First you take some courage....

     That's right, first you take some courage.  Well, a little anyway.  We all know what it's like.  If your mother cooked something, you kinda know what it should (or, in the case of Swiss Steak, bleah! shouldn't) taste like.  And you are often able to take up the item as an adult cook.  So the things you mother never cooked, a little like uncharted territories.
     This is a bit of an exaggeration, as my mother is not fond of Brussels sprouts, winter squash, artichokes, lamb, and likely a host of other things that I cannot bring to mind.  Which is not to say that she is not an accomplished and varied cook, because she is.  But I had to figure those items out on my own, and find them to be delicious.
     So, recall the beef.  There are quite a few cuts that have been a mild challenge:  the stew meat was the first, and I had an excellent run with that.  So the next hoop has been the ribs.  These are short ribs, I was told.  But I have never cooked ribs, pork, beef or otherwise.  Braised, baked, grilled, not on my repertoire.  I always got overwhelmed by the multi step process:  bake, then grill, or marinate then grill. I never had the planning for the long marinade, and just shied away from them.
     But there they sat in my freezer, and finally it was time.  I actually pulled them out 3 days ago, and had multiple excuses for why I didn't cook them up, but really, it was that I still wasn't quite sure how to make them.  And then my friend Mark came over, and he had just made his, too.  But he confessed that he grilled them too hot, and they were tough.  Okay, game on.
      Mark, this one is for you:  I found a recipe in Steven Raichlen's book, The Barbecue! Bible.  However, that recipe called for, yes more planning ahead, and a few ingredients I don't have.  So modifications abound, perhaps not even the same recipe in the end, but close enough.  I will print my amended version, which, while delicious (Bryce and I were fighting for the meat, and I did give some to Brandis and Robb as well), probably could have used another 1/2 hour on the grill to be even more tender.  Ah well.

Birgit's Take on Steven Raichlen's Dinosaur Ribs

2 lbs beef short ribs

Salt and pepper

Basting mixture/sauce:

2/3c hoisin sauce

1/4 c. sake (he says you can use rice wine or dry sherry)

2 T honey

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 t ginger (he called for fresh, but oh, well, not today)

Stir together the sauce, reserve some for serving.  

Salt and pepper the ribs, then go prep the grill:  I have a charcoal grill, so I used a whole chimney full of coals, and when there was white ash on most of them, I divided them into to piles on each edge, plunked a modified drip pan made of aluminum foil in the middle, added a couple extra coals to the pile and heated up my grill.  If you use a gas grill, there must be a way to set up an indirect heat with a drip pan in the middle, but I couldn't advise.  

After the grill is heated, you oil it, then place the ribs in the center over the drip pan and cover the grill.  Resist the urge to check on them for about 30 min, then turn them over.  Cover and resist resist resist.  After another 30 min, turn again.  If you are pressed for time, like me, start basting, otherwise, resist for up to another 30 min.  At the last 30 min, start basting with the sauce when you flip, and start flipping every 5-10 min.  

The ribs are done when the meat is very tender, and it has shrunk back from the ends of the bones. 

I used the heat of the coals to grill some zucchini, which had a little salt, oil and balsamic on them.  And served it all with sliced tomatoes.  Gotta say, even without pre-planning, all the ingredients, and much of a clue for what I was doing here, they turned out excellent.  Let's give the credit to Steven Raichlen, shall we?  And a little bit of courage.  

   

Not for the Faint at Heart

      Well, well, well.  Alot going on here at 6024 Chicken Lane, and this summer in general, I might add.    What with the kid being in Alaska and all, I had ample opportunity to embark on a few more coop projects, like building that base screening and door.  Brilliant, we thought.  The girls could get up and cluck about without requiring any interference from a human for an hour or so.  What could possibly go wrong?
       Quite a bit, as it turns out.  No predators to speak of, which is encouraging.  But those of you who are diligent readers might recall the possibility that we had, ahem, a few roosters in the hen house.  Let us say that they began to display more of their rooster tendencies around this time.  That would include crowing.  It started as some benign croaking from Yaki and Soba.  But their attention to practice and time itself turned a little croaking into bona fide crowing.  The day it started at 5:30 AM was when it became clear that action was necessary.
      It wasn't just audible to Brandis, Robb and me.  The neighbors all the way down the street could here these pipes a-piping.  I was afraid of getting hate mail after a while.  And I had to increase from 1 to 2 and finally 3 pillows to block out the racket.  You see, when one would crow, the other would feel compelled to chime in.  It was a veritable rooster chorus out there.  At 10AM it's one thing, at 5:30 it's another.  Oh, then Jean-Claude, the artist formerly known as Scarlet started in, too.
      Our thinking is that if we have ONE boy, it might work.  Besides, Jean-Claude is gorgeous.  A Black Copper Maran, he has almost gaudy feathers, in these luscious black, teal and amber shades.   So Yaki and Soba would go.
      We embarked on this for several reasons.  We both want to benefit from the food portion of the deal.  Or broth at least.  Also, we believe that we can't just find a 'good home' for the boys.  WE are a good home.  So we need to own the whole process of being a chicken owner.   That would mean raising, maintaining and also finding a final resting place for our birds.
      So I cleaned out my sink, and washed my counters.  Heated some water.  We took some final photos.   We consulted our chicken book.  Robb sharpened his knives.

 Yaki having his final good morning

     We wound string around his legs, grasped him firmly, tipped him upside down and Robb cut his throat.  That was the hardest part.  Then we had to bleed, dip in hot water and pluck pluck pluck.  Then I got to hone my evisceration skills, as well as off with the head and feet.  

 Yaki and Soba's last dance

 Last view before the big chill

      So what's the craziest part of all of this?  I swear I never noticed before, but Brandis said she was starting to wonder.  The next morning, there were 2 birds crowing again!!!!  Turns out Jean-Claude has ANOTHER brother.  Unbelievable as it might be, Robert is the artist formerly known as Ruby, soon to also experience the big chill.  There were 4 boys among our 7 chicks from Oregon.  We will be down to our 4 brown birds (Hazel, Dottie, Patty and Peanut), Calamity Jane and Jean-Claude. 

      Well, for now.  I am already planning for our babies for next year.  We will be experts by then.  And besides, we haven't gotten to the egg-laying phase yet.  What could possibly happen next?