FriendshipGarden

michael · super moderator Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 981

Grandma was right all along. Nothing like a hot bowl of chicken soup. Mmmmmm!!!! So when your body is under attack you need all the energy you can muster to fight what ails you. So eat lightly and drink lots of liquids to lessen the work.

Start with good broth by simmering the bones of fish, chicken or meat. They are extremely nutritious as they along with the cartilage contain minerals and an abundance of gelatin which aids in digestion and has been used in the treatment of many diseases (even cancer!).

So, for the perfect chicken stock, get yourself some organic chicken bones (yes, they have to be organic). You probably want the bones of two full chickens in total, but this will depend on how large a pot you have (you don't want bones overflowing the pot). A large stock pot is a worthy investment for any kitchen.

Bash them bones up good with a heavy cleaver. You want to have a lot of the marrow exposed. Next, chop up some onion, carrot, celery (2:1:1 should be the approximate ratio in volume). Take a whole head of garlic and cut it in half (don't worry about removing the skin). Throw all the ingredients into a stock pot. Toss in a glass to a bottle of a nice white wine (unoaked, preferably), depending on how big your pot is and how many bones you have. The wine should be less than 10% of the total liquid. (Some may be surprised that a nutritionist would recommend using wine. The acidity of the wine actually helps to draw minerals, particularly calcium, out of the bones and the long boiling process the stock undergoes gets rid of all the alcohol). Now fill the rest with cold filtered water.

Bring up to a gentle simmer, never letting it fully boil. Boiling too hard makes stocks turn cloudy. Let it simmer for about 4 hours, uncovered. Strain the bones and vegetables out and you've got yourself a perfect chicken stock.

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David Starr Jordan