Q. Why did the chicken cross Mary Valley Road?

A. To get to the Moya Valley Poultry farm and join all of the other happy chickens of course!

There’s a lot of talk these days about free range products and the guidelines for a producer to make the claim of being free range.

When you’re buying free range eggs from the supermarket, there’s no real way of telling just how “free” the chickens are who laid them.

So I have to say after my recent trip out to visit Moya Valley Poultry in Imbil, I was so happy to know that when I buy their products from my local IGA or butcher, I’m not just getting  great quality chicken, but that this is a farm that has put a lot of thought and effort into making sure their chooks are happy and treated humanely.

All of the sheds that the chickens live in open up each morning onto lush green spaces that they’re free to forage on, and the sheds are rotated so the vegetation is always regenerating. The official guidelines for free range chickens is that they must not exceed 10000 birds per hectare. At Moya Valley they like to keep that amount to around 1000 per hectare.

 

Moya Valleys chickens are matured over a 7 week period to produce a minimum 1.4kg dressed weight(as opposed to force fed caged chickens which take 34 days), which is why they have a much better flavour and when cooked don’t have nearly the same amount of shrinkage. They live on a diet of high quality meal which contains no hormones or antibiotics, and are able to come and go from their feed dispensers whenever they like.

Kev Ross has been the owner/operator at Moya Valley for 21 years, and it’s a testament to his perseverance that now the farm currently supplies 1200 – 1400 birds per week to retailers and happy customers all over the Sunshine Coast. All of their chickens are processed on site, with about half sold whole, and the rest broken down into thigh fillets, breasts, wingettes and drumsticks. They also sell the livers if you’re lucky enough to get hold of some, (I brought some home with me and turned them into pate, recipe follows), if you’re keen to give it a try you could ask one of the butchers who stocks their product to order some for you.

Kev is currently the treasurer of the Free Range Association of Queensland (Hayley, his assistant is secretary), the body responsible for keeping a check on all of the farms in Queensland claiming to be free range, so it’s clear that he is passionate and committed to making sure the industry maintains it’s integrity.

Moya Valley Poultry is a great example of the quality and diversity that the  Gympie Region has to offer and I’m a huge fan of their product. As a chef, it’s an invaluable experience to visit a farm like this to see exactly where your produce is coming from and meet the great people who make it happen.

The Mary Valley never ceases to amaze me, and after a couple of weeks of rain, it’s well worth a drive in that direction to see just how pretty it is right now.

I’ve attached a list of suppliers of Moya Valley products across the Sunshine Coast, as well as a couple of recipes I came up with using their whole chooks and their livers. Enjoy!

Moya Valley Poultry

Ph 54845445

moyavalleypoultry@bigpond.com

www.facebook.com/moyavalleypoultry

Stockists

Maleny IGA

Pomona IGA

Cooroy IGA

Noosa IGA

Imbil Butchery

Kandanga Butchery

Yandina Butchery

Eumundi Meats

Gitsham Fine Foods (Pomona Butchery)

Noosa Village Meats

Peregian Meats

Mount Coolum Meats

Suncity Meats

Buderim Butchery

Global/Viande (Wholesale)

Sunshine Coast Organic Meats

The Natural Foodstore

Bannock Brae Meats(Toowoomba)

 

Chicken Liver Pate

Making your own pate takes a bit of effort, but the end result is so good it’s worth giving it a try. If you pack it into nice little jars it makes a lovely gift to give to friends.  It makes a great start to a meal with a crusty baguette, a green salad, some cornichons and a bottle of red wine.

Makes 4 x 200gm jars

Ingredients:

500gm Moya Valley chicken livers

200gm  rindless smoked bacon, diced

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tbs olive oil

30ml brandy or Cointreau

200gm butter, diced and at room temperature

salt and pepper

Method:

Drain the chicken livers in a colander to remove any excess moisture.

Sauté the onions, garlic, bacon and thyme in the olive oil until soft and lightly caramelised. Transfer to a bowl.

Return the frying pan to a high heat and sauté the livers in small batches so they get some colour on the outside but are still pink in the middle. Add a small amount of brandy to the pan just at the end of cooking and allow it to evaporate.

Add the livers to the onion and garlic mixture.

Once all of the livers are cooked, place all of the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor (you may have to do this in 2 batches), and with the motor running slowly add the diced butter. Blend until fine. Season with salt and pepper.

Pass the pate through a fine mesh sieve and spoon into sterilised jars.

Seal with clarified butter or red wine jelly.

Serve with fresh baguette and cornichons.

 

Roast Chicken with Bacon, Parmesan and Rosemary Stuffing

Roasting your own chicken makes a great family dinner, but stuffing it with fresh breadcrumbs, cheese, bacon and herbs before you roast it takes it to a whole new level.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 whole size 14 -16 Moya Valley chicken

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbs fresh rosemary, finely chopped

100gm bacon or pancetta, finely sliced

2 tbs butter

100gm fresh breadcrumbs

50gm grated parmesan

2 eggs

salt and pepper

50ml olive oil

salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Sauté the onion, garlic, rosemary and bacon in the butter until soft.

Mix with the breadcrumbs, parmesan, eggs and season with salt and pepper.

Dry the chicken well inside and out with paper towel.

Loosely stuff the chicken cavity with the stuffing and tie the back legs together with butchers twine. (Your butcher will usually give you a metre or two if you ask nicely)

Rub the chicken with olive oil and season well all over with salt and pepper.

Roast the chicken in a roasting pan for 1 hour and 10 minutes then rest for 10 minutes, covered, before carving and serving.

If you are doing vegetables with the chicken, have them ready to go and add them to the pan with the chicken after about 30 minutes.