Instructions: Enhancing chicken broth tips:
One can also buy bone-in chicken pieces or a whole chicken and then debone it and cook the meat and freeze the bones till you get enough. You can roast the bones in the oven and then simmer them along with any other chicken pieces you might have on hand. The roasting of the bones will bring out more flavor when you simmer them to make the stock. [Reggie

A can of chicken broth is about $1.00. You can buy a lot of backs and necks for a dollar, and simmer them for the same 20 minutes and have the real thing. Or you can simmer a chicken breast and have some chicken afterwards to use in a casserole or salad. I would also add the seasonings that are recommended. [mary curtis (curtism@fuse.net)]

After removing the chicken meat from the skin and bones for my pizza, I looked at the leftover bones and said, "Gee, I hate to throw these out.

Id better make some broth." So I put them in a pot with some water, onion, celery, carrot, and herbs. It smelled delicious. ["Deborah Kirwan"

Julia Child suggests a method for making canned chicken broth taste good.

Add parsley, celery tops, bay leaf and thyme. Cook on barest simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and throw away flavorings. Ive tried this with good

If you want to boost the flavor of canned chicken broth and need a cooked chicken breast for a meal, simmer that chicken breast in the canned stock.

Be sure to add the aromatic veggies too. Remove cooked chicken and reserve enhanced broth for another use. ["bill pawelko"

To perk up the Lipton Cup-A-Soup, if you like spicy foods, put in a few drops of hot pepper sauce. A little soy sauce, tamari sauce, or Braggs Amino liquids would help also. ["Ellen C." (ellen@elekta.com)]

A better way is to store broth in heavy duty biggest size zip lock bags which you freeze lying on their sides-flat, like a pillow. That way you can take an ice pick and break off a chunk when you want a little bit and not have to thaw the whole container....(also works great for homemade

On Removing Fat from Broths:
When using canned broths that are not fat-free, put cans into the refrigerator overnight to chill. When ready to use open using a can opener. The fat will congeal on the top ready to be removed. Now you can take advantage of sales on broth that arent fat-free.[ "bill pawelko"

Im not a big fan of skimming broths. Years ago the fat would congeal on top of your soup after refrigerating overnight. It no longer does that. I find sticking a spoon in to remove fat, no matter how gently its done, manages to disturb the top layer of fat and redistribute it. I sometimes will remove "gross" fat with a skimming spoon, but I always put the soup in a "fat straining cup" (cups with spout on the bottom). I use a 1 Quart model. It is also quicker and easier to use this cup rather than stand over the pot and strain it with a little spoon. The cup is also great for dishes like pot roast-it makes easy work of removing fat from the natural

Frankly, Im not a fan either, of skimming. Other things that sorta work: -I have some success with ice cubes - fat clings to them (work fast) and the finest mesh sieve I can find (buy) and strain again with the filter paper for coffee makers... [ KitPATh

I throw frozen chopped spinach into my soups toward the end of their cooking time. Basically, I see cabbage in soup as a filler. Something that will absorb flavor & provide bulk w/o a lot of calories. So you could increase the carrots, add spinach, leave it out...whatever. ["smithg"

I do a lot with Soups that are fast and good. Like tonight we had Campbells wild rice and mushroom - and I "sauteed" thin red onion and cabbage and carrot and added salt and pepper and balsamic and used that as a relish for the soup. very good. Add more veggies and fruit... But there are lots of these kinds of fast ideas - all in a meal plan [KitPATh

Cabbage Substitutes: Substituting Ingredients An A To Kitchen Reference by Becky Sue Epstein and Hilary Dole Klein says that the listing below can substitute for green cabbage. [Reggie Dwork (reggie@reggie.com)]

Savoy Cabbage
Chinese Cabbage
kohlrabi
lettuce
Brussels sprouts, shredded (in stir fries)

Tip for meat grinder #1: After pushing the last of the meat into the grinder, add a piece of white bread. The bread will push the last of the meat through.

Tip #2: Penzeys has a wonderful selection of sausage spices. Grind your own lean sausage, its wonderful.

I have a meat grinder that attaches to my KitchenAid stand mixer. I can push bread through to make bread crumbs for meatloaf. I can also push vegetable through it. I use this technique with veggie soups when I want a very fine chunk rather than a puree (ex. carrot rice soup). ["bill

Hotel style oatmeal: Cook old fashioned oats with skim milk instead of water (wont work with quick oats.) - dostis column LA Times [KitPATh

A terrific low fat way to cook collards is to braise them in some of that chicken broth weve been talking about. Like most Southerners, I cant abide "crunchy" collards, and I usually do mine in chicken broth with a bit of red pepper added for about 20 minutes in a pressure cooker.

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