Post your favorite recipes for freshly

[hippywife]

harvested rooster! I know it's going to take those that require long cooking times and lots of liquid.

Tomorrow is the day:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x2949


:hi:

[spinbaby]

1. Almost any "wet" cooking method

Chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie, chicken braised in wine...

We also sometimes brine older birds and roast them with garlic and rosemary. The brining seems to take care of all but the toughest old birds.

[hippywife]

2. Ah, yes!

Brining! I brined our turkeys last Thanksgiving. Very good.

Thanx for the reminder! :hi:

[The empressof all]

3. I'd be tempted to just make stock

You have access to Feet which make the best broth. But I agree ...wet is best so stew that bird if you aren't making stock.

Coq au Vin in the crock pot is delish.

[grasswire]

4. may I ask why the rooster has to go?

I know nothing about chickens.

[hippywife]

6. We weren't ever supposed to have any roosters.

But of the last batch we got, there ended up being three. That's too many for only nine hens. There should be 15 or so hens to a single rooster. They've just started mating and have really injured one of the hens badly. We had to separate them completely from the hens last night and keep them away from them until they're dispatched one way or the other. They're also really loud and obnoxious, crowing a whole lot all hours of the day and in the early, early morning, which we knew would happen and why we didn't ever want any. They have to go.

One of the guys I work with is going to take two of them but he doesn't want the third one. If I hadn't gotten ahold of him just a few minutes ago, we were going to butcher all three in the morning. Now we only have to butcher one.

[yellerpup]

8. I have a medieval recipe for capon

which the cookbook describes as a rooster that "hath been depriveth of his engendering stones." :blush: They shouldn't be too tough if they are only 7-8 months old. I'd go for chicken & dumplings, though. You should have a really flavorful broth in any case.

Edit one blush too many

[hippywife]

9. What all is in it?

I'm intrigued. :D

[yellerpup]

10. The measurements are by eye....

From "To the King's Taste", Richard II's book of feasts (Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Douce Ame - Take gode cowe mylke and do it in a pot. Take parsel, sawge, ysope, savray, and oother gode herbes. Hewe hem, and do hem in the mylke and seeth hem. Take capons half yrosted and smyte em on pecys and do therto pynes and hony clarified. Salt it and color it with safron and serve it forth.

Translation: "Take good cow's milk and put it into a pot. Take parsley, sage, hyssop, savory, and other good herbs. Chop them, put them in milk, and cook them. Take half-roasted capons and hack them into pieces. Also add pine nuts and clarified honey. Salt it and color it with saffron, and serve it forth."

Now, for the adaptation:

Capon in Milk and Honey

3-4 lb. capon, cut into serving pieces
1/2 cup flour mixed with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 Tbsp. oil
3 C. milk
1/3 C. honey
3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 small leaves fresh sage, minced or 1/4 tsp. dried
1 tsp. hyssop
1/2 tsp savory
1/4-1/2 tsp. saffron
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup pine nuts

Dredge fowl in flour mixture and brown pieces in oil in a large heavy saucepan until golden on all sides.
Combine milk, honey, herbs, salt & pepper in a bowl.
Pour liquid over browned fowl in saucepan, stirring to combine drippings with the sauce.
Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until fowl is tender.
Check seasoning.
Stir in pine nuts just before serving.

Note: This golden dish is resplendent and served to best advantage over plain white rice. Different types of honey will produce interesting variations of flavor.

I didn't recall the exact quote on capons earlier, but this is it: "The capon is a cocke made as it were female by kervynge away of his gendringe stones." Bartholomaeus Anglicus
(translated from Middle English by Trevisa, 1398.

Oldie, but hopefully a goodie--IF you choose to accept this assignment. :rofl: Good luck!

[hippywife]

11. Oh my!

I didn't mean for you to have to type all that out! LOL But since you did, it doesn't sound half bad. I may just try it, altho I have no hyssop or saffron. I might could sub in a couple of different herbs in their place.

You're so sweet for doing that. :hug:

[yellerpup]

12. I didn't have to type it all...

I just thought you would enjoy seeing the old style recipe (from 1398!). They evidently liked a little sweet taste in all their dishes and saffron was a favorite for the king's table because all those dishes were tinted gold. This cookbook sets my imagination on fire. Richard's kitchen crew was famous for knowing which mushrooms were edible and I think Richard liked to freak his royal guests out a little bit by eating them himself and seeing if they had the guts to follow his lead. As you know, so many mushrooms are poisonous and to be served that before a banquet hall of a hundred people or so would be quite a moment of drama. I'm nuts for this kind of stuff.

:loveya:

[eridani]

13. Barbara Kingsolver called that her "testosterone reduction program" n/t

[Warpy]

5. It depends on how old the rooster is

if the breast bone hasn't solidified all the way down, it's still young enough to fry. If it's partially solidified but still has a little give to it, you can bake. If it's fully solidified, you've tolerated the crowing entirely too long and will have to stew or fricasee the old bird.

[hippywife]

7. They are around 7-8 months old.

Probably going to be the latter. Since there will now only be one to be butchered, I'm thinking of going with the coq au vin.

Thanx for that info. :hi:

[hippywife]

14. All done butchering.

The dressed rooster is now soaking in a big pot of ice and water. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Wouldn't want to have to do it every day unless necessary but now at least I know we can do it if needed.

[yellerpup]

15. Good for you.

When addressed as harvest, we better appreciate the animal's sacrifice for our well being. I'm sure your little rooster would not have willingly gone to slaughter, but you have honored him by making 'the most' of him. Peace.

[hippywife]

16. It was kinda sad.

He was a big, beautiful bird. Mostly white with black tail and wing tips that glowed an iridescent green, and a real character. I held him upside down and stroked his breast while Bill cut the jugular.

I wished the girls weren't getting so worn out by all of his attention, he was the worst of the lot. But today the garden is very quiet and peaceful. The girls are very relaxed and contented again. It's a difference you can just feel out there.

And in your honor, when we're ready to cook him, I will be using your recipe, or as close to is as I'm likely to get. His final dressed weight was just under 4 lbs.

Thanx, sweetie. :hug:

[yellerpup]

18. I'm really proud of you.

You handled the task with deep sensitivity, as I had no doubt you would. As you have already observed, the girls will be better off without that horny little rascal chasing them until they drop. Good luck with the recipe; it should be a dish truly worthy of a king. :hug:

Edit for coherence

[hippywife]

19. I will definitely let you know

when I do it and how it turned out.

And the girls are already so much more calm. Hopefully, now that they aren't so stressed, their egg production will stay more stable.

:hug:

[yellerpup]

22. I hope the girls will stabilize and you can get you frash aigs right regular.

Do let me know how the recipe comes out. I'd love to have a theme party based on the recipes from Richard II's table. (I think Rhchie II was the Lionhearted.) :pals:

[Beacool]

23. You're a brave woman.

I'm a hypocrite. I love meat, but if I had to look at it in the eye and then kill it, I would probably be a vegetarian.

I prefer the depersonalized look of my piece of meat laying on a styrofoam tray and covered in plastic. It doesn't make me feel guilty. LOL!!!

:-(

[Fire1]

17. You're such a devoted wife. Brave too! n/t

[hippywife]

20. It helps to have such a devoted husband,

I feel so very fortunate in that aspect. :hi:

[Fire1]

21. Amen to that! n/t