Chicken coop

I have been trying to sell the idea of getting chickens to my husband for almost 5 years. I kept on pestering him about how convenient it would be to grow chickens not only for their fresh eggs but also for their manure which can improve my compost tremendously. He brought up a valid point about who is going to take care of the chicken when we are away and how much work it would be. I like fresh and organic food. Fresh eggs can support my love of fresh foods. At last I convinced him give it a try. A few weeks ago, one of my friends told me that Sam's Club is selling an adorable chicken coop. Of course I had to go and check it out. I thought it was cute but not sturdy enough. So I decided to get someone to build it for me. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it was good enough to live with it.

After years of wanting chickens, finally I got the coop.

After getting the coop, it was time to think about buying chicken. After doing extensive research, we decided to settle with buying them from a local feed store. First we got four chickens, 2 Ameraucanas, 1 Cochin, and 1 Rhode Island Red. After that, I found 1 barred rock and 1 leghorn.  Since we didn't want crowd the coop, we decided to return one ameraucuna. I was choosing the chickens for the color of their eggs, even though there is no difference in nutrition or flavor related to the color of their shell.

Both of us are feeling that we are responsible for five more lives. My husband is more ease at handling the chickens than I am. I am very surprised by his devotion to chickens. He says he took care of chickens while growing up in India. I am hoping to learn from him and maybe I won't be as hesitant to touch them. Well, wish me luck. I will keep you posted how my venture is turning out.

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes),please check out my books, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen and Trader Joe's Simply Indian at my website komalinunna.com.

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Buried in tomatoes

This is a very busy time for harvesting in my kitchen garden. Almost everything is yielding with a vengeance. This year, my tomatoes are going bonkers, yielding a lot more than ever before in my kitchen garden. This the harvest from one raised bed with 7 plants. I attribute my my success to my homemade compost with chicken manure. Now I know that adding  a chicken coop was the right decision for my backyard farming.

This is one harvest

 hom

I like to harvest vine ripened tomatoes on these large shallow baskets to protect them from bruising

Isn't it a shame not to indulge in a caprese salad after such a huge tomato harvest?

I know what I am doing next couple of days, canning and making tomato pickle. I  like to preserve my kitchen garden harvest as much as possible for the rest of year to enjoy and appreciate homegrown goodness.

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes),please check out my books, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen and Trader Joe's Simply Indian at my website komalinunna.com.

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Chai and garden tour with the friends

My favorite way to relax is sit in the garden and drink chai with friends. This morning I invited a few of my friends for chai after yoga.  My favorite place to entertain is always right next to the kitchen garden. The friends who came over are avid gardeners. After a good workout, it was nice to talk about plants while sipping chai. It is always nice to exchange ideas about the hobby of gardening that we all are very passionate about.
The menu was very simple, olive oil cake, Greek yogurt with pomegranate-berry-ginger sauce and masala chai.

Olive oil cake is so light and delicious. Perfect bite with chai.

After chai, it was time for a garden tour. Some of them have not seen my chicken coop. It was nice to share my chicken stories.

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes),please check out my books, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen and Trader Joe's Simply Indian at my website komalinunna.com.

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Favorite breakfast - Shakshuka

A few years ago, a friend gave me a cookbook called Plenty as a hostess gift.  As I was flipping through that book I recognized a familiar recipe, shakshuka. As I was reading the recipe I found that it is a North African dish with many variations.
When I got married, my mother-in-law used to make a similar recipe using onions, curry leaves, green chilies, tomatoes, and eggs but she did not use any other herbs such as parsely or thyme, which we were not familiar with at that time. Mother-in-laws recipe didn't have bell peppers either. She used to serve that dish with rice. However, it was not called shakshuka. The recipe from Plenty calls for a lot of herbs, such as parsley, bay leaves, thyme and cilantro which are grown in my herb garden. I decided to make this recipe for breakfast. Since then, it has become our favorite breakfast dish. I made a few changes to the recipe. It is a combination of my mother-in-law's recipe and the recipe from the Plenty cookbook.

Serves 4

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 Serrano chili, sliced into 2
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 curry leaves
• 6 thyme sprigs
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 pounds vine ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup water
• 6-8 eggs
• chopped parsley and cilantro to garnish

In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and fry for a minute. Add onion and Serrano chili and saute for 5 minutes. Add peppers, ginger, sugar, and the herbs. Continue cooking on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the peppers are almost cooked. Add tomatoes, saffron, cayenne, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. During the cooking, keep adding water so that the mix has a pasta sauce consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Remove the bay leaves. Make indentations for each egg with a big spoon in the tomato-pepper mixture. Crack the eggs into each indentation or gap. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Cover the pan with a lid. Cook on gentle heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until the eggs are set. Sprinkle parsley and cilantro and serve with white bread. I used toasted cracked wheat sourdough bread. Use the bread to mop the sauce. You will see why this has become my family's favorite weekend breakfast.

Harvest from the garden. What ever I harvest from the garden becomes our meal. In this case harvest from the kitchen garden and eggs from the chicken coop transformed into breakfast.

Fresh herbs from the garden

Curry leaves

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes),please check out my books, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen and Trader Joe's Simply Indian at my website komalinunna.com.

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September garden tour 1

This is what I am greeted with every day when I step out of the kitchen, bright pink crape myrtles on the slope, golden sienna wonder at the ground level, and orange-colored African tulip tree at the far end of the slope. Love this time of the year in the garden.

Chicken coop. The far end is my home nursery, where I am experimenting with different plants, growing something from the seeds or from a cutting.

Pomegranate trees. The middle tree is the macadamia nut tree.

In future posts, I will be sharing different areas in the garden.

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes),please check out my books, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen and Trader Joe's Simply Indian at my website komalinunna.com.

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Entertaining

Last Saturday was the last of my summer/fall entertaining before Thanksgiving. With the soaring California hot weather, it was more like a summer party than a fall one. Here are some of the photos that I wanted to share with you all.

It is always nice to hang out with friends and have a good time

With one of my favorite guests

Chicken coop was the guests favorite place to visit after the kitchen garden

The menu was displayed on the blackboard

The desserts: Tropical trifle, Fig-ginger bars and, for the chocolate lovers, pistachio-coconut-chocolate tart

For more memorable centerpieces, tablescapes, and recipes (including vegetarian, gluten free and vegan recipes),please check out my books, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen and Trader Joe's Simply Indian at my website komalinunna.com.

Sharing at:
Wow-us-Wednesday
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French Country Cottage
Foodie Friday and Everything else