Tag Archives: chicken

FAMILY, Recipes

Beef, Tuna, Chicken Salad

Leave a comment

A recipe i learnt from my Grandma Falconer is Beef Salad.  This mixture makes great take-to-the-field sandwiches, yet easily fits onto a bed of lettuce, use as a dip with crackers or chips, or eat by itself.

The starting point for the meat is about 1/2 lb of ground cooked roast, ground cooked chicken, or 1 6 oz can of tuna.  I’ve tried this with lamb roast and turkey, and for whatever reason, it just doesn’t taste quite right.  Personal taste – i love lamb.

  • 6 hard cooked eggs
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon chopped pickles or pickle relish, optional
  • 5-6 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • pinch of salt and pepper, if desired

Peel and chop the eggs, either by hand or in a food processor.  Place them in a medium sized bowl, then add the meat and other ingredients.  Stir and mix thoroughly.

Voila!  already ready to serve.  This recipe if fully adjustable to your own tastes.  Perhaps you prefer more meat to eggs or vice versa.  Or a spicier mustard or more mayo.

b611d9ec-3575-4a8d-b6ee-0e7f2a3c95f6-3012-0000060f04bf7c20_file

Chickens - Chooks, FAMILY, Recipes

Philadelphia Scrapple – My Version

2 Comments

Philadelphia Scrapple

Philadelphia Scrapple

Cooking time: about 4 hours   Servings: 12-24 servings

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2-3 lbs stewing hen (you’ll need about 6 cups of ground meat)
  • 2 cups yellow cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon sage
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Slow cook stewing hen until tender.  Remove meat from skin and bones and cut meat into pieces.  Place meat back into cooking water with sage and cayenne pepper and simmer 2 to 3 hours.  Drain and reserve stock.

Chop meat with a knife or food processor, being careful not to grind it too fine. Set aside.

(Note that i had already done all the above and just froze ground meat separately from plain chicken stock – i only add spices when ready to make this recipe)

Measure 5 cups of stock and return to pot.  Bring to a simmer, add meat, cornmeal, salt, and peppers, then stir constantly until thick and smooth – about 15 to 30 minutes.

Pour mixture into 2 loaf pans and refrigerate until completely chilled.  Un-mold scrapple.  Slice and fry until golden brown and crispy on both sides.

f63fcfd9-0635-4b37-a955-5dd04bab8984-546-000000b5579e72d1_file14c0cc01-5ed4-4a11-ab59-c240ae9edce6-550-000000b67f2db213_file0c891530-3aa2-426b-80f9-2fcd3adacd04-550-000000b6bed2227d_file

279937b3-f0dd-43a9-8513-cb49506aef51-550-000000b75af7d97e_file
Whilst stirring, you may need to break up clumps of corn meal
eceff7d9-e70d-45e5-ace9-0beaa2699e1a-550-000000bf9700699d_file
Whilst stirring, you may need to break up any clumps of corn meal.
40045c0e-c385-4c0d-b6ca-a209cfc918f3-550-000000c1337eaa2a_file
The mixture needs to be thick to hold together once you’ve removed from pan.
img_7735
Refrigerate or cool outside like i did here since it’s colder outside than in the frig anyway!

 

5a4e05c4-85b2-4187-a52f-a240eee98464-653-0000011eb9041f73_file
No need to grease or butter the loaf pan, but definitely sliding a knife around the edge to loosen really helps it ease out of the pan.
90041f99-ff61-464c-8ced-06c64324c3ad-803-0000018e3fd76347_file
I’m using beef fat here for frying, but butter or olive oil works just as well.

Sliced Scrapple0b0399a4-06d6-4ae8-a464-244b8ce8eb8a-803-000001916eaef832_file

b282b3f7-e7fc-4bb1-8f69-51deccc9d150-803-000001924c405037_file
Fry on low-medium heat, then carefully flip to reveal this crispy brown side, fry the other side, then ready to serve.
fabdb9d1-546e-48f9-98e3-11517be7f63e-803-000001935aa8e9cb_file
Philadelphia Scrapple with egg – this is just a terrible photo, but you get the idea.  Notice the pale yolk on our farm egg – that’s a winter egg.  No green grass out there now.
873f3e25-2296-470e-ad64-b7963786593e-803-00000194236eb929_file
Despite the savory aspect of scrapple, you may enjoy just a smidgen of syrup on this.  Try it on just a corner.  We are so fortunate to buy pure maple syrup from our neighbor – Coyote Orchard, Purdin, Missouri.
Scrapple with egg
Almost all gone! Yum!
FAMILY, Recipes

Cheese and Rice Casserole

Leave a comment

An excellent non meat recipe.  But meat can easily be layered on and consider other vegetables.  Pictured here, I used sliced zucchini from my garden and added ground chicken breast from pastured poultry raised by my friends at Pigeon Creek Farm.

Cheese and Rice Casserole  (Riso e Formaggio) 

8 servings 

  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup uncooked regular rice (or barley or couscous or any combination thereof)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon dry mustard
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper sauce (optional
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 medium onion (I used green onions)
  • 1 medium green pepper, chopped (optional)
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella or Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)
  • 4 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 2 ½ cups milk
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

 Heat water, rice, salt, mustard, red pepper sauce, and pepper to boiling, stirring once or twice; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes.  (Do not lift cover or stir.)  Remove from heat.  Fluff rice lightly with fork; cover and let steam 5 to 10 minutes.

Layer half the rice mixture in bottom of greased 11 x 7 x 1 ½ inch baking dish.  Top with 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (and 1 cup vegetable if desired); repeat.  Whisk together 4 eggs and 2 ½ cups of milk then pour over rice mixture.  Sprinkle with ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese.  (Casserole can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours at this point.)  Cook uncovered in 350°F oven until set; 45 to 50 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into squares.

IMG-6147

Chickens - Chooks, Frugal Choices, Home-Based Business, Thoughts

Time Management Lesson

3 Comments

Too many times I engage in projects which end up as time wasted. Case in point this 12×12 chicken tractor. After spending time and money on it, I’m now faced with more time wasted disassembling it. I have no intention of raising layers on pasture again and it’s too awkward to move very far and a waste of space to store it. The high quality tarp from Troyer Tarp will be stored, however, since it is a $100 item. I’m learning, albeit slowly and with the wisdom my children bestow upon me, to utilize my time more wisely.

Cheers!

tauna

15037353_10207432576955005_3399321282607636432_n14980792_10207432577395016_4126340095087086099_n14963265_10207432577195011_4329101248307004436_n

Chickens - Chooks, FAMILY, Recipes

Spatchcock a Chicken?!

2 Comments
IMG_0536
Start with a fresh or frozen pastured (preferably) broiler.  Using scissors, cut out out the backbone.

 

IMG_0537
Cut backbone out completely – this is easier than it looks.  The WSJ recipe says to use the backbone to make broth or discard – DISCARD!  what?!  no way.  Make broth. Using it to make egg drop soup.
IMG_0538
Turn the bird over and smash down breaking breast bone so that the carcass lays fairly flat.

 

IMG_0539
Smashed and ready for rub.
IMG_0540
Rubbed in seasoning of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon salt (i used Hebridean Sea Salt Flakes harvested from the shores of the remote Scottish Hebridean Isle of Lewis), and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper.
IMG_0543
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy skillet then place chicken breast side down.  The recipe i used said on medium high heat for 20 minutes, but thankfully i checked this at 12 minutes and it was a bit too brown.  Perhaps using a cast iron skillet made the difference since they hold heat so well.  Next time, i plan to use medium heat for 12 minutes.
IMG_0542
Place aluminum covered bricks on top of chicken to press it down.  I didn’t have any bricks covered, so my improvisation was to lay the cast iron lid upside down, then stack a couple smaller skillets on top for added weight.  Do this for both sides of the chicken.
IMG_0541
Using tongs, flip the chicken over and weight down again, reduce heat to medium low and cook another 15 minutes or so.  This shows needing a bit more time.
IMG_0544
Crispy and done all the way through, including the thick breast meats.  My family really liked it.  So easy, too!

 

Spatchcock a Chicken Recipe
Here are the original instructions as found in Wall Street Journal some years ago.

Cheers!

tauna

FAMILY, Liquid and Soft Diet Recipes

Asparagus Soup

4 Comments

Nearing the end of Jerry’s two weeks of liquid diet!

Asparagus Soup

3 cups home made chicken stock

1 bunch of asparagus

1 onion

2 cups milk

Cut the tips off the asparagus (i cut them about 2 inches long) and set aside.  Combine the rest of the asparagus (i cut the stalks into 3 inch lengths so they’d fit in my 3 quart pot more easily) into the chicken stock along with the quartered onion.  Heat to just boiling, turn down heat then cover and simmer about an hour.  Add the milk, heat through, then strain soup through a cheese cloth after removing vegetables with a slotted spoon.  Add some salt if you like.  I never add pepper for this purpose of healing from hernia operation because it’s imperative that he not have any indigestion.

Use organic, local, and dairy products from grassfed cows if possible.

Jerry is a picky eater and even he liked this one!

Cheers

tauna

 

Liquid and Soft Diet Recipes

Egg Drop Soup for Liquid Diet

Leave a comment

Home made egg drop soup:  (Tan Hua T’ang)

3 cups of chicken stock broth.

1/2 teaspoon salt (use Real salt or something that is 100% salt – check the label)

3 tablespoons cold water

1 tablespoon tapioca flour (cassava)* or cornstarch

2 eggs slightly beaten (farm fresh from pastured hens is best)

Heat broth and salt to boiling.  Mix cold water and tapioca flour; stir gradually into broth.  Boil and stir 1 minutes.  Slowly pour eggs into broth stirring constantly with fork, to form shreds of egg.  Remove from heat; stir slowly once or twice.

You can also make this without thickening it with the tapioca flour or cornstarch if it needs to be absolutely thin liquid.

For best medicine, you need to find a local farmer from whom you can purchase healthy pasture raised spent hens or broilers.  You may have to butcher them yourself.  Cook them down bones and all, pull off the meat bits, then throw the bones and cartilage back into the water and simmer another hour or so.  The goal is to get as much of the chondroitan out of the cartilage and minerals out of the bones and into your broth.  Once done, strain out the bones and let the broth cool.  Chicken fat is quite soft, so if you want to skim it off, you’ll eventually have to put it in the frig or other cool spot so that it will harden on the top of the broth so that you can remove it with a slotted spoon.

Buying chicken broth in the store is NOT the same product as what you are making here.

As always, find certified organic or organically raised ingredients.

This was a big hit with my father-in-law who is recovering from hernia surgery, is very weak, and really doesn’t have an appetite.

However, it’s quite good even if you aren’t sick or in recovery.

Cheers

tauna

*my friend Francoirse raises cassava in DRC!

Find a local producer near you using a handy website search, here are a few:

Localdirt.com

Eatwild.com

Localharvest.org