Bones

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You might try to keep Better Than Bullion on hand. They have the "reduced sodium" ones in all the flavors. It is not only great for enhancing the flavor of your gravy, but your soup stocks. Certainly beats using bullion cubes that have more salt than flavor. :angel:
BTB is also my go-to for making soups/stocks/gravies/sauces. Pretty good if you don't have homemade.
 
Noodles

So while we are talking about chicken soup, I have a question. I have noodles to put in my daughter's soup. But she doesn't like the noodles cooked until just before you serve it. So I am sending them separate so her husband can put it on the stove and cook them.

When do you cook your noodles? I prefer to add them at the last minute myself and if they don't all get eaten the first time around, so be it. They will still be there for the leftovers. :angel:
 
I add them to the soup to cook just before service. I don't like the idea of cooking the noodles separately then adding them to the soup.
 
I add them to the soup to cook just before service. I don't like the idea of cooking the noodles separately then adding them to the soup.

Thanks Andy. I will tell her husband to heat the soup up and add the noodles when it comes to a boil. That man can't even cook fresh air. :angel:
 
I'm extremely disappointed. I thought this thread was going to be about the TV show!

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I marinaded some organic chicken wings with some harissa I made (a bit fiery). I have kept the bones and am wondering whether they would be OK to make chicken stock with (along with other chicken bones I have in the freezer) since the ends of the bones/the tips may have some harissa/chilli flavour on them. Still OK? Best not to bake them though?
 
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I doubt very much whether the small amount of harissa on the bones would make much difference to the stock. I use leftover bones too, and it's always been ok.

As a matter of interest, what do you put in your stock when you make it? I make different types of stock, mainly chicken and beef.

For the chicken, I use fresh raw hind quarters of chicken, unpeeled golden onions (about 1lb), a couple of carrots, about two sticks of celery, bay leaf, thyme and parsley stalks, salt added at the end of cooking . I simmer it for about three hours, the dog gets the chicken meat along with his crunchies,
I strain the stock and freeze it ready for use.

I make beef stock with 2 - 3 lb beef marrow bones,marrow included, which I roast in a hot oven for a couple of hours, then fill the stockpot with the usual sticks of celery, carrots, onions with skin on, herbs etc, and cook over a gentle heat for 3 - 4 hours with a good piece of beef on the bone, then strain off all the solids, give the meat to the dog (no fat), and freeze the liquid in convenient quantities.

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
 
I doubt very much whether the small amount of harissa on the bones would make much difference to the stock. I use leftover bones too, and it's always been ok.

As a matter of interest, what do you put in your stock when you make it? I make different types of stock, mainly chicken and beef.

For the chicken, I use fresh raw hind quarters of chicken, unpeeled golden onions (about 1lb), a couple of carrots, about two sticks of celery, bay leaf, thyme and parsley stalks, salt added at the end of cooking . I simmer it for about three hours, the dog gets the chicken meat along with his crunchies,
I strain the stock and freeze it ready for use.

I make beef stock with 2 - 3 lb beef marrow bones,marrow included, which I roast in a hot oven for a couple of hours, then fill the stockpot with the usual sticks of celery, carrots, onions with skin on, herbs etc, and cook over a gentle heat for 3 - 4 hours with a good piece of beef on the bone, then strain off all the solids, give the meat to the dog (no fat), and freeze the liquid in convenient quantities.

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde
Thanks for this welcomed post since I have been wondering whether or not to chuck out the bones. Hopefully others here will agree with what you say, i.e. that the small amount of harissa left on the bones would make no odds. I suppose my concern was whether the long simmering might cause the harissa to have an adverse effect, e.g. souring the stock?

I have to admit I know I should put veg in with the bones but rarely do - I add bayleaves and the occasional onion. I simmer for one and a half hours since I read that longer simmering is not advantageous. In future I will be baking the bones first though since I have had confirmation here that this certainly adds more flavour, i.e. not just colour.

I like your Oscar Wilde quote...he is someone I greatly admire.
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Bones for stock

While we've been looking at meat stocks, I came across my recipe for fish stock:

2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
2 large sticks celery, cut into 3 inch lengths
2 med. carrots, cut into chunks
Fresh bay leaves, fresh thyme, fresh parsley stalks, fresh fennel stalks cut into chunks.
Fresh fish bones and heads from white any fish, crustacean shells broken into manageable pieces
1 glass dry white wine
2 quarts hot water.
1 large stockpot

Par-cook the vegetables and herbs very gently in butter in the stockpot
Stack the fish ingredients on top, and then pour over the wine and deglaze in the pan, evaporating the alcohol, then add the hot water and simmer down, reducing by one third. Season with salt and pepper, cool and put into suitable containers for the freezer. It's great for fish soups, both Mediterranean and American, and is a real flavour enhancer.


di reston

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde:yum:
 
We save bones from all kinds of chicken dishes for stock. We even save the bones from take out fried chicken.
At any time I have a bag full of bones to use.
If my sister had not asked for the turkey carcass, I would have enough turkey bones to make a stock.
I have some bones left and some stock left. So that should be good for the soup I plan to make.

Oh.....I also add the noodles at the very end. If they say it takes 20 minutes to cook, I check them at 10 minutes and just shut off the heat.
The continue to cook and grow in size as they sit there in the soup.

Addie.....Make sure you tell him to add only a few noodles as they can absorb all your soup if your not careful. I would portion the noodles for him. Then he can just add all of them.
This is one reason to cook the noodles on the side. I don't do it, but it makes perfect sense.
 
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I add them to the soup to cook just before service. I don't like the idea of cooking the noodles separately then adding them to the soup.
Why not? That's what is done all over Asia.
Just wondering. :chef:
 
Why not? That's what is done all over Asia.

Just wondering. :chef:


Cooking the noodles in the actual soup puts the flavor of the soup into the noodles. Cooking them separately in water results in less flavorful noodles and is an extra step. Cooking them separately in a broth is a waste. What do you do with the broth? It's not that hard to manage the amount of noodles or barley so they don't take over a soup. It may take a couple of tries but once you get the proportions right you have them right forever.

If you habitually cook too many noodles or too much barley, what do you do with the leftovers?
 
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Why not? That's what is done all over Asia.
Just wondering. :chef:

It sure is. And I will try this. But it seems cooking the noodles in the soup would provide a better tasting noodle?

Cooking the noodles in the actual soup puts the flavor of the soup into the noodles. Cooking them separately in water results in less flavorful noodles and is an extra step. Cooking them separately in a broth is a waste. What do you do with the broth? It's not that hard to manage the amount of noodles or barley so they don't take over a soup. It may take a couple of tries but once you get the proportions right you have them right forever.

If you habitually cook too many noodles or too much barley, what do you do with the leftovers?

My same thinking Andy. I have considered cooking the noodles separately, but had concerns about diminished flavor.
For this very reason my soups have little noodles in them. I always put less than I think I need and it comes out good.
The noodles double or even triple in size it seems.

BTW. Who uses those "No Egg" noodles? I had been using them and they were okay. I bought some egg noodles and noticed they did not grow or get as big as the no egg noodles.
 
Cooking the noodles in the actual soup puts the flavor of the soup into the noodles. Cooking them separately in water results in less flavorful noodles and is an extra step. Cooking them separately in a broth is a waste. What do you do with the broth? It's not that hard to manage the amount of noodles or barley so they don't take over a soup. It may take a couple of tries but once you get the proportions right you have them right forever.

If you habitually cook too many noodles or too much barley, what do you do with the leftovers?

On the other hand, if cooked noodles are left to soak in leftover soup, their texture is ruined when it's reheated in my opinion.
 
I've found that Mexican noodles, known as fideo, keep their shape and don't turn mushy in soups better than regular egg noodles. I like to toast them first, then cook them in the soup. Surprisingly, it's been my experience that they keep their texture even after the soup has been frozen.
 
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I've found that Mexican noodles, known as fideo, keep their shape and don't turn mushy in soups better than regular egg noodles. I like to toast them first, then cook them in the soup. Surprisingly, it's been my experience that they keep their texture even after the soup has been frozen.

I was watching an episode of Rick Bayless's "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" the other day. He interviewed a Mexican chef who said that fideo was simply the broken pieces of angel hair pasta (aka vermicelli) from the bottom of the box or other container ;) So if you have some angel hair pasta, just break it up.

I've also found that small pasta like ditalini and tiny shells don't absorb as much stock from soup, so they don't get mushy, either.
 
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I was watching an episode of Rick Bayless's "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" the other day. He interviewed a Mexican chef who said that fideo was simply the broken pieces of angel hair pasta (aka vermicelli) from the bottom of the box or other container ;) So if you have some angel hair pasta, just break it up.

I've also found that small pasta like ditalini and tiny shells don't absorb as much stock from soup, so they don't get mushy, either.


Ours we get here are even finer than angel hair pasta. They come in all sorts of shapes, some come in long wound up strands like birds nests, some in little stars, and some are like fine short egg noodles. The brand I get is La Moderna. I need to replenish my supply, they last forever.

I think the secret for them to not turn to mush in a soup is the toasting in either butter or oil. Should work for broken up angel hair pasta too.
 
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