Steaming

On holiday for a week in Cornwall. Had to leave very early, as today is "Trevithick Day" in Cambourne and, as DH is into that sort of thing, thought he might like to see it.

Got there in time, walked round all the steam related exhibits, and then lined the street to watch the parade. It's surprising how long it takes for that many slow rolling steam engines to go past.

Especially when it's raining.

I took a photo of each and every one, but I've just added a few here

Ox Cheeks

Had friends round for dinner last night and I had decided to try Ox Cheeks. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to eat them but, I kept telling myself, it's just beef from a different bit of the cow. I don't eat Offal (well, except Haggis, which is liver-ish but well spiced, and I eat it with lots of mashed potato and mashed carrots & swede) because I don't like the smell or texture of Liver or Kidney , and I wasn't sure whether this fell into that category.

I used the recipe from the Donald Russell website. It was for four cheeks, but here I encountered my first query. The packs from Donald Russell each had two cheeks in, so four cheeks was 2 packs. Byt each pack was 800g of very lean meat - so this would mean 1.6kg for four....surely that couldn't be right?

On the DR website it stated that each 800g pack fed 2-3, so I used both packs. However, the quantities for the other ingredients listed didn't seem enough at all, so I increased them considerably.

The first step was searing the cheeks until they were caramelised. Now, I have a fantastic and enormous hob-to-oven pan, but I had to sear the cheeks in batches. And when they coloured, they went that sort of khaki colour that Liver goes. It did not bode well.

I absolutely detest liver. I remember being forced to eat it at school, and now even the smell of it makes me heave. I have tried it since - my DH and one of my best friends both adore liver and say that home made is nothing lie the school carp - but as soon as I bit into it...well, I've given up.

Followed the rest of the recipe, and everntually got the cheeks into the oven, where they had to cook for 2.5 hours. I checked them twice, and after the first checking (at one hour) they looked completely different and the sauce looked wonderfully unctuous.

They were fantastic! I can't believe it. Really tender, really delicious, texture was like any oher braised steak. We ate nearly all of it, it could have served 5 easily, 6 for small appetites.

So here's the recipe with my adaptations:
Ingredients
4 Ox cheeks (I used Donald Russell, 2 packs of 2 cheeks totalling 1.6kg)
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil

2 carrots, cut into small sticks
2 onions, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced fairly thin
200ml port

1.5 or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (I saved the laf tin to use on Bruschetta)
About 1 litre of beef stock (I used a can of Waitrose Beef Consomme, plus 600ml beef stock)
150 to 200ml Balsamic vinegar (don't use the really cheap stuff)
3 large sprigs of rosemary

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (150 deg fan oven, Gas 3, or equivalent). Make sure the Ox CHeeks have come to room temperature, then pat them dry with kitchen towel. I had to cut some of the cheeks, as they had sort of flappy bits which meant it would be hard to brown all over. However, keep them as largish pieces, don't be tempted to cut them small as they will just disappear in the cooking process.

Heat about 2 tablespoons of the oil in a very large flameproof casserole, or hob-to-oven pan, until it's very hot. Sear the cheek pieces all over until tehy are brown and slightly caramelised. I had to do this in two batches, and I added some extra oil at the end. When done, remove to a plate. Don't worry about the mountain of meat in front of you. Some of it will disintegrate into the sauce anyway.

Add the onions, celert and carrots to the pan and cook at a lower heat for about 6 mins, turning them frequently. Towards the end of the time, turn the heat back up again. When they are done, pour in the port in one go, it will bubble rapidly and steam, and this will deglaze the pan. Turn the heat down, and let the liquid reduce until it's almost all gone.

Now add the remainder of the ingredients and stir, then put the cheeks back in the pan. Try and cover them with liquid as much as possible. Bring to the boil, and once it's simmering al over put the lid on, and transfer to the oven.

Cook in the oven for at least two hours, preferably 2 and a half. I checked the dish at 1 hour and 1 and a half hours in case the meat needed turning. (It needed a bit of adjustment at one hour, but it was fine when I did the second check).

We served it with mashed potatoes to soak up the lovely sauce, and roasted vegetables.

Leftover "gravy" can be saved and frozen and used as a rich beefy gravy for other meals.

Definitely one for my recipe book!

Table Birds have arrived

The table chicks have finally arrived!

DH and his friend, who are doing this together,, have been very busy getting the allotment ready for them. First they had to clear the allotment, then fence it, then convert a shed to be the chooks home and sleeping quarters.

It's a lovely large shed, the photo doesn't do it justice. The chicks are in the far corners in the first pic.


They are only 7 or 8 weeks old and we haven't let them out to free range yet. We're doing this one change at a time, and the first big change was having tehm move into their new home. The next will be getting them on to Growers pellets.





Three of the birds are very different to the others, they are very brown, so they may turn out to not be table birds. The fact that three are different may be a problem, as it sets them apart and makes them easy to get attached to. I think I'm on the slippery slope as I found that of the six pics I took this morning, three of them are of the Oddballs!

Spring

The garden has suddenly burst into life.

The grass has been mowed, twice; the area the Girls were on up to about a week ago has recovered magnificently, so I'll be moving their paddock back there tomorrow; the Cherry and Pear trees are both in magnificent blossom - haven't seen the Cherry look this glorious for years, so maybe last year's pruning has helped!


The bluebells are coming into flower as well. We lost a lot last year when we made our terraced area, but we seem to have a good number in other parts of the garden. I've been top dressing a lot of the flower beds, and I've also put a top dressing of home compost around the soft fruit bushes.

And the table chicks have arrived in their new home. More about them tomorrow, maybe.

Wedding cake (final)

The Wedding went really well. Bride looked radiant, groom looked handsome, venue was delighful.

Here are some pics of the cake.

Some days, it's more frustrating than fun

Jasmine has been getting to be a bit of a noisy nuisance.

She is a Welsummer, and started laying chocolate brown eggs very late - she was well over a year old. She's not the cleverest of chickens, but is very pretty.

A little while ago she developed a rather unusual call, more of a honking than anything, making her sound more like a goose than a chicken. It's been a bit irritating from time to time, but she only has honking fits every so often.

In common with many Girls, she also likes to announce The Arrival of The Egge. Her call on these occasions is very loud, and goes on for some time.

Today, she announced the Arrival of The Egge, very loudly, when in fact she hadn't actually laid. Twice. The third time, it wasn't funny any more as her foghorn voice went on and on. In fact, she had produced the Egg this time, but she just wouldn't shut up about it. She went on and on and on. And on and on. And on. And on. And on. I went out and shushed her. She stopped. Then when I was out of sight, she started again. Apparently from the beginning, rather than just picking up where she left off.

So I went out again. I tried spraying water near her each time she started. After a minute of silence I'd come in, only to have her start as soon as she saw me step in to the kitchen. This "game" went on for some time. In the end, in sheer frustration (because by this time she was making such a noise I thought the neigbours would surely be round to see what on earth was happening) that I caught her and brought her in the kitchen. In the kitchen, not a bok.

Then Daisy appeared at the window, which was something of a feat as the Girls are behind netting down the garden. I caught Daisy, and put her back behind the netting. I saw Lily trying to leap over the netting as I did so, but she wasn't able to get the thrust to get over.

I got back to the house, Jasmine was still very quiet, but was frantically pecking the window trying to get out. I went round to pick her up to release her, and saw two white chickeny faces peering in at me. This time Lily and Daisy together had got over the fence.

So. I put them back, and then I put Jasmine back out in the garden.

By the time I got back to the kitchen, Jasmine was honking again. At least she's stopped the Announcement, I suppose.

I need to talk to DH about this. If this keeps happening, I think Jasmine will need to be rehomed. Our neighbours mum may be moving in with them, and I don't want this to cause problems for them - or for our relationship with them.

Jasmine must consider herself "on notice", I think.


EDITED TO ADD:
I've just watched Daisy escape. She doesn't fly over the netting, she manged to find a bit where there was a weeny gap between the bottom of the netting and the ground - and she slowly limbo-ed under it.

Ha ha ha.

I've removed the gap now.


EDITED AGAIN TO ADD:
Poor Daisy is trying to find her limbo point, and there are now three chickens (Daisy, Milly, Lily) lined up trying to walk through the fencing. Bless 'em.

5 out of 5!

Yay! Daisy has laid her first egg!

It's absolutely gorgeous, a lovely mid brown shade. It weoghed in at 45g which is a good size for a first egg. I egg danced across the garden and rushed in to show DH.

Here's one from each...

Noisy girls!

The Girls have been getting up - and then complaining - earlier and earlier. Thank goodness for the upcoming clock change. Shutting them in didn't work, in fact it made it worse. Covering the front of the run worked for maybe one day, then it seemed to give Delilah more to moan about. Jasmine, who I think has Goose somewhere in her parentage, likes to pick up when Delilah needs a break.

It's reassuring to know that it's probably not as bad as it seems, because we are directly in line and above where the Girls like to stand.

I guess the final option will be to just give in and let them out to free range at silly o'clock, but that is a Big Risk because of the foxes.

We'll see.

On the cusp

Millie is going broody.

Every day for the past few days, she has spent ages in the nestbox. Each time I've gone to have a look, she's done that wonderful chicken growl that is meant to scare me away. Each time I've moved her, I've found her incubating eggs.

First day I caught her at it, she was incubating the two dummy eggs and her own. The dummy eggs (and hers of course) have been removed. Second day, she was incubating Jasmine's egg; third day, Delilah's and Lily's; today it was Delilah and Jasmine's. As with the other days, I hoiked her out and put her in the garden. As with other days, she then seemed to forget about being broody...until the next morning.

I'm thinking that if she slips into it fully this time I might just let her get on with it. I'm not sure how it will affect the other Girls though, I don't want them to end up laying their eggs in the garden. Hmmm. Have to see, I think.

Solar water heating

At last, DH has had an opportunity to fit the solar panels for the water heating!

it's been some time now since the bits arrived, and since the special cylinder was fitted; with a few consecutive days of forecast good weather (and getting fed up of moving the frame every time we wanted to get to the cupboards in the study) DH was able to hire one of thos platform thingys so he could get on to the roof in safety.

It took a couple of days in total, which included building the platform, putting up the panel, connecting it to the pipes, testing it, fitting the tubes, testing it again, changing the settings, and then dismantling the platform.

It's been very efficient at heating the water during the day, needed some tweaking to get the settings right for overnight. We'll see what happens later today when the sun has gone down.

It doesn't look too awful on the roof, either, so that's a bonus.

Wedding Cake (again)

DsD, partner & 3 kids arrived late on Friday night, so that she and I could spend Saturday decorating her wedding cake. Poor cats did a runner, as they are used to (relative) calm.

Saturday morning, after a proteracted breakfast, we managed to get started, and spent ages trying different things on two cake dummies that I had bought specifically for that purpose.

Eventually, we had a good idea of what we were going to do, so we started icing the cakes. There was a bit of a problem with the top layer, which I can't explain here as we were doing something "clever". However, we fixed it.

We iced the cake and the board, and eventually got it all smoothed down. A bit of hand-slapping and smoothing, and the top and sides were smooth and shiny. I used some royal icing to pipe around the bottom to hide the join. We then decorated the top - I can't say much more here until after the wedding.

Then it was time to tackle the bottom layer.

This was huge; not only wre we icing the top and sides, we were also icing the board at the same time. We broke the huge mound of icing into several smaller pieces, and kneaded each one individually, then combined them into one huge pile.

I had shown my DsD the importance of rolling all the way across the icing in one go, without stopping. If you stop part way, you end up with a dent. When the circle was small it was fine, but as it got bigger she found she had to use her forearms as well, and eventually she ran out of arm.

We then had an enormour circle of icing to lift without breaking, and we had to get it onto the cake first time as the cake was now glazed with sherry. We did it. Smoothing it down was OK, and as soon as we had it smooth and hand-slapped, I piped around the join.

This was the easier layer to decorate as we were using some icing lilies and some small ribbons.

We finished off the boards with some ribbon, and then had a look at the two together. We're very pleased with them.

I'll post pics after the wedding.

A present from Daisy

being the owner of Cats, I'm used to the little pressies they like to leave. Mice, usually; some whole, sometimes just the intestines, occasionally still alive.

This afternoon I was sitting in the kitchen with the door open as DH was erecting scaffolding (more about that later) and I couldn't actually get the door shut.

The Girls decided to come in and say hello, and were shooed out. And then Daisy hopped up the step with a dead mouse in her beak. She then dropped it on the mat, and just looked at me.


I think she wanted to do a swap for some mixed corn.

Chickens, Cat and Mouse, and Benny Hill

DH just came in, chuckling. Washburn (ginger cat) had caught a mouse but had then managed to lose it. Cat was watching for Mouse by a planter, with Jasmine (our least intelligent Girl) standing the other side, also watching.

I was getting a sense of deja vu at this point, having been through something similar with Wash and Milly some months ago.

DH went out to rescue Mouse, but the poor thing bit him and got dropped.

Too late to save him, DH came in.

We then saw Delilah running past the kitchen window with the mouse in her beak, hotly pursed by Jasmine. Every time Delilah stopped to try and take a bite Jasmine tied to steal it., so Delilah had to pick it up again and run on (The mouse was definitely dead by now,otherwise we would have intervened).

Delilah hid behind a flowerpot, and I went out to take a picture.


Delilah, presumably thinking I was after her mouse, was then off again pursued relentlessly by Jasmine. They ran past Milly who had no idea what was going on but being a Chicken, decided to join in anyway.
And as Delilah passed Lily, she joined in too


And I had the wonderful spectacle of a full-on chicken chase around the garden, a la Benny Hill.

They were all moving so quickly, it was difficult to get the pictures.

Creatures of Habit

Some time ago, one of my brothers asked if he could have our old "pond". It's one of those cheap circular plastic things that you bury in the ground, we'd been using it to hold our stone fountain but it eventually sagged and needed replacing with something stronger. It was relegated to standing somewhere behind the shed.

When Darling Brother 2 (DB2) asked about it, we eventually uncovered it, cleaned it up, found the flaps, and then put it by the back door ready for him to collect.

During the winter, it filled up with rainwater. And then the chickens started to use it as theit water supply. It never ceases to amaze me that the Girls (and the Cats) like to drink from dirty puddles or other stagnant pools.

The cats drink from anywhere on it, but the Girls only ever drink from one little section. I've now found myself keeping it topped up, and emptying it, cleaning it, and refilling it for them every so often.

It's been very warm for a few days, and the level of the water in their one section has gone down considerably, to the point where they have to stick their heads deep deep deep inside. But still they insist on only using that one section.

Funny girls.

EDITED TO ADD:
I didn't fill up their little section, and they got very vocal about it. In the end, in fear of upsetting the neighbours, I gave in and topped it up.

They rewarded me by having a Benny Hill chase with a mouse.

Marzipanning a Cake

DsD is coming atthe weekend so we can decorate her wedding cakes together. So, today, I needed to get the bottom layer marzipanned.

The cake has been fed once a week or so since it was made, so it looks very rich




I put the apricot jam on to boil...

..and set about kneading the marzipan. The cake is 10 inches in diameter, so it needed about 2 and a half pounds of marzipan.

I used a little bit of the marzipan to fill "sultana" gaps, and taround the bottom of the cake.


Next, I measured out the size of the cake including the sides, so I knew how big a circle of marzipan I need.

By this time, the jam was ready....

..so I covered the cake with it.


And then I rolled out the marzipan, and lifted it on to the cake.....



....then with some smoothing and cutting, it was eventually done.

Getting bigger

Lily laid her second egg for us this morning. At 47g, it was more than 25% heavier than yesterday's.

Last night we tried putting a shade across the front of their Run to discourage them from standing there and squwarking so early. DH is sure it wasn't as loud as normal this morning, I'm not convinced. We'll see tomorrow.

Delilah and Lily laid at a similar time, so the Announcing of The Egg was a bit longer (and louder) than normal, so maybe that coloured my judgement. Fortunately they didn't lay until about 9am, so it's not too unreasonable.

Small but perfectly formed

Our first egg from Lily.

Teeny tiny at 37g, it's small - but perfect. Next to it, for comparison, is one of Delilah's normal eggs.

Nigella's Clementine Cake

My sister-in-law and her husband are staying overnight, and I thought I'd try making Nigella Lawson's infamous Clementine Cake as a treat. I had plenty of Clementines, and plenty of eggs (the recupe requires 6). Even better, Ms Lawson says that it's best made the day before.

So, I made it yesterday. I've just tried it and.... I don't really like it. It's meant to be a "moist" cake, but I would describe it as "soggy". It's definitely cooked, the skewer came out clean. It's just a bit wet. And bitty.

I've looked online but, with one or two exceptions, everyone seems to rave over it.

Oh well. If the inlaws don't like it, the wild birds will have a feast! Just seems such a waste of 6 eggs

Bloody chicken

Just went out to let the girls out to free range, and noticed that there was blood on Lily's head. I managed to scoop her up (fortunately, despite being very flighty, she's started crouching for me) and bundled her into the kitchen. I left her with some corn, and went to look inthe Cube to see if there was blood there too.

There wasn't any in the Cube, and there wasn't any on Lily yesterday when I picked her up, so I'm assuming that it happened this morning. I have to start by assuming that one of the other Girls is the culprit, although I'll go and check the hanging things in the Run shortly. And it could be that she caught herself while scratching.

Chickens get very excited at the sight of blood, and even if it wasn't one of the others that caused the problem, it's common for chickens to start attacking the area that is bleeding.

I was on my own, and holding a flighty chicken while trying to bathe the blood off her with wet cotton wool was not easy. The situation wasn't helped by Washburn, my ginger cat, coming to see what the fuss was about; seeing a chicken trapped in my arms, he was remarkably confident around her, but that didn't last as I let her go to re-wet the cotton wool, she flapped her wings, and Wash ran off.

Anyway. After several attempts, I managed to wash off most of the blood, and I think there is only one wound. I put on some rubber gloves and sprayed the wound with Gentian violet; I didn't realise that Gentian Violet when sprayed is a bit like blowing ink out of a fountain pen. Good job we have a solid floor that is easily cleaned. And a good job I had thought to cover Lily's eyes.

Anyway, aftet I'd GV'd her, I opened the french window and she bolted for freedom, stopping immediately outside to start eating the grass. She looks very punky at the moment.

The other side is a bit more dramatic, as the GV sort of splashed down her side a bit. I've taken a dozen photos but she just moves too quickly for me to catch it.

I've seen Milly chasing her, but I haven't seen any real attacking going on. I'll have to keep a close eye on them to make sure there aren't any problems.

Inspection of the Run shows that the Peckablock couldbe the cause. The end of the hook is quite sharp, and it's possible she caught the top of her head on it while eating the top of the Peckablock. I've bent it round, and will go out with some tape shortly.

The Chicken Roundabout - again

It really is based on true events, even down to the couple next door who hated the chickens!

I enjoyed the book so much that I left a comment on the website about it. To my surprise and delight Tom Honeywood, author, emailed me back to say:

Although the book is a fiction many aspects are inspired by real events.

Certainly the chickens pre-date the roundabout by many years, and there were chickens kept at the gate keepers cottage.

There was an eccentric old lady in the old railway gatekeepers cottage who was placed there by the council because she wouldn't settle into an old peoples home. She was known to hiss at people who walked past!

Of course the building of the bypass over the railway happened in 1983.

There are two individuals living near the roundabout who have been strongly opposed to the chickens and have been (and still are) quite unpleasant to both them and the chicken man, who did indeed appear on an animal champions telly programme.

Locals did indeed stage protests against the council's plans to have the chickens removed.
The maltings was (unsurprisingly) home to a colony of rats and I remember well as a boy being shocked at the size of them.

The maltings caught fire in 1999 and has been a ruin ever since.

There was a house fairly close by that was nearly demolished by a lorry and very close to that a turkey lorry once overturned. There was also a potato lorry that overturned and the side of the roundabout was covered in a huge pile of potatos (I so regret not taking a photo of it).

So as you see there was already the outline of great story waiting to be told!

It also turns out that the profits from the book are going to the local hospital, so it's an even better reason to get a copy!

www.chickenroundabout.co.uk