Monthly Archives: May 2014

Hereditary Wry Neck in Coturnix coturnix

2014-05-13 17.33.09

I have been breeding six different breeds of Coturnix in New Zealand over the past 12 months and with my scientific background, recordkeeping is one of my passions. I am of the opinion that Wry Neck is hereditary in Coturnix coturnix as I have a ten times larger occurences in my Tuxedo breed than any of the other five breeds. The incidence of Wry Neck in the my breeds are as follows  –   Tuxedo – 3.2 % : Goolden Italians – 0.0% : Whites – 0.1% : Tibetans – o.9% : Pharoah – 0.3% and Rosettas 0.0%. These figures were collected from at least 200 birds for each breed, except for the Rosettas where information is for 38 birds only. The other interesting fact is that after just four generations of heavy culling against defective traits, the wry neck occurance has declined in the Tuxedo breed from over 6 % to less than 2 % in the last batches. The decline is not statisticayl significant even though definate, but the diffference beteen breeds is.

Cured Salmon

2014-05-14 - Salmon Fillet2014-05-14 - Salmon in Salt2014-05-14 - Salmon Filleting KnifeSalmone 3

I think the Portuguese are particularly good preparing and cooking seafood. This Cured Salmon recipe, which is so easy and absolute fantastic, I have learned from a Portuguese Chef I employed and even though he was not Italian, he cooked magnific food in an Italian restaurant.

Fillet the Salmon and take all the bones out with a pair of sharp nosed pliers.  Mix 800g Salt, 200g Sugar and the grated rind of four Lemons ( with no pith).  Put a thin layer of the salt mixture in a baking tray, large enough to hold the fillet. Place fillet skin side down on the salt mixture and use the rest of the salt to completely cover the fillet. Leave in the fridge for 24 hours, then flip the fillet over and make sure it is again covered with the salt mixture. After another 24 hours, remove from the salt and wash well with cold running water. The timing  is absolutely critical to secure a delicious end product, not too dry, not too salty, just right. Dry well with absorbing paper. The cured fish can be consumed immediately or stored in the fridge for about ten days. I cut mine in usable size bits and vacuum seal it, extending the fridge time with some weeks. It is polished off quickly so I have never found out just how many weeks it will keep! Traditiopnally I serve it sliced in paper thin slices – I use my very sharp filleting knife – with capers and a tiny bit of olive oil, fresh rocket salad and home made bread or with some smoked fish roe – do not forget the glass of good red wine (white if you must)

 

Looked for Bufala but only found Jersey

Today was another family outing to the dairy farm and the youngest was keen to get to know the young Jersey bull a lot better by poking and pulling ears of the young future stud.

After having a good look to see if there were any buffalo around, as it was my intention to make some Mozzarella, I had to settle on Jersey milk after all.

We came home with some beautiful fresh full cream Jersey milk, of which I converted the bulk into some fine Brie and Mozzarella. The rest of the milk I put into my home made Separator to collect the rich and yellow cream tomorrow for our week’s supply. Tonight after supper I am converting the whey into Ricotta. We had a delightful antipasto of INSALATA CAPRESE, with fresh home made Mozzarella, fresh ripe tomato, fresh basil, olive oil and pepper, with fresh home made bread to clean out the plate.

2014-05-11 - Insalata Caprese 2

MOZZARELLA RECIPE

Heat  10 Liters milk to 33 C and wait until the pH is 6.8. Ad 100 g of thermophyllic mother starter and mix well. Ad 3 g lipase and stir very well. For Jersey milk, top stir for another minute. Cover and ripen at 33 C for 30 minutes. Ad 4 ml rennet and stir with a up and down motion for one minute.. Cover and let is set at 33 C for 90 minutes, or until the milk has set into a soft curd. Once set it will have the texture of a soft yogurt. Gently cut the curd into 6 mm blocks and let it set undisturbed for 20 minutes. The whey will float to the top and the pH should now be 6.5, if it is not, wait a bit longer. Slowly heat the curd t0 38C , increase heat by 2 degrees every 5 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Drain the whey from the curds (save the whey for Ricotta) Fill a large pot with water (double cooker) and heat water to 40C. Now place the curd pot into the water pot and keep it at 40 C for three hours so the curds can acidify.  Every half hour, drain off the whey and flip over the curds. At the end of the three hours check that the pH is 5.2 – 5.3, if not, wait some more. Now put the curd mass on a draining board and cut the curds in 10 mm sizes. Once cut up and drained, put the curds into a stainless steel bowl and cover with water at 78 C. Using two wood spoons, work the curd together and form it into balls. The surface will now become glossy and stretchy. when gently pulled. Continue to work the curd mass until blisters start forming on the surface. When the ph is 5.3 or less, put the cheese into a bowl with cool water to become firm. Make a brine with 5 Liters of water, 1 Kg cheese salt and 20 g Calcium Chloride and submerge the cheese for one hour. It can either be eaten fresh or stored for later use to make delicious pizza.

 

Christmas on the 8 th of May

 

2014-05-08 - Bottles

They say Christmas comes but once a year, mine came on the 8 th of May this year and I am all happy about it. Two of my many weaknesses are 1. The love of glass bottles and 2. Enjoyment of a good auction.  I think these traits are hereditary as my Grandfather once waved at a friend across the auction floor, which resulted in him buying 500 pairs of shoes. (Needless to say we were the only kids in school that sported a new pair of shoes every day – it was irrelevant whether these were from an era before Granddad was born or that it did not always fit that well). Today on my way back from Bunnings, my eye caught a sign that said “AUCTION” and since I still needed a couple of hinges and latches for the new chicken extension, I though it good to have a look. Registering as purchaser No  342, I was sure with that many buyers, bargains would be few and far between. I wondered through the isles, but did not see any worthwhile building materials I needed. What I did see was some very nice 2 Liter chemical bottles, used in a past life for concentrated sulphuric acid. The quality of the German made bottles and closures was excellent and all complete with bottles and seals made in a way that only Germany could make to keep sulphuric acid. Arguing with myself that the wine store down the road sells inferior quality 4.5 Liter wine jars with doubtful lids for $17, and I need containers for my wine, beer and vinegar productions, I am going to hang around and maybe I would get lucky and purchase the 50 bottles at $4 – $5 per bottle – a great bargain.  The auction progressed well and fast with the lot before the bottles being garden equipment and included at least three very good and long power cords, lots of bolts and screws, two secateurs (German made) branch cutters, an esky, an almost new garden blower / vacuum machine and many more garden stuff – it even had a few latches and hinges. As I did not need most of the stuff, I did not place a bid, nor waved at any friends. The auctioneer at this stage was becoming agitated as nobody wanted to place a bid. Frustrated he moved onto the next lot – the bottles – and announced that the previous lot for which he received no bid would be thrown into the bottle lot. I was disappointing as this move complicated matters gravely. He started at $300 with nobody even looking at him, came down in $10 increments until he reached $100, and still every body was more interested in the cup of coffee they were drinking. I was tempted to jump in at $100 (only $2 per bottle plus all the extras) but resisted. The auctioneer came down all the time asking for a bid, and at $20 shouted that if anybody wants it to please speak up or we shall move on. I put my hand up and said $10 for the lot, he sighed, shook his head, waited for a minute in frustration and started the auction – still nobody moved and he then SOLD it to me for $10 the lot.  Christmas comes but once a year – Glass bottles on auction at a give away price.