How Did I End Up Married to a Chicken Farmer?

When Paul brought up the idea of being a chicken farmer, I must admit that I didn’t take him too seriously at first. After all … who really becomes a chicken farmer? We were suburbanites!

But then we moved up here to my parent’s place and the next thing I know, we’ve got chickens.

And I’m married to a chicken farmer.

We’re now going into our third year raising chickens, and turkeys, and hogs and laying hens.

The picture above is our new  brood buildings – the baby chicks’ home for the first weeks of their lives. What you don’t see is the brood boxes inside. Genius contraptions with heat lamps that are connected to thermostats so ensure the chicks stay just the right level of toasty warm.

Right now we have the chicks that will start laying eggs for us sometime this summer.

And we’ve got orders placed to get 1,000 broiler chicks in over the course of the summer.

I am so often amazed at the directions life takes. And how wonderful those directions usually turn out to be.

If you’re interested in our chickens, eggs or (later this year) pork; or even just curious about our farm, be sure to visit our website:

Pastured Sensations

Chicken of the Week – Chicken Thighs with Mexican Flavors

As I’ve mentioned before, in our home we don’t say burned, we say caramelized. So when you look at this out-of-focus photo, please remember that looks aren’t everything. And it didn’t taste burned. It just looked like it was.

A few weeks ago, I brought home a copy of Mark Bittman’s Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times cookbook and marked about a dozen recipes to try, including this one. I had most of the ingredients on hand except for the lime and the orange which went on my grocery list.

Then life got the better of me and three weeks later, I got an email from the library saying the book was overdue. So I thawed out a package of chicken thighs, bought a new lime and orange (the ones I already had were well past their prime), made this recipe and returned the book to the library.

I will say that the recipe was worth the wait. I only marinated it for about 1/2 hour and I really think it should go at least a couple hours to better infuse the flavors. It was very easy to prepare and the next time I cook it, I’ll make sure its a nice evening so I can grill it.

Chicken Thighs with Mexican Flavors

from: Mark Bittman’s Quick and Easy Recipes from The New York Times

Preheat a grill or broiler to moderately hot and put the rack at least 4 inches from the heat source. Combine the garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, cayenne, cloves, salt, pepper and oil in a blender or food processor and blend until fairly smooth. Add the juices, taste and adjust the seasoning.

Smear the mixture all over the chicken. Marinate at least 30 minutes. For bone-in thighs, cook a total of 20-25 minutes (or until done) turning chicken over halfway through the cooking time.

Fried Chicken – Chicken of the Week

Lately I have been having chicken issues. Now that I know what real chicken tastes like, I cannot eat non-real chicken.

It’s tasteless, mushy and blah.

But OUR chicken, on the other hand, is meaty and flavorful and delicious. I just wish I could make it taste like KFC. This recipe was a “copy cat” recipe that is very good, but the seasoning just wasn’t right.

Put it this way…if you’re not expecting KFC, this is GREAT chicken. If you are, you’ll be disappointed. Keep in mind that I’m feeding 7 at the dinner table, and we all love fried chicken. So this recipe makes a ton.

Copy Cat KFC Chicken

1 day to 1 hour ahead: Cut up 2 chickens into 8 pieces per bird: 2 wings, 2 drumsticks, 2 thighs, 2 breasts (actually, I cut each breast in half making a total of 10 pieces per bird)

Place in a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit anywhere from 1 day to 1 hour until you’re ready to cook.

Mix together and, if you have one, run it through a coffee grinder or spice grinder:

• 2 tsp. paprika
• 4 tsp. garlic powder
• 4 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. oregano
• 2 tsp. rubbed sage
• 1 tsp. rosemary
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. pepper

Add above spice mixture to 3 cups flour.  Mix together thoroughly.

Dredge chicken in flour mixture and lay on wire racks over cookie sheet. Let sit while you heat oil that is about 2″ deep in a wide, heavy pan with tall sides. Heat oil to 375 degrees. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a couple of pans with paper towels.

By this time, the flour and buttermilk on the chicken will have melded together and the chicken will be covered in a gooey paste like this:

Re-dip the chicken in seasoned flour and gently place each piece in the hot oil. DO NOT CROWD THE PAN!

I can’t tell you how long the chicken will take to cook, because it depends on the size, temperature, etc. of the pieces. Using a meat thermometer, take the temperature of every piece of meat. You’re looking for an internal temperature of about 160 – 170 degrees.

As each piece comes out of the frying pan, put it on the paper towel lined pan and keep warm in the oven.

Enjoy!

Chicken of the Week – Balsamic Shallot Sauce

Four years ago I made an offer to my children. The first one who can facilitate welcoming Chef Jacques Pepin into our home will receive a brand new Ford Mustang.

Why Jacques? Because he’s my go-to chef.

There’s only one recipe of his that I have made that has not been amazing…and that one I blame on lackluster ingredients.

So far, I haven’t had to buy a Mustang. But I haven’t given up hope yet!

This past Thursday, as I was heading home, I was stymied. (Isn’t that the greatest word?) I had no idea what to make for dinner. I had defrosted a potroast the night before, but had been in a rush that morning heading out the door, so I hadn’t put it in the crockpot. The only other option I could think of that I had ingredients for and was quick was tuna casserole.

But I wasn’t in the mood for tuna. Or casserole.

Suddenly, I had an inspiration. Not long ago, as I was looking through Jacques Pepin’s cookbook for the Quick Tenderloin Stew recipe, I saw a picture in his “Fast Food My Way” cookbook (if you don’t have this book, you really should get it…there’s some real treasures in it.) The picture caught my eye. It looked amazing. I remembered the name of the dish was Balsamic something something chicken. Well, I knew I had balsamic vinegar, and of course I had chicken. So I hoped I was good to go.

When I got home and looked at the recipe, I was shocked. It was simple! After browning chicken breasts on the stove, the sauce is simply sauteed shallots (I used some onion too because I didn’t have enough shallots for the recipe) and then add in a surprising amount of balsamic vinegar, a little ketchup and some water. His recipe called for mushrooms also, but I didn’t have any, so mine was mushroom-free. The sauce is fantastic without mushrooms, so I’m almost afraid of how good it would be with mushrooms!

Once the sauce is boiled down and thickened, just pour it over the chicken breast that have been resting in a warm oven, and serve. Everyone…children and grownups at the table loved it.

I suggest you make this and make it very soon.

And if you know Jacques, please invite him to my place for dinner so I can thank him in person for his amazingly inspiring recipes. He makes it all so simple.

My Secret to Great Pizza

I have access to the world’s greatest pizza sauce.  You wouldn’t believe how much it cost me to obtain it and the danger I am now in just by revealing the fact that I have it.

This is a sauce that you can’t just buy. No, you have to know someone. You have to be in “the family.” You have to…

Actually, you have to wait and hope that my lovely sister Anna becomes a successful entrepreneur and starts selling her product on the shelves at your local grocery store.

Me? I just call my sister up and say I need more. Because in a blind taste test, by family chose her sauce overwhelmingly by a margin I’m too embarrassed to admit to.

My sauce was described as acidic and over-seasoned.

Hers was praised as rich and spicy. (Please don’t point out the irony of the fact that it says “Spicy and Rich” in Italian on the front of her jar.)

So Anna, if you’re reading this, I guess I need more pizza sauce.

For everyone else who can’t purchase this amazing sauce just yet, let me give you the perfect pizza crust recipe for you to store away for the day when Anna’s sauce is available to the masses.

Pizza Dough

• 2 1/2 c All Purpose Flour
• 2 1/4 t Yeast
• 1 t Sugar
• 1 t Salt
• 2 t Olive Oil
• 1 c Water (approximately)

Add all ingredients except the water to the bowl of your food processor with the regular chopping blade in. Turn on your food processor and add all but about 1/4 cup of water through the feed tube.

The mixture will start to look crumbly. Add a little bit of water at a time through the feed tube, just until the mixture forms into a ball of dough. Once the dough forms, leave it running for another minute.

Put dough in oiled bowl covered with a damp towel and let it rest. Each recipe makes about 1 large crust for us. I usually make 4-5 batches to feed our group.

Top with The World’s Best Pizza Sauce, Mozzarella cheese and your favorite toppings.

Bake at 425 degrees for 13 minutes on the lowest rack in your oven.