Old Rooster

Yesterday I pulled an old rooster from the bottom of the freezer and couldn't quite decide how I should prepare it.  So I quartered it, put the wings, back and legs into the pressure cooker.  I deboned the breasts and thighs, put them through the meat grinder with a handful of salt and spices, and formed them into patties.  Then I dredged them in beaten egg and bread crumbs, and lightly fried them.  Last, I put them in a baking dish, covered them with marinara and mozzarella and baked them for 20 minutes. Chicken Parmesan!  This really was a good way to use an old rooster.  Have a lovely day.  ~A

Relaxing Weekend

I made some progress this weekend, even though the weather is still not quite cooperating.  I sorted eggs and loaded the incubator with 41 of them, due to hatch March 23 (give or take a day).  And because I had so many eggs laying around (no pun there) I decided to make a lovely frittata sort of thing for my breakfast.  And that turned out to be a very good decision.

 

 

Then, I had to butcher a young rooster, who was approaching his 6 month birthday.

I also made some soup for my work lunches for the week.  How productive is that? 

I hope you all have a lovely week, ~A

Hello February, Good-bye Ethel...

A lovely, quiet weekend on the farm made for a great beginning to February. Saturday was a day for butchering two of the Turken (aka "Naked Neck") hens that had approached the ripe old age of two years.  But really I was in a hurry to butcher them, because they are constantly eating everyone else's eggs, and because they are just plain mean to the other chickens.  Roosters included.

So the deed was done, and on Sunday I made a nice dinner of roasted chicken with a side of au gratin potato. The butchering chore was preceded that morning by a breakfast of French toast sprinkled with summer blackberries pulled from the freezer.  I even tossed a chunk of butter on top.

Mmmmm.... French Toast

The potatoes were easy; one potato-sliced thin, grated parmesan and heavy cream...

The dogs needed to get out and run, so I took a nice walk late afternoon to check fence lines and have a look around. The creek back in the woods was frozen, but I could still hear the little waterfall underneath the ice and snow. The dogs very much enjoyed the walk and slept well in the warm kitchen the rest of the day. Although, they seem to be confused as to which bed is in tended for which dog.



Louie on the hunt...

Checking the Fence



There's a waterfall under there somewhere...

Later in the evening when it was time to bring the horses in for the night and feed everyone else, I ended up needing Louie's assistance to help catch the turkey hen that escaped her pen.  She's done this three times now, so last night I clipped her wings. Hopefully this will put an end to that.  Her name is now "Lady Houdini..."

Poultry Plans

Okay so I was dreaming about hot chicks the other day.  For those of you with dirty minds, I was thinking about the kind with feathers - as in poultry. I do hope I didn't crush anyone's fantasies...

Anyhoo, I decided its time to start the flock planning for the new year.  Last weekend I did a head count and came in at 29 hens, 4 roosters, 1 Blue Slate Tom Turkey, 1 Bourbon Red Tom Turkey, and 1 Bourbon Red Turkey Hen.  And last, not least...one lonely female Pekin Duck.  Hey, she lays an egg nearly every day, so she gets to stay. Most of the others will be headed toward the freezer over the next several months.  Hence, the "plan" to add to the flock.

It looks something like this...

Two scheduled hatch dates - March 1st and April 5th.  All eggs are going into the incubator because my hens suck at doing the job themselves (I won't go into details unless someone asks). I currently own and use the Farm Innovators Model 4200 Pro Series Incubator and have excellent results with it.  It's great for hatching forty or less chicks. So that is the way I do it.  Oh, and I schedule the hatch dates on the weekends because I like to be home to watch. I can't help myself.  I'm like a kid at Christmas! Now for the goal...

Hatch #1 (March)                 Hatch #2 (April)
25-30 chicks                         25-30 chicks
1-10 turkeys                         1-10 turkeys

Why so many??? Some for the fox, some for the hawk, a few for the weasel.... and the rest for me!

Farm Weekends

I finally had a weekend without visitors, all to myself pretty much, sort of. Friday started it all off with a quick stop at the local pub for some fried clams, and too much wine. Apparently country folk and Amish do not cherish the magnificence of a plateful of lightly fried calamari in the same way that I do.  Pity. And you can't find it anywhere near my town, so I'm forced to depress my tastes and accept the simple fried clams, with cocktail sauce.  How bland. But hell, who am I kidding, I absolutely love fried clams.

Saturday I actually slept in... all the way until 7:30 am!  Then I made a loaf of sourdough bread and went work cleaning the house and trying to get caught up on laundry.  I really hate doing laundry.  And I hated scrubbing the entire kitchen floor by hand also. But some things must be done, right?

Sourdough Bread. (P.S. My house isn't crooked - just my photography ...)

Later that day I made a huge pan of baked penne with mushrooms and hot Italian sausage, of which I took no photos because it was that good and it went that fast. Next time...

I greeted Sunday morning sitting at the kitchen table drinking my coffee, and noticing five young roosters sparring in the backyard.  I headed out with the gun, and shot one immediately.  I wanted two of them, but after the first one all the rest were privy to my plan.

I also learned something.  I found that I was able to pluck most of the body feathers quite easily from this young roo, before submerging it into scalding water. It made the job much faster and less messy.  I decided to quarter this bird instead of roasting him whole.  Please don't judge my "quartering a chicken" skills - still learning!

Quartered (sort of)

I said good bye to Sunday with a nice walk through the fields with the goats.  I tried to end the evening by staying awake for an episode of "The Walking Dead," but of course that never happened...