The Global Chef: Grandma was right, food is medicine | Food

Hippocrates has good advice for surviving a cold, wet winter in the Midwest. In 400 BCE, this father of modern medicine was reported to have said, “Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” It’s taken us over two millennia to begin to follow his advice.

“When you’re sitting down for meals, three times a day you are dosing yourself with huge quantities of things that will determine what’s coursing through your arteries and blood vessels for the rest of the day,” says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and author of “Food for Life.”

“Most people don’t think of food as medication, but in reality, it’s the single biggest medication we’re exposed to.”

When you’re feeling depressed or sniffly and sneezy, follow grandmotherly advice and make a pot of chicken soup. University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Dr. Stephen Rennard, using his grandmother’s chicken soup recipe, discovered that chicken soup has anti-inflammatory properties. (Though he couldn’t pinpoint the ingredients fight that colds, he thought it was likely the vegetables.) Without interfering with the healing properties of infection-fighting white blood cells, soup prevented them from causing a lot of inflammation, the source of cold and flu symptoms.

The key to great chicken soup is a great chicken, fresh vegetables and herbs and slow simmering. Look for firm, plump white (not yellow) skin, bouncy pink flesh and a chicken that isn’t sitting in liquid. The best chickens receive feed free of hormones and antibiotics, live in clean, light, uncrowded cages. For best soup flavor look for older hens kosher-processed; they are quickly hand-killed and bled, dunked into a cold water bath to remove feathers and to cool quickly, buried in salt for an hour and rinsed with cold water. Salt acts as a brine, which draws out impurities, enriches flavor and plumps the birds. True Amish brands follow this process.

Winter offers precious time to prepare broth with a whole chicken or make bone broth from leftover turkey or chicken bones. Vegetarians may use onions, leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, thyme and parsley stems for a super-broth. Freeze broth in quart-sized containers for easy use. Depending on your imagination, homemade stock or broth can shapeshift into different soups throughout the winter. Chicken soup is comfort food; it will undoubtedly raise your spirits and lead to vibrant health.

To increase the immune-heightening properties of soup try adding these top super-foods:

• Brazil nuts: Packed with selenium, just two or three a day support the immune system to fight bacterial and viral infections, cancer cells, herpes virus, cold sores and shingles. Finely chop or grind and stir into soup.
• Cayenne pepper: This chili pepper contains capsaicin, which increases circulation and breaks up congestion. Sprinkle in before serving.
• Garlic: Whole, fresh garlic cloves contain a powerful antibiotic and antiviral called allicin. Simmer several whole peeled cloves in soup for mild flavor or mince garlic for a strong kick.
• Gingerroot: Fresh, raw, dried or cooked gingerroot contain cold-fighting antivirals, which relieve cold symptoms like nausea, fever and coughing. Simmer peeled and sliced or minced gingerroot in soup or stir in ground ginger powder.
• Ginseng: This energy boosting tonic and adaptogen increases resistance to stress and stimulates the immune system. Simmer the dried root in soup.
• Onion family: Red and yellow onions and shallots are highest in quercetin, a potent flavonoid and antioxidant, and in other antibiotic compounds. Quercetin inhibits the replication of some viruses. Raw onions can unblock sinuses and ease bronchitis and asthma with mucus.
• Shiitake mushrooms: Highly flavorful shiitakes have antiviral and immune-stimulating properties that boost interferon production, which fight cold and flu viruses. Slice and simmer until tender in broth.
• Kale, spinach, Swiss chard, watercress, escarole or bok choy: Leafy greens are key regulators of inflammation. Slice or dice and stir into broth; cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes, and serve.

Classic Chicken Broth (aka Soup)

Vegetable, seafood, meat or poultry broth is typically clear and simmered a shorter time than stock. As the broth comes to a simmer, you’ll notice fatty foam float to the top. Skim it off for a clearer broth.

4 to 6 servings

3-1/2-lb. chicken, rinsed in cold water

1 lb. chicken legs

6 med. carrots, scrubbed well, divided

4 med. celery stalks, divided

1 large onion

1 small bunch Italian parsley, rinsed

1 small leek, halved lengthwise and rinsed between layers

Place chicken in a large, narrow, tall pot. (It may be cut into pieces.) Add cold water to cover, about 3 quarts. (Add more as necessary to cover.) Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat. Immediately reduce heat to low, and for a very clear broth, simmer with a slight bubble for 1 hour. If broth is boiled hard it will become cloudy. Skim foam that rises to the top and discard.

Cut half the carrots and half the celery stalks and the whole onion into 1-inch dice. Add the vegetables to the pot along with parsley stems. Continue to simmer until chicken is very tender, 2 to 3 hours more.

Drain chicken and transfer to a bowl. Strain broth into a clean pot. Discard cooked vegetables. Refrigerate broth overnight. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from the bones. Discard skin, bones and gristle. Reserve and refrigerate meat.

The next day, skim away and discard fat that forms on the surface of the broth. Bring broth to a simmer over medium heat. Thinly slice remaining carrots and celery. Cut away tough green part of leek and discard. Finely slice white and tender green part. Add vegetables to the broth. Simmer until tender, 10 minutes.

Break up or dice reserved meat into large chunks and add to the hot soup. Lightly chop parsley leaves and add. Taste soup and season with salt and freshly ground pepper, as desired. Ladle soup into individual bowls and serve hot.

Greek Egg-Lemon Soup

4 servings

4 C. homemade chicken broth

1/3 C. Arborio or medium grain white rice, rinsed and drained

2 large eggs

Juice of one large lemon, to taste

Chopped Italian parsley

Heat chicken broth in saucepan over medium heat until it begins to boil. Stir in rice. Simmer soup covered until rice is al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.

To serve: Reheat soup until hot and turn off heat. Whisk eggs, half the lemon juice and a pinch of salt together in a bowl. Ladle 1/2-cup hot broth into the bowl while gently whisking. While whisking hot soup, pour egg-broth-lemon mixture into it. Taste soup and season with salt, pepper and more lemon juice. Garnish with parsley. Serve hot. Reheat soup over very low heat and don’t boil. If soup boils the eggs will curdle.

Poultry Bone Stock (aka Bone Broth)

This stock is made with bones and collagenous necks, backs and wings. Poultry stock/bone broth cooks within 8 to 12 hours while beef can take 24 hours or longer so that gelatin and trace minerals release from the bones. Up to half of the chicken or turkey can be necks, backs, wings, bone-in legs or thighs. The more bones you use the thicker the resulting stock will be when chilled. Save all your roasted poultry bones and freeze. When you get enough to fill your stockpot, cover them with cold water and proceed.

Yields 2-1/2 to 3 quarts

4 lb. chicken bones and pieces: roast chicken bones, chicken back bones and chicken wings

1 T. cider or white vinegar

3 to 4 qt. filtered water

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

Stems from 1 bunch Italian or curly parsley

Pour bones, vinegar and water into a stockpot. Good-tasting well water or filtered tap water produce the best flavor. Bring pot to a simmer over medium heat.

Skim stock for the first hour. Lower heat to lowest setting.

Check pot occasionally, skimming off foam/fat that collects on the surface; add additional cold water as needed throughout cooking to keep bones covered. Keep the stock at a low simmer 4 hours.

Add onions, carrots, celery and parsley stems; simmer 2 to 3 hours more.

When stock is done, cool 15 minutes then strain. Set a mesh strainer over a large pot. Pour stock into it. Discard bones and vegetables. Prepare an ice bath by filling a sink or basin with cold water and ice. Set pot of broth inside ice bath. Stir regularly until broth is cooled to about 50°F, 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer cooled stock in pot to refrigerator or pour stock into smaller pots; chill overnight. Remove fat that solidifies on top. Transfer stock to airtight containers or jars. Refrigerate stock up to 5 days or freeze up to 6 months. To save on freezer space, simmer stock over low heat on stovetop until reduced by half. Mark freezer container that broth is concentrated and needs to be diluted.

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