Pork Chops with Caramelised Leeks

Cool weather comfort food.  Can't go past a pork chop with buttery mash and a creamy sauce!

Finely slice leeks (white part and some of the green part) and add to a pan with melted butter (say, 3 tablespoons of butter to 5-6 thin leeks).  Cook over low to medium heat, stirring semi-regularly, until soft and sweet.  They should melt in the mouth.  Might be anywhere between 20 minutes - 1.5 hours.  You can do it in the morning and reheat them easily later!

Pan-fry pork loin chops until cooked to medium (63 degrees) and nicely browned.  Set aside to rest under foil.

Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine, scraping well, then add a good glug of cream, some seeded mustard and some maple syrup (it's hard to give quantities - for 3 pork chops, I use about 150ml cream, 2 heaped teaspoons of seeded mustard and a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup).  Stir over heat until thickened.

Serve the pork chops with plenty of leeks, covered in sauce, and with silky mashed potatoes, made gloriously golden by the addition of plenty of butter (and salt, and some warmed cream).  I also steamed some snowpeas, though I more often do carrots or broccoli.  There you go, meat and three veg - I don't do that very often!

Zach, AKA Mr Happiness, continues to be a ray of sunshine in our lives.  I don't know what else to say about him!  He's crawling (very slowly and erratically, like a little drunk baby, but he can get a few feet), very sore of gums (bottom two teeth completely through, top ones coming and causing pain on their way) and apart from that, just an easygoing, smily kinda guy:

Have I mentioned I am a tamagoyaki addict?  My favourites are from Suzuran in Camberwell.  They also do a fantastic Inari, with pretty salmon topping.  Don't worry, the below is not my lunch, I am not a sparrow-like eater.  This was what I ordered in addition to a 12-piece nigiri-sushi set!

One of our chooks, Sweetpea, is laying like a champion.  One egg every day, even though the weather is getting cold.  But the others?  Not so much.  Any tips for getting them laying?  I'm trying hot porridge for them each morning!

Chook love!

Our three new family members are fluffy, tiny, busy little balls of feathers named Dolly, Sweetpea and Lacey.  Pekin Bantams are incredibly popular as pets / backyard chooks, and for good reason.  They are exceptionally friendly, curious, engaging, gentle and hilarious - every time we glance out the window, they are up to something gorgeous or funny.

Pekin Bantams are also a feather-footed breed, which means (as well as having very little feet, due to being a miniature chicken breed) their feet are covered in splayed feathery 'spats', so you cannot see their feet at all - they appear to be shuffling around just on feathers!  This also means that they are much less of a menace in the garden - they just don't get in there and dig up things anywhere near as much as a standard, normal chook.

Weighing in at about 500g, they appear to be about 1/3 the size of a regular chook, and much rounder!  They are so fluffy, they look like a large pom-pom with a head, and another tail pom-pom stuck on the back.

Can you tell I'm in love?!

They were a birthday present to me from my parents.  I've always wanted chooks, since I was, oh, around Tabitha's age, so when we moved house and could accommodate them, they were first on my To Do list.

Here are the babies when we first got them - around 12 weeks old, quite small, and shaped more like pigeons than hens.  We brought them inside to sleep each night, in a box lined with straw, for the first month or so we had them, because it was very cold overnight.  It was also a nice way to get to know them, handling them in the evenings when they were drowsy and agreeable.  Here they are sitting with The Daddy on the kitchen floor:

And having a bedtime snack with Tabitha, also ready for her bedtime:

We bought them through the fantastic Book-A-Chook company, which provides rental and sales chooks and houses to families and schools all over Melbourne.  The package I got included a beautiful, solid wood house.  If you are interested in seeing if chooks would work for you, you can rent a pair for a couple of weeks - and I believe that similar companies exist in other states of Australia.

Although the eggs are small, I think that the payoff, so to speak, is pretty good - the eggs are around half the size of regular chook eggs BUT the chooks themselves are much smaller, requiring less food, and do much less damage to gardens.  Also, the eggs have a greater proportion of yolk to those of regular eggs - and I love yolk!

The girls began to lay eggs about 10 days ago now, and after finding the first egg, there was no stopping them - we collected more than a dozen in the first week.  I believe (though could be wrong!) that all three girls are laying.  I think that Lacey is laying every day, and I think that Sweetpea and Dolly are laying every couple of days each.  I think this because there seem to be three types of eggs - a medium brown one every day, and then larger brown eggs on most days (which I am sure that Sweetpea is laying, because she carries on like you wouldn't believe after laying her eggs - dancing around, singing like a flock of magpies, tapping on the windows etc) and then there is the odd smaller, pale egg with white mottles on it, appearing every 2-3 days, which I suspect Dolly is responsible for.

Here are the first five eggs we got, collected over the first two or three days:

Here is nearly a week's worth of eggs:

The Daddy found the first egg, and rushed it inside with excitement.  Then later, he said he felt a bit bad because he hadn't stopped to acknowledge the chooks or say thank you before running off with their egg!  It got me thinking, and now I make a point of stopping to pat and chat to the chooks when they lay an egg, and I also try to give them some yummy food scraps when I collect their eggs too.

Tabitha is very excited about the eggs, and we've had to monitor her with them, as she wants to carry them all over the house, which I know would lead to quite a few broken eggs!  So we have a look at each egg when we collect them, a quick feel, and then they get tucked away safely in a bowl on the bench.  She tells people that "Dolly and the chooks are making eggs!  Outta their bottoms!"  I thought it was quite sweet, the other day, when she tried to carry the eggs outside to the chooks.  I asked her what she was doing, and she looked at me strangely and replied "I giving the eggs to the chooks!  The chooks made the eggs, these are their eggs!"  I realised that she found it quite strange that we take the eggs away from the chickens and don't give them back!  I wonder if we have a vegan in the makings... It did make me stop and think about it, though, and reinforced my practice of giving the chooks plenty of praise and treats in return for their eggs.

Strangely, I initially found the idea of actually eating the eggs to be quite confronting.  I am a big egg eater, so this really surprised me.  I just felt a little squeamish about the idea, to begin with.  Perhaps because they are smaller, they don't look exactly like 'regular' chook eggs, so I couldn't separate them in my head from the funny little feather-balls in the backyard.  I wonder if other people find this when they first get chooks?

We ate the first dozen or so soft-boiled on beautiful Pane Toscano toast with salted butter, and plenty of salt and pepper.  I test-boiled an egg first, as I had no idea how long to boil these small eggs for, to achieve a nice soft yolk.  The eggs we had were all between 18g - 25g, and I found that lowering them into boiling water (room temperature eggs) and boiling for exactly three minutes was spot on.  They were surprisingly easy to peel, considering how fresh they were, and the yolks were a really glorious, golden colour.  Two bantam eggs is about right for one piece of toast.

I have been told - and have observed for myself, through my aunt's chooks - that plenty of green leafy vegetables make for beautifully rich, golden yolks.  So I try to give them lots of bok choi and parsley and rocket etc.  

What else do they eat?  Well, the main staple of their diet is 'layer mash' which is a mixed, bought food that includes all the essential nutrients and minerals that laying chooks require.  You can feed this dry, or mix it with some warm water or warm milk.  I have sourced a feed that I'm really happy with - it's certified organic, soy-free, from a company called Country Heritage.  It's just their 'certified organic soy-free layer mash' and is available at some of the larger pet supply stores, and several stock feed stores.  My local place was happy to order it in for me.  It just looks and smells really nice, and the hens seem to love it.

Apart from their layer mash (which is available to them at all times - and they seem to eat a lot of it), they get a mixture of kitchen scraps every day, throughout the day.  Basically, whenever I have something that I think they might like, I walk over and give it to them through the back door.  So they have learnt to come running whenever they hear me coming out!  They will mob anyone who goes outside, hoping for something delicious, and usually they are in luck.

Here they are this afternoon, working on their avocado:

They didn't have a huge interest in kitchen scraps when they were younger, but I'd say from about a month before they started laying, their appetites for fresh food increased, and now they demolish scraps all day.  Green leafy veggies are great, as are cooked root vegetables, and natural yoghurt (excellent for their gut health).  A typical day (yesterday) might include:  some warm porridge with whole milk, coconut and pecans (leftover from Tabitha's breakfast), some bits of bok choi, garlic and snow peas from last night's dinner, some watermelon and half a soft pear, some leftover natural yoghurt with LSA and seed topping, the leftover bits of an avocado (they adore avocado and will pick the skins completely clean), some roast pumpkin, some peas and corn (they much prefer the corn to the peas!), some parsley scraps and some cheeky crumbs from a lemon poppyseed cake.

Overall I avoid giving them bread, except for the odd scrap of nice grainy bread as a treat, because it's a bit like 'chook junk food' apparently, and they sure do squabble over it!  I also avoid too much asparagus, broccoli, cabbage etc. as I've been told it can lend a slight sulfurous flavour to eggs.  Salt is a no-no, so things like bacon, baked beans or processed foods are best avoided, and likewise treats such as pancakes, date scones, cake etc. are saved for a small treat, just once or twice a week.  I can't quite bring myself to ban these delicious snacks altogether, after witnessing the sheer joy that a leftover pancake or half scone brings!

The chooks also need a source of calcium, which can come from either bought 'fine shell grit' or you can give them crumbled-up, cooked eggshells (e.g. from boiled eggs or roast the raw eggshells in an oven for a bit).  You need to crumble them up until they don't resemble eggs anymore, otherwise you risk the birds becoming 'egg eaters' who will try and eat freshly laid eggs.

Chooks also need a constant supply of fresh, cook water - it's best to hang their water up, so they don't tread in it and fill it with junk.  If the weather is very hot, the water might need to be changed a couple of times a day, and it's worth popping some big chunks of ice in it to keep it cool.  One of the biggest killers of backyard chooks, apparently, is heat and dehydration.  On a terribly hot day, I've been instructed that I should plan on bringing them inside or at least into the garage.

Of course, chickens do not have teeth - like all birds, instead, they grind food up internally, using bits of grit and small stones that they eat.  I've noticed the chooks running down the side of the house to an area with gravel, where they spend a few minutes each day picking through the stones, eating small ones!

Apart from this, I also worm them (once every three months, or the start of each new season to make things easy) and sprinkle some 'derris dust' over their perches and nesting area, to keep away mites and pests.  I also add a little apple cider vinegar and fresh garlic to their water sometimes, as these are good natural worming methods.  So far, no trouble with any pests.

It's also nice to provide chooks with somewhere to dust-bathe.  They like to wriggle themselves right down into dry, dusty soil or sand, then groom it off their bodies, as a way of keeping clean and pest-free.  They have claimed a large terracotta pot (which used to house rhubarb before they decimated it) and spend quite a bit of time each day bathing in the dirt.

Speaking of rhubarb, the chooks have eaten two complete plants of it.  Leaves, stalks and roots.  Now, it was my understanding that the leaves were highly toxic, but the girls love them, and have stripped them completely with no ill effects at all.  So there you go!  Likewise, I've always been told that avocado is toxic for birds, but Jackie French's brilliant 'The Chook Book' dispelled this myth for me - her chooks eat avocadoes in massive quantities, as the main protein source in their diet, and my chooks only wish they were so lucky, instead making do with about 1/4 of an avocado each day.

Without any real effort, the chooks are incredibly tame and friendly.  Part of this is certainly the breed (Pekin Bantams are generally known to be tame and friendly birds by nature) but I think that a major factor has been their proximity to the house and our family - our garden and decking are very small, and are adjacent to the main living areas of the house (living room, dining area and kitchen) through around 8m or so of glass bi-fold doors.  So all day, the chooks are just meters away from our family as we go about our business.  They spend lots of the day watching us through the glass - in fact, as I'm sitting here at the dining table typing, they are just on the other side of the glass from me, peering at me (probably hoping for scraps!)  As such, they are completely used to our movements, voices etc. and are not at all fazed when we go outside or handle them.

Tabitha is generally pretty good with the chooks, however occasionally she gets over-excited and a bit rough.  So I always supervise her, and if there is any roughness, she comes inside straight away.  Overall she's getting much more reliable though, and I think that by Summer, she'll be fine to be outside playing with them on her own - which will be a fantastic way to keep her amused while I tend to the new baby!  She likes to pick them up, and unfortunately the easiest way (for her size) is to grab them by their two wings, so we've had to be very firm about this.  We have a 'no picking up, only patting' rule that we have to enforce quite a bit - but as I mentioned, she is definitely improving with age and experience.  She will happily spend a good hour outside with them, chasing them around (they are not fussed by this, as she doesn't run very fast!), patting them, trying to get them to eat out of her hands and just chatting to them.

Here is Tabitha trying to coax them out of their dust-bathing pot, to eat some scraps in a bowl:

Officially, Dolly (the smallest, white one) is Tabitha's pet, Lacey is my little sister's, and Sweetpea is 'mine'.  Lacey is certainly the top of the pecking order, and Dolly is firmly on the bottom, standing back and waiting her turn when any scraps are offered.  She is also the easiest to pick up and the calmest.

Lacey and Sweetpea are similar in appearance (both mottled black/grey/white) but we can easily tell them apart at a glance, even from a distance.  Lacey is larger, more 'solid' and Sweetpea has a golden/brown band of feathers around her neck, a larger comb, and is also sleeker in shape.

I look forward to writing more about the chooks (like all chook owners I've met, I've become impossibly boorish on the subject of poultry!) and sharing more photos.  Unfortunately (perhaps due to the eyes?) chooks don't seem to photograph well in my opinion.  You can't seem to capture any of the personality and gentle natures of them in photos.  But I will continue to try!

Oh and as a final note - the two books I've found absolutely essential have been Jackie French's The Chook Book (a wonderful read even if you don't have chooks, I think!) and also Backyard Poultry Naturally (which has lots of great information about medicinal herbs etc for chickens and ducks).  Both books are Australian, both are available at Readings bookstores and from various online retailers.

Look at those beautiful pom-pom tails!

Oh goodness, another one!

Hello.  It's been a few months or so since I checked in - but I do have a good excuse, I promise!  I'm now 29 weeks pregnant, and for the first 22 weeks or so I was abysmally sick.  Now I'm doing much better - although still vomiting most days - and starting to get a bit excited about the impending arrival of Baby #2.

A BOY BABY!

Tabitha is, as you can imagine, incredibly excited about her new brother.  In fact, she talks about him every day (and will even tell anyone who cares to listen all about how "mummy is going to push him outta her bagina!")  Sometimes, when I stroke my own baby belly, she calls out "no, it's MY brother!" and comes to cuddle the bump protectively.  I think she's going to be an excellent big sister - perhaps a little *too* enthusiastic to begin with, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of things quickly.  

Tabitha will be just a couple of weeks shy of 2.5 years when Baby Brother is due to arrive - although Tabby came a full two weeks after her estimated due date, so I'm not holding my breath for a punctual arrival this time either!  We were vaguely planning a gap of around 3 years between the wee ones, however we managed to make a baby on the very first attempt (a pleasant surprise after 8 months of trying for T!)  I'm pleased with the 2.5 year gap, though.  I think there are so many 'pros' and 'cons' for all different age gaps, so you take what you're given with grace and make the best of it!

What else is new in our lives since I last blogged?  A whole lot!  We've moved house, to a much bigger home that we finished building in April.  We've gone from a 2-bedroom flat with a small backyard to a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom, 2-living area house (still with a very small backyard!).  It's wonderful having the extra space, and the new house has much more natural light, with 2 walls of north-facing glass bifold doors opening onto a small decking.  This natural light and sunshine has been an absolute saviour through my pregnancy sickness, keeping my spirits elevated and keeping Tabitha happy playing at home.

We've also acquired three new family members - beautiful Pekin Bantam chooks called Lacey, Dolly and Sweetpea - who keep us entertained all day long with their antics and quirks.  I'll write a whole post about them soon.  They've just started laying this week, and I have collected 5 perfect, tiny bantam eggs over the past four days, so at least two of the girls must be laying.

Tabitha has weaned.  Such a big change, such a tangible sign of my tiny baby's development into a big girl.  The weaning was, thankfully, an incredibly simple and respectful event.  I had found breastfeeding to be really painful since falling pregnant, however my milk supply had actually increased with the pregnancy, which is unusual, and Tabitha was loving all the extra milk.  As we approached her 2nd birthday, which coincided with the 18th week of my pregnancy (nearly the half-way mark), I began to talk to her about weaning, just gently discussing the idea that one day she wouldn't have milk from mummy, just from a cup.  She seemed interested in the idea, but I wasn't sure how much she was actually understanding.  

Then, the day after her 2nd birthday, I decided that the best and most respectful approach for us was to chat to her quite frankly and honestly.  I explained that feeding was sometimes a bit sore for mummy, and that she could keep having milk if she wanted to, but it would also be great if she wanted to have her milk in a cup from now on.  She thought about it for a minute, smiled, repeated to me, "Mummy's milkies are sore!  So I drink my milk in a cup now!" and she never asked for a breastfeed again!  She still talks about "when I used to have milkies from mumma" and sometimes pats them and says, "nice milkies!  I love you!" which is hilarious and cute, but she is perfectly happy with the arrangement now.  She tells me that she "drunk up all of mummy's milkies!  I finished them, now they empty!" but she knows that when the baby comes, I will make more milk for him.  Overall, I couldn't be happier with how the weaning went - she was cool with it, I was happy to have a break before baby #2, and we made it to our goal of 2 years.

So what will I blog about over the coming weeks?  New baby gear, my top picks for slings/cradles/clothes etc., things I've found useful during this pregnancy, the chooks, a bit about my plans for our new garden (still a 'blank canvas' to put it nicely), and of course some cooking photos and recipes.  Despite being sick, I've still been cooking, and I'm about to hire a chest freezer and start to do some serious large-batch cooking to stash away for when the baby arrives!

Here is Tabitha these days - she's grown a bit, no?  She's pictured here guzzling a blueberry smoothie and eating a bowl of blueberries, so excuse the purple face!

 

Anyway.  What's been up with you?!

Bendigo, Blondies and Basil

I haven't been blogging much lately - I am working on a pretty exciting new project, which is taking up a bit of time, and hopefully I will be able to reveal more later next month!


We escaped to Bendigo for the long weekend, visiting dear family friends on their beautiful property.  My parents and sister came to, and we all had the most relaxing few days.  We played with the animals (horses, cats, dogs, chooks, guinea fowl!), we swam, ate, drank, toasted marshmallows on their outdoor fireplace, and watched some spectacular sunsets over the bushland.  I have posted photos of their lovely property before, HERE - there are also some very sweet photos of Tabitha with the chooks.


Tabitha adores their larges dog, an ever-patient golden retriever, Jem:

Jem is licking her tummy!

It always makes me laugh that chooks will all crowd in and lay their eggs in the same nesting box, instead of using the others on offer:

Back home, made a delicious and relatively healthy dark chocolate and rolled oat Blondie (recipe HERE):

Tabitha and I are spending as much time in our little back garden as possible, as the sun puts in a fine effort despite the beginning of Autumn.  The hammock is in full sun, the basil and tomatoes are still thriving, the cats are loving the warmth.  


Here is Tabby in front of the basil:

And eating cherry tomatoes straight from the bushes:

I love her hair so much - soft and straight as cornsilk:

Eww!  Ate a stem by mistake!

One for you, Mummy!

Disturbing the napping cats:

This is a little patch of miniature violets which grow along the edge of the decking - Tabitha often picks them all for me, offering them in her chubby fists.  Melts my heart!

Enjoying a bowl of walnuts (along with a whole raw carrot, her favourite snacks).  A bit of an evil look on the face - "don't even think about eating my walnuts!"

Lovely girl, offering her beloved walnuts to Possum:

The days are long but the years are short.  Lately, I have begun to occasionally feel slightly panicky, watching this incredible little girl, where just yesterday I was watching a baby.  When I hold her at night, feeding her before bed, my heart overflows with love, and I cannot believe how perfect and warm and delicious-smelling she is.  I pat her hair while she has her milk, and her hand tangles gently in my own hair.  There is no greater moment, and I am blessed to sit here with her, like this, three or so times every day.


It seems like just weeks ago that I was cradling a tiny, soft, chubby, pink-cheeked little baby.  She is now the sweetest, most hilarious, kindest, prettiest little girl, and her constant wonder and interest in all details of life are so thrilling to me.  I desperately want to freeze time, to keep this fascinating, fascinated child, her hand in mine.  But it is not to be, so all I can do is treasure every moment.

Long Weekend in Bendigo

We spent the weekend in Bendigo, visiting friends at their beautiful country property.  T&J are two of my parents' (and my) very oldest friends, from their university days.  Their lovely, clever children are both in high school.  Their son has Coeliac disease, so I baked a couple of flourless chocolate and hazelnut cakes to take up with us.

They are superbly simple - melt together 200g dark chocolate with 200g butter.  Set aside.  Beat together 6 egg yolks and 2/3 cup caster sugar until creamy.  Beat in the butter / chocolate mixture, then beat in 1.5 cups of hazelnut meal (a packet).  Beat 6 egg whites until firm peaks form, then carefully fold into the mixture (mix through 1/3 first, then fold the rest through).

Bake at 170 degrees in a 20cm springform pan (greased and lined) for around an hour.  A cake tested should come out still quite moist.  You could make a ganache or something, but I think dusting over a little icing sugar and serving with double cream is about right.  It makes a nice change from a standard almond meal flourless chocolate cake (I have a recipe for that HERE if you're interested - it's the second recipe in the post, and is also gluten free).

The family has three dogs, two cats, two horses and six Isa Brown hens.  In other words, paradise for Tabitha and myself (and my sister - my parents and sister also came to Bendigo).

Here is Tabby cuddling Scout, the elderly Cairn Terrier:

Hanging out with Jem, the exuberant and tolerant Golden Retriever - don't their faces look like they've been busted doing something naughty?!

My sister claims that Jem is her 'best friend in the whole world':

Jem is one of those big dogs who tends to forget her size - here she is cuddled up in the lap of T:

My favourite of their dogs is Honey, the divine, elegant and silky Whippet.  Whippets are so gentle and dainty - something like a cross between a cat and a dog.  Until you see them run, of course!  When we have room for dogs of our own, I am pretty keen to get Whippets.  Many vets rate them as one of the most 'sound' dog breeds around, and they are reputed to be one of the best dogs with young children.  They also have incredibly fine, thin fur, which is a bonus for me (as I'm terribly allergic to most animals, including my own cats).

Jem loves to fetch branches from the dam:

And then rinse herself off in the pool!!  She was retrieving Tabitha's toy plastic baby from the pool all morning.  "Help!  A Golden Retriever ate my baby!!"

The pool is in a wonderful position on the property - on one side, a large manicured lawn and rose gardens, then on the other side, acres of bushland.  Here is Tabitha wrapped up in her towel, watching Jem swim after her baby:

The two horses.  So silky in the Summer.  Lucky E has a beautiful menage to ride in, with a set of colourful jumps and dressage letters.

Tabitha really enjoyed watching and patting the horses (or the 'neigh neighs' as she likes to call them):

Despite an absence of sensible things like boots and jodhpurs, I couldn't resist jumping on E's galloway Josh for a ride.  He is the exact same size as my last horse, my beloved Chestnut mare, Belle.  I miss riding so much - hopefully I'll have time to get another horse one day.

Tabitha had a ball playing chicken farmer.  She was initially nervous of the pecking hens - they swarmed at her once they realised she had grain - but she quickly overcame any fear, marching around, throwing grain, and shrieking with excitement.

When our new house is finished the build (fingers crossed for a March move) I'm planning on getting some Pekin Bantams, so I was thrilled to see how much Tabitha enjoyed these hens.

Isa Browns are excellent layers - check out the stash of eggs in the fridge:

Our friends' home and garden is just outrageously beautiful.  I could happily sit and stare out at the gardens and bushland for hours (with the fabulous soundtrack of T playing piano).  It really was the most relaxing weekend - including a trip into town, a visit to the gallery and even an afternoon at the local horse show (again, making me miss my horsey days terribly).

Of course, one of the best parts of country living has to be enormous Sunday roasts.  We ate plenty of lamb and veggies, and finished off with some of my Christmas pudding and homemade custard.