Eat Local KC

Attack of Chickenzilla

The title may sound scary and the size of this bird was frightening, but Chickenzilla was easily the best chicken I have ever had. Three of three family members agree, including our child who was munching a leg in one hand and crispy bits of skin in the other, all the while calling for "More!"

Based on our great success in sourcing local beef, we decided to look for local poultry as well. I had met Marcus Moreland who had both chicken and lamb, and he sold me some of his chickens to "try." I meet him, he has two ginormous birds, two smaller ones and a pack of lamb shanks. He asks me for ten bucks. I tried to force forty on him. He met me at twenty.

"You're nuts," I said. "This is  a hundred bucks worth of meat at Whole Foods."

He smiled. And just handed over the bag. He's won us over for good. We'll be buying lamb soon.

You see, the natural meats, even at Whole Foods, are not pastured chickens. They are cage free, meaning they have some access to outdoors, but not true pastured chicken. That natural diet of grasses and bugs supplemented with organic grains. For the first time chicken didn't have an indistinct flavor that could be any tasteless meat. Chicken really does taste like chicken. And, I tell you, it's not what you've been eating all these years. Wow.

Here's the menu for our feast:

Apple-sage Roasted Chickenzilla
1 large pastured chicken
1 apple cut in half
1 rosemary sprig
3 thyme sprigs
1 handful of fresh sage
olive oil
coarse sea salt
balsamic vinegar
pepper
rubbed dry sage
dried rosemary

Preheat oven to 350 degree convection roast if you have a convection oven.

Stuff chickenzilla with the apple and fresh herbs. Pour on some olive oil and balsamic and rub. Rub on some sage and dried rosemary, salt and pepper. Roast for about an hour for an average size bird, or 90 minutes for a chickenzilla. Use a meat thermometer inserted into the fleshy inside part of the thigh up next to the breast. This is the last part of the bird to get done. Temp should read 180 when cooked for safety. The balsamic will caramelize a bit and give the skin a deep golden brown crispiness.

I served this with Roasted Green Beans, and my husband brought home Sage Walnut bread from a local bakery. We also had some sweet potatoes, so I made a sweet-savory roasted blend.

Honey-Sage Sweet Potatoes with Shallots
3 large shallots, peeled and quartered
2 giant sweet potatoes (about 3-1/2 pounds) peeled and diced
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. honey or maple syrup would be even better
liberal shot of fresh ground pepper
coarse sea salt
2 tbs. chopped fresh sage

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spray heavy baking sheet with cooking spray. Roast potatoes for about 40 minutes, turning at least twice to avoid burning. Toss all ingredients together and spread into one layer on baking sheet. They will be dark golden and crisp when done.

Dessert? No, we just had chicken skin for dessert. It was that good. The only problem now, I muttered to my spouse over a bite of chicken, is that we can't ever get chicken out again. We're ruined. Sad, but so true.

Preserving the Harvest — for Generations

A couple weeks ago we went to pick up our CSA bag. Part of the week's harvest included an small melon with a light green rind. It smelled crisp and citrus. I can't even remember the name of it. As we placed it in the car, the farmer said, "Hey, be sure to save the seeds on this for me. They cost me a dollar each."

He gave my husband instructions on how to save the seeds. When my husband cut into the melon, the texture and flavor were just like the smell. It was a very interesting fruit. He did as the farmer asked, and saved the seeds. When he counted them, he said, "You know, there's like $150 in here." The next week we returned the seeds to our farmer, keeping a few to try and plant ourselves.

Seed saving has been in practice for far longer than glossy seed catalogs. For many heirloom varieties, this is the only reason they have survived and been passed along for generations. When you consider that the diversity of our food crops have been reduced by 75 percent since 1900, it really becomes critical to preserve that 25 percent we have left.

You can learn more about how to save seeds and about the history and importance of seed saving at my post for this September's Eat Local Challenge.

Summer Freeze

This September, the Eat Local Challenge is offering a whole range of ways to participate in the ELC September Challenge. With so many ways to participate, we can all join in the experience. You should check this opportunity out at the Eat Local Challenge site.

This year's challenge has special emphasis on learning how to preserve your locally grown food for winter. I decided to put up some corn and beans so that I would have more vegetables on my Local Thanksgiving table. The rest of the stored produce can be used for soups and stews this cold winter. You can find my directions for preparing and freezing your fresh corn and green beans at the Eat Local Challenge site.