Leg of Lamb

We had a wonderful Easter celebrating with family in New Jersey.  Our contribution is large stomachs and a leg of lamb bought from our meat provider here in WNY - Duink Farms of Hamburg, NY.  But my mom does the real magic.  See the recipe she uses below for a delicious and perfectly cooked leg of Lamb!  I'm not sure what recipe book it comes from.


10 Servings, (or 5 if you are in our family) Prep: 20 min. Bake: 2 hours + standing
Ingredients
  1 boneless leg of lamb (4 to 5 pounds)
  1 cup soft bread crumbs (about 2 slices)
  2 tablespoons butter, melted
  1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence (see recipes)
  Dash salt and pepper
  1 large onion, finely chopped
  1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
  2-1/2 pounds medium potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
  1 large tart apple, sliced
Directions
  Place leg of lamb on a rack in a roasting pan. (Pierce small holes in fatty part of lamb. Stick a slice of a garlic clove in the holes. Use as much/little garlic as you like.)    In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, butter and seasonings; spread over meat.
  Place onion in pan(Do this before putting the lamb on the rack in the pan.); pour broth over onion. Bake, uncovered, at
  325° for 1 hour.

  Add potatoes; bake 30 minutes longer. Add apple; bake 30 minutes
  longer or until potatoes are tender and meat reaches desired
  doneness (for medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 145°;
  medium, 160°; well-done, 170°). (Total time 2 hours.)

  Remove vegetables and apple and keep warm. Let roast stand for 10-15
  minutes before slicing.

With a side of asparagus you just can't go wrong!

I was asked once by three of my nieces in WNY what my favorite holiday is...Easter I replied.  3 quizzical faces turned to look at me, Easter?!  In a kids mind it may not compare to Christmas, and quite frankly in my mind you can't have one with out the other - no birth, no death or resurrection.  But yes, Easter is my favorite holiday, and since Dann has taught me life is a game (he likens marriage to the game of Survivor - out wit, out last and out play).  My response that day to my nieces was - Yes, Easter.  Jesus won! 

Here are some pictures from Easter Day with the family - starting with Sunrise Service at 6am on the Beach in Ship Bottom, NJ.  Later in the day we saw the rainbow at my parents.  We had beautiful weather - in the 60's on the beach in the morning to afternoon highs in the Low 80's!! It was also great to visit with my oldest brother and his family!!

Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful weekend!

Bath Time on the Farm

We had a treat tonight, after being trapped in their tractor for 4 days and being rained on last night when we got home and finally let them out, the ladies got a relatively dry 2 hours out in the yard tonight.  They enjoyed their typical activities of snagging worms and slugs, eating grass and tearing up the garden beds.  But the treat was - they all got dust baths together tonight - it started out 2 and slowly but surely the rest of the family joined in.  I hope I have better luck sharing the video with you this evening...it was absolutely adorable. 

I promise -there are 6 birds in the video....

Growth Spurt on the Acre

Butternut Squash seedlig - planted 4.17.11 photo 4.21.11

Per my usual, last night I remembered after the lights were out and I was about to start counting sheep, that I needed to water the seedlings.  So I jumped up, bundled up - the basement is rather chilly - and ran down to the basement to water my soil...what did I see?  I saw pie pumpkins, butternut squash and grape tomatoes poking their little heads through the soil.

Ok - so I didn't read up on how long it takes a pumpkin or squash seed to germinate, but my sources tell me tomatoes take 10 days...I planted everything on Sunday, that's 4 days by my count - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. 

This morning there was a little more life to the seedlings, and I noticed the cucumbers had decided to join the party...

but this evening...WOW!  I think we may be on track to have pumpkins and butternut squash growing wild in our basement!

Steak Salad - Featuring Venison

I was supposed to get down to Grove City in March for a girls shopping trip with Allyson...that has yet to happen.  While I haven't been able to enjoy spending time with Allyson, I was able to recreate one of my Grove City Food fix's by making a venison version of the Pittsburgh Steak Salad.  If you don't know - this is the best salad in the world because it comes with fries.

Rachel's Roadhouse is a MUST food experience if you are ever at the Grove City Outlets - my personal recommendations are (1) Pretzels - they are deep fried and come with your choice of dipping sauces - Dann likes chocolate, I go for ranch dressing (2) Leesburg Hero - strips of chicken on a sub roll topped with french fries, coleslaw and cheese (3) Steak Salad (home-made recipe below) (4) if you have any room left try the Kentucky Derby pie.  Ok, so none of that is reflective of the healthy eating I've been trying to espouse here, there are times to splurge!

So..while I still haven't gotten to see Allyson, I was able to enjoy a steak salad using some venison given to us by friends.  First I cut 2 baking potatoes into long strips - aka Fries - added some olive oil, dash of salt and pepper - tossing to coat everything and then popped them in the toaster oven for about 40 minutes. 

Meanwhile I had the venison out of the fridge coming to room temperature - never take a steak straight from the fridge to the fire, let it come to room temperature and you will be able to sear it better and control the "done-ness" better.  About 20 minutes in to the potatoes cooking I started the steaks, cooked them to our individual preferences (I'm more med-rare, Dann's more medium, though he is definitely starting to like pinker meats better...).  Anyway, let the meat rest while the fries finish cooking.  Prep your lettuce and any other add ons (onions, cheese, tomatoes, whatever you like on your salad). 

Plate the salad, add the meat to the center of the salad, scatter the fries around, add some dressing and enjoy!!

Allyson - I promise we will get together soon!!

Weekend Update

Ahh..is it really Sunday evening?  Has the weekend really ended? 

Friday evening we enjoyed date night with the ladies.  Dann picked up subs on his way home and we had a picnic in the backyard as the ladies roamed around.  We got some cute video of Punk & Sweet Tweet getting dirt baths - and yes, chickens purr.  I tried loading it but it didn't work, I'll try again another time. 
We also took walks about the yard...

The evening was cut short thanks to a hawk of course.  I was facing one way and Dann the other enjoying our subs and keeping watch over the ladies who were divided across the yard when the hawk swooped low in the direction I was facing.  My sub was tossed to the ground, an expletive rang out, and I went diving for Wimpy & Cinderella who were in my site.  Fortunately Wimps and Cindy were close to the tractor and dove in for cover- probably more out of my charging at them than the fact that the hawk swooped down, but hey, whatever works.  Dann rose bewildered by the speed of my reaction (the hawk had flown behind him out of his site) and I sent him to run cover over the other 4 ladies that were close to the house.  We have seen 3 hawks in the area, some times together some times not, but I'm not taking any chances. This is not going to be a fun summer if we are not able to let the ladies out because of the hawks and are forced to listen to their constant cries.  They are on pasture so I don't feel terrible about not letting them out...it's just their constant chatter demanding to see the grass on the other side of their protective habitat.

I spent 6 hours on Saturday transplanting seedlings and another 2 hours today planting more seeds.  The transplants seem to be thriving in their new soil, only time will tell about the new seeds that were planted. 

Today's seed plantings included peppers (6 varieties), tomatoes (3 varieties), melon - water & musk, Butternut Squash, Pie Pumpkin and cucumber.  I'm hoping the early starting of the melons this year produces something larger than a softball and something that is edible!

I also went over to the Colligan's to enjoy a preview of the upcoming Bread Making Class that they will be hosting.  I enjoyed watching father and daughter as they practiced their presentations  - Bob used the food processor for making the dough and Laura demonstrated hand kneading, letting me get my hands coated with dough as Laura coached me on kneading.  My biggest take away - knead dough in a glass bowl, it doesn't stick or require extra flour to prevent the dough from sticking on the counter as you knead.  I am definitely not a pro, but I learned some tricks that should certainly improve my game next time I knead a loaf of bread.  We made Molasses bread which has a 24 hour rise, so tomorrow evening we should be able to sit down and enjoy some fresh bread!  Thanks Bob & Laura!!  Stay tuned for the recipe!

Joining the Raw Milk Revolution!

We received a gift today - a half gallon of fresh Goat's Milk from Welcome Farm.  We welcomed our gift with open arms and open mouths.  Dann thinks it has a sweet finish.  I think it is just plain yummy!  But then again I'm so excited for any milk I can actually digest.

In my teens I learned I "must be" lactose intolerant because of issues I had following the consumption of dairy products.  Every now and then I would sneak in a glass of milk or some ice cream, knowing the penalty would mean I was doubled over in pain for the rest of the day.  So during the years when a woman is supposed to get the most calcium she can, I didn't unless cheese gives you extra points on the calcium intake scale.  I never snuck cheese, I would just out and out devour it.  Cheese is probably my biggest weakness when it comes to food. 

Anyway, this past summer I was introduced to Hillcrest Farms Milk from Moravia NY.  It is regular cows milk, but the cows are not given any hormones and the milk uses a slow (low heat) pasteurization process from what I understand.  Whatever they do, I am happy because ever since I have a glass of milk a day - sometimes two - with NO side effects!  And now to know that 10 minutes away Welcome Farm is offering fresh Goat's Milk...ahhh.

A POTpourri of Chicken dishes

As you may have guessed we love Chicken –both the feathery egg laying kind and the meat kind.  We had 13 roosters contributed to our freezer last year as previously mentioned so the other weekend I pulled one out of the freezer and made 3 different meals from one of our birds and a TON of stock.  (1) Brine Roasted Chicken (2) Clean Chicken Divan (3) Chicken Chili (4) Chicken Stock.  It was a great way to enjoy the bird and all the leftovers without feeling like you were really eating leftovers.  And for those of us not overly fond of dark meat – it hides very nicely in Chicken Divan and Chicken Chili.  Below are the recipes I used or concocted.

Brine Roasted Chicken

Brine Chicken for a day, I recommend at least 8 hours

Rinse, coat skin with Olive Oil, butter, or as I did bacon fat – you don’t eat the skin anyway so the bird might as well smell divine while cooking.  Roast at 425 for 20 minutes and then lower temperature to 350 and cook until the internal temperature of the thigh reads 180 (time varies on size of bird).

Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Clean Chicken Divan

My mom’s Chicken Divan is one of my favorite dishes.  I wanted to take this decadent dish and find a healthier/more Clean version. Google complied by providing a link to the below recipe from EatingWell.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken (they of course recommend white meat only, but use what you have leftover from your roasted bird)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups diced leek, white and light green parts only (about 1 large)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped broccoli, thawed, or 1 pound broccoli crowns (see Ingredient Note), chopped  (I’d recommend 2lbs broccoli – but I love my veggies, especially broccoli- I just felt the dish needed more.)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise (I used Greek Yogurt instead – use what you have on hand)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

A note on Salt – I look at all the ingredients before ever adding salt to see if it might be covered by say, chicken broth.  At the same time salt does help with releasing the water (sweating) vegetables so do what works for you, we err on the side of less salt being added as it naturally occurs in some many ingredients including vegetables.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 7-by-11-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. (Of course you will need a larger baking dish if you increase the broccoli…).
2. Place chicken in a medium skillet or saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and slice into bite-size pieces. (Use leftovers and skip this step!!)
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add leek and salt and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Add flour; stir to coat. Add broth, milk, sherry, thyme and pepper and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Add broccoli; return to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, mayonnaise and mustard.
4. Spread half the broccoli mixture in the prepared baking dish. Top with the chicken, then the remaining broccoli mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Bake until bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

We got 4 servings, again with more broccoli it could go further.

Chicken Chili

I buy dry beans and reconstitute them by soaking them for 8-10 hours in water, draining them and then putting them in the Crockpot for 8-10 hours – it’s marvelous!  I always have black beans on hand for tacos and the like, but also did kidney beans to have a combo for our chili.  And for those of you shopping for the 10 for $10 sales at your local grocery store – 2 bags of dry beans yielded 10 12oz jars of cooked beans for $4 and that’s the price of organic dry beans.  Cooked beans freeze well, so cook them up and freeze some for later!

Back to the chili recipe – really do what you and your family like - dice up the remaining chicken and use that instead of beef.  One thing we did do with our chili this time was to add a chili pepper in adobo sauce – that added a nice kick.  Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips!  YUM!

Chicken Stock

Throw all your chicken bones, leftover veggies and the kitchen sink in a ginormous pot and simmer for hours (8-10+ preferably).  We added mushroom stems this time round and the stock smelled so good and has a beautiful rich color to it.  I used up all my canning jars and then some with the huge pot I made and they are saving nicely in our freezer right now. You can never have enough Chicken Stock on hand.  And now I have also learned you can never have enough canning jars on hand.

The whole time the stock was cooking I was dreaming of my mom’s homemade egg noodles!  One rainy weekend we will indulge and have a nice pot of Chicken Soup with mom’s noodles.

I’m feeding only 2 so for a family of four or more you will probably only be able to do 2 of these recipes + the stock at a time, but try them – they are delicious! 

I ran through the briars...

This weekend found Dann & I becoming intimately acquainted with the raspberry/blackberry patch by our house as we looked to reclaim the live branches from the dead so we could actually harvest some berries this year.  I don't think the patch has been touched anytime in the last 20 years. And while Linoel Richie's "Stuck on You" might be a more appropriate song, I kept singing a song from my childhood as I dove in to the briar patch hoping to come out  unscathed with fistfuls of dead branches - join me if you will in reminiscing a tune sung by Johnny Horton - "They ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles and the ran through the bushes were the rabbit couldn't go.  They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em. On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico...." Click here to catch it on You Tube: Battle of New Orleans (did they really have music videos back then?).  These are the songs you learn as a child of a US History teacher.

I have no idea if we will get any berries this summer as a result of the haircut I am giving the bushes and we are only about 1/3 of the way through the patch. And yes, i am well aware this is not the time of year to be taking such drastic measures on a berry bush, but it is the time we have so it is what we are doing. We did uncover 3 golf balls so Dann is happy.  We'll keep you posted of any berry harvesting from this project.

Before



After



During



On to the Main Event on Patches' Acre - The Ladies spent the afternoon and most of the evening Saturday out of the tractor - oh were they happy.  The beds in the back and side of the house have now been completely turned over and fertilized by them and they are working their way towards our front beds.  They will be blocked from one of the front beds as I finally started some outdoor seeds this weekend  planting 2 different leaf lettuces, 2 different spinach varieties, a radish variety and red mustard greens - with dreams of mustard green pesto dancing in my head.  YUM!  I'm so ready for some fresh greens!  Dann also removed the sides of the tractor so they have daylight and wind and rain of course.  For now we plan to move them 2 times a day onto fresh pasture as the grass is so young and they are so eager to eat it and scratch for worms and grubs.

The Taste of Spring

The Ladies have been enjoying evening strolls, or foraging may be a better way to look at it, as the weather is turning nicer and the days are getting longer.  I can't complain as Dann and I spend our evenings outside watching their antics and making plans for the garden.  And the benefit of the strolls is realized twice a day - once with my breakfast egg and once later when I have a hard boiled egg.  It is amazing what a little grass, with some grubs and worms thrown in can do to the taste and color of an egg.  And this is just a start - they are not on full pasture yet...we are waiting with baited breath for that day! 

Above is a picture of my breakfast this morning, made even better with a slice of potato onion bread from a bake sale Welcome Farm Bakehouse hosted at the East Aurora Cooperative Market on Thursday evening.  If you didn't get a chance to stop by Thursday and pick up a loaf, or 10, keep an eye out for the next bake sale - this is not a sale to miss!!

I finally sat down during lunch yesterday and started plotting out the garden beds.  With Sally Cunningham's Garden Companion book in hand I performed strategic relationships with my seeds - matching up the potatoes with bush beans in an effort to deter the Colorado potato beetle, and onions and carrots to deter the carrot rust fly.  I'm now up to about 20 garden beds that we need to cultivate in some way and plant based on the seeds I bought and I'm not done with all the varieties we have yet.  Oh My!  AND we had 50lbs (yes there is a zero after the five) of seed potatoes arrive this week.  We have another 5lbs (yes only 5) of potatoes coming in about a week and a half.  The 50 lbs represents 25lbs Yukon Gold and 25lbs Red and the 5lbs is two different varieties of fingerling potatoes - YUM!  We will need to get our shovels out as I read in my potato planting guides that you plant 15lbs of potatoes per 100ft bed. Mind you another book told me you only need 20 - 30 ft of potatoes per family member.  We'll be a little over that mark it seems if our crop is successful.  Which reminds me I need to get Dann building my road side garden stand....

Time to start making my paper pots so I can transplant more seedlings this morning....

Roasted Salmon with Shiitake, Leek and Arugula Salad

This weekend I took my bi-monthly/monthly drive to stock up on meat and seafood.  We buy our meat from local farmer, Darryl Duink of Duink Farms in Hamburg NY, and our seafood at Exclusively Alaskan Goods in Eden, NY.  I am always so happy to see the friendly faces at both locations and catch-up on the happenings with the owners.  It is also a beautiful drive along some of the backroads of the Southtowns.

Exclusively Alaskan Good is a shop in Eden NY with a wonderful family connection between Eden and Shirleyville AK.  This weekend I picked up some Sockeye Salmon and Cod as I looked forward to making a simple and delicious salmon dish.  This is one that is ready so fast and looks so pretty you’ll think you’ve just been waited on at a restaurant when you are the one that prepared it!  By the way, Dann & I have fallen in love with leeks this winter.  We even have seedlings growing in our basement.  Ah…the power of the leek….  Enjoy!

Roasted Salmon with shiitake, leek and arugula salad, From Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2009

½ lb shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced ¼ inch thick

1 medium leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, rinsed well and sliced 1/8 inch think

Now that you have the hard part done….

You will also need

3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

Salt/Pepper to taste

1 medium lemon

4 6-8 ounce slices skinless salmon fillets, or 1 ½ to 2lb fillet of salmon

3 lightly packed cups of baby arugula

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 450.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium bowl toss the mushrooms, leek, oil, ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper.  Finely grate the lemon zest in a small bowl, mix the zest with 1tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper.

Arrange the salon on the baking sheet, rub the lemon zest mixture on the tops and sides of the fillets and scatter the mushrooms and leeks around the fish in a single layer.

Roast until the vegetables are tender and the fish is opaque in the center, 10 – 15 minutes.  If the fish finishes cooking before the vegetables transfer it to a plate and continue to roast the vegetables until tender (3-5 minutes more)

Combine the arugula and roasted vegetables in a large bowl.  Squeeze about 1 Tbsp juice from the lemon onto the vegetables and toss to combine.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and more lemon juice.  Divide the mixture among four serving plates, top each salad with a piece of the fish and serve. 

Goats Come to Welcome Farm

This evening I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Paula of Welcome Farm to meet her latest additions - goats!  There are also llama and chickens so far at Welcome Farm and they are about to have sheep wonder on to the farm in the next week or so.  Our friend Bob had also dropped by so the three of us visited while Paula milked Reki (photo above - I will need to verify the spelling).  I even got to try my hand at milking...literally.  The last time I remember being near goats and possibly being involved in the milking was when I was about 8 or so and my dad took me to the Crispin's farm for a horse ride and we had a chance to see the farm and enjoy some of the labors of the farm - fresh eggs for breakfast, goat's milk to drink, etc.  I should have known my destiny back then....

Now, meet the rest of Paula's "herd"

It was a beautiful evening and wonderful to spend time with friends.

Spring is in the air!

Today was the first day of the season that the laundry was hung on the line!  It was a sunny 45 degrees today and we took full advantage!  I'm sure we'll still see snow flakes, we are in WNY after all.

After church I started taking down our garden beds that had been in the front yard last year, moving the soil to our "back" compost pile.  In addition I took our winter compost and moved it to the "back" compost pile as well.  The "back" compost pile is about 150 yards from our house and not a place I want to traipse to in the winter until I get snow shoes...they are on the ever growing list of things to buy if I ever dare step into a non-food store again.  The winter compost was right outside our back door and easy to get too.  I was amazed how much we amassed over the winter months and am very happy to have it all turned and combined now.

Briefly on the topic of compost, in case you don't know, compost doesn't smell, unless you don't like the smell of earth/dirt.  I happen to love the smell of the dirt.  Compost piles need to be turned and need a balance of "Green" and "Brown" which I will get into at another time.  A compost pile that smells is a neglected compost pile, or may simply be referred to as an trash heap by your neighbors.  My winter compost pile was hard to manage we had a lot of green going in and not near as much brown as we should have.  Additionally it was very hard to turn being frozen and all.  I will look to improve upon our design next winter.  For those of you who do back yard composting, be kind to your neighbors and give composting the image and smell it deserves.

Back to the Patches' Acre, Dann took down the snow fences while I was moving the dirt piles around and then we re-set up one of the snow fences around our garlic bed and non-to-soon.  Deer have already tasted our garlic and I saw three deer in the back yard again this evening.  It looked like they were giving the snow fence the evil eye, dreaming of the young garlic growing just out of reach.  I just hope they don't plow through the fence to get to the tasty morsels. 

It has been a difficult week with the laddies, they have been sick - a cold from what we can tell and as much as you wish to read about here...  After some online research we have come up with a random solution - epsom salt in their feed and wheat germ mash (wheat germ and buttermilk).  They LOVE the wheat germ mash.  As we watched them last evening it reminded me of the game Hungry Hippos, as six beaks in the bowl getting as much mash as they can.  Our favorite scene however is seeing them clean each others beaks.  It is so tender to watch.  Hens that battle every other moment of the day will stand still while their beaks are cleaned by their adversary.  We had tried yogurt before the wheat germ mash and oh was that a sight - they also LOVE yogurt - they had it all over - and I mean all over - their tail feathers, their heads, everywhere. 

A happy surprise today - while digging out our front garden beds I found a few items (1) a red potato which unfortunately I had stabbed in half with the shovel.  Nothing a good cleaning couldn't fix so I cut it up and roasted it along with our dinner this evening - YUM!  (2) Walnuts.  We don't know where a walnut tree actually is, but we found what appear to be 3 black walnuts in our garden beds.  Thank you voles or squirrels or whoever was so kind to bring them to us.  Now if we can just find the tree so we can get more!

And Dann would want me to share the vole count with you...our yard is now -3 voles.  It is a start, we have a long way to go but our yard has been well aerated this winter to say the least.

Radio Debut

Dann & I were guests on the Wi$e Up and Prosper radio show today with host Ryan Loos.  We are Dave Ramsey Financial Counselors and work with Ryan in supporting the Western New York Market (we can do phone counseling too so look us up at RKL Financial if there is anything we can help you with and you our outside WNY).  It was a great show and allowed us a chance to share a little about both our faith and our financial journeys.  Be sure to check out the podcast by clicking the link above - we were on the 4/2/11 show.  You can also find the podcast on iTunes.

I'm even more excited about the show Ryan has planned in two weeks where they will be talking about wills and trusts along the lines of the movie The Ultimate Gift - leaving a legacy that is a blessing to your family.  Dann & I love this movie for two reasons - (1) We love the story in general - very touching, moving, etc. (2) It was filmed in Charlotte and the Mayor at the time the film was shot is in the movie!