
3 sticks frozen butter
4 oz. cold orange juice
4-8 oz. ice water
Fines Herbes (approx 2 TBSP)

Crust
Make four pie crusts. Divide the quantities above into fourths. Put 1 c. flour, 1 TBSP buttermilk powder, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp curry powder in a food processor (FP) and pulse a couple of times to combine. Cut 6 TBSP of frozen butter into small dice, put in FP and pulse 10-20 times until it's well cut in to the dry ingredients and Sprinkle with 2 TBSP cold orange juice and pulse several more times. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time with a couple of pulses until the dough will clump and not crumble when you squeeze a handful (I needed 2 TBSP). Dump out on a floured work surface (pastry cloth) and make into an inch thick disk. Cover in plastic wrap and chill overnight Take dough out of fridge *at least* an hour before rolling. You don't want it anywhere near room temperature, but it should be malleable. Roll (see Finish below), cover pies and sprinkle with Fines Herbes. This crust comes from this website, which credits King Arthur with the original version. Note that curry powder has been substituted for the sugar for this savory pastry. http://andreasrecipes.com/whole-wheat-pie-dough/

==>Take dough out of fridge *at least* an hour before rolling.

Filling
Coat chicken in marinade and roast with steam until cooked through (or poach). About 45 minutes at 360. Let them rest and cool, then use the longest, straightest knife you have to cut them into half inch dice. Refrigerate unless you're assembling immediately.

Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper, big enough for all the veggies but the celery and peas. In a separate small pan, toss the pearl onions with a splash of balsamic and moist roast (roast with steam (i.e., small pan of water next to them) until they push in when touched but haven't gone translucent. Maybe half an hour. Spread the veggies out (as follows), one type at a time, in sections on the baking sheet(s) (so you can put them away separately so they maintain their own flavors), with the tomatoes not on the end. Drizzle a little oil on the sweet potatoes and toss them a little then spread them out so that there aren't more than two levels and the bottom pieces aren't fully covered. Do the same with the parsnips but add a drizzle of balsamic. Just use a drop of balsamic on the tomatoes and do only one layer. Spread out the squash with no drizzle. Or roast them all however you please. Dry roast them for about 45-60 minutes at 350 until the vegetables are starting to brown in the corners and are getting kind of dried out looking, and the tomatoes are shrivelly and gooshy looking.

Unless you're going to finish the pies right away, scoop the various vegetables into their own containers for fridge storage. Be careful with the tomatoes. Use a big spoon. Don't squish them.

Gravy
In a 9 qt. pot or equivalent, make a roux. Heat some oil--enough to generously coat the bottom of the pot and have some to slide around. Sprinkle on about the same quantity of Wondra while stirring. Keep stirring on medium heat until the flour gets toast brown. When bubbles are forming, reduce heat and add the half and half (or cream or evaporated milk) while stirring briskly so it won't boil. If the pot is too hot, pull it away from the heat. Let it bubble just a little bit and add the wine. Stir until smooth and well combined. Add the stock slowly, stirring all the while and let it combine thoroughly with the existing sauce before adding more. Add seasoning and curry to your taste. This is a fairly thin gravy. The pies need the moisture. You can thicken it either with a larger roux, or by cooking it down (evaporating it). Just make sure you have enough to cover all the filling.

Finish
Turn off the heat and stir in all the filling ingredients except the tomatoes. Stir well and let settle. Dish up into your baking dishes. Distribute the tomatoes gently. Roll out the pastry and cover each one. Sprinkle the crust with Fines Herbes. If the crust cracks or breaks, don't worry, just go "rustic" and lay all the pieces to cover the filling. If the pastry is perfect, cut a few slits to let out steam.

Bake on convection at 335-350 depending on your oven for about 45 minutes, until the crust is getting brown on the edges.

You can tell just by looking that the chickens are more flavorful than the ones from the supermarket.

You should consider getting a plucking machine. It takes minutes a to pluck 14 chickens.

My other farm friend got one. Her local friends with chickens would come to her place to have their birds plucked, in exchange for something, money, food or labor.

dcarch

You asked, so here goes:

Basque Chicken and Rice - serves 4-6

2 TB olive oil
8 pieces of chicken (I used thighs, no skin, bone in)
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
opt. small jar of strips of pimento
opt. 1/2 cup halved olives
2 cups rice (I used the yellow rice package)
4 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
opt. pinch of saffron
opt. pinch of smoked paprika

Heat a large saucepan or Le Creuset French oven on the stove top, add oil, sauté chicken pieces until browned, remove to a platter. Add garlic, onion, bell pepper and sauté until onion is transparent.

Deglaze pan with about 1/4 cup water. Return chicken to the pot and add rest. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer. Cook 25 minutes or until rice is tender.

Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

Makes 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
•4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
•1 medium onion, finely chopped
•1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut up
•1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
•1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped or 1 (14.5-ounce) can chopped tomatoes un-drained
•1 clove garlic, finely chopped
•1 tablespoon sweet or hot Hungarian paprika
•Salt and black pepper
•3/4 cup water
•1 cup sour cream
•2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preparation:

1.Heat butter in a Dutch oven or large skillet with a lid. Add onion and saute over low heat until translucent.

2.Add chicken pieces and brown lightly on both sides. Add green peppers, tomatoes, garlic and paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 35 minutes or until chicken is tender (about 20 minutes if using only chicken breasts).

3.Remove chicken to a heated platter and keep warm. In a small bowl, mix sour cream with flour. Temper mixture with some of the pan juices. Return tempered sour cream mixture to pan and simmer until juices are thickened. Return chicken to pan to rewarm.

4. Serve with boiled rice, German spaetzle or egg noodles.

For a lower fat version, use canola oil instead of butter, lowfat sour cream and 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or a combination. If using breasts only, reduce the simmering time to 20 minutes.

Greek Garlic Lemon Chicken
Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken with Potatoes

This is one of the easiest recipes to make, and one of the most tempting to eat. Adjust the garlic down if it's not a favorite, and the classic tastes of lemon and oregano will still make this dish uniquely Greek.

Cook Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Ingredients:
•3 1/4 - 3 3/4 pound chicken, cut into quarters
•3 1/2 pounds of potatoes
•juice from 2-3 medium lemons
•2 teaspoons of salt
•1 heaping tablespoon of oregano
•1/2 teaspoon of pepper
•8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
•1/2 cup of olive oil
•1 1/2 cups of water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C).

Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters, lengthwise. Salt and pepper the chicken and potatoes. Transfer chicken to a roasting pan, and add potatoes, on and around the chicken. Add oregano, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice, distributing evenly across the pan. Add water and roast uncovered at 355°F (180°C) for a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes. Half way through (50 minutes), turn the chicken.

Yield: serves 4

Note: Check periodically to make sure there is still a little water in the pan. If needed, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more.

Chicken and Dumplings
Cuisine at Home, August 2004

For the Chicken:
1 ½ # boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into pieces
½ cup AP flour
2 T. veg oil
2 t. salt
½ t. cayenne pepper
¼ t. black pepper
1 leek, sliced into moons
1 rib celery
1 carrot, diced
1 sweet potato peeled and chunked.
2 parsnips, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
¼ c. dry white wine
1 qt. Chicken stock
2 t. lemon juice
1 t. each chopped sage and rosemary.

Preheat oven to 375, rack in center
Cut chicken and dredge in flour, peppers and salt

Brown the chicken in large oven proof pot with 1 T. oil over medium heat. Brown in batches, adding oil if needed. Remove from pan when brown.

Sweat the veg. and bay leaves in oil until soft, 5 min.

Deglaze the pan with wine, simmer until almost gone.
Stir in remaining flour to coat vegetables.

Gradually add stock, cover pot and transfer to oven, cook for 20 minutes.(no chicken yet)
(Start dumping dough now)

After 20 min, stir in chicken, lemon juice and herbs. Drop dumplings into stew and braise 20 minutes until dumplings are cooked, toothpick is clean.

For the Dumplings:

1 ½ c AP flour
3 T. Parm Cheese, grated
2 ½ t. baking powder
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
½ t. ground pepper
2/3 c. whole milk
3 T. unsalted butter

Blend dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
Heat milk and butter util melted, blend into dry ingredients
Shape into small balls, or use small ice cream/cookie scooper

Dumb question, if you didn't have room to pre-freeze the 28, where are you putting the final packages?

They look terrific, Annie, and now that all that work is done, you can just sit back and enjoy them.

My favorite way to make chicken halves is to grill them in the way we call Firemen's' Chicken because it's the same method all the volunteer fire companies in our area use for their fundraising chicken BBQs.

Mix 1 cup cider vinegar, 2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp. paprika and 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper. Put into a clean spray bottle.

Grill over medium heat, chicken bone side down and spray fleshy side with the "wash". Turn chicken halves over every 15 minutes, spraying the side facing you, until as done as you like. You can omit the spray bottle and mop on the wash with a brush but spraying is easier.

I have lots of ways to use the hearts, since we can buy them by the pound and love the flavor. Easiest way to use up all of them up quickly would be to marinate them in a teriyaki-style marinade, skewer and grill them.

Ruthanna, I never thought about skewing the hearts, what a good idea. Mine usually just end up in the stock!

Thanks, plllog, the mix of vegetables sounds good and it's actually not sweltering hot right now. I'd have to sub chicken parts for the boneless, skinless breasts, of course.

Peppi, that chicken and rice looks like something Elery and I would both like, even though you know I'd be picking out the olives and giving them to him, that's what makes us a good couple, LOL.

This was really an experiment, I'm considering trying to raise and sell some organic, farm raised chickens, if I can find a reliable customer base for them. I've get people waiting to buy beef, so maybe some who are overwhelmed by the thought of half a steer or pig might be happier with something the size of a chicken. What do you think you would pay for an organic farm raised chicken, about a 5 pound bird? I'd need to get my $1.06 per pound, of course, plus probably $3 for caring for them and for processing. That would make the 5 pound bird about $8.50, or $1.70 per pound. Whole supermarket birds go here regularly for 99 cents a pound on sale, but I don't intend to "compete", my market would definitely have to be people who are interested in a different product. Maybe I'd have to take orders in advance so I'm not stuck with more birds than I can store...

I definitely found that I cannot make a profit on heritage turkeys, but maybe chickens and ducks.

dcarch, I've looked at the chicken pluckers, the cheapest one is somewhere around $1,000.00. Used ones are non-existent, apparently, and some areas do have rentals, but I haven't been able to find one here. Definitely not in the budget for a couple of retirees that still need to buy/build a house on the farm, especially since mine in town is not apparently going to sell in the near future. We've had three "lookers" since last October. (sigh) I am not competent to make one, although there are plans on line for a "whiz bang chicken plucker". We have one that fits on a drill but frankly, it beats the heck out of a chicken, there's not much skin left intact when we're done with that.

At some point I'd like to get a plucker and a scalder, so I can stop dunking chickens into the pot that goes with a gas fired turkey fryer, LOL. But, for now, it's hand plucking. I did find some used cones, so I can give up the orange traffic cones we tacked to the fence post, LOL. Hey, I'm creative, just not mechanical.

Did I ever tell you about the bungee cords I use to keep the items in my refrigerator door where the shelves broke? (grin)

Annie

This post was edited by annie1992 on Sun, Jun 22, 14 at 10:27

Annie
Those chickens are gorgeous. Many good meals there.

Some time back, Dcarch suggested using supermarket produce bags as an inner bag when vacuum sealing. They are free, food safe and large enough for about anything. I now pull off a couple extra bags every time I am in the produce section of a grocery, and the bags that held dry clean produce (bananas, oranges, such like) are salvaged as well. The stash lives in a canister, ready for the next vacuuming project.

(Small, very cheap non ziplock sandwich bags are also useful inner bagging for smaller damp items. Just twist them and tuck the twist under.)

I double bag nearly everything now for vacuum sealing, and the pricey vacuum bag is nearly always pristine when I remove the food . A quick wash and it is ready to go again--about an inch shorter, but who's measuring?

A really useful tip.

Here is Dcarch's How-To video. (I find I don't usually need to do the 2-step vacuuming.)

Here is a link that might be useful: DCarch demos double bagging for freezing

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sun, Jun 22, 14 at 10:40

Consider using shrink bags ...

http://poultryshrinkbags.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-downright-easy-to-shrink-bag.html

Annie, once again you are amazing! Now that we have that out of the way, my Whole Foods sells organic whole chickens for $2.99lb. I would happily pay that and more for one that was raised by the likes of you!
Peppi, your Greek Chicken and Basque chicken both sound like great recipes, thanks for sharing!

Annie, the Basque dish came from someone here, I forgot who it was though. And since I cannot stand olives, I just don't use them.

I just bought a case of organic whole chickens from Winco in Bakersfield. $7.99 each they are a little over 3.5 lbs each we like them better than the Whole Foods chickens and Whole Foods is a day long trip for us Bakersfield is only 65 miles away.

Claudia

Actually. I think I'm the one who first posted the Basque Chicken and Rice recipe that I got from a Frugal Gourmet book.

Annie, here is a somewhat "famous" recipe from my area - Moravian Chicken Pie. The Moravian churches in Winston-Salem and Greensboro have big chicken pie and bake sales in the fall. They sell the pies frozen and they always sell out.

Moravian Chicken Pie

pastry
2 cups flour
1 t. salt
3/4 c. Crisco
6 to 8 TB cold water
or
2 Pillsbury Pie Crusts, bring to room temperature

filling
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken (breasts and thighs, or whole chicken or two chicken halves)
1/4 c flour
1 1/4 cups chicken broth with added Better Than Bouillon
salt and pepper
dash of poultry seasoning

Instructions

Put one crust in a deep foil pie pan.
Mix chicken, flour, broth, s&p, and poultry seasoning in a large bowl.
Pour into pastry lined pie shell. Cover with the second pie crust. Pinch edges together to seal and flute decoratively. Bake at 375-400 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. Serve hot.

Can freeze before baking, then bake at 400 for 1 to 1 1/2hrs.
My sister says they need to have a pastry cut-out of a chicken in the center of the top crust and she likes 1 1/2cups broth in her pies.
To freeze: double wrap very well in Saran plastic wrap, then wrap again in heavy-duty foil or put in a large freezer zip bag.

Teresa
(who would like to cook like Annie someday!)

Well, Annie, I know you'd know how to adapt a recipe that's meant to feed 30. :) The boneless breasts are just to make it easy, in lieu of a couple of whole chickens. :)

Definitely do your chickens on pre-orders. Or even pre-sold! I remember reading about a farmer in...Alabama? That region anyway. Long time ago. He made pig tickets that were good for one piglet. I'm guessing come weaning. In the Spring, anyway. He used he pig tickets as currency all over town, and the locals would sometimes trade in pig tickets too. I don't remember why it was written up, but I think someone was challenging it as non-governmental money. IMHO, it's a like a gift certificate. You could make some chicket tickets for pre-sale of your famer loved and raised chickens, and redeem them when they come home to roost. ;)

Annie1992, Foodsaver makes some "moisture-block" bags,
They have a strip of something that looks to be
some type of foam close to the opening.
I presume this is to 'catch and hold' any liquids pulled out by the suction.
They are fairly pricey, though, and I've not seem them
in any stores locally, only on the FS website.
I've also read that one can use a folded paper towel close to the opening,
But not so close that it interferes with the sealing,
to accomplish the same thing.

Usually when I freeze meats,
I put individual servings in the cheapy fold over sandwich bags,
And then seal several in a large FS bag.
You do have to leave enough excess bag
to accommodate however many times you anticipate resealing.
For larger items I use the produce bags.
I've tried the paper towel with individually bagged pork chops in a large FS bag,
it works quite well.

This info is a little late, I know,
And you probably already knew most of it.
But thought I'd add it anyway.
Your chickens look wonderful,
And I certainly wish you luck with the raising for sale.
Seems to me people would jump at a chance
to purchase something like that!

Rusty

Here's an old recipe that can use up some of your eggs too.

CHICKEN PUDDING

1 (3 1/2 to 4 lb.) chicken, cut up
1 medium onion, sliced
3 fresh celery leaves
3 sprigs fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups flour, divided
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. Butter, melted and divided
3 Tbs. Chopped fresh parsley

Combine first 6 ingredients, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a Dutch Oven; add water to cover. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove chicken from broth; cool. Strain broth, and set aside.

Remove chicken meat from bone; dice and place in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Pour 1/2 cup broth over chicken. Set remaining broth aside.

Combine eggs, milk, 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 cup butter; beat until smooth. Pour over chicken in skillet. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Cool and cut into wedges.

Meanwhile, cook remaining broth over high heat until reduced to 2 cups. Whisk in 1/2 cup flour. Add parsley, 2 Tbs. Butter, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Spoon gravy over pudding. Yield: 8 servings

Note: Sautéed mushrooms can be added to the gravy, if desired.

This post was edited by ruthanna on Sun, Jun 22, 14 at 18:44

Well worth the effort and time! Please tell me how old the roosters were. We always let our roosters get too old to eat before I finally got tired of dealing with their meaness. They don't start getting territorial and mean until they are about a year old.

Once we move to TN and have a better climate, I definitely want to raise chickens for both meat and eggs again.

Bellsmom, I tried the produce bag thing first. They just split and all the juices came out and kept the bags from sealing. My produce bags must be cheaper than yours.....

Ryse, the roosters were about 8 months old. Too old and they get too tough. You can also raise those "frankenchickens" and have a 5 to 7 pound bird in 8 weeks or less, but they just seem so.....wrong.

Annie

Those chickens look so good. This morning I was looking at whole chicken in the small grocery near where I go to church. It wasn't very big and $6+. Heck, I'd rather pay $8.50 or more for one like yours that are organically raised.

By the way, I always use the folded paper towel in the Food Saver bags with moist meat, etc.

Oh, and my cast iron apple press that I had in the old barn my husband tore down is rust covered. After hearing from you about them, I'm going to find someone to put it in the back of my old truck, take it to a sandblaster then sell it. Thanks for your input some time ago.

Madonna

Madonna, you should have no trouble at all selling it, every time I haul mine out I get people stopping to ask if I'd sell it.

Next time I'll try the paper towel trick, the produce bags inside the FoodSaver bags definitely did not work.

Annie

Annie, Did you save the feet, you know, for stock enrichment? Too bad I don't have better things to think about in the middle of the night, geesh.

I use the rolled up paper towel in the bag trick too.

Annie, we raised those 'frankenbirds' organically to sell and were glad to butcher them at 8 weeks to put them out of their misery. (Lost lots of money on the project to boot.) Never again - pathetic. So yes, I was thinking when we do it again we will order the layers unsexed and then eat the roosters before they get tough!

Cathy, the feet, the necks and the backs are all going into stock, possibly the gizzards and hearts too.

Ryse, they aren't as heavy in the breast as the Cornish Cross are, but fed well and given some time, they're pretty good size. Actually, they are best eaten between 15 and 17 weeks, I'm told, they get a more robust flavor as they mature, apparently and get more tough as they get older. I meant to process earlier but things go away from me. Mine were Barred Rock mixes from a local farm co-op.

I figure if they are a bit tough, I'll cook them longer, and they'll probably need to be brined too....

Annie

Traffic cones. Hilarious.
In my old city neighborhood we had a 'bird guy' just a few blocks away. Roll up gate...picked out your bird, fowl, (many choices), then it went into a glass enclosed room while you watched the process assembly line method...odd to walk home with warm meat in a bag.
When we were in the process of buying the farm, it had chickens and a caretaker...so i studied up, excited and feeling paternal. Before the closing the were wiped out by coyotes. The first thing i searched for and found was a roadside farm butcher with a plucker, lol. He will dress out deer and bear and wild turkey...

Beauty birds you have. We get ours from a farmer now and do cut them in half before packing away and freezing.
Small business plans get caught up in so many regulations and we have the NYState watershed to deal with. Seems their is an amount of herd/crop that breaks even depending on acres/time, then a profit needs hired help...more time and labor needed and getting a consumer base set up.
If i had a couple 8-12 yr olds to set up a stand for spending money would be super.
But i just take extras to the senior center. (veg, salad and rhubarb)

I like this method using smooth bags, cheaper bags. Juicy stuff i have to partially freeze first before sealing...

Here is a link that might be useful: sealing non-ribbed bags

Thanks, Teresa, I don't think I've ever seen a chicken pie recipe without vegetables, that looks really interesting and efficient, because Bud and Makayla wouldn't have to pick out the pieces of veggies, LOL.

Ruthanna, the chicken pudding looks good, I'm going to try a couple of these as meals when Elery's family comes. I'll have 11 visitors for 5 days over the 4th of July weekend, so I'm going to have to find things that I can bake ahead or multiply to get enough servings.

The following week is Fair Week too, so Bud and Makayla are spending the night tomorrow night, the fair entries will just have to be baked and frozen, then thawed for the fair. (shrug) Just as well, they're getting too complacent about all those ribbons every year, make 'em work at it this time!

Ryse, where are you that you need to move to Tennessee for a better climate? I live in North/West Michigan and I really like to process chickens in the fall, far fewer flies and I don't rush so much to get the birds on ice like I do when it's warmer here.

sleevendog, the traffic cones actually worked pretty well, but they weren't quite deep enough. Hey, I'm creative! I didn't have enough room to partially freeze all those halves before packaging, that was part of the problem, I think.

On another food related note, the second calf of the year was born today, hooray. I left Mama to tend it and didn't bother them by getting close enough to determine whether it was a heifer or bull, I'll know soon enough.

Oh, and Elery and I had chicken on the grill last night. No salting or pre-brining, because I wanted to see just how it was. Elery cooked it slowlyl on the cooler side of the grill and it was moist, juicy and delicious. I'm happy.

Annie

Visiting my friends farm after an evening birth, left alone, but assisting the next day...
awfully special if you have not witnesses such an event very often.

The ofal, feets/paws, organs and misc. have a good use in so many cultures from dirty rice in NewOrleans to peas pudding in northern east coastal Canada... so much to do with it and needs another posting for that me thinks...

NYTimes has an ok recipe using rhubarb but i've done better.....but i like the early garlic idea...the braising sauce does not need to be so ugly...as melissa says...lots of color veggies to perk that color and flavor...

Here is a link that might be useful: rhubarb chicken

Good timing on new recipes. We may have to try that rhubarb recipe this weekend...the first garlic scapes are showing and there's a little rhubarb left.

We just picked up some Hutterite chickens out of Montana. I'm not positive they're organic (I think they are, but there's only a price sticker), but they are raised naturally....no hormones or anything. I paid $1.85/lb. and they ran about six lbs.

Last time I got them they were 8-10 lbs...like small turkeys!