HEN HUNT
Author Archives: Back Yard Farmer - Dunedin
Deep Fried Sage Leaves
Fresh Sage Leaves from the Garden dipped into a batter of Flour and Water, then deep fried in oil. Can be done on the barbecue or on the stove. Even the Toddlers could not get enough. YUM!!!
The Ultimate Toddler Snack Box
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Packed for my grandson by his mother – fruit, vegetables, boiled quail eggs, cheese and off camera bread baked by Nonno
MAKE GOOD POLENTA
To make good Polenta is an art.
1 Cup Polenta Flour
3.5 Cups of warm tap water
1 Teaspoon salt
40 g Butter
60 g Grated Parmigiano Cheese (Optional)
Ad Water, Polenta Flour and Salt to a pot and heat mildly until boiling – stir continuously. Lower heat and continue to cook and stir frequently until Polenta is done (when it comes away from the side when stirring is normally an indication that it is cooked). Take off the heat and stir in the Butter and Parmigiano Cheese.
Serve!!
To stir a flat based pot must be done with an instrument with a straight flat side at the end. One cannot stir the bottom of a flat pot with a rounded spoon. The bottom of the pot is warmer than the rest and the starches gelatinise at the bottom first. If the bottom contents is not regularly loosened and mixed with the rest, it will burn and stick to the pot – that is why a porridge pot is always so difficult to clean. Making Polenta requires the pot base to be stirred / scraped and “cleaned” all the time.
Pickled Quail Eggs
Pickled Quail Eggs
For the Pickling Liquid
4 cups white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons pickling salt
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
10 cloves garlic, crushed
20 black peppercorns
20 all spice berries
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 large onion finely sliced
50 g finely sliced ginger
5 bayleaves
4 hot chilies finely sliced
1 handful of chopped, fresh, continental parsley
1/2 handful of chopped, fresh, thyme
Boil all the ingredients for about 10 minutes. Let it stand for a few hours
For the Eggs
5 dozen quail eggs
Put the eggs in a pot of cold water , make sure the eggs are well covered with water. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes from the time the water starts to bubble strongly. Remove from the heat and hold under the cold tap until the eggs are cool enough to handle. Keep the eggs in the water and peel them, moisture on the shell makes peeling a bit easier.
Assembling the Pickles
Pack the canning jars with enough eggs to ensure that they will not float around, and pour the pickling liquid over the eggs. Make sure that all the eggs are completely covered. Close the jars tightly. Put the bottles in a large pot with enough water to cover the bottles. Bring the water to the boil and boil for 20 minutes from the time the water starts boiling strongly.
Leave for a month at least and enjoy!
Back Yard Farmer 