Eyeball cooking: What to do with that leftover Easter Ham... make czech-flitsky!

I am fortunate enough to be married to a wonderful man who is all American with a half Czech, half German ancestry. His mother is a spritely woman who imparted her great love for authentic Czechoslovakian cuisine. Given the fact that it is so super easy and only requires a few ingredients doesn’t hurt any!

One of our favorite dishes is a wonderful concoction of noodles, ham and butter and baked until crispy. It is called Flitsky, but the family calls it “Chunky-Flecky.” It is a great recipe for left over Easter Ham, or any time of the year and is fabulous warmed up the next day for breakfast!
Eyeball cooking involves no measuring, simply eyeball the ingredients going into the pot!

Kevin’s Czech Flitsky

• Cut up ham into cubes or small pieces – you want about 3 or 4 cups of ham when all is said and done
• Prepare 2- 12 oz bags of egg noodles according to directions and drain well
• Toss noodles, ham and a good portion of butter into a bowl and mix up. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spread noodle/ham mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan and top with breadcrumbs
• Drop a couple of pats of butter along the top of the breadcrumbs and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes until it is nice and crispy.

Serve it up to hungry Bohemians.

The Roosters -- Much Ado about Nothing

If you live on a farm, or near someone who has chickens and you are lucky enough to know they have a rooster (aka a “roo”), you’ve no doubt heard the call early in the wee hours. We have three roos here at Cedar Meadow Farm – Hugh Hefner (don’t ask), Billy Bob and SOB (again, don’t ask). Each has their own distinct cock-a-doodle-doo and they don’t limit their crowing to the breaking dawn hours.

Billy Bob is our huge buff cochin male. He realized this month that he is a male and that he is surrounding by a bevy of chicken beauties. His crowing is limited to his afternoon activities with a passing hen, challenging Hugh if Hugh gets too close to his harem, and answering the rooster from down the road. Billy Bob has a crow that sounds like he is a chain smoker with something caught in his throat.

Then there is SOB. He is a Leghorn cross-breed and very protective of the four hens he has dubbed as his harem. He got his name when he pecked my husband when we were herding his flock. His crow is a very high-pitched and we hear it about twice a day. Once when he is calling to his girls around mid-morning and once when he is telling Hugh off.

And finally there is Hugh Hefner, our Leghorn roo, who I’m convinced loves the sound of his own voice. Hugh crows early in the morning to wake up the ladies (and the other roos). He crows after he eats, he crows after I’ve petted him, he crows to round up the girls that are wandering too far, he crows if the neighbor’s dog comes too close to the fence and he crows when posturing towards the other roos. He crows when I’m on the phone, he crows when I get off the phone, he crows when I’m gathering the eggs, he crows at the ducks, he crows when Spirit, our small dog, jumps around the yard. Frankly, he crows all the time. He has a throaty crow that comes from right down at his lower breast. It is clear who is crowing when Hugh steps up to the plate.

If a predator ever came into the yard it would be Archie, our guinea roo, that would sound the alarm. He never chatters unless there is something I need to know about, or Hugh gets too close to his guinea hen.

The common denominator between all the roos appears to be telling Hugh to knock it off. And Hugh, he takes it all in stride, and answers back with his throaty call, just to let us know he is here.

Eyeball Cooking: Chicken Corn Soup

Yesterday was the mud sale at Robert Foulton Fire Department in PA.  If you have never been to a mud sale it is an amazing experience.  It is a huge auction event where you bid on everything from lawn equipment, groceries, plants, antiques, crafts, power tools, building supplies, sporting goods, Longaberger baskets, quilts horses and tack, plus much more!  The reason it is called a mud sale is because the ground is thawing and extremely muddy!  Wear your boots.

One of the greatest draws is the abundance of Amish-food.  There are homemade donuts, sandwiches, fruit cups, chicken barbeque and of course chicken corn soup.  It is a mouthwatering blend of chicken, broth, corn, and noodles.  Very simple, filling and oh-so yummy!  Here is my version, which is a more authentic chicken corn soup using rivels (tiny dumplings), instead of noodles.

Christine's Chicken Corn Soup

• 1 large organic chicken breast (bone in, two halves) with skin on
• Water
• parsley (fresh or dried)
• salt
• pepper
• 1 32-oz bag of frozen corn
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of flour

Put the chicken breast in a large soup pot and enough water to cover the breast plus an inch or two.  Throw in the parsley and some salt and pepper.  (If using dried parsley, use about 2 Tbls, if using fresh, chop up the whole bunch minus the stems).  Add salt and pepper -- you judge for your tastes/family.  I use about 1 Tbls salt and 2 Tbls pepper. 

Put over medium-high heat until it boils, then lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 4 hours (the chicken will shred apart!).  Remove the chicken, bones and fat and let cool.  Set the broth aside to cool. I usually skim the broth for any fat or run it through cheescloth and a strainer depending on how I feel... 

Once the chicken has cooled, debone it and chop the chicken up.  Throw the chicken meat back in the pot and add about 6 cups of water to the broth.  You should have about 8 cups of water/broth total.

If you feel the broth needs to be ooomphed, add about 1 tsp bullion -- I like Watkins because it has less salt and is very concentrated.

Throw in the corn and raise the heat to medium-high so the soup starts a light boil.  Meanwhile prepare the rivals.

In a bowl put in 2 cups of flour (I use gluten-free, but that is me... regular flour words just fine), a bit of salt and a bit of pepper (about 1 tsp. salt and 2 tsp pepper).  In another bowl empty the eggs and scramble them up with a fork.

Make a hole in the middle of the flour and gently stir in the eggs with the fork.  Keep stirring -- it will begin to crumble and look like course meal.  Once all the egg and flour is blended, take a wisk and gently fold the flour into the lightly boiling soup while stirring constantly.  The little dumplings should float through the soup.

Reduce heat to medium low and cook the soup for about 10 more minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

C~

Welcome to Cedar Meadow Farm

Welcome to my blog!


My hubby (aka "the hub") and I live on a beautiful farmette in Port Deposit, MD just above the Susquehanna River. I have always wanted to be a farmer – my great granddaddy , John, said I’d make a good farmer’s wife. And nearly 30 years later I’m an accidential farmer’s wife on a small farm that suit us quite well.

Our farm is named for the beautiful cedar trees growing in the back meadow.

We have just under five acres of land with a huge pasture and about three-quarter acre of woods. We raise chickens – mainly for eggs. There is a hug organic garden covering about one-third of an acre. We have sour cherries, pears, apples, nectarines and fig trees. It is wonderful being able to grow most of own food and have it throughout the winter (fresh garden tomatoes for Thanksgiving – whoda thunk it?).

The hub cuts and sells firewood and two of our daughters (we have 5) usually have the vegetable stand in the summer. We do have jobs outside of the farm, but eventually we’d like to be totally self-sufficient and have the farm as our source of income.

So grab an iced tea, cop-a-squat and visit for a bit as I bring you up to speed on all the ramblings from the farm.

Enjoy your visit!

C~