Chicken Sausage Take two

So, last weekend the weather was warm enough to butcher our birds..... Being off The power grid we have very limited freezer space.. With a completely empty freezer to start with, I think we would be able to fit maybe 10 birds in there , which is close to what we butchered.. We decided to make more chicken sausage, A) because its delicious and a change from just regular ol chicken, and B) it takes up way less space....

This year is our second attempt and chicken sausage,, we made it about 3 yrs ago and I am not sure what we did wrong ( maybe we didn't add enough fat or the broth?) but it was dry.. edible, but dry....

Chicken Sausage TAKE TWO:

 So Chicken Sausage involves a little bit of work , but the end product is so worth it.
The General steps are : Debone the meat ( a bit tedious) , run through the meat grinder ( ours is hand crank so we have the little on help, and she loves it! ), add the seasonings and broth, grind again and use stuffer attachment to stuff during the second time grind.

I thought I would share the recipe for anyone interested.. I have to say its REALLY GOOD. This is a country sausage..

CHICKEN SAUSAGE: COUNTRY STYLE

-  5lbs of chicken deboned ( about 2 birds) including all that fat ( this will make the sausage moist and not dry)
- 2 Tbsp Salt
-2 Tsp Pepper
- 2 Tsp Ground Sage
- 1 Tsp Ginger
- 1 Tsp Thyme
- 1 Cup cold Chicken Broth ( we added a pint both time we made this (2cups) and it turned out great..

Be sure to add all the fat and the broth, which is what gives it its moisture , since chicken does not have the fat content that pork does..

I give this recipe an A+ and the ingredients are pretty basic so most of them can be found in your kitchen cupboard.


Enjoy!

Autumn chores

Another Beautiful yesterday in the holler allowed us to get some outside chores done. We anticipated butchering 13 birds, but once we did 2 realized that they indeed need another week or 2 to fatten up... The last batch we did were 11 weeks old. This batch is 11.5 weeks.. I do believe the cold is making it harder for them to gain weight, as they are eating like pigs!
On the bright side, getting 2 done allowed me to take some photos , so I can blog about how exactly you go about butchering a chicken, for those who are interested in possibly raising meat birds ( I will have this post up soon I promise!)

We decided to take 2 birds we were able to butcher and make some chicken sausage. Norah loved helping grind it up, and nearly did the entire 5 lbs herself. It was funny watching her use all the muscle to turn the handle . I am so glad she is able to participate in this and see where her food comes from!
11 More birds to process next week....




Robb was able to do a quick inspection through some of the hives, see which ones ( weak ones) needed feeding ( I will also be blogging soon about the dry sugar method of feeding bees)  and which were ok... Most hives looks fairly strong and only have 2.5 more months until they can start bringing in pollen.. c'mon bees you can do it!!

 

 

Our Garlic is starting to peek through the soil..

Love seeing signs of life near December,, its the little things that get us through the Winter here....

The Cools

 

Waste not want not...Chicken Stock

As December approaches, we have 12 Red Ranger Meat birds that are about ready for processing. These will fill the freezer and pantry and keep us full and content through  the winter months.
Once we cook a chicken for dinner, the remains are never thrown away. They are used to make the Most delicious chicken stock you may ever taste.
Stock is an essential around here for adding to anything from soups to casseroles and can always give a boring meal a little kick.

You may Can or Freeze the stock for later use. We really have to can it, as I do not have much freezer space, just a small freezer above the fridge. We can not have a chest freezer being off grid, so most everything here is canned.
If you have the space to freeze it, it keeps just as well that way!

Here is the recipe I use..
If you don't have peppercorns, bay leaf, celery,, that's quite ok, it still turns out delicious.


* leftovers from one 3-5 lb chicken
* 4 Quarts water ( I usually add  more water as it boils down)
* 2 Stalks Celery
* 1 onion
* 10 peppercorns
*2 Bayleaves
*1 Tbsp Salt or more if you wish

Combine all ingredients in a pan, bring to a boil then let simmer for a couple hours. Remove all the ingredients from the stock using a strainer )..

If canning return to a boil and fill sterilized jars...

Pressure Can Pints 20 minutes Quarts 25 at 10 lbs pressure ( please be sure to check your altitude to see if you need to use 15 lbs pressure)

If freezing in bags, let cool, fill bags and then lay flat on cookie sheet to freeze, this will make it easy to store in the freezer..

Enjoy

The Cools

Death of a feathered family member

A few days ago we lost our Americauna chicken "Fire". It was sad but expected in a way because she was pretty old, about 5 1/2 yrs old.. She was a fierce egg layer and quite possibly the sweetest chicken we have ever owned.
Now we don't have burials this extensive for all of our chickens. Usually only the ones my daughter ends up naming.. and then somehow they are initiated into the family ;)
All Named chickens usually get buried in my flower bed. and receive a headstone. "Fire" also got a violin solo from Norah.. Its was pretty cute....

About a half hour later, Norah comes inside.. sits down and says
"Mom, can we study "Fires" Brain?

me: ummm what?

"Can we take "Fires" Brain out and study it.....


Don't worry "Fire" I told her no.....

I hope this indicates a future in the science field and nothing else..hehe


Until next time..
The Cools
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