Monthly Archives: November 2013

Ginger or Wheat Beer

2013-11-17 - Ginger and Wheat Beer

Ginger Beer

During summer months I always have a bottle of ginger and another of wheat beer brewing. There is nothing better than  relaxing under the apple tree with a glass of cold Home Made Ginger Beer, after a long day in the vegetable garden. 

Take 1 Kg of whole wheat and soak it in water for three days. Discard water and ad 250 g of raw sugar, 1500 ml water, 20 g dry yeast, 200 g crushed sultanas and 200 g finely cut whole fresh ginger to the wheat and put it in a glass container with a lid that can release the gas if the pressure becomes too much. Let it stand in a warm place in the kitchen. After two days, drain the water (ginger beer) through a cheesecloth  and ad 250 g raw sugar, 1500 ml water and a teaspoon of dry ginger powder to the remaining solids and replace lid – this last step can be repeated every two days for several months. Ginger Beer will not be nice for the first few times, and may have to be discarded, but become delicious soon after. When the temperature is warmer, the process can be sped up by changing water more frequently and vice versa. Beer should rest for 12 hours after draining, before drinking.

Wheat Beer

The same as above, but leave out the sultanas, fresh ginger and dried ginger powder

Bread of the Day

2013-11-13 11.21.11

All of these breads were made with one recipe using home made biga.

Cheese Buns for the Kids – add a cup of tasty cheddar to the dough

Artichoke hart Focaccia for Nonna,

Pane di Casa for Nonno

Fried quail eggs for breakfast

Fried quail eggs for breakfast

Cute, tasty eggs. Maximum yolk, minimum egg white, simply fried in a tiny bit of butter with a sage leaf tossed in. The bread is made using the biga recipe

PHAROAH COTURNIX QUAIL

PHAROAH – COTURNIX QUAIL

I aim to develop purebred PHAROAH QUAIL BREEDING GROUPS  or  PHAROAH QUAIL HATCHING EGGS that I intend to introduce to NZ  breeders

(I also breed Golden Italian, White and Tibetan Coturnix Quail and have eggs and breeding groups on offer. )

The Pharoah Quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) has similar  characteristics and colour to the wild quail (Coturnix coturnix).  These birds are native to the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa. Migratory habits resulted in some birds landing in Egypt and this is where the initial domestication has happened. Since the twelfth century these birds have been raised in Japan for meat, eggs and as  pets (hey loved their singing). Coturnix Quails were introduced into the United States in 1870. Even though the Pharoah and Wild Quails are very closely related they normally to not naturally interbreed, even in Europe where wild flocks of both strains would be found in the same area.  They have yellow/ brown speckled plumage with a white stripe above the eye. Males have rusty brown breast feathers. The Pharoah colouring is exactly as for the Wild Quails. Birds are well adapted to cage conditions.

At present there are a few true breeding mutations of the Coturnix Quail, of which the PHAROAH is one.  It is my intention to keep this strain pure and not mix it with other strains such as the Golden Italian, Tibetans, and Whites all which I also breed.  Each of these strains has specific characteristics such as plumage, conformation and size, temperament, egg and meat production ability, etc. These characteristics I intend to maintain and develop for each strain within the limitations provided by the limited genetic material available. Careful responsible breeding and strenuous selection would result in birds with as low an inbreeding co-efficient as possible and hopefully a more disease resistant, highly fertile, healthy, happy, beautiful and productive quail at the end of the day.

2013-10-24 - Fharoah Coturnix 2 2013-10-24 18.09.15 2013-10-24 18.10.45 2013-10-24 18.12.08

With the project in its infancy it is not possible to guarantee 100 % true colouring from eggs., but I am confident that I will reach my goal with careful selecting.