Let’s Talk Chicken Broth

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 whole fryer chicken
• 1 onion-peeled and cut in quarters
• 1 tomato-cut in quarters and seeds taken out
• 2 garlic cloves peeled
• 1 celery stalk cut in 3rds
• 1 handful of fresh cilantro or parsley..DO NOT CHOP
• 1 large soup pot
• water

DIERCTIONS:

1. Put whole chicken in pot and cover with water
2. Then take onion, tomato, garlic, S&P, and cilantro and put around chicken
3. Cover pot and put on medium heat and cook for 2 hours. (make sure water does not boil over.) Put lid on askew to avoid overflow!!
4. Seriously, could this be ANY EASIER????????

Can I freeze Corn on the Cob???

It’s one of my favorite times of the year…the time of the year when corn is plentiful!! I LOVE sweet corn and I never put anything on it…it’s “virginal”, if you will!

Unfortunately, the season is a small one…we wait and wait and next thing you know, they are using the old corn as decorations for Halloween…sooooooo, what can we do?????

Well, my bloggers, there is an answer…YOU CAN FREEZE fresh corn!!!

All you need is a BIG pot of boiling water, and then another BIG pot of cold water WITH ice… in the cooking world this process is called “blanching”…it’s like going from a hot jacuzzi into a cold plunge!!! bbrrrrrr….but what it does is it stops the cooking process!

So, take the husks off the corn and take away those silky hairs.  Clean it of with a vegetable brush if you like and then, when the water is boiling in a BIG pot, put in the corn and keep them in the boiling water for about 5-7 mins.  Then take them out and immediately plunge them into the BIG pot with the cold water and ice and keep them in there for the same amount of time!

Once you have done that, the BEST product to use is a “food saver with  vacuum sealing!!! I LOVE this product, but if you don’t have one than a freezer Ziploc bag will work fine. The most important thing about Ziploc is that you have to make sure you get ALL the air out of it, otherwise you can get freezer burn.  Get a straw and suck the air out of it…that does work!!

Once this is done, then label the corn and into the freezer it goes.   When the time comes and you are hankering for fresh corn, just take it out and put it into boiling water for about 5 minutes and you will be as happy as a pig in…well, you know!!!!

What is proper kitchen sponge hygiene

The Kitchen Sponge

Bacteria and Sponges

After cooking numerous meals over the holiday’s it occurred to me that the kitchen sponge was getting quite gnarly….so i thought “hmmm….how long does one keep a kitchen sponge around before tossing it”???… and you will see what i learned below!!!!

Your kitchen sponge probably has more bacteria than anything else in the house. It’s worse than the toilet.

Bacteria thrive in moist environments. Let your sponge dry out between uses. Don’t leave the sponge sitting in the bottom of the sink. Squeeze it and let it dry. Replace it every week or two.

It’s also recommended that you wet a sponge and then microwave it for two minutes every two days. The high heat kills bacteria on it. You can also put it in the dishwasher but that’s not quite as good.

Dishrags are another have for germs. Let them dry between uses and wash them frequently. Even better: use paper towels or disposable wipes.

So, there you have it…just a little tidbit from Chef-Boy-R-D2!!!!