Chicken stew, in the making.

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A few things.  When making a stew or soup?  Start out with very, very, basic herbs and spices.  The base needs to be, pretty much, limited to salt, pepper, onion, garlic.  I am a spice and herb lover, but varying just a bit, in the basics, can end with a very strange flavor.  As with  the beef stew, all I can say is... don't go there.  If you want celery, onion, carrot, or a ginger based start?  Fine.  Just... if you are a typical American, your taste buds just aren't going to like... strange.  Perhaps you can grown that flavor profile... to love it.  At the beginning, it just won't work.

I was careful when constructing the base.  Salted mildly, peppered enough though not so that the flavor comes through, garlic and onion flakes.  Very small amounts, time for it to disperse... then another tasting.  It took an half hour to get the base going, and up to taste.  If the flavors become too potent while simmering, I will add more water.

The chicken hindquarters are warming to room temperature.  I have added 16 ounces of beef stock.  I need to obtain chicken legs and pork hocks, for adding to the stew... gelatin is your friend.  I did add thickener, just going with guar gum... half a teaspoon in hot tap water.  I just chopped celery and added that.  I am dithering on whether to add the cabbage, but I think I have to add it.  I thought I might wait, then strain out the celery... but... why?  I do like celery.  Just... weird internal debates regarding food, I guess.  So I will add the cabbage as I go to check on the rabbits.

The chicken doesn't need cooked.  The other veggies do need to cook, but I would rather not have them mushy.  So, an half hour after the cabbage starts, I'll remove the chicken from the bone, then add the veggies while I start.  An half hour for those and perhaps fifteen minutes simmer time for the chicken meat?  I'll... live and learn.  Remember, elevation means longer cook times.  If... that can be your friend, once you understand and learn to use it.  Ugh.

It does look like quite a few vets get both ssd and va disability.  They are lying.  This is political.  I am not sure what that lawyer was on about, though he might have seen that my file has been flagged for attack.

Anyway... on to the rabbits and at least checking on the ducks.  The ducks don't mind staying out.  I don't mind, either, except for predators... which mostly attack at night.