admine9519, Author at Morning Song Farm - Page 10 of 44

Well, not a a partridge, and not a pear tree. Peering out at the photographer: our not-as-stealth-as-they-think-they-are juvenile hens roosting in their new favorite tree: a sapote.  They’re not laying eggs yet, but have finally taken to launching into the trees at night to guard against predator attacks. Baby chicks don’t roost, so we know we’re halfway to eggs when a young hen starts to fly at night.

True story: back in the day when I was married and living in the suburbs of San Clemente and commuting to the family farm…I raised our chickens against city ordinance law right there in San Clemente and then brought them; squawking and clucking to the farm when I (inevitably) was issued a San Clemente “chicken ticket.” The kids couldn’t bare to leave the cute babies at the farm all week, only seeing them on the weekends, and I truly have always enjoyed raising baby chicks. Even today, so many years later, I  get such a kick out of watching their antics. Often a quick feeding turns into a chicken sojourn as I sit under a tree of their enclosure and watch them enjoy life.

So, I’d pick up just hatched babies at the SC post office, and raise them in one of way too many bathrooms in that house that always felt more like a hotel  than a home. No, I did not fit in, demographically, as chickens and toddlers romped in my enclosed front yard, during the day, and then we’d go through the drill, of herding the babies into a crate that I’d put in a bathroom at night. As they got a little larger, the crate wouldn’t do, and so I chose an enclosed shower to keep them in at night. In the early days, I had no idea how chickens developed, and so went through quite a panic when one morning I discovered two dozen half grown chickens missing from the shower floor. (the call to my then-husband to admit that two dozen pooping chickens had gone missing in his house did nothing to ameliorate the growing distance between us;)  As it turned out, had I just looked UP, I’d have discovered the chickens peering down wondering what all the fuss was about. They had all discovered THAT very day, that they could fly, enmasse, and were roosting on the top of the shower’s expansive glass shower enclosure.

Despite the four acres our home was situated on, someone offended by our outlier activities  eventually complained each and every time I raised a new flock over the years, and the City of San Clemente would dutifully send out an “enforcer” to come pay a visit with yet another chicken ticket that my ex would use as demonstrable proof I was nuts. And so,
the new flock would be moved to the farm.

Still got chickens. Still may be nuts.

If you’ve never tried mustard greens, large box subscribers may have found their new best friend. Popular in Chinese, Japanese and Indian cooking, mustard greens have only rarely found themselves in US restaurants until recently. Related to kale, cabbage and collard greens, they are packed with nutritional value. See link here: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid;=93
The leafy green originated in the Himalayas and has been consumed for 5,000 years, just not much in the U.S. until recently. Part of the recent interest in mustard greens is the cholesterol lowering ability and cardiovascular support of the raw or cooked leafy green. The link above goes into a great deal more detail of how that works for those that are interested.

Rinse leaves under cold running water and cut into chunks for quick and even cooking. Let them sit out of your refrigerator for 5 minutes before cooking, which helps activate healthy enzymes. Slice celery on the diagonal, and toss in the pan along with your greens.

In a medium saucepan, boil a quarter cup of water or broth and add mustard greens and sliced celery. Cover for 5 minutes or until tender. Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil or coconut oil, a crushed garlic clove, a splash of lime juice, sea salt, pepper and serve at once.

This is where having a Vitamix at the ready really comes in handy, although a lesser mixer will probably do the trick, just not quite as smoothly.

Ingredients:
1 medium white onion, chopped
About 6 ribs of celery, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed before putting in blender
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
dash of hot sauce (I use Frank’s)

Procedure:
Sauté onion, celery, garlic and potato in oil until soft, taking care not to use too high a heat that might result in browning. Put the equivalent of 2 cups of water in crushed ice in your blender, and add your finished, sautéed mixture. Blend until smooth and serve. Add a little more chilled water if the end result isn’t liquid enough, stirring thoroughly.

Another quick and tasty side dish from Morning Song Farm. I dumped the entire bag of this weeks’ braising mix in my largest sauté pan and chipped maybe a tablespoon or so of coconut oil into the pan to melt. I added a couple crushed garlic cloves, sliced up a few green onions, and added mushrooms, sea salt and ground pepper. Also a few strong splashes of hot sauce.

I use a counter top rice cooker for brown rice and other grains, and usually have it going every morning to add to some dish or another. So I already had the rice cooked, and waiting. I love the aroma of coconut oil and leafy greens in my kitchen. And although coconut oil is very mild, it does have a tropical taste that I enjoy. When the greens were almost done, I just stirred in the brown rice, and served immediately. I made more than I needed, and made up single serving portions and put in the refrigerator for lunches and healthy snacks. I tried it both reheated and chilled and served as a salad, right out the refrigerator, and they both are tasty.

Carl has outdone himself yet again, and all whose so-called unreasoning, prejudicial complaints in re Carl’s behavior, lodged against his “mother,” Goat Whisperer Lance; are united today to celebrate a minor, yet joyous vindication. It reminds me of the time my ex insisted his unbelievably  car-phobic dog was too car-trained, and his spectacularly ill-fated attempt to prove his point by having the dog ride in his brand new Jag. Oh yes, vindication is sweeeet. Carl has taken to wondering south, lately; all by himself…  (a very ungoatlike thing to do) and browsing down to the packing house where the weeds and treats have proved to be less impacted by other, less trail-blazing, munchers. Although a known break-and-enterer up here by his barn (which means that young and old, residents and visitors alike must, without fail,  remember to BOLT all exit doors or Carl will end up in the living room or his head in my recyling bin), Carl has found enough trouble to get himself into locally, and hasn’t ventured south by more than a few hundred feet. Complaining about Carl  has met with his mother’s insistence that it’s not provably Carl’s fault. Or that he’s being profiled. Yes, that was actually a position taken. Or that, if it is Carl’s fault, not that that point is conceded…but if he is involved in an incident,  he’s helped us all become more situationally aware. My favorite. Or the post goat break-in wreckage that is my living room maybe isn’t any goat’s fault, as in who knows maybe one of your teens left it like that…..

So the discovery this morning of Carl’s intrusion into the Goat Whisperer’s office is cause for celebration. Good boy Carl! The really important papers are on the desk, and oooh, the books in the shelf are sacrosanct.

In the last couple weeks our farm boxes have included a “braising mix,” a blend of young kale leaves, leafy fennel, baby Swiss Chard and a bit of green onions or chives. As kale is among my favorite leafy greens, I really enjoy the nuttiness of this intended-to-be-stir-fried mix. I just use a bit of coconut oil  chipped into the sauté pan and dump the whole bag right on top. (I’m currently using an unrefined, virgin coconut oil that is certified organic.) Interestingly, the oil is liquid at room temperature, but is harder than butter right out of the fridge. I keep mine refrigerated. Anyway, heat until sizzling, and the greens are wilted and tender. The coconut oil lends a subtle, sweet tropical taste to the finish to which I add slivered kumquats, flicking out the seeds as I go. As I’ve said before, cooking brings out the complex flavors of kumquats, so don’t give up on them if you’ve only eaten them raw. I served this with a steamed brown rice and found the meal quite filling.