Valentines Day Dinner and more

With the economy the way it is, I've been trying to be more frugal and to waste less. We already recycle everything we possibly can, and all food waste goes to either the compost or the chickens. (Chickens are remarkable garbage disposals - they could almost put a pig to shame.) Now, I'm trying to find other ways to stretch our food. A while back I bought an overpriced watermelon for my youngest daughter. It's hard to say no when they ask for healthy foods. I had some kind of "oh yeah" moment when I recalled seeing pickled watermelon rinds in a store when I was a child. I thought, "hmmm. Why not? I'll give it a shot and pickle the rind and not waste it." I haven't been brave enough to try the end results yet, but here is the one jar I managed to pickle.

Looks yummy. I'll let you know when I try it if it was worth the effort.

The other thing I've been doing is buying whole chickens instead of the pieces. It's so much cheaper. I roasted one the other night and it came out perfect along with mashed sweet potatoes (using up left overs) and green beans. Of course we had plenty of leftovers from the chicken, so I used the meat to make enchiladas and I'll be making stock with the carcass.
I was lazy and used canned enchilada sauce, which made this an easy way to use up the chicken.
I sauted half and onion and a couple cloves of garlic with the chicken meat I pulled off the carcass and added some red enchilada sauce. I heated up the rest of the sauce and dipped each corn tortilla in it to make them pliable then placed about a 1/4 cup of chicken in each on and topped it with shredded jack cheese. I rolled them, topped them with the remaining sauce and more shredded cheese and baked in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. They came out great.
So, with all of this frugal food prep, we were able to afford going out to a nice Valentines Dinner with our girls. I know, not so romantic with the kids along, but it was a nice dinner. We went to Hurricane Kate's for dinner.

Unfortunately we got an inexperienced waitress, but fortunately for her, we're experienced diners and helped her along. The kitchen staff was spot on as usual. John and I started our meal with cocktails. He had a mojito and I had something called Bloody Refresher. Sounds awful, but if you like bloody mary's and martini's you'll like this. The nice thing about Hurricane Kates is that they give everyone crayons, whether you have kids or not, and you can draw on the butcher paper table cloths. They also have a good kids menu. My youngest had a grilled cheese sandwich and fresh fruit, which she devoured. My oldest had a personal cheese pizza which looked awesome! We ordered a starter called "The Holy War" which is a plate of "Angels" (bacon wrapped scallops) and Demons (bacon wrapped chicken livers). They were so good, even the girls enjoyed them. I must get one of those cheap buckets of chicken livers and start making my own at home! Then John had their hot and sour soup, which was apparently good from the vacuum sound I heard from across the table as he inhaled it. I ordered a Shafts blue cheese and asian pear salad. I was expecting their normally small salads, but was surprised to get a huge salad. It was delicious and my husband was lucky enough to get his salad fix for the day since it was too much for me to finish with a full meal coming. Next John had the Grilled Cumin Spice Rubbed New York Steak - with Tomatillo Salsa Verda, Cuban Spiced Black Beans, Red Annatto Rice, and Grilled Peppers. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare. I was lucky enough to get a bite. I had one of the specials of the evening. Bacon encrusted steehlead served in a clam chowder sauce. The sauce was more like a butter, white wine sauce with 4 perfectly cooked butter clams cooked in it. I wish I could learn how to cook fish as perfectly as that steelhead was cooked. Steelhead is a far milder fish then salmon, and the bacon made a nice salty and crunchy contrast to the buttery milk texture of the fish. Mixed in the clam chowder sauce was wilted spinach and fresh corn, and the fish was placed on top of 4 potato croquettes, which I could have made a meal of alone. I woke up wishing had had some to eat for breakfast. They were barely fried and crunchy on the outside and creamy and smooth on the inside. I'm drooling thinking about them. All together a great dinner.

Then to top the evening off we went to a great place that has been in Eureka's old town for years and years. Bonbonniere Ice Cream shop. It's in an old victorian era store constructed of brick (not a place to be in an earthquake, but hey! If you're going to die, you might as well be eating the best ice cream in Humboldt County while you do it) and got the youngest a cotton candy ice cream cone and my oldest some homemade fudge. I almost got some of their locally made green tea ice cream, but decided I wasn't up for a stomach rupture and just had a double espresso with my husband. The kids were happily sleepy and ready for bed when we got home, and John and I got to enjoy a good movie by ourselves and finish off our Valentines Day romantically quiet.
Hope everyone else had a nice Valentines Day. Next holiday up......Mardis Gras!

So what to do?

So... What to do with a 1 lb chicken breast and one potato for dinner for four? I was tired today, I've been tired all week now that the days are shorter. I haven't been thinking well and I'm out of whack with having Tuesday off for Veteran's Day (God bless them all). This week has been a two Monday week for me. I couldn't get my brain in gear to come up with a thing, so I got on the internet on my break at work and found a chicken chowder recipe from Cooking Light. You can find it here . I'm cooking it right now, so I'll have to let you know how it turns out. What I liked about it, besides the fact I had all the ingredients I needed at home, I wouldn't have to stop at the store, and there would be enough to feed all 4 of us, is that, even though it's a Cooking Light recipe, it called for bacon. I like that we're losing our uptightness about fats. I remember back when, when Cooking Light would have called for margerine (YIKES!) or olive oil only. But bacon fat has so much flavor! You don't need all that much, and a little really can't hurt you, unless you have some serious health issues. This recipe calls for you to fry just two strips of bacon, which I'm lucky enough to have from a locally butchered pig. You then remove the bacon to later crumble on top of the soup and fry the chicken and veggies in the bacon fat and voila' you have minimal fat usage and very flavorful veggies and chicken. I can tell you right now, it's smelling super nummy! I'll let you know how it turns out.
Bon Appetite!

Back from vacation

Ten days later and we're back home in Humboldt. We enjoyed our trip a great deal. The first 5 days were spent mostly with family swimming and relaxing in Chico. We did enjoy some tasty meals. When we arrived John's sister had grilled shrimp cooked and ready for us to snack on. What a welcome snack after 4 and a half hours on one of the windiest roads in California. Especially with a cold glass of Chardonnay. That evening John's sister fixed a simple and enjoyable stewed chicken dish. A perfect family meal that our girls very much enjoyed. For the Fourth my brother in law roasted a pork loin on the BBQ. I'm not sure what the rub was, but it was damn good. I spent the rest of the weekend finding excuses to eat the leftovers. It didn't matter if it was breakfast, lunch or snack, I was into that baggy of leftovers and into the leftover cole slaw. Yum. The next night we had a Hawaiian fish chowder prepared by John's sister. Again another hit, and a good meal with the temperatures getting hotter and hotter. Sunday John's sister and husband headed home in the wee hours and we had John's parents to ourselves. We gave them a break and took off for a bit of shopping then back to the house for dinner and a heat wave (thank God they have a pool). Sunday evening we had the pleasure of sharing ling cod that John had caught in Trinidad recently, fresh lettuce from our garden for salad and our delicious artichokes. Man! Am I proud of our artichokes. I've never had such a meaty choke. John's mom boiled them in water, vinegar, peppercorns and a bay leaf. They were wonderful. I didn't even need to dip mine in anything.

On Monday we headed north to Redding to check out Turtle Bay for the day. Great place, but don't hit up the gardens when it's over 110 degrees outside. I ended up with heat stroke. Also, if you go to their cafe and order a sandwich, be prepared to get a sandwich big enough for 3. They weren't spectacular, but they were pretty good. Fresh ingredients, not a lot of spice, and just way too much food. Next time I'll order one sandwich for me and the girls. That evening John's mom needed a break and threw in a frozen lasagna for dinner, which was very good, and I made another salad from our home grown lettuce. Perfect end to the day, well, no the swim in the pool in the over 95 degree evening was the perfect end.

Tuesday it was on to Monterey and more adventures, eating and non eating. First stop, Williams California.....

To be continued

Food Safety

Today I'm going to write about the fun and exciting subject of food safety. Why? Well my 4 year old recently came down with a terrible illness, which turned out to be E Coli, and possibly the dreaded 0157. That still has not been concluded, but all evidence points in that direction. There is nothing more heart wrenching then to watch your child writhe in pain for several days and know that there is nothing you can do but let the cycle run its course, and pray. Fortunately, I can say she did not get the E Coli from my cooking. It was most likely contracted from our goats, after petting the new babies, being exposed to their fecal matter, then not properly washing her hands before eating. But, it could have been food related, and that was a concern because there were two other E Coli outbreaks within the same area in the last month. So being careful about your food is always a good idea.

Yesterday, the subject of eggs came up, and the safety of farm fresh ones. So I'll start with the subject of safety and eggs today.


First of all, what is the biggest concern of eggs? Salmonella. Not a fun food poisoning to get, and one that cannot be treated with antibiotics. So, if you have your own chickens, what can you do to prevent getting Salmonella, or any other food borne illness? That would require proper handling of the eggs, the chickens and their nests.

So, to wash or not to wash, that is the question. One of my co-workers use to dip her hens eggs in a bleach solution. Is that the right thing to do? I wonder, as I had always been told it's not a good idea to wash eggs as they are laid with a protective coat on them called "bloom" that helps them to last longer. You definitely want to clean any pooh or mud off of them, but as for the detergent and bleach washes, I'm still wondering if it's a good idea. Even the USDA site does not recommend washing the protective coat off. Factory farms must wash all of their eggs. They sand them and then coat them with a tasteless, edible mineral oil. You definitely do not wash eggs from the store. You want that mineral oil on them for preserving them.

But what about the ones from your backyard chickens? In my research I've found many different opinions on this. In the forums, most small time farmers say no to washing their eggs of anything but the dirt and pooh.

Here is what the Virginia Cooperative Extension recommends. Collect eggs in an easy to clean container. Never cool the eggs rapidly before they're cleaned, because the eggshell will contract and pull any dirt or bacteria on the surface deep into the pores when cooled. You want to try to keep the temperature as constant as possible until they are washed. They recommend that you wash the eggs as soon as you collect them, to limit the possibility of contamination and loss of quality. Wash the eggs with water 10 degrees warmer than the egg, which will make the egg contents swell and push the dirt away from the pores of the egg. If the eggs are extremely dirty, use a mild detergent approved for washing eggs. NEVER let eggs sit in water. Once the temperature equalizes the egg can absorb contaminants out of the water. Then cool and dry eggs quickly. Store large end up at 50 to 55 degrees F at 75% humidity.

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has this to say:
For eggs you plan to sell, they should be either lightly sanded to remove small areas of dirt or carefully washed in potable water 20 degrees warmer than the egg temperature and less then 90 degrees F using only sanitizers approved for egg washing. Place in a colander and rinse without submersing in the solution. Dry immediately. Do not wash sanded eggs. A bleach solution of 1/2 oz household bleach in 1 gallon of water may be used. Place eggs in a clean cardboard box and store at or below 45 degrees.

The University of Nebraska at Lincoln says, if you only have a few eggs, you can wash them at the sink with hot water. The hot water and the sanitizer should be as hot as the hands can tolerate. Make basins of detergent, rinse water and sanitizer, each containing 1 to 2 gallons of solution if you are doing a greater number of eggs. The temp should be 90 to 120 degrees. Wash eggs individually, but do not soak in the solutions. After the wash, rinse in clean water then dip in the sanitizer and set aside to dry. Promptly refrigerate dry eggs.

These recommendations have to do with people who intend to sell their eggs, or if you plan to share with friends and neighbors. What if they're just for your own personal consumption?

The book, Raising Poultry Successfully says to clean soiled eggs right after gathering and cool them as rapidly as possible. The Dirty eggs can be immersed in a pail containing detergent-sanitizer (temp 110 to 120 degrees) and then rinsed with clean water. Do not leave the eggs in the solution for more than a couple of minutes, then dry immediately. You can get these detergents at most farm stores. If there are only a few dirty eggs, you can wipe off the soiled spots with a cloth dampened with a detergent-sanitizer, then rinse in clean water. Some small flock owners use mild household detergents (unscented laundry detergent or dishwasher detergent). This process does remove the bloom, and there will be a loss of moisture from the egg through the shell and the quality of the egg will rapidly deteriorate. So, unless the eggs are going to be eaten immediately, the shell should be coated in an orderless, edible mineral oil. Many small flock owners do not clean their eggs until right before consumption.

Storey's Basic Country Skills has this to say about collecting eggs: First of all collect them often, which will prevent them from getting dirty or cracked. If you have a slightly dirty eggs you may brush it off or rub with a fine-grain sandpaper. A seriously dirty egg may be rinsed in water that is slightly warmer than the egg. It turns out that cooler water could force bacteria through the shell into the egg. Dry the eggs, place in a carton and refrigerate. Avoid getting into the habit of routinely washing the eggs. Water rinses off the natural bloom that helps preserve freshness.

So there you have it. How am I going to handle my eggs? I think I will follow the advice of Storey's Basic Country Skills. I'm most comfortable with that. It is what I have been doing all along, and it has worked fine. When I sell or give my eggs to others, I will continue to more thoroughly clean them as I have in the past. I usually use the detergent routine for those, but perhaps, from now on, they'll get a quick dip in a bleach solution, just to be extra safe.

When you get farm fresh eggs from friends or farmers markets, you may want to ask how they've been cleaned, and possibly do a quick dip in a bleach solution before you use them, just to be safe.

Now, go enjoy a good omelet!

PS. For sanitizers approved for eggs, check Fortuna Feed and Farm, Nilsens Feed in Ferndale or Eureka, The Farm Store out on Jacobs Avenue in Eureka, Three G's Hay and Grain in Arcata, or A & L Feed in McKinelyville.