Peas

After trying different kinds of Peas, we have settled on the Sugar Snap Pea.  In french we call them Mange Tout which means eat all.  The sugar snap peas you get here taste a whole lot different than what you'll get at the grocery store and like corn are best consumed as soon as possible for the sweetest taste. They should also be kept in the refrigerator.

Snap Peas are so delicious eaten just as they are, in a salad as a veggie and dip....

We also like to enjoy them quickly blanched in water for a minute and cooled in a bowl of ice water seasoned with salt. Your peas will be already seasoned and ready for munching!

Still, there are many recipes a recent one I have grown fond of is Roasted Snap Peas.  It's the perfect late night snack or as a side.

Here's the recipe : roasted-sugar-snap-peas-with-sesame-dipping-sauce

Cooking Stew Hens

Stewing Hens and Chicken Noodle Soup 

This has become our most popular post! I have decided to up date a little which i will do in green! I am glad to hopefully have been able to add a little information out there about something that i am sure all our great-grand-mothers new like the back of their hand!  It's really so easy and very forgiving. Be flexible and creative with your herb and vegetable additions... I just use what i have on hand.  You can use the broth portion of this recipe to make broth with 1 stew hen or as many as you could fit into your pot as well as any organic pastured reserved chicken bones you have.  

Poultry that is processed at older than 1 year are considered a stew hen, soup bird or "fowl.  These birds make for excellent eating, the best broth and chicken to use for any of your recipes.  We have loads of golden broth in the freezer and I always have some bags of frozen chicken meat to pull out for quesidillas or soup etc... The trick is in cooking as this meat requires a long and slow cooking time and lots of moisture. According to Gina Bisco from the article Rediscovering Traditional Meats from Historic Chicken Breeds, it is important to keep temperature below 180 F. When the temperature goes over 180 F the protein fibers toughen. Therefore, after the initial boil to bring up foam I never let the pot boil and keep to a simmer.


Chicken Noodle soup

(for the broth)
1 stewing hen
4-5 garlic cloves
1-2 large onion
4-5 celery stalks with leaves
3 carrots
fresh thyme
fresh parsley
salt
pepper


(for the soup)

reserved chicken diced up
celery
carrots
parsley
egg noodles
broth

1-Put chicken (or many chickens and any reserved bones if you are making a large batch of broth) in a pot then just cover with cold water.

2- Bring to a low boil and then simmer

3- Skim off foam that will surface

4. Add all other broth ingredients (whatever you have it's good to save less than perfect veggies like carrot ends or inedible celery parts etc...in fridge to use- i don't even peel my onion!).

5- Simmer.  What is important to know here is that:  when stewing, the water should not be allowed to boil, but should be kept at a simmer temperature, 180 F or less and the meat should be removed when ready (the breast meat will be best (especially good for sandwiches) if it is removed as soon as it is done, which may be a couple of hours before the dark meat is done .

 It will seem stiff for quite a while! I cook mine about 8 hrs...( but I always make huge batches so adjust time)  make sure there is enough water for all meat to be submerged-adding more water at times if necessary.

Like I said above the breast is always ready before the rest and it's best to remove it first and cook the dark meat a little longer but i usually forget and it's all good anyways!

6. Remove meat.

7. Cook down a little more. You can also cook for another 1/2 day or overnight and add 2 tablespoons of vinegar to extract the minerals from the bones giving you the most nutrition. Strain and then again with a cheese cloth for clear broth.


For soup- cook cut up veggies in olive oil or a little broth. Add some broth (you should have a good size of extra broth to freeze).  Boil noodles add chicken and parsley salt and pepper to taste.

Here is a fantastic link to cooking Heritage chicken: There are interesting points of cooking fowl or stew chicken.  /www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf