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Tag: Food

More Chicken – The Other Red Meat

This probably isn’t what comes to mind when you think of chicken. You probably don’t associate such a dark, red meat with chicken. But when roosters get to live outdoors, courting hens through pasture and woodland, breathing fresh air all day, roaming far and wide in search of love, and standing guard over their flock, they develop large, healthy gizzards.

The first time I butchered a rooster, what shocked me was the vibrant colors of his internal organs. Gizzards of healthy, exercising chickens have a beautiful blue hue on the outside. That first rooster’s gizzard was an especially brilliant, cobalt blue.

The gizzard is a strong muscle surrounding a pouch with a tough lining. Inside are bits of gravel and small stones. The food a chicken eats passes into the gizzard from the crop. The muscles of the gizzard churn vigorously, grinding the food and gravel together, turning the grain and grasses and bugs a chicken devours into a mash. The gizzard does the job our teeth do when we chew.

As a result, the gizzard of a healthy chicken is tough. Slice it thin, fry it gently in butter, add some white wine or sake, a bit of soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce, and in a few minutes you have a wonderful appetizer. What makes this meat exceptional is the texture. It has a crunch you don’t associate with meat.

March 29, 2014
Coq au Vin – Chicken, the Other Red Meat
Usually, you don’t think of chicken as a red meat. But a year old rooster has meat as red as beef. The pictures below are of the roosters thigh and legs, and breasts. Using Julia Child’s Coq au Vin recipe from page 263 of her Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume One Fortieth Anniversary Edition, this 4 pound 9 ounce rooster, came out tender and beefy. The one difference is that her recipe calls for simmering the bird in wine slowly for 25 to 30 minutes. Instead, I simmered the rooster for three hours.

You’re never going to be able to walk into your local supermarket and walk out with a year old rooster, or chicken with such rich meat. It takes many months for a bird to develop such hearty meat. The only way you’re going to be able to enjoy Coq au Vin like this, is to make arrangements with me, or another farmer dedicated to raising these magnificent birds.

Below are links to others who have made Julia Child’s Coq au Vin recipe:
All of the examples above use your average store bought chicken. Though you really need a grown rooster to savor the full richness of this dish. After all, the name of the dish is Coq au Vin not Poule au Vin.
March 26, 2014
Soufflés Don’t Just Happen

Before you can take a freshly baked soufflé out of the oven you need to pour the soufflé batter into buttered ramekins and put them in the oven.

Before you can pour the soufflé batter into buttered ramekins, you need to finish mixing the soufflé batter.

Before you can finish mixing the soufflé batter, you need to add the sliced ham.

Before you can add the sliced ham to the soufflé batter, you need to finish mixing in the nettle leaves.

Before you can finish mixing in the nettle leaves, you need to add them to the soufflé batter.

Before you can add the nettle leaves to the soufflé batter, you need to mix in the grated cheese.

Before you mix in the grated cheese, you need to fold in the roux and egg yolk mix into the beaten egg whites

Before you can fold in the roux and egg yolk mix into the beaten egg whites, you need to gently fold in more of the beaten egg whites into the roux.

Before you can fold in more of the beaten egg whites into the roux, you need to add a small portion of the egg whites into the roux and egg yolk mix.

Before you can add a small portion of the egg whites into the roux and egg yolk mix, you need to beat the egg whites into a firm meringue.

Before you can beat the egg whites into a firm meringue, you need to butter two ramekins.

Before you butter two ramekins, it’s a good idea to grate some hard cheese.

Before you grate some hard cheese, slice some ham.

Before you slice some ham, cut the nettle leaves.

Before you cut the nettle leaves, finish making your rough and egg yolk mix.

Before you finish making your rough and egg yolk mix, take the rough off the stove and quickly beat in the egg yolks with some milk.

Before you take the rough off the stove and quickly beat in the egg yolks with some milk, cook the rough until it gathers into a soft ball.

Before you cook the rough until it gathers into a soft ball, brown the flour and butter together.

Before you brown the flour and butter together, melt some butter in a pan and add some flour.

Before you melt some butter in a pan and add some flour, wash the freshly picked nettles.

Before you wash the freshly picked nettles, you’ll need to go out into your garden and pick them. You don’t have nettles in your garden? That’s OK, you can use any fresh greens that you find in your garden. Oh, you don’t have a garden? You can’t just go outside and gather something fresh to eat? I guess you could run down to your local green grocer and ask if they have any produce that was picked with the last few hours. What? Your grocer doesn’t even have anything picked today? How is that possible? Surely there is a farm within a 30 to 60 minute drive from your green grocer. There’s no excuse not to have fresh produce picked at least that morning. Well, just do your best, and if your green grocer doesn’t have produce picked that day on their shelves, it’s time to find a new green grocer or find a nearby farmer who will see that you have produce picked that day.

Before you wash you go pick your fresh nettles or greens, break your eggs and separate the egg whites from the yolks.

Before you break and separate your eggs, select five eggs laid today. Five eggs will make two individual soufflés. If you have more people, figure between two and three eggs per person. Eggs work best at room temperature, so if your eggs are in the refrigerator, take them out and let them rest until they are at room temperature.

You don’t have eggs laid today? When were the eggs you have laid? What? You don’t know? Don’t tell me you purchased eggs which you didn’t know how old they were? Didn’t the farmer who sold you your eggs tell you when they were laid? Oh, you forgot to ask? Or did you say you bought your eggs from a supermarket? You can’t see a label on the carton saying how old they are? I wonder why that is? What are they trying to hide? Maybe it’s time to raise your egg standards. The next time you purchase eggs, ask the seller you’d like eggs laid that day. If they look at you like you’re nuts, take a deep breath. You’re not the crazy one. The seller who thinks it doesn’t matter how old eggs are to make a good soufflé is the crazy one.

Life is too short for ho-hum eggs. Find someone who will sell you fresh eggs from chickens that spend all day outdoors enjoying the fresh air, sunshine, and exercise.

March 23, 2014