#1113 - Exotic Poultry: Part 2

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RK1113exoticpoultryparttwo121812.mp3

December 18, 2012   #1113   Cooking Exotic Poultry

Last week we focused on some of the amazing birds that are available for cooking these days.   From the prosaic to the downright exotic, they all are great candidates for the holiday table.   Jerry and Al obtained four birds from Eberly Poultry Farm (courtesy of Friends and Farms CSA), and they went to town cooking them up.

Jerry had the Muscovy Duck and a Silky, and Al had a Guinea Hen and a Heritage Breed chicken, the Italian Pollo Rosso.   As a baseline, all four birds were roasted to see what would happen.   Here are some tips:

~Guinea Hen:  higher heat, say 400 degrees for about one hour.   Help out the potential dryness in the breast by stuffing an herbed butter mix under the skin, and by putting a cut up apple in the cavity.

~Pollo Rosso:  treat it like any normal chicken; cook at low 325 degree heat for about an hour and a half.   The breast meat was succulent and extremely flavorful.

~Muscovy Duck:  a big generous bird with lots of breast meat, and that is the problem.   There is no way to cook the legs and thighs to doneness without over roasting the breast meat.   So cut it up, sauté the breast meat, and braise the leg quarters.

~Silkies:  the most exotic bird Jerry has ever seen.   It's flesh and bones are black!   And that can be a little off-putting.   But they show up in Asian recipes all the time.   Here's one to try:  www.mywoklife.com/2009/05/black-chicken-soup-recipe.

To get these birds, you can go to one of our fine local farms.   Eberly Poultry Farms in nearby Stevens, Pennsylvania run a certified organic operation.   Their birds are 100% free-range, and are antibiotic and growth hormone free.   The grain they produce to feed their birds is grown without herbicides or pesticides.

Eberly Poultry Farms are suppliers for Friends and Farms, the dynamic new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) that provides members with a weekly market basket of high quality, locally sourced food all year round.   Meat, poultry and fish are standard offerings in their market baskets.   Memberships run for 13 weeks and are renewable.

If you are interested in obtaining some of these fabulous exotic birds, there are two ways to go about it.   CSA Members can order exotic poultry from Eberly as a "special order" which Friends and Farms will be delighted to carry out.   Non-members can go online to order directly from Eberly themselves.

Contact info:  friendsandfarms.com  Phone:  (240) 842-9121  for information about joining the CSA. 
Eberly Poultry Farms can be found on-line at eberlypoultry.com  Phone:  (717) 336-6440 for information on ordering directly.