Sunday - Butterflied Garlic Oregano Chicken

Sunday is the day I pull a chicken out of the freezer and test my culinary and farming skills. Assuming I've done a good job of raising this chicken it should be tender, plump and tasty.

This Sunday was butterflied oregano and garlic chicken.

 

 

 

 

Take a teaspoon of garlic, a sprinkle of salt, some pepper, add as much oregano as you like (I used 3 teaspoons of fresh because it's growing well in my garden), mix with some soften butter and a drizzle or two of olive oil.   Smash it all together into a paste.  Use all butter or all olive oil if you like.  I like the taste butter gives, but the olive oil makes it smoother and is a bit healthier for you.

I butterflied the chicken to make it cook faster and more even.  Smear some on the underside, under the skin and top of the chicken.  Rub it in good.  Back at 325 until golden brown and internal temp is 170 degrees.  Take out and rest for 15 minutes, cut and server. 

Apparently I did a good job........Yum Yum Yum

First Harvest of the Season

It's been a busy spring.  I've expanded the vegetable garden this year to include several new beds.  I'm using a modified version of the square foot garden method developed by Mel Bartholomew.  It's a great method of gardening for urban farmers.  It allows for maximum results from minimal space and work.  If you're thinking about any  type of gardening you should check out his methods.  His boos All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition can be purchased in hardback or digital format.  It's a great resource.  I highly recommend it.

While still building a few last square foot raised garden beds I noticed the square I planted radishes in.  I lost track of how many days it had been since I planted them.  There's nothing like that joy of the first harvest.

I cleaned and sampled my first harvest.  Juicy, crisp and with that suttle heat radishes have.  Sometimes radishes from the grocery store have more heat that I like.  I'm assuming these are older or have been sitting around for a longer time.  I'll store a few in the chill for a couple days and see how the heat changes.

There are many more still growing to size out in the garden.  Think this is definitely something to think about planting again in early fall.  Seed to my mouth in about 20 days... not bad.

The Colors of Spring

Spring is my favorite time of year here in Kentucky.  Growing up in Buffalo New York spring was slow coming. 

Here in Kentucky it happens pretty fast and way earlier than up north. 

The grass is so green and we get those first bursts of color in March and April.  My daffodils, phlox and lilacs have already come and gone. 

But there is still plenty of color popping up in my 1 acre farm.

 

I also saw my first humming bird.  So out goes the feeders.  We only get a few varieties of humming birds here in Kentucky.  But they are fun to watch and if you provide them with food they will return year after year.

Rufous

Black Chin



Ruby-Throated

National Geographic has a terrific show about these birds.  Here is the link to their web page and a brief video about hummingbirds.
http://natgeotv.com/uk/life-of-hummingbirds
http://natgeotv.com/uk/life-of-hummingbirds/videos/magic-in-the-air

D-Day or should I say P-Pluck Day

Well the big day finally came.  Time to put all the research and preparation to the test.  Could I kill, scald, pluck, eviscerate, bag and tag the chickens that have been running around my yard for the last 8 weeks.  OK for the first 3 weeks they were in my house, but you get the idea.

Not for the faint of heart or the sentimental.  But when one of the hens starting having trouble keeping up with the others because one of her legs wasn't quite supporting her weight I new it couldn't wait another week.  These were after all Cornish Rock chickens and they are genetically designed not to live past 7 or 8 weeks.  Not like the relicants from the Blade Runner movie, but they physically can't support themselves as they get older and heavier.  And heavy they got.

So on Saturday morning after setting all the equipment up the night before and putting it off for a couple hours (looking for excuses) I finally did it.  I slit the throat of the first chicken.  Now that sounds cruel and a bit gruesome and while I wasn't being cruel, it was a bit gruesome.  I held it head and feet while it hung upside down in the killing cone and it's legs kicked those last anatomic kicks.  The believe is that the chicken is unconsous after a few seconds and the kicking is simply a muscle reflex of the already dead chicken.  At least that's what I hope.  I think it's important to not sugar coat the taking of an animals life.  It's not something to do lightly but necessary to put food on our tables.  But it did get easier, I hope it never gets too easy, that's why I feel it's important not to skip any of details.  But I do feel a bit proud of myself for taking responsibility for the food I eat and the life that had to die because of it.  My hope is to never again purchase a grocery store (factory raised) chicken again, I feel a bit better about this past weekend.

The lives and deaths of the chickens now in my freezer (and that will be on my dinner table) were much kinder, gentler, natural and humane than the lives and deaths of the chickens who wind up on the grocery store shelves.

Watch the video clip on my previous post to see them running across my yard like chickens are meant to do.  These chickens were not crammed in a windowless building and shoved into creates to be tossed onto shackles and have machines do the dirty deed.

But I did raise them to eat and have to admit the one I roasted for Sunday's dinner was tender, juicy and delicious.  I admit it.... I love chicken... both running around my yard and on my plate.