Ask a chef

[Akrnaf2]

I bought some flounder which is such a blah fish. Would you suggest a sauce or something to help it? I wish I could afford Halibut it doesn't need anything.

You can steam it Chinese style
See my draw

Put in a broad pot a plate put some water AROUND the plate, put in them some Lemmon grass, put the fish IN the plate and puy on it: salt BP, some soye sauce, sesame oil, thin slices of lemmon,or lime. Put the lid on the pot. and put the pot on a low fire for 20-25 minute, you will have a very nice steamed fish with a bonus of Wonderful sauce on it.

 

[Akrnaf2]

Some way to store food eggs up to 2 years! No refrigerator needed!

[VIDEO]

 

[Akrnaf2]

What about this?

[VIDEO]

 

[CanuckBock]

What about this?

I'm game but only...only if'n I can use the egg one of my girls gave me yesterday.

This is I believe her fourth or fifth time laying a clutch of eggs...she's got the laying of eggs figured out fine...maybe perhaps not the right season though!

Jumbo is 70 grams...so 281.8 rounded up to 282 grams is...
Four JUMBO sized eggs...kewl

​

So because I am very, very mean...what kind of bird, OUR birds kept here and it was -28C last night when she laid it...what kind of bird laid this one...

Those here that already KNOW what kind because I've tested (and tormented them) before...hold your tongues and let others have a crack (cracked the egg you say?) at guessing what bird laid this four times a Jumbo chicken egg (that's right...it is NOT a chicken...try another bird bird!).

I say that every chef should have a whole flock of these female birds laying eggs for them...we have two of these girls and two boys--two pairs so only four but I am no CHEF!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[DwayneNLiz]

I'm game but only...only if'n I can use the egg one of my girls gave me yesterday.

This is I believe her fourth or fifth time laying a clutch of eggs...she's got the laying of eggs figured out fine...maybe perhaps not the right season though!

Jumbo is 70 grams...so 281.8 rounded up to 282 grams is...
Four JUMBO sized eggs...kewl

​

So because I am very, very mean...what kind of bird, OUR birds kept here and it was -28C last night when she laid it...what kind of bird laid this one...

Those here that already KNOW what kind because I've tested (and tormented them) before...hold your tongues and let others have a crack (cracked the egg you say?) at guessing what bird laid this four times a Jumbo chicken egg (that's right...it is NOT a chicken...try another bird bird!).

i am guessing goose, or swan

 

[CanuckBock]

i am guessing goose, or swan

Oh you are good...too good.

Yes, Swan. Australian Black Swan and she weighs...all of ten pounds (males are 15 or so pounds!)...Black Pearl will lay an egg this size (slightly smaller each time) every two days having given us, about six in total.

Fire Ember in the back, Black Pearl in front​

Stove Pipe in back, Smoke Stack in front​

Now that is a great supplier of eggs...too bad she only does this TWICE a year...hee hee.

August 2013 - both pairs paired up​

​

Black Pearl's first egg in the center...if my memory serves me right...top is Silver Appleyard duck egg, on right side is Buff American goose egg, bottom is a Jersey Buff heritage turkey egg, and left middle is a Chantecler standard sized egg.

Pearl's egg clutch October 2014​

I have taken away eggs and found she lays more than if all are left with her. She keeps laying to build up a clutch to set on.

July 21, 2015 - eggs left with the pair
Piper and Pearl​

Never hatched out any cygnets yet...but hey, a captive pair can live to be the ripe old age of 40 years...so we do have time for the pairs to get it figured out...I think??

In the meantime...megga soufflé anyone?

Tara

 

[DwayneNLiz]

Lol we had swans growing up, unfortunately we lost all the cygnets to flies and predators

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Dec 24, 2016 - Goose and Swan buildings...Pear-A-Dice indeed!! ​

So we all survived the festive season...now did we??

Stand still for too long and you'll get decorated here...​

Round about now...in the depths of the snows and WINTER of ten months...the mind wanders...to the GREEN season over the WHITE one!.

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Green where you grow tender romaine, you do up green onions, add some tomatoes and a dressing so you FEAST...for now...we feast only our eyes...sigh! Oh my eyes...

August 12, 2014

Seizure (Caesar) salad anyone??

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Lovely spinach...another great GREEN we are able to grow here up in the Great White North...

​

But no matter...with the cold weather, this is how December plowed along...food wise at least...

Dec 4 - Lunch...Bacon & Tomato with some cottage cheese ​

Supper that night...burgers (home grown fried egg too) and home fries


​

Dec 7 - Mutt loaf and scalpers ​

Meat loaf and Scallop Potatoes​

Dec 9 - Chook (chicken) and taters with asparagus



Always get the cravings for GREENS...so a big GREEN salad!​

Roasted cow (beef roast) with homegrown bakers (our potatoes...lots stowed away still)...
And smothered in gravy...bring on the FATs to stay warm, eh

Pork cutlets and carrots with mashed potatoes & gravy - Dec 12 2016​

Nice way to jazz up ordinary mashed potatoes and add calcium to your diet...mix in cream cheese instead of milk...

So we had the traditional Christmas dinner of a turkey, stuffed and roasted...BUT (and a big butt I have!)...I cooked it upside down to the usual way we do...back down in the roaster!

Dec 25 - Back up side cooking...
it was delish...white meat moist--no tinfoil covering the white meat to stop it from overcooking
meat tender as all tomorrow...could become our traditional method in roasting turkey!​

Dec 20​

And as said above...gotta have the greens too...Caesar salad below...

​

Plenty of greens...

​

Christmas eve...

​

So decided this year, make our own cranberry sauce. I have tried planting cranberries too but well, since we don't live in the right conditions (a peat bog perhaps??), never did much.

One cup sugar in a cup of water, bring to boil for five minutes
Add then 3 cups cranberries, boil for another five minutes ​

So very easy...

Skins begin to burst...you want them to do this!​

Pending whether you like whole cranberry in the sauce or the jelly...
Jelly requires you sieve out the non liquid parts ​

I figured there would be FAR more waste sieving but was not...

got 2.5 cups of delicious cranberry sauce​

Rick likes cranberry sauce on his turkey but I don't care for it but had some too. You can adjust the amount of sugar to your own preferences. This was a medium sweet yet tart sauce.

Christmas Dinner 2016​

Make sure to do the cranberry sauce a day or two ahead so you are not bogged (ha) down with more than you can get done...and the added benefit is the sauce is COLD!

By making the preps ahead...meant I had time to focus cooking on dinner and breakfast. Course we had to have the Breakfast of Champions...DIEt waffles!!

Christmas Breakfast - Higgins' waffles and bacon; very important food groups those--especially the BACON!​

Higgins' waffles, super easy too...
Plug in waffle iron to heat up and in the meantime, make up the batter.

Four eggs (thanks to those Chanteclers--winter egg layers el supremo's)

Dec 26, 2016 - some of the self-buff standard Chanteclers -
Working at adding a firmer feather in this variety...the work in progress continues but in the meantime
Blessed with winter eggs for my efforts.​

Bantam self-buff Chantecler cackleberry on left
Standard self-buff cackleberry on right
Christmas DAY presents from the birdles!!! WOOT!​

So no worries we cannot celebrate breakfast on Christmas day, eh...with the contributions of our chickens with benefits...

Rest of the recipe for HIGGINS' waffles...four good eggs plus...
2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking power, 1 tsp salt
Melt 1 cup butter
You can add all sorts of toppings like fruit, whipped cream, etc...but Rick cooks them all up and cools the extra ones...
Stored in fridge, pop in toaster to heat and you get to revisit without the hassle and big clean up!
​

Choice to make - 1 cup sour cream or 2 cups milk
Like you gotta know which makes the richer batter eh....

Batter ready for Rick to make waffles!
​

Why I think the Christmas dogs SMELL something cooking for breakfast...skip the syrup and hot diggity DOG...WAFFLES for Lacy and Emmy!

​

Had pizza on December 29 and realized by golly, little short on grocery, so looked in the cupboard like Old Mother Hubbard and indeed, pizza WAS possible!

​

Not sure how healthful all the contents being mostly from cans...but hey, like anyone ever heard that pizza is health food?

​

While the crust rose, I opened cans (say I sliced and diced but more chopped after opening...I did grate Mozzarella!)...

​

So just about finished the festive food fun...Rick wanted ham for New Year's Day...so pineapple with cherries on ham he got.

​

Breakfast on New Year's day was a repeat of Christmas only this time I added fruit and whipped cream whilst Rick had just maple syrup...maple is very traditionally Canadian you know, eh!

Waffles, topped with whipped cream, fruit...add bacon and done like breakfast! ​

And after New Years...I once again switched back to old faithful foods like Chinese chicken wings, rice (many kinds steamed up) and made up some sort meat and vegetable GOOP!

​

Put two kinds of meat in the vegetable mix...pork and beef. Got lazy and cooked the meats separate but heaped it all together...

​

I think I already posted here how to make Chinese chicken wings, but so simple, easy to repeat. Take chicken wings, marinate in soy sauce, drain and then toss in corn starch to coat, heat some oil up and put coated wings in, turn over to cook both sides, put on a rack in the oven about 350F to continue cooking and to allow the excess oil to drain...Voila...really tasty, likely not too healthy for you but hey, it is winter for us here and well, you gotta stay warm burning calories, eh. Or so we say!

That be that ... tad hungry posting all these visuals so off I go to see what's left over in the fridge...oh yeh, made pizza last night...so that be something or other to stuff in my pie hole.

Hugs to all (just a way for moi to steal extra body heat!)

and don't stand around for too long or you could wind up decorated & then fall over for it!
Poor Emmy...she was stationery a tad too long and got ringed...ring a ding dong!

​

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Akrnaf2]

What about this?

I'm game but only...only if'n I can use the egg one of my girls gave me yesterday. This is I believe her fourth or fifth time laying a clutch of eggs...she's got the laying of eggs figured out fine...maybe perhaps not the right season though!

​

Jumbo is 70 grams...so 281.8 rounded up to 282 grams is...​

Four JUMBO sized eggs...kewl ​

So because I am very, very mean...what kind of bird, OUR birds kept here and it was -28C last night when she laid it...what kind of bird laid this one... Those here that already KNOW what kind because I've tested (and tormented them) before...hold your tongues and let others have a crack (cracked the egg you say?) at guessing what bird laid this four times a Jumbo chicken egg (that's right...it is NOT a chicken...try another bird bird!). I say that every chef should have a whole flock of these female birds laying eggs for them...we have two of these girls and two boys--two pairs so only four but I am no CHEF! Doggone & Chicken UP! Tara Lee Higgins Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

It is a kiwi egg

 

[Akrnaf2]

No i guess it isn't!

Tara do you believe thst I have lemon tree, and orange tree flowering?