Tag: catching
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Meat Dishes, Equipment And Ingredients
I love cooking with meat and strive to use as much of the animal as possible.
Here is a breakdown by animal grouping that lists dishes and methods of catching, preparing and cooking them. If you are looking for a particular cuisine try Browse By Theme.
CHICKEN
BEEF
Browse All Dishes or try some of my favourites by clicking these images:
Enjoy,
PK
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Killing A Rooster For Food
Last weekend I slaughtered and cooked my first ever bird. It was a rooster that could not be kept on an urban block. I wanted to make the best possible use of this beautiful animal and give it an humane death.
Me doing this was very important to me as it sums up the whole ethos of Grow It, Catch It, Cook It. I made use of a potentially wasted resource and put food on my family’s table. There was no plastic tray, long transport route and I used everything but the “beak” so to speak.
I was very pleased that despite it being my first attempt the bird did not suffer unduly. I had done a lot of reading, watched many youtube videos (see resources below) and spoken to my family and friends who were raised on farms.
Best of all, I got to make Coq au vin with a rooster as it should be.
Enjoy,
PK
Related Links:
- See some Australian RSPCA resources here.
- A youtube video I found useful on plucking/skinning (note the some might consider this graphic content and I point out it is not affiliated with my site in anyway) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGM8FzHhtBw
- See more butchery posts here.
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How To Catch Marron: Craigo From GICICI Shows You How
Marroning is a lot of fun and if you pick the right spot you should come home with a good feed. I want to share some tips with you.
Remember to:
- use legal pots.
- not take undersized marron.
- stick to your possession limit.
- buy a licence for the season and have it on you.
- visit the Department of Fisheries website for the latest rules http://www.fish.wa.gov.au
Marron Hunting Tips
Use the right bait. I use cheap dog food wrapped in old stockings. These I tie to the base of the pots.
Pick a spot that exhibits marron holes in the bank and if hunting during the day look for deep drop-offs that provide darker water.
Check your pots every 45 minutes or so. If you catch any make sure to measure the carapace and only keep those bigger than the minimum size.
Put your live catch on ice kill them humanely.
This guy was just short so he went back in.
That is better 🙂
Leave your spot as clean if not cleaner than when you arrived.
Fish on,
Craigo
Related Links:
- see all recipes using marron here
- see more seafood posts here
- see more meat posts here
- See more from Craigo here
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Rabbit Whole: How To Break It Down
I love eating rabbit. I don’t know about wild rabbit but farmed rabbit meat is every bit as tender as chicken and for me at least, that little bit novel.
I follow Scott Rea’s advice when I break down whole rabbits (see his FB page https://www.facebook.com/Scottreaproject for great catching, butchery and cooking advice).
First I remove the pluck.
Then I cut through the backbone just below the rib cage.
I remove the front legs like I would a chicken’s wings (see chicken wings).
Then I remove the back legs, again using the same technique as I would on a chicken (see chicken legs).
That left me with with the trunk which is simply the best looking cut I have ever seen.
You could even simply cut the whole rabbit below the rib cage and cook the back half on the barbecue. The front end goes into my Rabbit Stock.
In 2018 I will explore cooking methods and recipes to bring out the best in this lean meat.
Enjoy,
PK
Related Links:
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Chicken Breast
Breaking down a whole chicken is a great way to save money and you know that you are making the best use of a precious resource.
Here we are removing the breasts from the body and practically getting the rest of the chicken for free 🙂 .
The breast meat doesn’t do a lot of work during the modern chicken’s life so is very tender. They are very versatile and seem to be most people’s favourite. I use them a lot in my cooking except in curries and stews where the longer cooking can dry the breast meat out.
Removing the breasts
- By now you will have taken the wings and legs off the whole bird (see links below showing you how to do that).
- Place the chicken in front of you, breast up and tail end facing away from you.
- Locate the breast bone that, just like in humans, is made of cartilage and runs down the middle of the chest.
- Slice along one side of the breast bone, keeping close to it and making careful cuts downwards, and the the breast will begin to fall off.
- Repeat on the other side.
Removing the tenderloin
- You can go one step further and remove the tenderloin (a long thin tender muscle that runs the length of the breast) from each breast.
- Take your knife and run it along the natural seam (I have started in the picture below to show you where it is).
- Use tenderloins in stir fries etc or turn them into home-made chicken nuggets.
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
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Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- more home butchery posts
- go to the main ingredients page here
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Chicken Crown
Breaking down a whole chicken is the best way to save money and also know that you are making the best use of a precious resource.
After removing the wings and legs from a whole chicken we can make what is called a ‘crown of chicken’. It makes for a perfect roast and you can even leave the wings attached. I am
going to try(I did, see it here) stuffing the cavity with bacon next time I cook one :).If you need any help I recommend watching Scott Rea’s video which I have included at the end of this post.
Crown of chicken
There is a line that runs along the underside of the breast. Use your knife or shears to cut down and along that line, severing the backbone. Trim up the neck skin and there you have it.
You can go further and either a) cut the crown in half, see last picture below, and or b) cut the lower rib cage away and then halve the crown to get two breasts on the bone.
Cooking suggestion – PK’s Chicken Crown Roast With Bacon
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
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Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- go to the main ingredients page here
Scott Rea video:
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Chicken Wings
Breaking down a whole chicken is the best way to save money and also know that you are making the best use of a precious resource. Here we are removing the wings from the body.
They go great in curries and on the barbecue. Everyone loves chicken wings 🙂
Removing the wings
- Place the whole chicken in front of you, breast up and wings towards you (in the pictures below I have already removed the legs).
- Hold one of the wings and move it around to get a feel for where to cut. Where it is pivoting is the shoulder joint. The first image below shows how the humerus attaches to the rib cage. We want to cut through that joint ie not through any bone. I help my aim by giving it a bit of a wrench to dislocate it.
- Keeping your hands safe, cut down and through the shoulder joint (there should be little to no resistance) to remove the wing.
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- go to the main ingredients page here
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Chicken Frames And Bones
Everything but the cluck cooking ends with using chicken frames and bones!
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Chicken Leg, Thigh And Drumstick
Breaking down a whole chicken is the best way to save money and also know that you are making the best use of a precious resource. Here we are removing the legs from the body.
The leg meat has more flavour than breast meat and is juicer. That makes it perfect for soups and curries where the breast meat might dry out.
Removing the whole leg
- Place the whole bird legs towards you and breast up.
- Feel with your hands where the thigh bone attaches to the hip.
- Keeping your fingers safe, cut downwards at that point until the leg is mostly free but not fully cut off.
- From below the leg, use your hands to pop the thigh bone up and off the hip.
- Turn the bird over and cut around the thigh bone trying to pick up the meat that is on the body but still considered leg meat.
Separating the thigh and drumstick
Simply cut through the knee joint to further break down the leg into the thigh (above the knee) and drumstick (below the knee). In the pictures below you can see that there is nothing below the ankle. If there is you can also cut this off.
Enjoy,
PK
More Chicken Cuts:
[table id=chicken /]
Related Links:
- see all recipes using chicken here
- go to the main page about chickens here
- go to the main ingredients page here
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MeatMatters: Australian Chicken
In Australia we are relatively lucky when it comes to the standard and practices of our domestic chicken meat industry. I am not saying that all industry operators are equal/perfect nor that greedy maximum-profit driven farmers and marketers don’t exist. However, reading about what goes on in other countries makes me sad.
As always in modern life there is so much room for improvement but we have to remember that:
- There is a growing awareness that the cheapest chicken might not have had the best life and might not be in our health’s best interest. I hope as a nation we can give feedback to the industry that free range chicken should be the norm (above and beyond minimum compliance with the label).
- The commercial rearing of chickens is never going to fully overlap with the idyllic life of the chickens you might have in your backyard. The latter’s eggs are going to taste amazing no doubt if you are feeding them a variety of kitchen scraps and they are eating bugs. That said there needs to be a humane balance.
The feature image of this post is of a happy well cared for chicken on an organic free range chicken farm in the south-west of Western Australia called Gale Force Farm (not a paid testimony). They have made the noble, counter-intuitive (says the bottom dollar) investment to farm organic free range meat and eggs. Getting the organic certification was not easy and from talking to them and people who know them I feel they are the real deal. Their hard work is beginning to be rewarded and appreciated.
I wouldn’t dream of telling you how to spend your money as I too have to watch every dollar. However, personally I will give something else up where I can so I can buy at the very least free range chicken and eggs. In a good month I also source organic chicken and eggs because I feel it is the right thing to do by our chicken, farmers and the environment.
Thank you,
PK
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