We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons. ~ Alfred E. Newman

I love this saying. It is the plain and simple truth to what we have available at our giant supermarkets. Many people go through the day not knowing what they are putting into their bodies. Kids still think grape is a flavor not a fruit. Gone are the days of individuals taking time to know what it is they are actually eating, where it has come from and the history behind it. Over the years my circle of food purveyors has been getting much closer to home.
There have been a lot of changes in my life since the last entry. I have moved out of Burlington Vermont and now have a home of my own. This place is spectacular! The amount of apple trees, berry bushes and even cranberries is staggering. My neighbors have chickens, pigs and tons of hops. I cant think of a better place for me to be. My neighbor stopped by to say welcome and give me a chicken from his yard. This was an amazing chicken. Even better, it was from like 150 yards away.

Right away I got to work. I wanted this meal to be as local as possible. What better way to celebrate the bounty of the fall harvest than smoked chicken salad. First, I always brine any kind of poultry. It's the right thing to do. In a large plastic container I mixed one-half gallon of water with one cup of Kosher salt, one cup of sugar and one-quarter cup soy sauce. Mix it all together till the salt dissolves and add the chicken. If you plan to eat the chicken that day, do this first thing in the morning.

After about six to eight hours in brine, it's time to cook the bird. You can roast, grill, fry or smoke. Just don't do something super ghetto like boiling the chicken. Smoking a chicken takes patience. It's not for everyone. Smoking is a long slow cooking process that will give you the most flavorful and juicy bird out there. It's actually quite easy, wood chips, heat, water and a few hours. That's it! While at Home Depot a few months ago I found a perfect gas smoker.

Gas smokers have a huge advantage over charcoal. I have a charcoal smoker, it works, but anything longer than two hours requires dedication. I tried an eight hour smoke on a fresh ham and went through two giant bags of charcoal. This is way more efficient.
Once the chicken is out of the brine, pat it dry and pick a dry seasoning best suited to the bird's accompaniments. In this case this calls for a spicy rub.

Smoked Chicken Dry Rub

1 1/2 Cups Paprika

1/2 Cup Black Pepper

1/2 Cup Kosher Salt

4 Tablespoons Chili Powder

4 Tablespoons Garlic Powder

4 Tablespoons Onion Powder

4 Teaspoons Ground Ghost Chili (optional)

Before you apply the dry rub, lightly coat the whole chicken in molasses. Apply liberally, be sure to coat the entire bird. Cut two lemons in half and pack them into the body cavity and truss the bird shut. Pretty easy so far!

Set up your smoker, lite the burner!

You want the smoker temperature between 200 and 225. Fill the pan above the wood chips with water. This adds valuable humidity to the cooking process. Close the doors and let it go for 2.5 hours. This is where the patience comes in handy. Remember this phrase while smoking, "If you're looking you're not cooking." After the wait is over, remove the bird and let it rest on your countertop for about ten minutes. You will be tempted to try a piece, oh, you will!

This was probably the best chicken I have ever eaten and it came from next door. In my smoked chicken salad I dice the chicken and add tart cherries, sun gold tomato, diced celery, sliced almonds, balsamic reduction, sliced mint and very, very good olive oil.

The next project I truly love. Chicken liver terrine is sometimes under appreciated. Not here! David Chang and the crew at Momofuku are doing amazing things with this recipe. Try to keep local for this one too. I went to the farm across town and purchased three pounds of chicken liver. This is a relatively cheap organ meat. While I was there they had a pork shoulder that would work beautifully in this recipe.

Chicken Liver Terrine

3# Chicken Liver

1/2 Cup Peeled Garlic Cloves

2 Shallots

3# Ground Pork

3 teaspoons Chinese 5 Spice

4 Tablespoons Fish Sauce

2 Tablespoons Sugar

2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

A quick note on fish sauce. This pungent and wonderful sauce has lots of different levels of quality. Get the best you can find.

Pick through your chicken livers and remove any veins. This is a pretty quick job, try not to over think it. Next, grind your pork. In a food processor, pulse the livers until they are chopped fine but not smooth. Add this to the ground pork along with the dry spices. In the same food processor, puree the garlic and shallots and add them to the whole mess.

Put the mixture in the refrigerator and heat your oven to 275. This is where you can get creative. You can use loaf pans or any other vessel you can think of. I used and 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 pan and a small round metal container.

This needs to cook in a water bath. Find two pans that will accommodate your work. Don't add any water yet. Place them both in the oven, and then fill with water. This will save you from pouring water all over the oven.

Bake the terrines one hour and fifteen minutes. At that point the internal temperature will be 150 or so.

Let the two terrines cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, wrap tightly in aluminum foil and place a weight on them. This ensures that during the overnight set-up time, you will have a very uniform product.

Refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the weight and foil. Place the containers in enough hot water to heat the sides and release the terrine. At this point, you're done! Package and freeze it, or add some to your scrambled eggs, or have it during the afternoon with wine and cheese.

There you have it! Two exceptional meals that came from the town I live in, and didn't break the budget! If you had this at a fine restaurant this would cost a small fortune, and probably wouldn't be near the quality of what we have here.

Life here in the beautiful Vermont countryside is wonderful. I have lots to be thankful for. I have so many projects for the future. Currently, I am working on three different varieties of incredible sausage. I have lots to do! Stay tuned!