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Archive for October 17th, 2006

Chicken Stock

Posted in cooking on October 17, 2006 | 10 Comments »

So over the weekend I made chicken stock.

I followed the guide in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook. I’ve done this before, but this time I cooked it for twice as long as I have before. Thursday I moved my chicken (a free-range chicken) from the freezer to the refrigerator. Friday afternoon I put it in the sink in some cold water. Then Friday evening I put it in a large stock pot full of water and a little vinegar. I got the water from our outdoor spigot so that it would be straight from the well instead of softened – more minerals that way.

I threw in some onions, celery, and carrots and then I brought it to a boil. It takes a couple iterations to get the burner on my glass-top stove set to the right setting to maintain a consistent simmer for 48 hours, but once you find the sweet spot you can just let it go and occasionally come back and give it a quick stir.

I’m hoping the extra long cooking time will make a richer stock with lots of gelatin than I’ve made before. I’ll bottle this up in mason jars when the fat on top has hardened and then have it for making soups and sauces for a month or so till I have to make the next batch. I put the chicken in small plastic containers in the freezer so I can pull small portions out and put them in soups and such.

It makes an awesome chicken soup, pot pie, and sometimes I even use it instead of water when cooking brown rice. I’ve tried beef stock before too, but there’s just something about chicken stock that makes it extra good.

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My Philosophy

Posted in foodosophy on October 17, 2006 | 2 Comments »

I’ve always been interested in healthy eating. That’s probably due to my Seventh-day Adventist upbringing, which I left behind. While I gave up the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist church (especially vegetarianism), I did retain the Adventist interest in health.

After a long journey through various teachings on diet, including such regimens as vegetarianism, low-fat, Atkins, Zone, and Neanderthin, I happened upon the Weston A. Price Foundation. The methodology is based on a 1930′s study of societies around that world that were in peak health. The most healthy societies had not yet had refined flour, sugar, or oil introduced. They also followed food preparation methods with long traditions behind them.

I think that it is best to respect the wisdom of our ancestors and accept any newfangled methods and foods with caution. The burden of proof should lie with the newfangled methods and foods rather than the old. The old foods and methods have been time tested, while new foods and methods have yet to be proved.

In fact, as far as I can tell, the contemporary American diet does nothing to reduce heart disease, cancer, and numerous other problems. I think it’s time we hit rewind and try a little old fashioned cooking.

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