More Chickens To Complete Our Little Brood

We have added 3 more chickens to our brood. They are Silkie cross Frizzle bantams and they are gorgeous. I'm totally in love.
Bantams are very cute, look a little bit odd with lots of fluffy bits, and, are very good natured chickens. Our ones were hand reared from birth so they are extra friendly.
Bantams aren't huge layers but will still pop out about 100 eggs a year once they get going. Often their eggs are a blue/green colour too - just to add to their cuteness.
After a little bit of scrapping between the bigger hens - Florence, Ivy, Vader, Cath and Belle all seem to be the best of friends.
Above they are enjoying their favourite afternoon snack of watermelon.
However, none of them have started laying yet!!!

Fish and Chips with a Twist

We have unbelievable amounts of eggplants in our garden at the moment and are running out of ideas of what to do with them! One night both me and my partner were craving fish and chips but we are on a bit of health kick. Previously we had tried eggplant chips at a local restaurant - they tasted fantastic. This gave us the idea of fish and chips with a healthy twist.
I will separate this recipe out into the fish and the chips. PS the chips alone with some home made chilli aioli are the best snack ever!

Steamed Fish in a Paper Parcel

Now there is some fancy french word for cooking things in a paper parcel - I can't remember what it is and I think 'paper parcel' sounds cuter.

x1 piece salmon per person
any flavours you want
salt & pepper
a knob of butter or a drizzle of olive oil
baking paper and cooking twine

Rip off a piece of baking paper that will be big enough to envelope the fish and flavourings. Place the fish in the middle of the paper. Drizzle the olive oil or place a knob of butter on top of the fish. Place the flavourings, salt and pepper on top. It should look something like this...

Bring the two long ends of the baking paper together and then fold down towards the fish. Twist the other two ends around and tie with the twine. Each piece of fish should look like a bon bon.

You now have two options you can either place the little parcels in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 10-15mins depending on how big your fish is, or, you can place them in a steamer over boiling water for about 8-10mins - again depending on how big your fish is.

The little paper parcel will steam your fish and the liquid from the fish and olive oil/butter will make a delicious sauce!

Eggplant Chips

Eggplants cut into strips

egg, beaten

flour

panko bread crumbs

pepper

mixed herbs

parmesan, grated

Preheat the oven to 200degrees.

Mix together the panko bread crumbs, pepper, mixed herbs and parmesan. It doesn't matter about quantities just put as much as you feel like. I don't think you will need salt as the panko breadcrumbs are quite salty. It is important to use panko breadcrumbs rather than normal breadcrumbs as the panko breadcrumbs give a far better texture. You will find panko breadcrumbs in the Asian section of the supermarket.

You will need to make a little working station now. Line up your flour, eggs, breadcrumb mix and lastly a baking paper lined tray. Dip your eggplant in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumb mix. Lay them out on the try. This gets VERY messy.

Once complete pop them in the oven for 20-30mins until golden and crispy. Yum!

Summer Tomato, Basil and Feta Salad

After a slow start our tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. You can not beat home grown tomatoes - they just taste and smell incredible. A tip I have been told  is to not put tomatoes in the fridge as they loose their flavour. I'm not too sure how scientifically based this is but through trial and error this seems to be true.

The best salad I have come across to accentuate the tomato flavour is also one of the easiest and tastiest salads I make. This is the salad that we take 10mins to make, take to everyBBQ and get the most comments about. You can adjust the amounts of ingredients according to the amount of tomatoes you have.

Summer Tomato, Basil and Feta Salad

approximately 1kg of tomatoes - we used a mixture of our own and some fancy heirloom cherry tomatoes from the grocery store

zest of 1 lemon

handful of basil leaves

enough olive oil to coat the tomatoes

salt and pepper

approximately 200g of feta

Chop the tomatoes as chunky or as fine as you would like. Place in your salad bowl. Add the lemon zest. Coat the tomatoes and lemon zest with the olive oil. Mix in salt, pepper and basil. Top with crumbled feta.

Its also the perfect salad for a summer picnic!

Squashed Raspberry, Strawberry and Mint Tart

Today we went strawberry picking at the local orchard just up the road. Its one of those things that is so close and easy that you often forget to do it! With such a perfectly sunny day we had no excuse not to go today.
The orchard is beautiful and you can pick all sorts of fruit there - but today strawberries were our target.

The Local Orchard

The strawberries have been a bit hammered lately by the crazy, hot weather we are having at the moment in Melbourne. But despite that they are still juicy, sweet and full of flavour. Not to mention they are cheap as chips!

Strawberries!!

So what to do with so many strawberries - something that highlights their delicious flavour. 

Below is a very easy summer berry tart. You can substitute the berries for any berries.

Squashed Raspberry, Strawberry and Mint Tart

x2 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry

1 egg white

1T caster sugar

1 punnet of raspberries

an equal amount of strawberries (or a bit more if you want to load the tart up!)

1T icing sugar

1cup sour cream

1/4 cup cream

1/3 cup brown sugar

mint for garnish

Preheat oven to 200C. Lay x1 sheet of of baking paper on a square of non-stick paper. Cut the other sheet of pastry into 2cm strips. Layer up the strips on all 4 sides of the original sheet of pastry to make edges.

Brush the whole pastry case with egg white. Prick the pastry case base all over with a fork. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge for 30minutes.

Take pastry out of the fridge and sprinkle with the castor sugar.

Place pastry in the oven for approximately 20minutes.

Remove and leave to cool.

Place sour cream, cream and brown sugar into a bowl and mix until smooth.

Place the raspberries and icing sugar into another bowl. Using a fork squash the raspberries until you get a consistency you like. Make sure you mix in all the icing sugar as you go. Slice the strawberries and add to the raspberries.

Place the cream mixture into the pastry case, top with the berry mixture and then place mint on top.

Enjoy!

Smoked Chicken Rice Paper Rolls with Dipping Sauces

This recipe is very similar to the one Jen posted earlier but I thought I would put it up anyway to show you just how easy rice paper rolls are and how you can pretty much put any flavours you want in them. We had some herbs and smoked chicken in the fridge that needed eating, we had carrot and lettuce in the garden, and, some more herbs in the herb barrel which is how I came up with these flavours.

I have also given you two dipping sauces that are super easy to make - these are based on recipes from Annabel Langbein.

 

Smoked Chicken Rice Paper Rolls

100g fine vermicelli noodles

a handful of lettuce leaves, shredded (we used cos lettuce but it really doesn't matter)

1 carrot, grated

1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar

2 large handfuls of mint, roughly chopped (some of our vietnamese mint also snuck into the recipe when I accidentally picked it - it's not quite ready for picking yet, but it added a yummy flavour to the mix)

1 small handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped ( you could put more in but I limit the amount as my other half doesn't like coriander so I have to sneak it in where I can)

1 smoked chicken breast, shredded

1 packet of rice paper rounds

Soak the vermicelli for approximately 10minutes in boiling water until tender, then drain.

Mix together the vegetables, herbs and sugar.

When well mixed, add the vermicelli and smoked chicken.

Now you are ready to roll. The best way to roll is to be organised and set up everything before you start.

I place a damp cloth down on the bench which you can use to place the soaked rice papers on to fill and roll. The damp cloth stops the rice paper sticking to the bench. I also have a fry pan filled with warm water next to me. I find the fry pan works well to dip the rice paper in as the rice paper rounds fit in just nicely.

Place a rice paper round in the warm water, fully dunking it under the water for a few seconds. 

Place the rice paper round on the damp cloth.

Wait for about 30 seconds - you will notice the rice paper round soften over this time, making it easier to roll.

Place some filling in the centre about a 1/3 of the way up the round.

Roll the rice paper up tightly tucking the edges in.

Enjoy!

Peanut Dipping Sauce

3 teaspoons of crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons of boiling water

1/4-1/2 cup of sweet chilli sauce

2 teaspoon of fish sauce

2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

Mix the peanut butter and boiling water together to melt the peanut butter down.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together with the peanut butter mix.

If you want a thicker sauce just add more peanut butter.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons of caster sugar

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

2 garlic cloves, crushed

a pinch of dried chilli flakes

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy!

Meet Florence and Ivy

We have two little friends to add to our suburban farm - Yay! So meet Ivy and Florence. These two are ISA Browns that we picked up at the local farmers and craft market.
ISA Browns are a crossbred chicken that are probably the best layers within the chicken family. They lay approximately 300 eggs per year. They have a bit of a reputation of being a bit high strung and sometimes a bit of a bully. But these two are just the opposite and seem to be best of friends. Both are a bit shy at the moment but are getting tamer every day.
Ivy is a bit of a houdini escaped on the first two days - so both have had a wing clipped now and it seems to have solved the problem.

Ivy

Ivy is the more photogenic of the two. Florence keeps hiding behind Ivy when the camera comes out so below is the best we could get!

Florence

Hopefully our first eggs will follow soon! But they are such fun and interesting pets despite also giving us nice, fresh eggs.

We Are Getting Chickens!

When we shifted into our house it came with the most amazing cubby house. It has sensor lights, electricity, power sockets, everything! We had no use for it but felt it was too good to pull down.
Since then we have made the decision to keep some backyard chickens, so our cubby has now been converted into a chicken coop mansion. I haven't fully pimped out the exterior of our chicken mansion yet so you just get a sneak peak at the moment.

The Chicken Mansion

Both myself and my partner grew up having chickens in the backyard. I clearly remember being horrified when I tasted a store bought egg for the first time - it tasted awful! You can not compare home eggs to store bought eggs. Home eggs are far better in not only taste but also size and yolk colour.

Although we both grew up with chickens and everyone says 'its so easy to keep chickens', this is still a first for myself and my partner. We are super excited but also a bit nervous.

To keep chickens you need a secure coop that keeps animals like foxes out, and, keeps the chickens dry and warm. You also need an outdoor area where you can let the chickens out to scratch and forage during day light hours. You should aim for about 2 square meters of space for each chicken.  You can drop down to 1 square meter per chicken if you are really stuck for space. 

Place your coop in a space where the chickens can get lots of sun but also some shade. Ensure that you have looked up your local council website also. Each council has there own rules and regulations about where you can place a chicken coop and how many chickens you can keep. Generally you cannot keep roosters in residential/urban areas.

Nesting boxes

For 3-4 chickens you need about 4 nesting boxes. We have used shallow plastic containers that we picked up cheaply from Ikea. We then built a wooden frame to slot and secure them into. You then fill the nesting boxes with straw. The straw needs to be changed about once per week. By having these lift out boxes we can just lift out the box and tip the whole lot into the compost - the chicken poo will be fantastic for the compost. Being plastic you can also wash them out easily.

The Perch

Chickens won't sleep in the nesting boxes so you will need a perch. Chickens like sleeping on perches as it makes them feel safe and also keeps them warmer. You should have a flat surface rather than a rounded surface for your perch. The reason for this is that it causes their feet to flatten out, which then causes them to sit on top of their feet and this actually helps keep them warmer. The perch should also be made of wood as the chickens have trouble gripping other materials.

There are varying recommendations as to how high you should have your perch above the ground. I have come to the conclusion that as long as it is higher than your nest boxes and at least 30cm above the ground you should be ok.

Ensure that the perch is not above the nest boxes as your nest boxes will end up full of poo.

We have covered the bottom of the chicken coop with lino and then a layer of straw. The straw provides warmth for the chickens, and, the lino makes it very easy for us to clean the chicken coop.

The completed interior of the mansion.

So now all we need is chickens!!!!