Spatchcock Pastured Chicken

One of the drawbacks of getting our own chickens, if you could call it that, is being able to see how happy chickens are when they get to be real chickens. Grazing in the yard, eating bugs, flying around and chasing each other. We've spent countless hours just sitting out back watching the chickens do their thing. Needless to say, it didn't take long before we decided there was no way we could ever eat another factory farmed chicken. We needed to find chickens that lived a natural chicken life, not stuck in a square foot cage never seeing the light of day. Enter Noah Patridge and Emily French of New Roots Farms. We found them through craigslist and were so impressed we purchased 10 of their pastured chickens. It was almost overwhelming trying to decide how we should prepare the first one. Typically our whole chickens get roasted in the oven, but this was a particularly warm day so grilling was the method of choice. To shorten the cooking time we "Spatchcocked" the chicken before grilling.

Spatchcocking:

Step 1

1. Use kitchen shears to cut on both sides of the backbone and remove the spine
2. Leaving the chicken on its belly, turn it so that the drumsticks point away from you.
3. Cut through the piece of white cartilage just below the skin at the base of the breastbone, on the end of the chicken nearest you.
4. Grab the outside edges of the chicken and bend down while pushing up in the middle like you're trying to break the chicken in half. Bend until you hear it crack.

Step 5

5. Run your finger down both sides of the breastbone to loosen it from the skin and pull it out. Mine came out in two pieces.

You have now spatchcocked a chicken and are ready to cook it. First turn it over then rub it down with olive oil or melted butter. Then choose your seasonings. Through much trial and error we've found that something simple like lemon pepper and salt, or garlic salt and cajun seasoning is best.

On the grill

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking by lighting the outside burners but not the middle, or just the burner on one side if your grill has only two. If you have a charcoal grill I'm going to assume you know how to apply this method to your BBQ. Throw the chicken over the unlit burner and cook until done (use a meat thermometer in the thigh or breast. I pull the chicken off when the thigh reads 165F but am not responsible if you get sick! Check the internet if you need more info). Pull it off the grill and let it rest for at least 5 minutes, preferably 10, then cut apart.  The wings make a good snack while carving the rest of the chicken.The legs (thigh and drumstick combo) come off easily as one piece and make a good size dinner portion for one person. In our situation the breasts are usually reserved for leftovers to go on a salad or in another recipe like Alfredo or Peanut Sauce Stir Fry.


Almost done, I promise...side dish time. We call this Salty Garlicky Vegetables. In this case it was Salty Garlicky Bok Choy but just as often happens with regular cabbage or green beans (a favorite). It's easy and delicious.


Chop 1 head of Bok Choy into bite sized pieces
Heat 1-2T cooking fat of your choice in a skillet (I prefer bacon fat for this dish but ghee works just as well) on medium heat
Add the cabbage
Cook until 75% done
Add 1T minced garlic (more or less depending on your taste but the point of this is to be borderline too garlicky)
Add about 2T of Tamari (or soy sauce or coconut aminos depending on your diet choices, but again the point is to be borderline too salty)
Cook for a few minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated/thickened
Serve immediately

Chicken update

Much like all living things, our cute, fuzzy baby chicks are almost all grown up. When I first mentioned our chickens, they were only a few weeks old and just experiencing what it was like to go outside for the first time. They’ve experienced even more big changes since then.

Around five weeks they got to spend their first night outside in the coop. It was difficult for everybody. They acted like they wanted to go back to the safety of the brooder and our living room, but we tried that the night before and it just wasn’t going to happen a second night. I’m also a sap so tough love isn’t really my thing. Thankfully we all got through the experience unharmed.

The flock at five weeks.
From left to right: Tina, Butters, Sara, Whitney.

Tina being held at 5 weeks.

A few weeks later they were moved to a new, more secure coop and run. They learn quickly, and it only took one night of us walking them up the ramp before they got the hang of it themselves. Of course, they were still sleeping in the nest box (a habit they kept from their old coop) which is a no-no. Teaching them to roost was a far lengthier process, but after a few evenings of me physically putting them repeatedly on the roost they eventually got the hang of it too.

So far one of the most surprising parts of owning chickens is learning how each of them have their own personalities. Some of this is breed specific (for example the Ameraucana’s are far friendlier than the Barnevelders), but not all of it. Tina just wants attention, and even hung out on my husband’s lap for a few minutes last weekend. Butters seems generally confused a lot of the time, and loves to take dust baths more than anybody. Whitney is extremely food driven (then again, so is Tina). Sara is very independent, and far more likely to wander around the yard on her own than in the herd. All of them, however, love to be let out of their run. Exploring is their favorite activity, but we have to keep a watchful eye on them. It’s all downhill once they discover the garden has delicious veggies.

Speaking of food, it’s entertaining to see how receptive they are to new treats. So far dried mealworms are the biggest hit, but they also love corn, cauliflower, yogurt, and heads of cabbage. They also enjoy loose leaves of cabbage and spinach as well as fruit, but they aren’t favorites. The only food they haven’t really liked yet is lettuce.

We’re still a month away from getting any eggs, but I’ll be sure to update when we get our first one!

The flock at 12 weeks. Left to right: Sara, Butters, Tina, Whitney.

Tina being held at 12 weeks.

Chicks, man.

Just before Easter we decided to take the plunge and become parents...to chickens that is.

We've talked about it for some time, but we finally have the space and our backyard is starting to come together enough that the timing was right. After doing some research we felt prepared enough to go to our local urban farm store and pick out some girls.

The first trip outside, around three weeks old. From left to right: Tina, Butters, Whitney (in back), and Sara.

Legally we can have up to six chickens, assuming none are a rooster. We figured three is a good starting number, but purchased four in case one turned out to be a rooster or something more unfortunate. Three weeks later I'm happy to report all are alive and well, but I've got my eye on the big one for fear it turns out to be a rooster.

While these chickens are primarily for a food source of delicious fresh eggs, we also want them to be friendly towards humans. With that in mind we picked out two highly-regarded breeds.

Two of the girls were sold as Ameraucana's, although apparently there's controversy over the likelyhood they are "pure-bred" or the mutt variety among the chicken snobs. Regardless, these girls will lay what are called Easter Eggs. The shells are typically varying shades of blue and green, but inside everything is normal. Ameraucana's lay an average of 5 eggs per week, but drop down to about 1-2 eggs per week in winter. Full grown they average 5.5 pounds. However, we have one girl that is particularly small. It's possible she's just a runt, but she could also be a bantam, which would put her at only 1.5 pounds full grown. Of the two breeds, these girls seem to be more interested in human interaction.

The second breed we purchased is a Barnevelder. They are famous for laying large, dark brown eggs but most picture's I've seen don't necessarily reflect that. Barnevelders will grow to a slightly larger size, averaging 6-7 pounds as an adult. They will also produce more eggs than the Ameraucana's. They too will lay around 5 eggs per week, but in the winter that number doesn't trail off as drastically.

In the coming weeks I'll post more about raising them, building a coop, etc.

Bringing Home Bessie

Both my husband and I are in agreement that there is more to healthy eating than just
eating healthy fats and vegetables and omitting grains and sugar; eating local food is also
part of the equation as well.

In general we do a pretty good job of this on our own. We have our own garden during
the summer months and regularly have a freezer full of freshly caught steelhead, bass and
trout. We also hunt deer and elk, but after a disappointing and unsuccessful season we
were interested in purchasing half a cow (who we've since named Bessie).

On one of his recent hunting trips to eastern Oregon, my husband was listening to a radio
station when an advertisement came on for a ranch that fertilizes the grass the cows eat
with leftover “waste” water from local brewers. They cows are also fed beer mash of
wheat, hops and barley as they become older. We could have opted for a cow that was
100% grass fed, but as beer lovers we thought this would be the perfect starting point.
The entire process was incredibly easy. We simply filled out a form on the rancher’s
website and waited for a cow to be ready. The butcher called once it was ready and we
were able to specify exactly what cuts of meat we wanted along with their preferred
package size.

Our half cow weighed 450 pounds hanging weight, and at $3 per pound hanging weight our total came to $1,350. In exchange we received:

109 packages of ground beef (approximately 1 pound per packages)

7 packages of New York steaks

5 packages liver

4 packages Tenderloin steak

12 chuck roast, approximately 3 pounds each

3 Bottom Round Roasts

6 Top Round Roasts

1 Rump Roast

1 Heart

1 package of Stew meat

5 packages Top Sirloin Steak

5 packages Sirloin Tip Steak

6 packages of Ribeyes

4 packages of Short Ribs, cut English Style

1 Brisket

4 package of Soup Bones

2 packages of suet, approximately  five pounds each

All of the meat was (barely) able to fit into a 15 cubic foot freezer we bought especially for the occasion. So far we've tried the ground beef, New York steaks, Ribeyes, Chuck Roast and Sirloin Tip. It's not the most tender steak I've ever had, but that was to be expected. I'd trade that extra bit of tenderness for a local, grass-fed cow any day.