Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Good advice The Tale of the Housewife and the Party Bird, or: Can You Leave Your Chicken Soup on the Stove?
Posted by Carrington Fox on Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 8:11 AM
“The housewife frequently meets up with the leavings of a party bird from which a good stock can be made.”
So says my Joy of Cooking. Now, I’m not quite sure who the party bird in my house is, just as I’m not sold on exactly who the housewife is. Nor do I have a taste for bird-leaving broth. But I did shove the greasy dregs of a Harris Teeter roasted chicken into a pot last night, with some carrots, celery, onion and spices and simmered until I got what appears to be a broth acceptable to any housewife or party bird.
Here’s my question: Now that I have a giant pot of cold party bird soup on the stove and I’m headed to work for the day, can I leave it out all day and reheat when I get home, or does it need to go in the fridge? Fluffernutter, can I have a ruling?
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
Yes. Just bring it to a boil first. Add frozen vegetables, tiny little pasta (or dumplings!). I bet other people have other ideas.
like
dislike
"They say you're nothing but a party bird / Just like a million more all over the world...."
Here's what I did last night: Boiled some chicken; added celery, frozen peas, a can of cream corn, and some cream of chicken soup; got Mrs. Pink to make some Bisquick dough and dumped it by spoonfuls into the pot. Presto! Instant chicken & dumplings.
I'd have to disagree with fluffernutter on leaving it sitting out all day...grosses me out for some reason. I'm so touchy on food safety. I'd stick it in the fridge, then doctor it up with veggies and pasta as mentioned.
It sounds weird to me too. Then again, as I recall, Fluffernutter was the one who sounded the alarm when she saw garlic soaking in unrefrigerated olive oil at Casa de Pink.
I don't know, I say, when in doubt, consult the health code. I mean, if a restaurant got in trouble for doing the same thing, and if you read about it and said, yech, I will never eat there again, then it doesn't suddenly become safe practice because you're doing it yourself at home.
otherwise, you reach the point where Erma Bombeck kicks in - "When in Doubt, Throw It Out".
The Tennessee Department of Health considers anything between 41 and 135 degrees to be in the danger zone of bacteria and pathogen growth. More than 4 hours at that temperature is probably unwise. Not sure sickness, but gastrointestinal roulette.
Ahhh! Been doing this for years. Helps keep you regular. Near instant results too! I kid. About the sickness part. One layer of defense is to never unlid the pot from the point of removing the heat. That way no wild yeast or anthrax spores from your scalp can get in and flourish.
Question: When you reheat that soup, do the cooked pathogens add to the nutritional value? Kinda like throwing in a portabella?
