The Old Folks Home

[microchick]

Yeah, and before the doctor jumped her hind end about her very high cholesterol readings she would save her bacon grease for her cornbread. When she went all southerner on us she would make cracklins and then make cracklin cornbread. It was one of those things that was sooo good as long as you didn't think about what cracklins were and how bad they were for you.

I have one coop that is housing my outcast Welsummer rooster, my Buff O/Bantam cross cockerel, 3 Welsummer hens to keep the rooster warm at night and two OEGB cross pullets that were hatched with the Buff O/Bantam cockerel. Well, tonight I was locking up and got a good look at the two little pullets. One of them is a cockerel. Sigh. Good joke. Just what I need. Another rooster.

 

[chickadoodles]

My dad did all the holiday cooking at our house. He would cook till it was ready and go to bed. He bounced off the walls as he went from drinking all the cooking cherry while cooking.
I finally learned how to make his dressing and made 2 huge pans for our last large family dinner and they ate it all.
My dad made his from cornbread crumbled with dried out white bread and chicken broth with an egg in it. He sauteed onion, celery in butter and added it to the mix he added salt and sage. Then he baked it till brown on top.
He always made a huge stock pot full of his giblet gravy and no matter how much he made there was never any left over.
I finally leaned how to make it from my daughters mother in law.
One thing about his gravy he cooked chicken breast's to shred and add to the gravy so there would be plenty of meat in it along with the gibbets.

 

[CapricornFarm]

You guys are making me hungry and i already ate supper!
We had broccoli, rice, and pork chops. Really yum!

 

[perchie.girl]

ok...I posted thus someplace else...Noone was impressed. Dudes! This is a great recipe!

PROPER cornbread DRESSING is made like my great-grandmother made it. (4th generation Texas-German raised out in West Texas)

1. Cast iron skillet, heat it in the oven, toss a stick of butter in the skillet, keep it in the oven until butter is melted, not brown.
   
   In a bowl mix equal parts corn meal and masa flour, add baking powder, some milk, bit of salt, a couple of eggs.
   
   Take pan out of oven, swirl the butter about to coat the pan, pour most into bowl of ingredients, keep a thick coating in pan.
   
   Stir stuff in bowl until BARELY combined, then pour bowl stuff into cast iron skillet, pop skillet back into oven. Take out when cooked.
   
   Many hours earlier, you had to take the good guts from your turkey (I like heart, gizzard, and neck) and put in a big pot of water with thyme, rosemary, super lots of sage, quartered onions, celery, parsley stalks (you can keep the leaves for something else ), salt and pepper. Cook on a super low simmer for hours.
   
   Pick out the pan to cook the dressing in, toss it into the oven to heat along with a stick of butter.
   
   When cornbread is done, take out of cast iron pan, and when cool enough crumble it into a bowl.
   
   Add to crumbled cornbread whatever dry old (NOT moldy) bread you have about. In a pinch toast some good bread, crumble, and add. Take the stock, gently fish out the giblets and neck. Dice up meat and add to dressing bowl. Pour in some of the stock (be careful to save lots for the gravy..if you need extra liquid use butter), you can also add the totally smushy onions and celery if you dice them first they will almost disolve into the dressing. Add a few raw eggs, pour in most of the butter that melted in the casserole pan, toss it all together and then taste. Probably need to add more pepper and sage.
   
   Moisture needs to be WET, but not dripping.
   
   Add what you need to get it right.
   
   Very gently spoon it into the casserole dish (do NOT squish it down), cook until done.

I was impressed... I need to taste it.....

 

[Beer can]

Gotta have giblet gravy. What else you use them for? DW doesn't, I just cook them up for myself.
For those that process their own birds, gizzards can be tough, are tough. I found my new favorite way to cook them. I save all the gizzards necks and hearts separate, and dredge in corn flour and pan fry the livers
Second time I've tried the gizzards this way. Today I didn't get to eat them at work so they spent close to eleven hours in my thermos. I boil a bunch of them in chicken stock and seasoning for about 15-20 mins and then fill one of those big Stanley vacuum sealed thermos's (how do you spell that?lol)
Four to five hrs later they are super tender. This time they went close to eleven hrs and tender. Was curious how hot they would be in my cold car all day, 20 degrees. Went in boiling, 11hrs later 144 almost 145 degrees, plenty hot enough

I dumped them and the broth on some ramen noodles

 

[bruceha2000]

Nice looking recipe @Alaskan. I've never had corn bread dressing. From the looks of it I would have to make it a couple of days in advance. No matter how I try, I never get the big dinners ready on schedule as it is.

If one doesn't want to use the giblets, their chickens would be MORE than happy to help out!

 

[CapricornFarm]

Has anyone ever cut open a white pumpkin? I cut one open today and it reminds me of watermelon and honey dew melon smells! And when you stick your hands in it feels therapeutic. Any way, i am cooking it up for the chickens and i am going to taste some too.

 

[microchick]

Gotta have giblet gravy. What else you use them for? DW doesn't, I just cook them up for myself.
For those that process their own birds, gizzards can be tough, are tough. I found my new favorite way to cook them. I save all the gizzards necks and hearts separate, and dredge in corn flour and pan fry the livers
Second time I've tried the gizzards this way. Today I didn't get to eat them at work so they spent close to eleven hours in my thermos. I boil a bunch of them in chicken stock and seasoning for about 15-20 mins and then fill one of those big Stanley vacuum sealed thermos's (how do you spell that?lol)
Four to five hrs later they are super tender. This time they went close to eleven hrs and tender. Was curious how hot they would be in my cold car all day, 20 degrees. Went in boiling, 11hrs later 144 almost 145 degrees, plenty hot enough
View attachment 1189371
I dumped them and the broth on some ramen noodles

I was never big on fried livers but I never met a fried gizzard or heart that I didn't love! Always fixed the same way. Fried in flour then popped into a pressure cooker for 15 minutes. They literally melt in your mouth. I haven't had them in years, ever since they made it to the 'do not eat organ meets if you do not want your arteries to clog up like old water pipes' list of delicious foods I was forced to forego.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I was never big on fried livers but I never met a fried gizzard or heart that I didn't love! Always fixed the same way. Fried in flour then popped into a pressure cooker for 15 minutes. They literally melt in your mouth. I haven't had them in years, ever since they made it to the 'do not eat organ meets if you do not want your arteries to clog up like old water pipes' list of delicious foods I was forced to forego.

"They " are always coming up with some new thing that will kill you. I figure if it isn't processed and the animals are fed well, their body parts should be healthy to eat.

 

[ronott1]

Tonight was home made Pizza!

I start Thanks Giving stuff tomorrow. I will bake some sourdough bread for stuffing