The Rooster Harvest

Either I have the best friend in the world or I am the worst friend ever...maybe a little of both.

I've been talking to Bo for a couple of weeks now about turning a few of those early risers in my backyard to a few meals on my dinner table.  I'm pretty sure he has been putting me off.  How convenient is it that he has, all of a sudden, become so busy with other things?

So, I called my friend and asked her to help me.  She pretty much told me from the beginning that this was not her most favorite thing in the world to do BUT she had done it in the past and, well, I had not, and she agreed to come teach me.  What a friend!

It was a cool Alabama morning, somewhere between 10:30 and 11:00 AM when she arrived.  I had run the day's scheduled events by the dad of the 3 year old I was babysitting to make sure he didn't think I was traumatizing his little boy.  He seemed to have no problem with it.  My daughter insisted on being part of the "harvest" also so I prepared both children by telling them that these were not our sweet little hens that were about to be killed.  They were mean roosters.  CJ had seen them fighting each other in the pen a couple of days earlier.  She had also noticed that 2 of my feathered little ladies no longer had feathers on their necks.  She guessed that was because of the mean roosters.  Um, yeah.  No need to get into the birds and bees discussion at age 3.  I simply told her she was right.  I told the children that God gave us some animals to eat and some animals to keep for pets and these were given for food.  I explained the process, which I'll spare you the details, and made sure both children were alright with it.  They seemed to be.

And so the rooster harvest began.

OK...so maybe I let my friend do the majority of the dirty work.  I didn't intend for it to be that way but it would have taken us a lot longer than the 3 or so hours it took.  Don't give me that look!  I got my hands a little dirty...a little.

She helped me to dispose of the feathers and I offered her as many of the naked birds as she would like to take home to her freezer for her troubles.  Being the good friend that she is, she only took 1.  She then left me to clean up.  Truth be told, I think she looked a little green as she pulled out of the driveway.  It has now become my not so favorite thing in the world to do.

I'm not usually a big fan of bleach but my house smelled like an animal processor.  That was the only thing that would get rid of the smell rather than mask it temporarily so I doused some here and there and wiped everything down.

7 birds in my freezer and fresh chicken and dumplings in my belly.  It's been a long day.  DH was proud (and I'd say a little relieved) that I tackled the project without him.  Maybe I'll teach him a little something next time...

Notes to self:

• Check on sleeping 3 year old before going to bed.  Make sure visions of headless roosters aren't dancing in her head.
• Check on best friend (ex friend???  Hopefully not...) in the morning.  :)

Chicken, Chicken, and Chicken

Well, we haven't killed our roosters to put them in the freezer yet. It's likely I'll get Bo to do it sometime in late October when they will be about 6 months old. Should I wait longer? What do you think? But I was excited when I found a natural "whole chicken" (about 3 lbs) at the grocery store. The packaging claimed to have fed the chicken grass only, no antibiotics, and no hormones. I bought it and today will be the second day we will be eating that particular chicken. I thought maybe I'd share with you the recipes for the meals I've made.

The first thing I did was remove the skin and boil the chicken. You can do so much with boiled chicken AND the broth from boiling it! When the chicken was cooked through, I pulled as much meat off the bones as possible and put it in a storage container in the fridge. Then I added the bones back to the broth, added some veggies and let it simmer for about 3 hours.

Perfect Chicken Stock
Bones from a whole chicken
4 Carrots, chopped
Celery leaves (about a cup) or 2 celery stalks, chopped
2 yellow onions, quartered, skin left on
2 bay leaves
6 stalks of thyme
6 stalks of parsley
10 pepper corns
1 lemon, quartered

Put everything in your largest pot. Cover with cold, clean water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a slow simmer.
Simmer for 4-6 hours.
Strain the soup through a sieve.
Then refrigerate overnight.
The next morning, peel the chicken fat off the top. The soup should be jiggly and jelled.
(Keep the chicken fat to fry potatoes.)
Reheat the broth by bringing it to a boil.
Fill approximately 3 quart sized jars with broth. Screw lids on tightly.
Process in pressure canner for 25 minutes.

The first night, I made barbeque sauce and added it to some of the shredded chicken. I only separated out as much as I thought we would eat that night. We used homemade sandwich bread and made barbeque chicken sandwiches. Here is the recipe for the barbeque sauce:

All Natural, Homemade Barbecue Sauce (makes about 2 cups)
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2½ cups finely chopped onion
2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
4 Tablespoons raw honey or real maple syrup
1/3 cup raw organic apple cider vinegar
1 6-ounce can organic tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Several grinds fresh black pepper
1½ cups water

Heat olive oil in a 4 qt pot. Add onions and sauté on medium heat, then reduce heat and cook until caramelized (about 20-30 min).
Add garlic, stirring for about a minute.
Stir in brown sugar and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients, water being last, and stir to combine.
Bring mixture to a gentle boil.
Reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 30 minutes.

Store any remaining sauce in a storage container in the fridge.

For lunch the next day, I decided on chicken salad. You can eat yours on crackers, sandwich bread or pita chips. I like mine plain; just chicken salad and a fork. My recipe is pretty general, doesn't have a lot of ingredients, and can be seasoned to your liking. It’s super easy for a quick lunch.

All Natural, Homemade Southern Chicken Salad
2 cups shredded chicken
2 Tbsp homemade or natural mayonnaise
A sprinkle organic garlic powder
A dash of sea salt
A grind of fresh black pepper
1 stalk celery, chopped small
A handful of grapes, chopped small

Start out with chicken in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add mayonnaise and mix well. Then add remaining ingredients and continue to mix well.

Chicken and dumplings is an often requested meal from my super picky son. Funny thing is my not so picky daughter doesn’t care for them. Go figure! Keep in mind that this was the second night we ate from the “whole chicken” so I couldn't follow the measurements for this recipe exactly.  Using what was left of our shredded chicken served 4, if small servings, and we had no leftovers. The recipe below serves 4-6. Also keep in mind that this recipe starts from boiling the whole chicken. We had already done that so I simply placed the leftover shredded chicken in a large pot filled with adjusted amounts of water, onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf, thyme and parsley and brought it to a boil. Then I reduced the heat and let it simmer while I made the dumplings. Right before I added the dumplings to the simmering pot of chicken and water, I removed the onion and bay leaf and followed the directions from there. 

Chicken and Dumplings
1 (3 pound) whole chicken
1 onion, quartered
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

In a heavy pot with a lid place the chicken, onion, lemon, salt, pepper, water, bay leaf and thyme. Simmer all over low heat until tender, about 1 hour.
Let chicken cool slightly in pot, then remove and take the meat off of the bones. Discard the bones and skin. Discard the onion and bay leaf. Return broth and chicken pieces to the pot. Simmer over low heat while making the dumplings.
To Make Dumplings: In a medium mixing bowl, cut shortening into the flour and salt. Stir in 1/4 cup water (more if needed) to form a soft dough. Roll out dough on a floured surface, with a rolling pin, until very thin. Cut into 1 inch squares using a pizza cutter or knife. Or you may just break small pieces off and roll into a ball. Drop dough into simmering broth and chicken meat. Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off, then 10 minutes more with the lid on. Serve immediately.

What do you do with a whole chicken? What do you do with shredded chicken? I'd love to hear some of your chicken recipes!