More chicks...a lot of them

I just ordered 25 chicks for delivery next week. And what do I plan to do with a flock of 33 in a city where chickens are illegal? Well, I hope to sell some of the older ones, sell some of the babies, raise some of the babies for eggs, and raise some for meat. I originally had decided to purchase hybrid meat birds, but after reading about some of the leg problems associated with the fast growing tendencies, I just decided to get heritage breed chickens and eat some of them...

I'm looking forward to the babies, but not the work...last time my hen did the work!

Rooster processing

Yesterday was the day that we "processed" (slaughtered) our roosters. There were 3 of them, and while they were a bit young for slaughter, they were old enough to crow, which makes them old enough to slaughter in my book. I very fortuitously found a man who was willing to help and teach me the process, in exchange for a share of the birds. I considered bringing Maya with me, but thought it might be too gruesome for a child her age, so in the end, Noah and I went, and Maya stayed to play with my mom.
In fact, it was really not gruesome at all. The birds were peaceful and the process very simple and respectful. I saved some of the beautiful tail feathers for art projects, and learned to kill and clean a bird. Art, who seems to be a mover and shaker in miami's urban homesteading community, was a wonderful teacher and a really great guy.
When I got home, Haim had the grill fired up, and Maya, Haim, Eli and I shared a delicious grilled chicken. The meat was different than what we usually get from the store...more sinewy and maybe "athletic" but really delicious and flavorful. The leftovers and bones are currently bubbling away on the stove as a chicken soup.
All in all, a really special experience, though I think I may be off store bought meat forever!

Garden

Our tomatoes have recovered from the frost, though we did loose a bunch of blossoms....otherwise, radish, peas, lettuce, carrots and fennel doing particularly well. The herbs are always yummy and easy, and I've been experimenting with broccoli and cabbage, which got planted too late, but look good. For some reason, my squash and melons are grumpy...oh well, chicken food I guess!
However, my eggplant is beautiful, bushy and keeps getting and losing flowers. What is that about?? I can't find anything about it online. Maybe I'll ask a farmer when I'm down in Homestead with the roosters tomorrow!

Multicultural potluck party

We have a lot of friends in Miami, and I am one of the few American-born (except for the kids) in the group....so I thought it would be fun to have a multicultural potluck.

Yesterday afternoon we had 7 families over. The countries represented were Barbados, England, Germany, Holland, Israel, Jamaica, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Peru, Spain, and Syria. Some of the yummy things we ate were a curry sausage, calabasa and beans with rice, lamb and green beans in spicy tomato sauce, pumpkin and pea soup, sausage beans and rice, lamb and eggplant tagine, and tortilla of potatoes. It was really yummy and fun, and most importantly we all enjoyed the giggles of the kids running around the back yard all evening!

Other excitement for the day consisted of Haim and I catching our 3 roosters (leaving us with 8 chickens) to send them to an acquaintance who will be teaching me how to "process" them tomorrow. I'm leaving Maya with my mom...I briefly considered bringing her, since it is important for me that she understand where her food comes from...on the other hand, probably too gruesome for a 3 year old....so I'm going to process with Noah, who will hopefully sleep through the grizzly bits. I'll be posting a pic of the rooster dinner later.

Perfect Pappardelle

Oh how I wish I had taken a picture of our glorious meal!

Sunday night I was flipping through Bon Appetite, and wondering what I was going to cook for dinner.....i knew it would be something pasta related, since i try to cook a couple of vegetarian meals a week, and one of them is generally pasta meal.

So, long story short I came upon a recipe for fresh pappardellle pasta...(a long flat noodle) which looked easy...so I took a big gulp and decided to try.

(Back story: about 4 years ago, Haim and I decided to try to make pasta...it was a really difficult royal disaster. Shortly thereafter, my mom gifted us a pasta attachment for my mixer, but I was so scared from the first attempt that I never used it)

So, Haim was playing with Noah, and Maya and I began the recipe...it was easy and fun and wonderful and you could probably do the whole thing by hand, though a pasta attachment or machine will make it MUCH easier.

It was so yummy we just ate it (and it was A LOT of pasta) with salt and olive oil.

Here is the recipe which I halved, and modified a bit in the mixing...Also, it's a great recipe to do with kids...simple measuring, counting, mixing and kneading without too much mess. (Alone, the recipe will take about 5 minutes to mix, 5 to knead, and 20 or so to form the actual pasta....with kids, it might take hours!)

Fresh Pappardelle

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

3 T water

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 t salt

Mix salt and flour in a medium bowl. Make a well and add eggs, yolks, and water. Mix with a wooden spoon, until fairly thoroughly mixed....though there might be some crumbly bits at the bottom. Add more water if necessary to moisten a bit, though this dough should not be very wet or sticky. Place dough on floured counter and knead until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap (or put into an airtight container if you want to skip the plastic wrap) and let rest 45 minutes.

Unwrap and divide into 4 parts, but keep unused parts wrapped while you work.

Place each quarter on the counter and flatten to a 3 inch wide rectangle. Run through the pasta machine at the thickest setting several times, then change increase thinness setting and run through the machine several more times. Repeat until the pasta is about 1/16 inch thin. (this part would be cumbersome, but totally doable with a rolling pin, as long as you ensure that the pasta does not stick to your pin or the work surface. As you are rolling the pasta (by hand or machine) if it becomes too long to work with, cut in half, so that you are never working with more than 14-18 inches length.

Once your pasta is the desired thickness and length, set it aside to let it dry about 30 minutes, and then either cut into strips by hand or run through the noodle cutter on your machine. The pasta can be cooked immediately in well salted boiling water, or dried a bit more and chilled until ready to cook.

Lamb and Eggplant Tagine

Getting ready for a multi cultural potluck....and I can't believe that I've never posted this recipe. It's one of my favorites, and I've even modified/ simplified it as well.

It's originally from the book Fresh Moroccan, but since I can't stand extra steps in the kitchen, or big messes, I've changed it a bit to simplify!

Eggplant and Lamb Tagine (for 4-6)

1 1/2 lbs lamb for stewing

1 large eggplant (or 2 medium)

1 large can whole tomatoes

olive oil

3-4 T water

pinch safron

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground coriander

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 t paprika (hot if you have the option between hot and sweet)

1/2 t tumeric

3/4 t ground cumin

1T chopped cilantro

1T chopped parsley

1/2 t sugar

1T lemon juice

Rub the lamb generously with salt (though do not over salt it) and let stand for 5 minutes in a small to medium pan with a lid. Add 1/2 t olive oil to the meat (unless there is a lot of fat trimmed from the meat, then you can just throw a small piece of fat in the pot) and cook about 1 minute on medium-high heat. Add the safron, ginger and coriander and stir well. Add water and simmer 1 hour, covered. (Check periodically that there is still a touch of water in the pan, if not, add more.)

Cut eggplant into 3/4 inch thick rounds and brush both sides with oil. Broil on low on cookie sheet, once the first side is browned and softened, flip to cook the other side. Remove from oven and place the eggplant in a bowl. Mash the lemon juice into the eggplant.

Drain and crush tomatoes by hand, reserving juice if you want to use later for tomato soup or sauce, ect...( If I double the lamb recipe I make a quick soup for 4 with garlic, 1 stalk celery, 1 onion, 1 carrot, a bay leaf and white pepper....yum!)

Place drained, crushed tomatoes in small to medium pot with garlic and a pinch of salt. Simmer about 1 minute and add paprika. Continue cooking until most of the juice has evaporated, then add turmeric, cumin, 1 t oil, cilantro, parsley and sugar. Cook until thickened.

Assemble the dish by placing the meat and juices on the bottom, next the eggplant, and finally the tomato. This can be in the same pot as used for cooking the lamb, or in a glass dish or bowl so that you can see the layers. Let simmer on the stove or cook low in the oven for at least 1 hour or up to 5 hours.

This is really yummy served over rice or couscous, and also freezes great.

Tri-rail ride...the really fun failed homeschool fieldtrip

I thought that Maya might really enjoy riding our commuter light-rail train...also known as the tri-rail. I figured some of the other kids in our home school group would also enjoy this, so I set up a field trip.

A couple of families signed up, but on the day of, everyone emailed to cancel. None the less, I had a plan, and had set aside the time, so we called my mom (who is one of Maya's favorite people on the planet), Lucy (a friend of Maya's) and off we went.

While the girls had a great time on the train, their favorite part was definitely the blue cotton candy flavored ice cream with gummy bears mixed in!

Valentine's Day Baking

Maya and I have been doing some Valentine's banking. Earlier today I made Haim a bread pudding (I made one for my dad last week, and Haim has had a hankering) and I also defrosted some sugar cookie dough that I make ahead of time and freeze, so that Maya and I can get to the good part (cutting and decorating) quickly.

My girl LOVES her pink sugar sprinkles...

Carmines Bread Pudding...the lazy way

We have a thing for Carmine's...it's a family style restaurant in NY, near to my aunt's house on the Upper West Side and we really like the food there. I had my 21st birthday there, and whenever Lynn comes, she brings meatballs down to my dad...so I guess it's a family thing. For Thanksgiving we couldn't find a Pecan Pie that we all agreed on, so I got the recipe for Carmine's bread pudding (they have a cookbook) and made it. YUM. However, since I'm lazy in the kitchen, I like to cut corners. Here is my version of the recipe, which skips the "individually toast and butter each slice of bread" part. Though if you have the time and desire, go for it! Everything else is the same....and if you want to switch it up a bit you can always substitute dried cherries for raisins...think of the bread as a blank canvas and go crazy! Also, I use my home made challa bread, but the original recipe calls for rustic bread.



Carmine's Chocolate Bread Pudding

• 3/4 cup golden raisins
• 7 large eggs
• 3 cups heavy (whipping) cream
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar
  
• tablespoons pure vanilla extract
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  
• 2 pounds day-old challa bread
  
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  
• whipped cream or ice cream (optional, for serving)
  

In a small bowl, cover raisins with hot water and soak them for until needed. (Alternately, microwave the raisins and water until the water boils) Drain and set aside (the raisins can soak while you make the custard).

To make the custard, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside.

Trim crust from bread and cut bread into 4-by-2-inch rectangles about 3/4 inch thick.

TO MAKE BREAD PUDDING:
Snugly line the bottom of a covered oven safe dish (or a loaf pan) with bread. Scatter a quarter of raisins and a quarter of the chocolate chips over the bread. Top with another layer of bread slices. Keep layering the pudding until there you have no more layers (generally 3-4 layers) and all the raisins, chocolate and bread are used. The top layer should be raisins and chocolate.

Melt the butter and mix into the custard (though it will sort of rise to the top and coagulate, when it comes into contact with the cool milk...yuo could probably leave the butter out too, though I've never tested it)

Gently pour the custard over the pudding so that it sinks down to the bottom and covers the top of the pudding. With the back of a spoon or spatula, press down on the bread to compact the pudding and distribute the custard.

Cover your dish (or cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and then with aluminum foil) and refrigerate at least 2 hours or for up to 12 hours. (You can also freeze pretty successfully at this stage)

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Put a deep roasting pan, large enough to hold the dish easily, on the rack. (If you have used a loaf pan covered with foil and plastic wrap, remove the foil and plastic wrap from the bread pudding. Discard plastic wrap and replace foil over the pan.) Set the loaf pan in the roasting pan and add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come half to three-quarters of the way up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake pudding about 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer poked through the foil comes out clean. (If it's not clean, return pudding to the oven and recheck every 15 minutes). Remove foil and allow to cool for 1 hour before serving.

TO SERVE:
Invert a serving platter over the pudding and, holding the platter in place over the loaf pan, turn it upside down to release the pudding onto the platter. Immediately turn the pudding upright. Serve slices with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.


*Note: the recipe says that it serves 6-10...I think it easily serves 12...it's really rich. Sometimes I cut the recipe in half (using 4 eggs) and bake it in a smaller dish...it then makes about 5 cups. It could also be cute baked in individual ramekins or mugs.

Silly kids