I follow a "when in doubt, leave it out" motto. Fresh parsley can easily be added when you reheat soup to serve it. I use herbs when I make my stock, but they are strained out before canning. It's leaving them in the jar that can result in stronger flavors. You can certainly grill your chicken first assuming you're going to cook it off the bone and de-fat your broth anyway, it will add flavor without affecting the recipe in any negative way. Deanna

El Pollo Loco Chicken Serving Size : 4 Chicken Sauces 1 Chicken -- cut pieces w/skin BROILER BASTING SAUCE 1/3 cup Lemon juice 1/3 cup Lime juice 1/3 cup Canola or vegetable oil 1 teaspoon Ground turmeric 1/2 teaspoon Garlic salt 1/4 teaspoon Black pepper Briefly simmer the cut-up chicken in a deep-sided skillet, keeping pieces in single layer without crowding them, until the meat appears milky white and the juices run clear, no longer pink. Allow to cool in the broth, uncovered, while you prepare the basting sauce. Arrange the chicken pieces skin-side up on broiler pan in single layer and baste with enough of mixture to evenly coat skin side. Turn and baste other side. Turn again to skin side up and broil 6" from the heat, brushing with additional sauce every few minutes until skin is really crispy and golden brown, approximately 5 to 8 minutes for large pieces. BASTING MIXTURE-Mix juices, oil, turmeric, salt and pepper. This makes enough to baste nine pieces. Source: Gloria Pitzer's Secret Recipes Newsletter. this chicken is really very good of course , I love the skin, the flavors are wonderful

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Sorry, it has taken me a while to get back here. Sol -- thanks for the info about ajiaco also being a Cuban dish. I looked online to refresh my memory about culantro. I think we bought some once, but I was used to cilantro and prefered that. I pinkmountain -- funny. I bet a lot of weeds taste alike. The hares and cottontail rabbits in our yard seem to think there's a difference. I have not yet tried our dandelions, purselane, and smartweed. Ci_lantro - Wow! Thanks so much for all of that information. I _knew_ that there had to be a good reason why those papas criollas were not in our markets. They are so delicious and I bet more than a few hundred people returning from visits to Bogota' have risked secreting them away in luggage for their own use. I'll have to read and learn more about why they cannot be grown in the US. Maybe in Denver? Even so, we need more imports. I've been thinking or ordering some from online, but how would they remain frozen for an affordable price? Hmm. That POTATO PROJECT link is interesting. I've planted whole Kennebec (Maine) potatoes and ate them after digging them up -- no drying outside. Delicious; especially the small ones. I see a lot of fingerling and even blue potatoes at the farm market. I'll probably go with those. I am about 45 miles from Boston, but I think there is a Colombian enclave in East Boston. Kind of a trek for soup. My bit of the weed galinsoga has dried. Not tasted it yet. I think l pinkmountain is going to be right -- it's just going to taste like one more lawn weed. I don't think the Bogota housekeeper/cook used it. She did use the papa criolla, cow corn, chicken, cilantro and capers (maybe crema). Guess I'll have to make a few batches ;-) Another soup I want to make soon is the Greek avgolemono -- chicken-lemon soup with orzo or rice. I've had it served cold and served warm. Another is vichyssoise. Love it. I froze some last September and served it hot in February. Yummy. Thanks again, folks. If I make the ajiaco, I will post photos and a review or notes. Last week I made mussels -- moules mariniere -- and the leftovers were great. I found some mussels (Mytilus edulis) for $1/pound that were super fresh and plump. I bet it would freeze well. I need to make space in my freezer!

Noodles. Now that we've talked chicken. I know a lot of people who prefer rectangular strings of extruded noodles so it'll be like Campbell's of old. :) That's fine. I like the homemade skinny ones like my Great-Auntie of old. :) She taught me how, but I'm not an expert. I'll try to describe it. One Eggs Noodles Dump a cup of flour on your cutting board. Not a cup measure, just a cupful. Spread a little around to flour the board, but keep most of it in a heap in the middle. Make a crater with tall sides, but a good amount of flour on the bottom. Crack your egg into the crater. Use a fork to bring the flour from the outside base into the middle, keeping the crater intact to keep the egg in. Stir a little and keep pulling more flour into the middle until it's all mixed in. Don't overwork. Form into a ball, sprinkle with flour, cover and rest. Roll the dough out very thin. When it's very thin and even, sprinkle a little flour and fold it up into a log so you can slice through it easily. Using a long, sharp knife, cut slices about 1/16"-3/32" wide. Shake them out and lay them on a towel on a baking sheet to dry. If you want to hold them for a few days, after they've dried awhile transfer to waxed paper or parchment and let finish drying out. Otherwise, put them into the soup.