COOKING WITH STEW HENS AND ROOSTERS.

Culling ("removing animals from the herd") is part of raising chickens. It's not fun, but if you want to keep a healthy and affordable flock, it's a necessity. Sometimes it's an old hen who is no longer laying eggs (but is still eating feed). Sometimes it's one (or EIGHT) too many roosters, or even an aggressive rooster. Now, these birds are not like the chicken you get at the store. They're often fattier, with less meat on them, but tasty nonetheless. This week, it was a rooster that had to go (not as fatty as stew hens usually), but he didn't go to waste. The offal went to Wendell and the meat went into a soup. If you don't keep chickens, ask your farmer for a stew hen or rooster. I'm sure they will happily oblige.CULL CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE(makes 1/2 gallon of stock, 1/2 gallon of soup––serves four)Cook time: the longer the better (at least four hours)1 whole cull chicken cleaned3-4 medium size carrots, large diced2 medium size onions, large diced1/2 large bulb fennel, large diced4 quarts of veg stock or waterHerbs in bouquet garnis (recommended: thyme, bay leaf, rosemary)2 cups wine (optional)Mushrooms (optional)1/2 lbs of Pasta (penne is our favorite) or 1 lbs of potatoes (chopped)2 cloves garlic (chopped)Olive oilSea SaltGround pepperPut a large pot on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil or lard. Once hot, sear the whole chicken until light gold on each side then remove whole chicken with tongs and set on plate. Add onions to pan and stir and cook until translucent. Then add fennel and carrots and stir and cook until all veggies are soft. Add whole chicken back in, then if you are going to add wine, add it now. Once the smell of alcohol has boiled off, about one or two minutes, add stock until chicken is covered. Place on lid and let simmer for several hours. Often, we'll cook the soup over the course of a whole day. If using a fatty stew hen, you may need to skim off some of the fat collecting on the surface. A little is OK. Before you add potatoes, and before you take the meat off the chicken bones, but after several hours of cooking, remove half the soup and freeze for chicken broth for another day (we always try and cook for at least two meals, or in this case, a possible sick day). Add potatoes two hours before serving, or pasta thirty minutes before. Add herbs and garlic an hour before serving.When serving, carefully remove chicken and herbs. Meat should fall off bone easily, and stir meat back into soup, leaving the carcass out. Serve warm when potatoes or pasta is soft but not mush. Enjoy!- Jesse.