An Occasion For Fabulous Flan

Last night we had Chicken Empanadas in the Cancun style. These are made with pressed masa rounds that are filled with (in this case) chopped chicken and deep fried. They definately fall under the 80/20 rule (simple: live “correctly” 80% of the time and you can indulge a little more with the other 20%). The added grease from frying makes them a little high on the calorie count.

Well, for dessert I wanted to make something special for my friend Doris (who actually made the Empanadas). She has asked in the past for flan and I can’t believe that I just now got around to making it for her.

This recipe makes 12 individual custard cups or one larger deep dish pan sized flan.

Lemon Kissed Flan- The Recipe

For the flan:

• 4 cups whole milk  (I use evaporated milk as I never have fresh milk on hand)
• 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
• 5 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar

For the caramelized sugar coating:

• 1 cup sugar

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300ºF.

To prepare the caramelized sugar coating, spread the sugar evenly in the bottom of a heavy saucepan and place over medium-low heat. It may take several minutes before the sugar begins to melt. Without stirring, watch the sugar closely as it begins to liquefy at the edges. All of it will slowly turn first into a yellowish and then golden syrup and finally into a brown caramel sauce.

When the liquefied sugar is turning from golden to brown, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat. (If you miss this point, the sugar will quickly turn too dark and taste bitter and you will need to discard it and begin again.)

Working swiftly, pour the liquid caramel into 12 custard cups each 3 1/2 inches in diameter and tilt to cover the bottom and sides evenly. It is important to do this transfer quickly, as the change in temperature causes the caramel to solidify rapidly. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the milk and lemon zest over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the milk with the flavor of the lemons. Remove from the heat and let cool.

In a bowl, combine the whole eggs, egg yolks, and granulated sugar and whisk until foamy. Pour the cooled milk through a fine-mesh sieve held over the egg mixture and whisk until well blended. Pour the mixture into the coated custard cups.

Arrange the custard cups, not touching, in a large, deep baking pan or roasting pan.

Pull out the oven rack, put the baking pan on it, and pour boiling water to a depth of about 1 inch into the pan to create a water bath. Bake for about 1 hour, or until set when tested with a thin-bladed knife in the center .

Carefully remove the water bath from the oven, and then carefully remove the custards from the water bath and set aside to cool completely.

You can cover and refrigerate the cooled custards and serve them cold, or you can serve them at room temperature. One at a time, run the knife around the inside of each cup to loosen the edges of the flan and invert onto a dessert plate to serve.

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Pellets or Crumbles- Which chicken feed should I choose?

Image via Wikipedia

AKA The Great Chicken Feed Co-op Thing!

I had a very interesting conversation with a fellow chicken keeper yesterday. We talked about many things, but the main thread of the conversation was about chicken food.

I had approached several local people seeking members for a chicken feed/supplies co-op. Local sources for quality chicken feed are not available and our long time feed store doesn’t share my philosophy regarding appropriate feed ingredients.

It didn’t take much conversation with growers in the know to get a recommendation to a feed producer that has what I am looking for- Modesto Milling

Modesto Milling is not only a California company, it has the distinction of being the first organic grain processor in Central California. They are very careful in their selection of grains for their feeds and have a terrific reputation for quality.

The bad part was- no local suppliers!

I wanted to order direct, but of course the shipping fees for less than a pallet load were going to cause the end price to be waaaaayyy out of this farmchick’s budget.

That is where the co-op idea came in. And then, one of my fledgling members came in contact with a local lady who was already doing this very thing.

Getting back on subject, she mentioned that most of her members were ordering crumbles instead of pellets and asked my humble opinion on the subject. I have always preferred pellets because of the economy when I switched over my feed bill went way down. The chickens were gobbling the stuff up!

I had found that when using other forms of feed, the chickens were picking through the feed containers for their choice of goodies (sort of like offering a 3 year old a choice between a slice of cake or a bowl of brussels sprouts). The rest of the feed (there goes that carefully balanced diet) sort of got slung onto the ground during the great search. Switching to pellets threw them off for a couple of days, but no long term problems once they caught on it was love at first gobble.

So, what would lead a flock owner to choose between pellets or crumbles besides my un-scientific and highly biased opinions?

Here is what one county co-operative extension office has to say:

“Converting mash feeds into pellets or crumbles adds a given cost per ton of feed. However, there are some advantages to feeding pellets or crumbles. Because feed is compacted in pellet form, the bird is able to consume and metabolize a greater amount of feed. Pelleted feeds are a complete unit of feed, and the birds are unable to pick out different feed ingredients. Some mash feeds are extremely dusty and are difficult to handle. Pelleting these feeds improves their handling quality. Most broiler feeds are pelleted because pellets make it easier for the broiler to optimize its genetic potential. Also, this form of feed makes it possible to formulate high-energy, high-protein diets, which aid the broiler producer in maximizing the amount of feed used to produce a pound of meat.”

(Read the complete article here)

Nutrition- are both forms of feed good for my flock?

Modesto Milling posts the exact same ingredients for both the pellets and the crumbles so that should not be an issue.

Cost- will one form cost me more than another?

I called the nearest supplier, Frizelle Feeds in Sebastapol and spoke with a delightful woman there. She told me that they carry both the pellets and the crumbles for $27.99 a bag. So the cost per bag is not an issue.

I also asked her opinion on which feed to choose. She asked me a series of questions; chicks or laying hens?, Bantams or large breed?

She says that in her many years of experience, the smaller hens like Bantams prefer a smaller food. Small birds have to break the pellets up to eat them (That would create some waste as the pieces would fly everywhere at least in my coops).

She went on to say that many people think that the pellets cause less wastage in larger birds, validating my humble opinion. And then she added that it is ok to take what your chickens are used to eating into consideration in other words, if they like crumbles feed them crumbles.

Sooooo….. it may be cost effective to feed pellets because of your chickens feeding habits. But if your chickens are already eating crumbles and you don’t have a large flock , let them eat cake! (I mean crumbles)

Related Links:

Backyard Chicken Forum. pellets or crumbles?

The Classroom at the Coop on feed and supplements

Another great use for lemons- make lemon vinegar!

I hate having chemicals anywhere near my house.

OK- I realize that in 2010 that is not a very practical statement, but I do want to avoid artificial anything as much as I can. I love making my own cleaning supplies because they smell so great and are so inexpensive (there goes that cheap thing again….). My house gets cleaned using simple household staples like vinegar, baking soda, etc.

I also put apple cider vinegar into the chickens water containers. It helps keep the water from growing any undesirable stuff that I don’t even want to think about. Also, according to the old folks it helps keep the chickens healthier.

In addition, I have discovered anew that you can infuse vinegar with many wonderful things. My favorite is lemon peels.

So simple to do as well! Get a really sharp peeler and fresh, firm lemons- 3 or 4 lemons will do. Peel a thin layer off the lemon and put into a clean quart sized jar (My mother in law gives me old mayonnaise jars and these come with wonderful lids).

Fill the jar with white vinegar and store in a dark place for at least a week.
Now you can open the jar and smell the lemon!

Put about one cup of the lemon vinegar into a spray bottle and fill the bottle with water. Spray on surfaces like counter tops to clean them. I use this solution to clean my kitchen floor and everything else imaginable.  I even spray it into the air to freshen the room up.

You will at first smell a lot of vinegar, something I don’t mind at all but you might. The vinegar smell quickly evaporates leaving only the lingering but subtle scent of lemons!

Related Articles

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• How to Make Your Own Household Cleaners (gomestic.com)
• 37 Uses For Vinegar – And Counting! (livingrichwithcoupons.com)

Preventing Salmonella in Farm Flocks (AKA Keeping Healthy Chickens Healthy)

Newsbreak! Salmonella in eggs can make people very sick!

Image by epSos.de via Flickr

If you have been following the news lately, the safety of chicken eggs is becoming a major concern. As a relatively small flock owner, I thought it was time to take a look at the problem to be sure that I would not be contributing to it and also to serve as a guide for those who purchase eggs as reassurance that their eggs are safe to eat.

Large chicken producers raise an incredible number of chickens in a small space. Say that you crammed that many people together in a workplace environment you would probably see a lot of colds and flu being passed around. People would be stressed out because they would not be able to move around and get excercise. The noise level would be awful. Well, it may be an extreme example, but you get the point. It can’t possibly make for a healthy flock without a lot of iffy intervention.

A flock of chickens can pass a Salmonella infection along throughout the flock, resulting in eggs that have the Salmonella bacteria not only on the shells of the eggs, but in the egg itself.

What can a consumer do to ensure that he doesn’t get sick from eating eggs?

It is becoming more and more obvious that we cannot expect government to cover all the bases regarding our food and safety. Some basic, even common sense methods of handling eggs can go a long way toward preventing illness from eggs or any other food source:

1. Wash your hands and any surfaces that raw eggs and eggshells come into contact with. I use a 30% lemon vinegar and water solution (post to follow) in a spray bottle as a final rinse to keep my kitchen (and hands) fresh.
2. Cook eggs fully before eating them. That is ok with me as I always order scrambled eggs to go over my Eggs Benedict.
3. Pasteurized eggs are available for those recipes where nothing but semi-cooked or raw eggs will do- check with your grocer for their availability.

If you follow this advice the likelihood of getting sick from your eggs (or any raw foods for that matter) will diminish to the point of being very highly unlikely to happen.

What can a small chicken egg producer do to prevent having a Salmonella problem in his or her hens?

First it is important to realize that although it may be in the news right now, it is very rare for a small egg producer to have a Salmonella outbreak in the flock. But here are some guidelines to help prevent any future problems (The good news is that this is pretty much common sense, good flock management rules to go by in any case!)

1. Start with healthy chicks. Buy your chickens from a reputable breeder whose flocks are inspected and known to be healthy.

2. Buy your feed from a reputable source. Salmonella can be introduced thorough feed that has been contaminated by rodents, feed additives that come from a questionable source, etc. Also, giving your birds the best nutrition possible will keep their immune systems strong and able to fight off diseases.

3. Store your feed in a way that rodents cannot access it. We use large drums with secure lids for our bulk feed, and secure the chicken feeders at night to minimize rodent contamination. Have a system in place to deal with pest control- if for no other reason your neighbors will thank you.

4. Don’t overcrowd your chicken coops. Too many chickens in close quarters will spread disease among each other. Having coops that are designed for lots of fresh, circulating air is more important than airtight coops to keep chickens warm the old folks say. Chickens are very good at maintaining body heat in winter- that is what all those feathers are for!

5. Keep your coops clean. We like to keep a lot of straw and wood shavings in our coops allowing us to sweep up easily (we consider this our “miracle grow” additive for our gardens). We add a good layer of Diatomaceous Earth before the bedding materials to keep the pests from becoming an issue.

6. Follow guidelines for safe egg handling. This will be the subject of another blog, but essentially gather eggs often, clean properly, refrigerate quickly and sell while fresh!

Sure, I could go on and on about wearing separate clothes and shoes to handle the birds, not allowing other bird people into you flock areas, etc., but that is another article worth of info! Hope this helps!

Hard Red Wheat, Hard White Wheat, Spring Wheat- What is the difference please?

Image via Wikipedia

Ok- so I got more grain today by UPS!

I like to buy my grain whole so I can grind it myself. Because grains contain volatile oils, they start to go rancid soon after being ground into flour.

If you grind your own wheat, you can be sure to get the freshest tasting and most nutritious baked goods possible. Not to mention it is so much cheaper than buying pre-ground flour (their goes that frugal thing again).

I buy grain from Pleasant Hill Grain and also Honeyville Grain. Honeyville has a broader selection and it generally cheaper for the grain itself. Pleasant Hill is a great choice for longer term storage as it is pre-packed into buckets that are sealed and will keep forever. I also chose Pleasant Hill to get my grain mills (yes, more than one- post to follow) and Gamma Bucket Lids to make it easy to get in and out of my grain storage buckets.

Pleasant Hill is David’s first stop when surprising me with practical kitchen items like fantastic tomato strainer and corn sheller that make my life easier.

(Hint: I sure would like one of those bread slicer gadgets so I can cut your sandwich bread a little straighter.)

OK- so back to business. I now have a great grain selection including but not limited to Hard Red Wheat, Hard White Wheat and Spring Wheat. How am I going to decide which to use?

Here is one article from The Fresh Loaf:

Wheat: Red v White, Spring v Winter that goes into detail with great pictures.  Some of the post is a little too over the headish, but it is greatly informative.

Here is what the people at Honeyville say about:

Spring Wheat- “Honeyville Grain’s Spring Wheat is top quality, high protein (15 to 16 percent) wheat. Spring Wheat is also referred to as Dark Northern Spring Wheat and is sourced from the region of Montana and the Dakotas, where the summers are mild and not too hot for young, tender plants. Spring Wheat can be ground into flour for use in baking hearth style breads that require a stronger flour that holds its form. Spring Wheat is excellent for baking Italian breads, French breads, and Russian breads. Spring Wheat is used mainly for the milling of High Gluten White Flours. It is also used to raise the protein level of breads and patent flours.”

Hard Red Wheat- “Honeyville’s Hard Red Winter Wheat comes from specially selected varieties of winter wheat known for its storage and baking qualities. Low in moisture, high in protein, Honeyville Grain, Inc. guarantees our Hard Red Wheat to be below 10% in moisture and higher than 12% protein. Ideal for long-term storage, Honeyville’s special triple cleaning process produces the highest quality Hard Red Wheat available to consumers for long-term storage. Our wheat products are milled and processed exclusively at our Honeyville milling facilities to the “Table-Grade” quality standards established by the state of Utah.”

Hard White Wheat- “Honeyville’s Hard White Wheat developed from specifically selected varieties of wheat known for its storage and unique flavor and baking qualities. Low in moisture, high in protein, Honeyville Grain, Inc. guarantees our Hard White Wheat to be below 10% in moisture and 12% protein or higher. Ideal for long term storage, Honeyville’s special triple cleaning process produces the highest quality Hard White Wheat available to consumers for long term storage. Our wheat products are milled and processed exclusively at our Honeyville milling facilities to the “Table-Grade” quality standards established by the state of Utah.”

Another excerpt, this time from: Bread Experience:

“Types of Wheat

In the United States, there are six predominate types of wheat.

Hard winter red wheat: This wheat is mostly grown in the Plains states as well as the northern states and Canada. It is a versatile wheat with excellent baking characteristics for pan bread. It is also used for Asian noodles, hard rolls, flat breads, general purpose flour and as an improver for blending. It is moderately high in protein (about 10.5%) which makes it good as an all-purpose or bread flour. About 40% of all of the wheat grown in the United States is hard winter red wheat.

Hard spring red wheat: This wheat is mostly grown in the northern states and Canada. It is considered the aristocrat of wheat when it comes to “designer” wheat foods like hearth breads, rolls, croissants, bagels and pizza crusts. It is also used as an improver in flour blends. It is one of the hardest wheats and therefore has one of the highest protein counts (13.5%). About 24% of the wheat grown in the United States is hard spring red wheat.

Soft winter red wheat: This wheat is mainly grown in the eastern states. It is a low protein wheat with excellent milling and baking characteristics for pan breads, general purpose flour and as an improver for blending. About 25% of the wheat grown in the United States is soft winter red wheat.

Hard winter white wheat: This is the newest class of U.S. wheat. It is sweeter and lighter in color that red wheat, with a protein profile similar to hard winter red wheat. It is great for making Asian noodles, whole wheat, pan breads and flat breads. Only about 1% of the wheat grown in the United States is hard winter white wheat, but it is gaining in popularity.

Soft spring white wheat: This type of wheat is generally grown in a few eastern states and in the Pacific Northwest and California. It is a low moisture wheat with high extraction rates that provides a whiter product for cakes and pastries. This variety is similar to soft winter red wheat with a slightly sweeter flavor. About 7% of the wheat grown in the United States is soft spring white wheat.”

So, I will have to bake up more bread and pastries to figure out what is best for me, I have been using the Hard White Wheat so far, but I think I will try the hard winter white wheat for my breakfast bread to get a lighter loaf. I will also try it for my pie crusts to see how I like it.

For my cakes I will try the spring wheat. For the barley bread I will continue to use the Hard Red Wheat.

I will be sure to post an update later in the year with my results!

Organic Chicken Health Manual

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I found a neat website that has compiled a very good handbook on chicken health issues- Kingbird Farm

Here is their Chicken Health Manual

Their website also has a lot of really great pictures that I was able to get ideas for improvement for my own flocks from.
I recently had to set up a tractor as an infirmary as I had some problems.

First, it appeared as though maybe I had a hawk attack on one of my ranger hens. I never heard a thing, but when I was putting that flock into their coop for the night, one of the hens just laid there and didn’t come a-running. I picked her up and her wing was badly broken. So she went into the infirmary.

Next, David (my devoted husband) was helping me round up another range flock to put up when a hen ran in front of him and he stepped on her foot. Ooops! Into the infirmary with her.

I was really worried that I would have to put these birds down prematurely. But the great news is that it has been a week now, and both birds are getting around now and have good appetites. I will not put them back into the flocks as they are due to be processed in about a week anyway.

I look forward to my new mechanical feather plucker tomorrow!

Related Articles

• How to buy the healthiest eggs (msnbc.msn.com)
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Making delicious tasting soy milk at home is now even easier! (Great tasting recipe included)

I got my new soymilk maker finally! I have developed a sensitivity to milk, so I have been using soymilk in my breakfast cereal for a while now. Because it is expensive and I am extremely frugal (ok- cheap), I have been making my own at home.

The process is easy enough: Soak the beans, run them through the blender with a quart of water, cook them over medium heat for 20 minutes, clean up the boiled over mess all over the stove. Next pour them through cheesecloth into a bowl to tweak the final flavor with vanilla and suger.

Lots of mess, lots of time spent. I needed an easier way to go. That is where my Joyoung CTS1048 comes in.

I wanted to buy one locally, but this is Napa and we really are a small town so no luck there. I went on Amazon and found a great deal: Joyoung Soybean Milk Maker

It came with a small sample pack of Lauras soybeans. And a coupon for more. They are a family owned farm in Iowa and I have to say their beans are great. Non-GMO, etc. Visit their website for a closer look.

1. First assemble your ingredients- 1 level measure of soybeans,
   1 Tablespoon of uncooked white rice
   2 Tablespoons of uncooked rolled oats
2. Rinse the soybeans 3 times to remove excess starches.
   Cover with about 3 inches of water.
   Soak for 8-10 hours for the best results.
3. Add water to the pitcher according to the package instructions.
   Pour in the soaked soybeans, rice and oats.
4. Put the top onto the jug- be sure to properly align the top with the pitcher.
   Plug in the unit and press the correct button.
5. It will be done in about 15 minutes- you will hear the beeping.
6. Strain the milk into a mixing bowl.
   Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt and 2 Tablespoons of sugar.
   Mix well with a spoon or a whisk.
7. Pour the soymilk into a pitcher or a jar and store in the refrigerator.
   My milk seems to keep for about a week without any problems.
8. Clean the unit according to the directions. I found that if I do it right away it wipes clean very easily.
   Some people like to cook with the leftover ground bean mixture.
   I add mine to the chickens food- they love it

Ranger Chickens in the backyard

Well, the ranger chickens are a little more than 8 weeks old. I can’t weigh one, but as large as they are I am guessing an average weight of about 5 pounds. As for personality, they are sweet and mostly gentle chickens. I have been watching the roosters carefully as they have been giving me challenging looks for over a week now.

Up until yesterday it has been easy to get them to go into their coop when I want them to. We like to clean up and settle in at night long before the chickens traditionally saunter into the coop to be locked in (security is tight around here as we lost a lot of chickens last year to midnight varmits).

I had to wait until they were good and ready last night before I could shut them in! Also, the roosters have been crowing for over a week now and spend a lot of time bothering the hens if you know what I mean.

I was planning on keeping some of these great birds and hatching their eggs, but come to find out they are hybrids and do not hatch at all like their parents. As the fellow at the hatchery put it “try it as a hobby if you want, but don’t expect much”.

As expensive as chicken food is I think my hobby will be limited to more of a sure thing, thanks much.

Anyway, we are awaiting arrival of our commercial, drum style chicken plucker and will then send this batch of chickens on to their intended uses.

Blue Ribbon Day!

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The best way I can think of to start a new blog is to share my good news! After working on a new recipe for over two years, I finally submitted my very first entries to the fair! My Whole Barley Sandwich Bread won a blue ribbon and best of class award (everyone always begs me for a loaf of this bread!). I just want to share it with the world:

I actually already have as it is on recipezaar:  Whole Barley Sandwich Bread

If you can stand my looooong explanations that I made for someone who was new to breadbaking, try the video series:

Making Whole Barley Bread, Part 1

Anyway, I also entered my Strawberry Tres Leche Cake which is very good but I took a chance and used a baked meringue topping for drama- and I am not sure that the judges were thrilled as it only took 3rd place (like I should be complaining…).

This was my first year with fair entries. I am already plotting ahead for next year- I can’t wait!

Related Articles

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• Projects ” Creations ” Strawberry Tres Leches Cake (cutoutandkeep.net)
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• Cherry rolls are a prizewinner in “Bake for the Cure” at Cuyahoga County Fair (cleveland.com)