Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

This soup is a super creamy Thai-ish bowl of wonder. I combined two recipes and riffed on a few things, so below is my best idea of what exactly goes into it.

Necessary Tool: Immersion Blender! Bless this thing. Makes soup so easy.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 tbsp coconut oil (def used more as things cooked down)
-1/2 sweet onion
-garlic (I did 6 cloves)
-ginger (2ish tbsp)
-red curry paste (about 2 tsp? to taste, it is strong!)
-2 big sweet potatoes peeled and cut into medium chunks
-2 cups chicken broth
-2ish carrots (optional...I got the wrong kind of potato! Were white inside and weren't very sweet, so I added some carrots for orange color and sugar. Worked really well! Would recommend.)
-1 can coconut milk
-1 lime
-scallions


DIRECTIONS:

Heat up coconut oil in a big pot. Cook onions til nice and brown, preferably caramelized, but that takes forever. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Cook down for a few minutes until super fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and carrots, mix well. Cook, adding more oil if needed, until potatoes start to get soft, about 20 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil then simmer until potatoes are super soft. Remove from heat and immersion blender the ever living sh*t out of it til nice and blended. Add coconut milk, stir in some lime juice, mix it up, and heat it all back up.

Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk if you want, but DEFINITELY with slices of lime and scallions.

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Picatta

(serves 4--3 cutlets per person)

(From Cooks Illustrated 25th Anniversary All-Time Best Recipes)

INGREDIENTS:

-2 lemons
-6 (6 to 8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloin removed, trimmed (freeze for 15 minutes to make easier to slice, if so desired)
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-6 tbsp vegetable oil
-1 small shallot, minced OR 1 garlic clove, minced
-1 cup chicken broth
-2 tbsp capers, rinsed
-3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled
-2 tbsp minced fresh parsley


DIRECTIONS:

1. Halve 1 lemon lengthwise. Trim ends from 1 half and slice crosswise 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick; set aside. Squeeze lemon juice from whole lemon and remaining half lemon into a small bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup lemon juice.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle and heat oven to 200 degrees. Halve each breast horizontally, then cover cutlets with plastic wrap and pound each to even 1/4 inch thickness with meat pounder. Spread flour in a shallow dish. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, dredge cutlets in flour, shaking off excess, and transfer to large platter.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place 4 cutlets in skillet and cook until golden brown on first side, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip cutlets, then reduce heat to medium and cook until no longer pink and lightly browned on second side, about 2 minutes; transfer cutlets to large ovensafe platter. Repeat with remaining 1/4 cup oil and remaining 8 cutlets in 2 batches. Tent with aluminum foil and transfer to oven to keep warm while making sauce.

4. Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 seconds. Stir in broth and lemon slices, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Stir in capers and reserved lemon juice, bring to simmer, and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

BEST POTATOES EVER

BEST POTATOES EVER

AKA Braised Red Potatoes With Lemon and Chives
(makes 4 to 6 servings)

*This is a cool new method of cooking red potatoes that makes the insides SO SILKY--it's truly indescribably good...(from Cooks Illustrated 25th Anniversary All-Time Best Recipes)


INGREDIENTS:

-1.5 lbs small red potatoes, unpeeled, halved (use small 1.5 inch in diameter potatoes)
-2 cups water
-3 tbsp unsalted butter
-3 garlic cloves, peeled
-3 sprigs fresh thyme
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp. lemon juice
-1/4 tsp pepper
-2 tbsp minced fresh chives


DIRECTIONS:

1. Arrange potatoes in single layer, cut sides down, in 12 inch nonstick skillet. Add water, butter, garlic, thyme sprigs, and salt and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer until potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes.

2. Remove lid and use slotted spoon to transfer garlic to cutting board; discard thyme sprigs. Increase heat to medium-high heat and vigorously simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until water evaporates and butter starts to sizzle, 15 to 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, mince garlic to paste. Transfer paste to bowl and stir in lemon juice and pepper.

3. Continue to cook potatoes, swirling pan frequently, until butter browns and cut sides of potatoes turn spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes longer. Off heat, add garlic mixture and chives and toss to thoroughly coat. Serve immediately.

Pad Thai

Super simple but AMAZING-tasting pad thai! A much lighter, brighter option than take-out. I made them without egg and I did not miss that factor at all. Also swapped peanuts for cashews.

INGREDIENTS:

-4 tbsp. canola oil

-2 garlic cloves

-4 shallots, thinly sliced

-8-10 medium sized fresh prawns, cleaned and deveined OR 8 oz. chicken OR BOTH!

-2 eggs, lightly beaten

-1 pkg. Annie Chun's Pad Thai Rice Noodles (cooked, drained, and rinsed as directed)

-1 cup bean sprouts

SAUCE:

-4 tbsp lime or lemon juice

-3 tbsp fish sauce

-3 tbsp sugar

-1-2 pinches crushed chilies or pepper flakes

GARNISH:

-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

-3 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed

-3 tbsp scallions, thinly sliced

-1 lime, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS:

Mix sauce ingredients together. 

Prepare pasta. 

Heat wok or pan over high heat. Add 2 tbsp oil, garlic, shallots, and prawns. Cook until prawns are opaque. Set aside. 

Add remaining 2 tbsp oil and 2 eggs, then scramble. 

Reduce heat to low; add sauce and noodles. Toss until well mixed. Add prawns and bean sprouts. Toss well. Garnish with cilantro, peanuts, scallions, and lime wedges.

Korean Chicken Tacos a la Blue Apron

It's been fun scamming the Hello Fresh/Blue Apron system (getting free trial boxes of ingredients and recipes then canceling immediately) and although Hello Fresh has emerged as the winner in terms of cool recipes, this Blue Apron chicken came out tasty enough that I wanted to preserve it for future reference.

NOTE: Blue Apron thinks all humans eat about 1/4c of food per meal. Proportions are weird, but the recipe yielded enough sauce to coat about 2 chicken breasts, so up to you to determine the ratio of sauce to protein.

INGREDIENTS:

-10oz. chopped chicken breast

-4 tortillas

-1 lb. sweet potato

-1 tsp furikake (sesame seeds and seaweed)

-2 tbsp creme fraiche

-1/2 lb. cabbage

SAUCE:

-2 tbsp black bean sauce (SOOOOO GOOOOOOD)

-1 tbsp gochujang

-1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

-1/4 c sushi sauce

-cornstarch *I recommend adding some while you are cooking the sauce to nicely thicken it up

NUTRITION: 820cal per serving (2 servings total)

DIRECTIONS:

-Roast the sweet potatoes however you want at 450 and garnish with the furikake when done.

-Thinly slice the cabbage and drizzle with half the rice wine vinegar and some olive oil.

-Mix the sauce ingredients together, adding gochujang to taste (try it beforehand--I used about half of it! REALLY good...)

-Chop and cook without stirring to brown the chicken (I used a wok)

-Add the sauce and cook til the sauce is nice and thick (add the corn starch if you want)

-Serve your chicken in the tortillas smeared with creme fraiche (with a little salt sprinkled on it) as well as the cabbage. Stuff the sweet potatoes in there too if you want! Otherwise, just a nice side. 

Pancakes V: Yogurt

Another variation on the pancake theme - had a tub of yogurt that was probably nearing its expiration and a quick Google search showed that this is actually a thing:

Recipe

1 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 c yogurt
1/4 c water

Combine dries, then wets, then together.  Scoop by quarter cups or so onto your griddle (or cast iron skillet) and cook until they bubble, then flip and cook till golden brown.

Notes

So my morning reading comprehension or math was not up to snuff and I only used half the prescribed yogurt (was pretty much all I had left anyway).  That left my batter way too dry, so I added some extra water and milk.  All of that to say, didn't come out great, not picture worthy, but still tasty and worth trying again soon...

Pork Fried Rice

Was looking for a good use of the last (still large) serving of carnitas, plus odds and ends of some vegetables left over from the holidays.  Some Googling suggested this idea for a kind of Asian-Latin fusion, took cues mostly from here & here...

Recipe

~1/2 lb pork, pre-cooked (e.g. Chinese barbeque or that carnitas)
6 c rice, cooked
1 egg
butter

Veggies - your choice of:
broccoli
carrot
frozen peas
mushrooms
onion
bell pepper
bok choy
etc.

Sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
5 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar

Heat a tbsp of butter and heat up your pork.  Next add your veggies and stir fry until tender.  Crack in your egg next and scramble it up.  Then add in your rice (you cooked it already, right?) and the sauce mixture and finish stir-frying.

Notes

 Great call - filling and delicious, enough veggies to be probably healthy?

One of those recipes said to start with uncooked pork loin, which is worth considering too I guess depending on what you have on hand - most everything else should be lying around!