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Chicken Soup Tips and Hints

Chicken Soup Tips and Hints

Although it's fairly difficult to ruin soup, here are some tips and hints to help you produce the most flavorful, satisfying result.

• Always begin with cold water, never warm or hot.

• When tasting to adjust flavors, use a stainless steel spoon, not a wooden or sterling silver spoon. Wood and silver disguise flavor on the tongue.

• A good soup really needs salt, preferably coarse salt. If you must avoid salt, know that the flavor will be greatly diminished. Adding no-salt or low-sodium broth concentrate will help.

• Don't turn your nose up at this: Chicken feet add not only robust flavor, but gelatinous body to the soup. You can find them at many Asian markets. Fresh chicken feet need to be scalded about five minutes so the skin and toenails can be removed before adding to the stockpot. Calf feet, veal knuckles and beef marrow bones achieve the same goal. Bones also leach nutritious calcium and minerals into the soup.

• If at all possible, do not use chicken that has been frozen. Freezing forces moisture from the tissues. When the bird is thawed, all that moisture ends up down the drain, leaving a dry and tasteless chicken.

• Unthawed frozen vegetables should not be added to the soup until the last 15 minutes of cooking time.

• Use tall, nonreactive stockpots for making soup. Fit the bird to the pot. The base should be just large enough to hold the bird and to cover it with a minimum of water. A pot of heavy construction distributes heat more evenly.

• To skim or not to skim? For clear soups, many recipes advocate skimming off the foamy solids that rise to the top as the soup cooks. However, there is not only flavor, but nutrition in those solids that will break down as the soup cooks. You can sieve the broth before adding vegetables. For a clearer broth, sift through cheesecloth. Or, you can skim. The choice is yours.

• Don't let the soup boil. It should simmer very gently or the meat will become tough and the broth cloudy.

• Dark meat has more flavor than white meat. If you are using chicken parts rather than a whole chicken, keep this in mind. Using only all white meat will result in a much less flavorful result.

• For those concerned about fat, make the soup in two stages. Cook the chicken with its aromatic vegetables and herbs on one day. Strain the meat and flavorings from the broth. Refrigerate the broth until the fat solidifies on top. Save the fat for other uses or discard. Continue with the soup. Do keep in mind that the majority of the flavor is in the fat.

• If you are planning ahead, cook the chicken with vegetables and herbs. Freeze the strained stock. If your planned future use includes chicken meat, freeze the meat in the stock to keep it from drying out. You can later thaw and add fresh vegetables, pasta or rice.

• For a richer broth, remove the chicken from the bones as soon as it is tender and refrigerate. Add the bones back to the soup and continue simmering until desired strength is achieved. Strain and proceed.

• Cool soup completely before freezing or refrigerating, preferably by placing the pot in a sink of ice and stirring. The pot should be uncovered while it is cooling.

In the Kitchen

Basic chicken soup begins with a broth made by cooking the chicken with savory vegetables (such as onions, carrots, and celery) and herbs (usually sage, thyme, bay leaf and parsley). From the basic stock, you can vary your soup by adding your favorite vegetables, pasta or rice.

Combinations for chicken soup are as limitless as your imagination. The chicken soup recipe collection covers a wide variety to give you an idea how versatile this family favorite can be, from classic chicken noodle soup to mulligatawny.

Remember, turkey can be substituted for chicken in most recipes.

Above all, the prime ingredient in chicken soup is love. Luckily, it is the one ingredient accessible to all in infinite quantities, and you cannot use too much of it.

More about Chicken Soup:

• Is chicken soup really Jewish penicillin?
• Selecting Chicken for Chicken Soup
• Chicken Soup Tips and Hints
• Soups and Stews Cooking Tips
• Chicken Soup Recipes

Cookbooks

•	The Whole World Loves Chicken Soup
•	]The Daily Soup Cookbook
•	W]A Feast of Soups
•	Chicken Soup for the Soul Recipes for Busy Moms
•	More Cookbooks

Update On Google iPhone Voice Recognition App: Look For It On Monday

Update On Google iPhone Voice Recognition App: Look For It On Monday

Crave, the gadget blog - CNET

Crave, the gadget blog - CNET

New MacBook Pro lineup vs. old lineup

Posted by Matthew Elliott Post a comment

Of Apple's MacBook Pro lineup, only the two 15-inch models received the complete workup today. By now, you're probably aware of the design changes, which include a new "unibody" chassis, new buttonless multitouch trackpad, the addition of a mini DisplayPort, and the subtraction of the FireWire 400 port. Let's take a closer look at the changes under the hood.

Pricing remains the same, with $1,999 and $2,499 default configurations. Aside from slightly larger hard drives, the biggest change is the move away from Intel and to the Nvidia GeForce 9400M chipset and a slight bump to the graphics, moving from the GeForce 8600M GT to the GeForce 9600M GT. The higher-end model now ships with 4GB of RAM by default, and doubling the RAM on the lower-end model is $50 cheaper at $150. The CPUs remain largely unchanged, but now operate on a faster 1066MHz bus. The $2,499 MacBook Pro lets you upgrade to a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo for $300; previously, the fastest chip offered was a 2.6GHz processor. Larger 320GB hard drives are now offered, including a 7200rpm unit, as is a 128GB solid-state drive.

The 17-inch model from the old MacBook Pro line survived, but it now offers 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive for the same price.

The 17-inch model is still available at the same $2,799 price in the old all-silver chassis, and with the same 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 512MB GeForce 8600M GT graphics card. The RAM has been doubled to 4GB and the hard drive goes from 250GB to 320GB. Strange that the new design is available in the 13-inch MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro, but not the 17-inch MacBook Pro. The 17-inch model gives you the choice of a glossy or matte finish on the display; the new 15-inch MacBook Pros are glossy only, which might be problematic for those whose first priority isn't watching movies on a $2,000 laptop.

Given there's less of a design difference between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro now, what will get people to make the $400 (or more) leap in price? Better graphics? Two more inches of screen space? FireWire 800? I see the new MacBooks taking up a larger piece of the Mac pie at the expense of MacBook Pro sales. Thoughts? Do you like the new design? Feature sets?

YouTube - the jump

YouTube - the jump

The Hidden Dangers Of Uncooked Salmon

The Hidden Dangers Of Uncooked Salmon

Salmon tartare--eye-catching, fun, hip and tasty--has become a popular menu item in many top restaurants. Celebrity chefs prepare it on television. Mainstream magazines, newspapers, and cookbooks feature recipes. Raw salmon dishes--tartare, crudo, sushi, marinated and cured salmon--are growing in popularity. But unless that fish has been frozen first, it would be wise to pass.

That's because a tiny tapeworm larva may lurk in the raw salmon flesh, just waiting for you to eat it so that it can take up residence in your digestive tract. Diphyllobothrium latum, carried by freshwater fish (including anadromous wild salmon, which spend their early lives in fresh water), is the largest human tapeworm. After the larva is ingested by a fish-eating mammal, it hooks onto the small intestine, where it grows to maturity, freeloading on its host for nutrients (it has a special affinity for Vitamin B12). Cooking fish or freezing it at minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit or colder for 15 hours will kill Diphyllobothrium larvae. Marinating will not. Freezing fish at slightly higher temperatures for longer periods will also kill the larvae but will likely diminish the quality of the fish.

wikiworldview

wikiworldview

Rhetoric and Rheology

wikiworld channel: Thirty-eight dishonest rhetorical tricks

wikiworld channel: Thirty-eight dishonest rhetorical tricks

Nalgene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nalgene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In recent years, studies^[3][4] have suggested that polycarbonate plastics such as the ones used by Nalgene may leach endocrine disruptors. Nalgene denies that the quantity leached from their products poses a significant threat to health.^[5] Among the secreted chemicals, Bisphenol A (BPA) is an area of concern as it binds to estrogen receptors, thus altering gene expression.^[6] Other research has found that fixatives in polycarbonate plastics can cause chromosomal error in cell division called aneuploidy. Nalgene claims these chemicals are only potentially released from Nalgene products when used at temperatures outside of the designed range.

In November 2007, Mountain Equipment Co-op removed all hard, clear polycarbonate plastic water bottles (including Nalgene-branded product) from their shelves and no longer offers these items for sale. In December 2007, Lululemon made a similar move.

An alternative is available in the polyethylene versions of these products (made out of HDPE, Nalgene's traditional material), which are free of these chemicals. They can be identified by their greater flexibility, their translucent, "milky" appearance, and by the number 2 triangular plastic recycling symbol on the bottom, rather than the number 7 on a polycarbonate bottle.

On Tuesday April 15th, 2008 the Globe and Mail reported that Health Canada will announce Wednesday April 16th that Bisphenol A is "dangerous" and may go as far as designating the chemical a toxic. Canada is the first nation to make this designation.^[7]

Recalls: Malt-O-Meal, Puffed Rice Cereal Recalled For Salmonella

Recalls: Malt-O-Meal, Puffed Rice Cereal Recalled For Salmonella

Synchronize Google Calendar With Outlook

Synchronize Google Calendar With Outlook

Heated water can leach out contaminants in old pipes, and boiling it doesn't remove the lead

Health

The EPA says hot tap water can contain as much lead as a cheap toy from China—"We call it dollar-store tea," says an EPA spokesman. Okay, seriously, the EPA said none of that but they do warn you to not drink hot tap water. Heated water can leach out contaminants in old pipes, and boiling it doesn't remove the lead—so only use cold tap water for drinking, cooking, and preparing baby formula. [New York Times]