Backyard Farms : No Ordinary Chickens + My Pollo Iberico Recipe

What's so special and unique about Backyard Farms chickens? Well, first of all they are VEGETARIAN! Yes, you read that right, they are raised on a strict vegetarian diet without any antibiotics, injections or hormones. Instead of regular feeds, they are given fruits, yogurt and vegetables. 

Backyard Farms is a newly hatched company of start-up organic farmer, Tisha Ang-Dominguez and Green lifestyle advocate, Monica Eleazar-Manzano.

" ... Being both mothers, we are critical of what goes into our family’s meals. We want to know our food sources. We believe that every person should be able to eat without worrying about what other harmful stuff is in your food, hence the interest in organic and natural food production. Tisha started organic farming in her own backyard in Sarangani. This is where it all began, planting vegetables for personal use and eventually herbs that she uses for our pasture raised chickens’ water therapy.

Our goal in the future is to help small families grow our organic chicken and other produce in their backyards. We want to be able to share this knowledge with them and help them especially in provinces where they have so much open space. We can teach them the methods and help them sell their products.We urge everyone to start small, start with their backyards. If everyone does backyard farming, even urban gardening, we will be more sustainable. Anyone can do it." - Monica and Tisha



I am also very keen about what I serve on our table. As much as possible, I try to veer away from junk and processed foods and focus on REAL food. Backyard Farms chicken IS the real deal. It's pasture raised, hormone-free, antibiotic-free! Php 320.00 per kilo. 
I decided to create one of my favorite chicken dishes when I received my special chicken from Monica. Pollo Iberico is a whole chicken that's freshly dressed a day before and baked for many hours soaked in olive oil, spices, garlic and herbs. The long and slow baking process (roasting and basting) results in a really moist, tender and full flavored chicken meat. 

Casa P's Pollo Iberico (Iberian Chicken) Recipe

*Serves about 8-10

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
1.5 cups of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. dried rosemary or 4 springs of fresh rosemary
1 lemon cut in half
1 stalk of lemongrass
2 heads of garlic (1 you can just cut into half and the other you crush and peel the cloves)
250 grams of baby potatoes
lots of freshly crushed peppercorns (sometimes i even use whole peppercorns)
salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Cut the lemon in half and place in inside the chicken's cavity together with the lemongrass. Combine herbs, spices and the whole chicken in a ziplock freezer bag. Let sit on the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or better yet let it soak there overnight!

2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 80F. 

3. Place chicken together with the oil and spices in a deep baking dish. 

4. Bake for at least 4 hours while occasionally basting the chicken with oil. 

5. In the last 1 hour of baking, put the potatoes and whole garlic cloves around the chicken making sure that they’re submerged in oil. Continue cooking for another hour. Serve immediately.

A closer view of this beautiful and soulful dish 

Presenting my Pollo Iberico

I love eating it with the nicely roasted potatoes and the softened garlic that already fully absorbed the full flavors of the marinade! Nom nom nom....

For those interested to order these special chickens, here's the info:

Backyard Farms
Instagram  : @backyardfarmsphFacebook : www.facebook.com/backyardfarmsphTwitter : @backyardfarmsph

Choose healthy,

Pattie