Enjoy!
Cookin again
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
Dannyalcatraz, I have been cooking chicken vegetable soup, and this is what I have in it:
two chickens, boiled with salt, pepper parsley and a pinch of ginger until it can be de-boned.
celery [fresh], carrots[fresh] and noodles with the following seasonings:
salt, pepper, garlic, italian herbs, parsly [fresh] and curry.
my question is this:
What I am curious about is have you ever heard of putting balsamic vinager in chicken soup?
two chickens, boiled with salt, pepper parsley and a pinch of ginger until it can be de-boned.
celery [fresh], carrots[fresh] and noodles with the following seasonings:
salt, pepper, garlic, italian herbs, parsly [fresh] and curry.
my question is this:
What I am curious about is have you ever heard of putting balsamic vinager in chicken soup?
No I haven't.
I sometimes use dry wines or some kind of vinegar* to replace salt, but I haven't used balsamic for that purpose. Usually balsamic has a sweetness to it that I'm not usually looking for. Still, nothing is wrong with experimenting- serve yourself some and give it a splash.
My guess is it won't quite work...but it may be a good secret ingredient in some kind of tomato soup...
On the chicken...I wouldn't actually boil it. You really want more of a fast simmer just short of boiling (you want bubbles, but not a pot at full roll) if you want a classic clear-ish broth. Also, if you have a cleaver, breaking your chicken into smaller pieces will speed the process and open the bone to release the marrow, intensifying the flavor of your broth.
Another trick is to brown the chicken (with a just enough oil to prevent sticking) a little in the pot over low to medium heat before adding the water. This invokes the power of the Maillard reaction: application of heat to amino acids produces some nice flavors. Yes, this means there will be some brown** on your pot's bottom. This is called fond, and it should lift with the introduction of the water to your pot- possibly requiring a little spoon work- and add those flavors to the soup.
Also, I recently found out that using arrowroot as a thickener doesn't cloud broths like flour would. And I DO like to thicken broths a bit. A slightly thickened broth has a nicer mouthfeel than one that hasn't. It feels more...decadent.
* or lemon juice or citric acid
** if too much of it goes black, it is burned, and you should start over.
I sometimes use dry wines or some kind of vinegar* to replace salt, but I haven't used balsamic for that purpose. Usually balsamic has a sweetness to it that I'm not usually looking for. Still, nothing is wrong with experimenting- serve yourself some and give it a splash.
My guess is it won't quite work...but it may be a good secret ingredient in some kind of tomato soup...
On the chicken...I wouldn't actually boil it. You really want more of a fast simmer just short of boiling (you want bubbles, but not a pot at full roll) if you want a classic clear-ish broth. Also, if you have a cleaver, breaking your chicken into smaller pieces will speed the process and open the bone to release the marrow, intensifying the flavor of your broth.
Another trick is to brown the chicken (with a just enough oil to prevent sticking) a little in the pot over low to medium heat before adding the water. This invokes the power of the Maillard reaction: application of heat to amino acids produces some nice flavors. Yes, this means there will be some brown** on your pot's bottom. This is called fond, and it should lift with the introduction of the water to your pot- possibly requiring a little spoon work- and add those flavors to the soup.
Also, I recently found out that using arrowroot as a thickener doesn't cloud broths like flour would. And I DO like to thicken broths a bit. A slightly thickened broth has a nicer mouthfeel than one that hasn't. It feels more...decadent.
* or lemon juice or citric acid
** if too much of it goes black, it is burned, and you should start over.
Last edited:
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
ok, I meant slow simmer instead of boil. I will try a splash it here at my next meal. Just woke and ate "Breakfast" So not hungry yet.
Not chicken soup here...
I recently found an awesome recipe for Steak in Adobo. The sauce is a relative of the super-spicy adobo you find in canned chipotle peppers, but with less "burn your mouth with capsaisin," and more actual flavor. Unfortunately, the recipe is from a recent magazine, and I would feel bad just writing down the copyright-protected recipe here. It is basically a braise of cubed up flank and/or skirt steak, in a sauce based in a couple types of dried chili peppers that have been toasted, rehydrated, and blended with a number of other ingredients. Magnificent!
I recently found an awesome recipe for Steak in Adobo. The sauce is a relative of the super-spicy adobo you find in canned chipotle peppers, but with less "burn your mouth with capsaisin," and more actual flavor. Unfortunately, the recipe is from a recent magazine, and I would feel bad just writing down the copyright-protected recipe here. It is basically a braise of cubed up flank and/or skirt steak, in a sauce based in a couple types of dried chili peppers that have been toasted, rehydrated, and blended with a number of other ingredients. Magnificent!
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
you are seriously making my mouth water!
A good adobo can be soooooooo good! You could tell us the name of the magazine, you know.
I recently re-watched the Good Eats episode on peppers- twice. Lots of good info. Towards the end, he made a dish in which he manipulated the heat by prepping the pepper in a variety of ways: with inner membrane (hottest), without inner membrane (fruitiest), dried and fire roasted.
That technique; that episode perhaps revealed the secret to a salsa I used to get at a family run restaurant I used to live near. Estella made the hottest salsa I have ever personally had. If that were all there was to it, I'd never have eaten it again. Instead, though, her salsa's heat did not mask the flavors of the other ingredients. You could taste the rich tapestry of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, etc., even through that fire.
...which, of course, had an equally intense..."afterburn".
I recently re-watched the Good Eats episode on peppers- twice. Lots of good info. Towards the end, he made a dish in which he manipulated the heat by prepping the pepper in a variety of ways: with inner membrane (hottest), without inner membrane (fruitiest), dried and fire roasted.
That technique; that episode perhaps revealed the secret to a salsa I used to get at a family run restaurant I used to live near. Estella made the hottest salsa I have ever personally had. If that were all there was to it, I'd never have eaten it again. Instead, though, her salsa's heat did not mask the flavors of the other ingredients. You could taste the rich tapestry of tomatoes, onions, cilantro, etc., even through that fire.
...which, of course, had an equally intense..."afterburn".
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
Lets not get cheeky, here.
If not here, where? If not now, when?
Scott DeWar
Prof. Emeritus-Supernatural Events/Countermeasure
I don't know. Just don't make others the butt of your jokes, ok?
