Victorian Valentine cards, as we prepare our Valentine/s Day desserts.
Posted on 02/11/2016 4:03:51 PM PST by Jamestown1630
I have several bags in my freezer. One is for chicken.... I put in all bones and skin from roasted chickens, all little pieces that I trim off raw chickens when preparing them, giblets and necks, and any fond from the bottom of the roasting pan that I have deglazed.
I have another bag that I use for cooked beef bones, (T bone steak bones are great) scraps from prepping and deglazing liquid. I also add things like the end of the tomato paste can, the end of the stew, bits of mashed potatoes etc. When I find the freezer getting crowded I pull out the bag and start cooking.
If I have enough of one critter, I will make straight broth. If I don't I will mix the bones. My family has referred to this for years as "garbage soup". I think the key to good broth is to make sure a good portion of what you are using is well browned. I will brown chicken necks and even raw skin in the oven if I don't have enough carcasses. I never use meat from the broth stage in the soup. It has already given up all flavor. So if I want meat in the soup I save it separately and add it at the final stage of prep. You can set aside chicken breasts and poach them just at the end to add to the soup instead of letting them get tasteless by hours of cooking.
Also, the best tool I have for soup is my pasta pot. I put all the bones in the insert and once everything is cooked it is a snap to lift the insert for draining. Then just dump the contents of the insert and continue.
We get our chicken feet from the Mexican store. They seem to always have them, and we keep extras in the freezer.
-JT
schmaltz - it’s good to know the name.
I think I’ll pass on the livers though, LOL!
I think these two are the best we’ve ever had; they’re brothers, but I think they’re the result of ‘superfecundation’, because they’re so different.
One is always into mischief (Jimmy); and one is the Best Cat Ever (Leroy).
When I figure out how, I’ll put pics of them on my FR profile page.
We’ve had lots of cats over the years; and of course, every one is ‘The Best Cat Ever’:-) But these ‘mutts’ are extraordinary.
-JT
I knew someone would give me a hard time over that comment. Ha! My Father-in-law always brings beer when he comes to visit and then leaves the rest with my husband. I’m always either pregnant or nursing so I rarely get to drink. It just sits there so I cook with it. I like to pour a can over roasts in the crock pot. The beer never goes to waste!
Mmmmm, Borsch!
When I was in high school I spent a year as an exchange student and lived with a Russian Jewish family in Argentina. They taught me about borsch. What we ate was like a beef vegetable soup with beets in it. Dollop with a spoonful of sour cream and it is wonderful! I usually make it with the leftover meat and juices from a chuck roast dinner.
1 1/2 lb chuck roast (small pieces, well trimmed)
4-5 C water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 small cans tomato sauce (or 1 large)
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 med onion, chopped
3 average sized potatoes, cut in 1/4” strips
2 average sized carrots, cut in 1/4” strips
1 small can butter beans
1 can beets (I use 2)
1 parsnip (optional)
2 C cabbage, chopped
Cook beef in oven until tender and browned. Let sit in refrigerator over night, and remove fat (or use left overs).
Put all in pot except beets and cabbage. Simmer until tender (maybe an hour).
About half hour before serving add beets with their juice and cabbage. Taste for salt and pepper.
Cook until cabbage is tender (20 minutes).
Serve with sour cream and black bread.
LOL! I think I got that notion from a FReeper many years ago.
Someone posted a recipe that used ‘leftover wine’; and another responded: ‘What the heck is ‘leftover wine’?
This has been a great thread, with lots of good ideas. Thanks to everyone.
-JT (drinking the last of a New Beer, and going to bed :-)
Thanks :-). Now I just need to work up the courage to go downtown to that store!!
No matter what I do, I can’t get beets much bigger than a golf ball.
I finally gave up.
I like them in salad, soup, pickled.
I want to try that now.
You made it sound delish.
If you cook a lot, extra prep space is nice for marinating and what not.
Really? I’ll give it one more try next summer. Hubby wasn’t here yet, so I only pulled the grass off a spot and called it a garden. next year we’ll rototill and even fertilize, LOL. Loosening the earth should give the beets and carrots a chance. If they don’t get bigger after that, I’ll give up and stick to other vegetables.
I’m not much of a gardener. It’s laughable that I’m seen on the FR gardening thread. I can barely grow a tomato. :)
We break up the dirt, add compost and manure and cover with straw.
I start a bunch of seedlings and just throw a bunch out there and hope something sticks.
We live in a rental in town, so not much space. The garden is on the perimeter of the yard and a couple of beds in the middle.
We had a drought last year so couldn’t grow much. It usually turns out to be salsa and spaghetti sauce, salad and squash in a good year. Gotta have home grown maters. We usually have cilantro, basil and chives and parsley. Oregano and mint are in there for good.
Mmmm. Fresh herbs are nice.
I can’t grow beets or onions. I think our dirt is too hard or something. Lots of clay.
Layers of Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse in chocolate wafer crust
w/ lots of whipped cream, garnished w/ chocolate curls and fresh raspberries
Sounds like you do pretty good!
In thought I couldn’t garden, in a CA tract home. Then I moved to Tennessee, and discovered I could great mosque anything here! Even with out preparing the soil and not knowing what I was doing, every seed I planted grew! Even the ones I later transplanted. I actually had to deal with bugs and diseases, a stage I never got to before!
So yes, it’s all your soil’s fault! maybe other factors you can’t control either. whatever it is that makes gardening work here ;)
Also a good way to clear out old beer in the fridge.
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You mean you let beer sit in the fridge more than two days?
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