How to Cook Heritage Poultry

Slow and Low is key!!!


The way we raise our birds (free-ranging naturally slow-grow growing heritage birds) means they are leaner, with more muscle. The meat will also be darker than that found in a superstore chicken. 

"Studies have shown that Heritage Poultry contains less fat and more protein than the traditional supermarket birds. Let us be clear, we are not against animal fat!  We are not offering a "low fat" bird, per say. The difference is the fat content in our chickens has the correct OMEGA 3 to 6 and lipid ratios, compared to the supermarket alternative whose OMEGA 6 values far exceed the OMEGA 3 content. You can see evidence of this difference in the deep yellow color of the Heritage chicken fat that is representative of mineral and vitamin content"
  (http://www.goodshepherdpoultryranch.com/Recipes.html )
 
Our birds are much more flavourful, and you'll find that as long as you follow our cooking recommendations (slower for longer) that the bird will be moist and incredibly tender and flavourful. The way it should be!

This is our personal favorite way of preparing a duck, chicken or turkey.

Use a heavy cast iron dutch oven (with the lid on- no vents). In a pinch you can use a roaster, if you don't have a lid, with aluminum foil placed over top and then tightly pinched all around.  This ensures a moist and tender bird.

Rub the chicken/duck all over with a bit of oil, S+P and any seasoning you desire (garlic, paprika, sage, thyme, rosemary...) and then place it in the dutch oven, breast side up. 

We often put brown rice in the bottom with the normal ratio of fluid (stock is best), and you can throw in chopped root veggies, whole onions and garlic too. 

There is no exact science to the kinds of herbs and seasonings you should use on your bird. We believe in using what you enjoy and not being afraid to experiment with different combinations. 

Place in pre-heated oven and cook SLOW AND LOW at about 300 F for 1 ½ + hours depending on size (after 1 1/2 hours check every 15-20 minutes with a thermometer- when the internal temperature reads 160 F, it's ready).

If desired, remove the lid and broil it for a few minutes to brown the skin on top. Everything comes out moist, tender and smelling wonderfully of herbs! Delicious!

What do with left overs: 

Day 2:

 Use remainder of the meat and flavourful broth/gravy to make enchiladas,shepherd’s pie, soup. 

Meanwhile, cover the carcass and other bone scraps with water, some onions and seas salt in a large stock pot.(Can also throw in scrap vegetables- celery etc) Simmer for two to three hours and you have a beautiful, nutritious broth. Just strain it in a colander to de-bone.

Day 3: Either freeze the broth, or use right away to make soup, cook rice, etc

Three delicious meals from one bird!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

Edible Flowers: Adding beauty to your meals

It's summer, and the gardens are starting to burst with colour! Did you know many colorful blooms are edible? Yes, there are edible flowers!

Just a handful of flowers from our garden that are edible: Calendula, Johny-jump-ups, Bachelor Buttons, and Nasturtiums

  And not only are they beautiful, they come in a range of flavours, from refreshinlgy cucumber-like flavours, to sweet and licoriceey to spicey and peppery. This range of flavours means a range of uses.

A gorgeous Calendula bloom: to use remove the petals and only use the petals for eating (unless making a medicinal salve)

 Flowers as a garnish: 
 
 Here are some ways of using edible flowers to enhance your meals. Nowadays its all about getting food cheap, making food fast, and then gulping it down without much thought. I think there should be more reverence in our daily meals. Slowing down your hectic schedule in life, in small ways, goes a long way for your quality of life. Like putting flowers on your salad as a garnish. Such an unnecessary thing. And yet, the value is priceless. Beautiful. Tasty. Taking the time to enjoy a beautiful salad, garnished and tossed with extra flavor and prettiness.  And really, it's so easy (wait till you take a salad garnished with flowers to a potluck- sure to be a crowd wowser!)

Ever made pesto? Nasturtiums spicy, peppery flavour makes for a flavourful and colourful pesto.

 Nasturtium pesto on a snadwhich, garnished with borage flowers

Here is the Nasturtium Pesto Recipe: 

Chop the blossoms ( it takes a lot!) then added olive oil, some yogurt, minced garlic, Parmesan cheese, a dash of salt and pepper and some chopped pine nuts.

Stir into cooked noodes, or spread in a sandwhich. Infinite uses!

Flower Butter is another interesting way to incorporate flowers into your meals:

 Chop a handful of flowers and stir into softened butter. Can add salt or onion, garlic powder. Place in a small dish and chill. 

Tip: Use savoury flowers like Nasturtium, basil, oregano flowers. 

This flower butter looks like it has confetti in it. Looks beautiful spread on toast. Place a spoonful on steamed vegetables or a baked fish. Lovely!!

 

*Warning*: Not all flowers are edible- some can make you sick.  If you are harvesting your own flowers do your homework to make sure you are only harvesting edible ones. Do not use flowers if they have been, or if you even think they might have been, sprayed with pesticides, or herbicides.

Here are some links about which flowers are edible:

Edible Flower Chart

Edible Prairie Flowers Only a small list at the bottom of the web page, includes other info on other edible prairie plants

Visit our farmers market booth in the summer! We will be selling our edible flowers that have been grown all-naturally and harvested that day for freshness. For the summer of 2012, we will be at the following markets (subject to change in the future- please check our website or email us for more info) :

Olds farmers market

 Downtown Red Deer Farmers Market

and in Calgary at the Northlands Farmers market and the Hillhurst Sunnyside Market

Cold Frames, Friends and bliss!

 Its been a few weeks of farming bliss, seeing the warmth of having friends that are as excited as we are now that have a farm, figuring out our routines as we do chores, slowly working on our ever-growing list of projects. Many of which are going faster due to friends generously giving us their time and energy to help us. Thank-you, you know who you are!!

Last Saturday we decided it was time to build our cold frame/high tunnel to house our potted herbs for the spring, and also our  entire "baby" crop Basil for the summer (Basil can't handle the cooler evenings here in AB). We had a handle on how to build something like this- previous experience building metal high-tunnels for John Mills at Eagle Creek Farms as well as some theoretical knowledge. Well, we can give ourselves a pat on the back (I think)! Along with help from our friend Kyle we managed to complete a tunnel, complete with 1 door (sort of...it sags a bit...) and 1 ventilation door in the back (which may not exist yet...) but it is pretty much done! And it seems reasonable sturdy too. It was a surprisingly hot, sunny day (20 C above) and so we got a lot of sun! Between the hot sun, a beer and a wee bit of dehydration we felt pretty good! Ha!We can call it a very productive and wonderful day.

Skeleton of the tunnel

Wood supports added

Finished tunnel covered with greenhouse poly and a door in front and back ends

The fun continues...between trying to get dinner served for my hubby on time (well, on time is a great exaggeration) and farming stuff I have also been able to do some work on our garden.

 The previous owner took great care of his property...everything was raked, well-weeded, and he was also an orderly sort of fellow... straight rows in his garden beds, a clump of tulips at each corner of the deck...don't get me wrong- I appreciate gaining possession of a clean yard, but the whole effect is also fairly boring. This just means I have a clean slate to work with- this appeals to creative me very much! First thing first, a herb garden near the kitchen is in order. So far I have dug up a good chunk of dirt next to the deck, right nearest to the kitchen entrance. Daniel left one morning from a lawn and came back that evening to a minor excavation! Ha! Digging up boring lawn is one of the most liberating feelings :) I adore it...honestly, it's entirely possible that I dig up lawns purely based on my need for that feeling of liberation....well, that and the added effects of a much more diversified flower/veggie/herb bed, water retention in the diversified plant matter, increased insect populations (namely butterflies and bees!), and so on and so forth. It's going to be a lot of work, I realize this- especially after 2 days have gone by because other things have demanded my attention. And still the half dug yard waits for me.

The boring undug yard- the grass looks a little sad cause its spring and not all the grass is green yet

Partially dug herb garden, same view as above photo. The left edge will actually be another path (like below) and then the rest of the grass on the left will also be dug up

First little brick path through the right side of future herb garden

It doesn't look like much, I know.  It will get finished and look beautiful, in time... The problem is patience. Patience is the single most virtue I lack and which is most needed when it comes to gardening. My recent interest in "pinterest" (don't get me started, a friend told me I absolutely needed to try it out, as it turns out, I like virtual pin boards... I do in real life, so I guess it's not a far stretch to...virtual.... pin board?) oh right, so I'm all on fire researching  creative and grounded garden ideas- from creative things like hanging mirrors in the garden to reflect light around (cool,right?!) to more grounded ideas like sheet mulching to get a garden going.... And I have all these dreams germinating of what this little herb garden and all my other gardens will look like...images of cottage-ey mature plants spilling over rock borders... (pinning all these images on pinterest of course) And then I look at my just flipped sod....bare earth...will I have the patience to see this through? We'll see. I do live the process though, as impatient as I am. Soon I'll just plant some herbs in that gorgeous, rich soil.

Maybe one day the herb garden will look like this...one day!

The beauty about all of this is accepting the process it seems. Sure I want an amazing garden in the end, but the process, work and years of tending are what is the important part. Collecting and adding unique perennials, herbs and other plants to the garden, watching them grow. Making and finding unique treasures from the forest, 2nd hand stores, antique shops, and finding special places for those treasures in the garden. And of course the learning along the way, understanding lifecycles, plants, insects, nutrients, how everything is connected... becoming a better person (ie, gaining patience!).

I am only slightly, ok a lot, overwhelmed by the tasks ahead. Something that keeps me sane though is, well first Daniel. Truly he is a rock and carries much of the weight of the decision making, financial planning burdens. And secondly, the fact that the best you can do is take things ONE day at time (and use chalk boards, to make lists and prioritize!) ok I think I'm done now! oh ya, enjoy yourself, everyday! Take pride in the work you do, in the things you accomplished THAT day.

2011 Grain Shares NOW available!!

Starting in October/November 2011, we will be delivering the first shares of our grain CSA program to Calgary, Red Deer, Olds and area.

By signing up for our grain CSA for 2011-2012, you will be signing up to recieve a delivery of freshly milled or flaked grains every other week. We will be supplying you for an entire year.  At each delivery, you will receive a 1kg bag of either whole wheat flour made from heritage wheat or flaked oats. They are being grown absolutley free of synthetic chemics, so you are receiving a fresh, nutritious and naturally grown product. 

We are now beginning to take names on our waiting list for the grain share. We intend to offer 50 shares for our first year and slowly increasing the size as it makes sense for us. Unfortunately, we won't know how much of a yield we expect to have until September or October, as the growing season can vary depending on the year we have, so we won't start taking payments or confirming anything until then.

This is what you do to be first in line for your very own share in our grain harvest!

1. Email us at countrythymefarm@gmail.com or visit our website
2. You will be entered onto our waiting list
3. In the first week of october we will contact you and confirm your membership and begin accepting payments
4. You will be meeting us every other week at the designated delivery points in Red Deer, Calgary, and Olds and receive your fresh oats or flour!
5. That's it!

Some details pending... you can visit our website for more information. If you have any questions at all, please email us and we will be happy to talk with you.