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.

Blackberry Glazed Pork Chops

These taste a lot fancier than the amount of effort required to make them! That and a short ingredients list makes these a great dish to impress on the fly...the recipe calls for blackberries, but raspberries work too! (You get a deeper sweeter taste with blackberries. With raspberries, the dish is tangier, more tart.)

(from PaleOMG)

INGREDIENTS:
(2-4 servings)

1-2 lbs. pork chops
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
12 ounce fresh blackberries (OR RASPBERRIES!)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Turn grill on.

2. Place pork chops on a plate and cover both sides with cinnamon, thyme, salt, and pepper. Press the spices into the chops.

3. While the grill heats up, place a small saucepan over medium heat and add blackberries, balsamic vinegar, water, and a pinch of salt.

4. Stir sauce frequently to avoid burning on the bottom as it mixes and heats up.

5. Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 3-5 minutes.

6. Pour half the sauce into a bowl for glazing purposes. (You can leave the blackberries in the pot, since those look best on top of the chops later.)

7. Use a glazing brush to glaze one side of your chops then place that glazed side down onto your grill.

8. Then glaze the other side, cover grill and let cook for 5-7 minutes per side. Glaze as much as you want...3-4 times preferably.

9. Plate chops and top with the leftover blackberry sauce that has been simmering and thickening up.

Paleo Broiled Sole

Living within walking distance of Whole Foods has led me to step up my game as I get back into the cooking groove.  Dover sole on sale?  Into the cart, figure out the plan later.  Here's what the internet turned up:

Recipe

3 to 6 sole fillets
1/4 c olive oil
zest of one Meyer's lemon
3 whole cardamom pods (or a sprinkle of cardamom powder)
fresh cilantro leaves
salt & pepper

Mix together the olive oil, lemon zest, cardamom, and cilantro.  Spread half in the bottom of an oven-safe dish.  Put the sole on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover with the rest of the sauce.  Put under the broiler for 7-8 minutes.  Feel free to squeeze some lemon juice on top, what else are you going to do with a skinned lemon?

Notes

Simple enough...  Although of course I didn't do things exactly as prescribed.  Rather than acquire cardamom in some form, I used a few cloves of minced garlic.  Also, the original recipe calls for Celtic sea salt?!  That's a thing?  Heritage aside, I used the kosher salt on hand.

This was also a fortuitous recipe since I had plenty of cilantro left over from (coincidentally) another paleo seafood dish.  The distinctive cilantro flavor didn't hold up under the broiler, but there was maybe a hint of burn - the cilantro? Garlic?  I barely let it sit the minimum 7 minutes they recommend, it got so noisy (and aromatic, as promised).  Anyway, here's the final product, a good simple way to get some paleo-approved fish in you.

Paleo Marinated Tuna Steaks

It's been a while since I've put up a new recipe, but now with a fully-functional kitchen out west, time to get back into it with King Sooper's/Whole Foods' finest ingredients.  Starting with a couple frozen tuna steaks, the internet turned up this recipe:

Recipe

tuna steak(s)
3 tbsp fat (coconut oil recommended)
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c cilantro, chopped
juice & zest of 1 lime
salt & pepper

Mix together your fat, ginger, garlic, cilantro, lime, salt, and pepper.  Slather it on the tuna and let sit for a few hours.

Scrape off the excess marinade - saving it for later!  Heat your grill or skillet medium high, and cook about 4 minutes per side.  Heat up the leftover marinade briefly to make a thick paste.  Serve with avocado, spinach, whatever you want...

Notes

The tuna steaks came frozen solid; it took the better part of a week in the fridge before they were anything other than hockey pucks.  This made me a little cautious, so after searing both sides of the steaks, I popped the skillet in the oven for some extra time to cook through.  The steaks were just slightly on the overdone side...

Some people are strongly anti-cilantro.  While I'm no irrational hater, there always seems to be something strange about a strong cilantro flavor.  In this dish, it seemed to come mainly from the paste rather than the marinade process.  Garlic, ginger, and cilantro make an interesting combination...

Here's the somewhat colorful result, helped on by roasted orange cauliflower - toss florets with a sliced onion, garlic cloves, olive oil, and spices, and roast at 425 until soft (to be honest, the caramelized onions were maybe the best part of the meal).

Crockpot Chicken Curry

Paleo, DIY crockpot curry:

Recipe

1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into chunks
6 c of chopped veggies, e.g., onion, carrot, green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, red bell pepper
14 oz coconut milk
1 c crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Chop your chicken and veggies and put them in your crockpot.  Add the coconut milk, tomatoes, and spices.  Stir, cover, and cook low for 5-6 hours.  You can uncover for the last hour to help it thicken.

Notes

My spice selection wasn't quite up for the job this time: no coriander, and ran out of cinnamon.  So the end product lacked that distinct curry flavor.  You couldn't tell by the scent, though - the coconut is especially mouth-watering.  And ultimately, the taste was fine.  The chicken is super tender :)  I could do with a little more spice, and I guess coriander.  With the abundant vegetable options, this one's definitely worth keeping in mind.

The original recipe calls it "yellow curry"; mine was clearly a rich orange though:

Paleo Steak Marinade

What's more paleo than a raw hunk of cow?  Well, there's nothing wrong with giving it a little (or a massive) jolt of flavor.  There are a bunch of pointers and formulas for marinating meat here.  I've only tried one pretty straightforward one, but it's a good one:

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp salt, dissolved in 2 oz water
4 scallions, cut in half
2 big cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp honey

Mix everything up in a Ziploc bag, add in your hunk of meat.  The recipe recommends skirt steak or any other thin cut.  Make sure your steak is well-coated, and leave in the refrigerator for (at least) an hour.

What happens next is up to you!  Grilling is probably best, but since that's not an option for me, I've done it a few times in the cast-iron skillet.  The key there is to wait (and bear the smoke) for as long as you can - the outside looks well done about when the inside is perfect!  For instance, this:

...was not quite long enough :(  Those mushrooms and onions were awesome, though :)

Quick Coconut Chicken

I LOVE breaded, fried things.  ESPECIALLY breaded, fried chicken.  BUT--unfortunately--breaded, fried things are not good for one and are not allowed Paleo-wise.  The solution?  THIS:

The coconut flakes on the outside can crisp up nicely, giving you that kick of crunchy exterior.  The inherent sweetness of the flakes adds a really interesting component not found in regular breading.  Serve with interesting dips or creamy sauces likes guacamole and it's just...WaBAM.  

Also, it's super easy and super fast.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. chicken tenders

1/2 cup shredded UNSWEETENED coconut flakes

pinch of salt

1 egg

2 tbsp coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat coconut oil over medium heat.  Pat chicken dry, dip into egg mixture and roll in coconut flakes with salt until coated.  Cook a few minutes per side until done.  

NOTES:

I didn't have eggs around, so I just used extra virgin olive oil as the sticky element and it worked fine.  

Beef Chili

We made a paleo version of this recently, but it slipped my mind to share the recipe for future reference.  And to take a picture, will add when possible...

Recipe

2 lbs ground beef (recommended 85% lean)
2 onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in cubes
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chili powder (!)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained & rinsed (optional if going paleo)
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
1 28-oz can tomato puree
oil, salt & pepper

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large Dutch oven/soup pot, and add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and spices.  When they're starting to brown, increase heat to medium high and add half the beef.  Cook until no more pink is left, then do the same with the other half.  Add the beans and tomatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer - one hour covered, one hour open.

Notes

We did the paleo version with no beans, mushrooms instead.  It was delicious, but I think it was missing a little grainy, savory element from the beans.  Doing my research, I found that using chili powder (especially that much) isn't cool with some serious schools of chili thought.  But it's a solid one worth returning to.

Crockpot Jambalaya

A few years back, my go-to dish was old Zatarain's jambalaya out of a box.  So when I happened across this (paleo) jambalaya recipe, I was pretty excited to give it a try from scratch:

Recipe

4 c chicken stock
rice (optional)

Meat
1/2 lb chicken, diced
1 package andouille sausage, sliced
1/2 lb raw shrimp, deveined

Greens
4 peppers (mix of colors), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 c okra (optional)
2 jalapenos, diced (optional)

Seasoning
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
hot sauce (optional)

Start with the stock, chicken, greens, and seasonings all in the crockpot to cook on low for 6 hours.  With 30 minutes to go, put in the andouille, then with 20 minutes, the shrimp.  You can add the rice for 20 minutes too, or cook separately.  Done.

Notes

So the chicken and shrimp amounts are pretty approximate - anything up to or a little over a pound won't overwhelm.  As simple as the instructions are, the toughest part is all the chopping.  The peppers, onion, garlic, etc. are pretty straightforward, but the okra was surprisingly gooey.  And it was my first experience with prepping raw shrimp.  The little legs, shells, veins...  gross.  And honestly, the andouille is really the star of the dish.  It's soupier than other jambalaya's I've had, but more colorful.  And great!  Next time just need to find more eaters.

Crispy Carnitas

This. is. UNBELIEVABLE.

slightly adapted from Mark's Daily Apple:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/crispy-carnitas/#axzz2K3ExGQtN

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 lbs. boneless pork shoulder/butt, cut into 5 pieces
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced
water, for braising

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together salt, cumin and chili powder and rub all over meat.
Place the meat in a large, heavy pot with cinnamon stick, bay leaf, garlic and onion (Ideally the pot is large enough so that the meat is in a single layer).
Add enough water to almost, but not entirely, cover the meat.
Put the pot in the oven, uncovered, and braise for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.  Stir the meat just a few times while it cooks.
You'll know the pork is done when it's really tender, slightly browned and most of the liquid is gone.
Shred or break up the meat with forks or your hands into the desired level of shredded-ness or chunkiness.
Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf from the pot.  Return the pot to the oven.
Roast the meat, mixing occasionally, until the meat is as dark and crispy as you like it.  (This process will go even faster if the meat is spread out on a roasting pan or baking sheet with any remaining liquid that was left in the pot.  If time is tight, you can also put the meat under a broiler.)

NOTES:

I cannot even begin to describe how delicious and succulent this is.

We used a bone-in pork butt, which we cut the bone out of and gave to the dog.  So everyone was happy.

We skipped the browning part at the end in favor of 

incredibly moist meat with just the outsides crispy--a fine option--and also cuz we wanted to consume it asap.

As this was the main dish of a Superbowl-themed meal, I served it with nachos (for the non-paleo eaters), homemade guac and sweet potato fries.

MAKE THIS NOW!!!!!!  

Almond-Crusted Cod

I had this recipe earmarked for a bit, and finally got around to it recently.  I've been working through a bag of almonds, and keeping an eye out for cod in the Morton Williams freezer...  Everything else should be sitting around your kitchen.

The Recipe

1 lb cod filet
1/2-3/4 cups almonds, crushed
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp seasoning of choice
salt & pepper

Lay the cod out on a baking sheet.  Mix the butter, almonds, herbs and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and lay evenly on the top of the cod.  Cook for 10-15 minutes at 500.

Notes

I wasn't totally happy with the cooking time from the original recipe.  By 10 minutes the almonds were almost burning but the cod seemed underdone.  So I left it in a little longer.  I don't think you really have to worry about the almonds being overdone, though - you want a nice toasty flavor!

Here's the finished product with orange-tomato broccoli - the secret ingredients for the night were almond and thyme.

"Creamy" Potato Leek Soup

(courtesy of Alex Jamieson of The Great American Detox)

*This is a lovely soup remarkable for it's creamy texture and luscious flavor all achieved WITHOUT cream or dairy of any kind!!!  The secret lies in the Yukon Gold potatoes--a favorite of the famous Sergeant Preston of the Yukon and his Wonder Dog King...

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 leeks, white and light green parts washed and sliced into 1/4'' slices

2 cups chopped yellow onion

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (about 1 lb.), peeled and cubed into 1/2'' cubes

4 cups vegetable stock

2-3 tsp fresh rosemary

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a 4 qt. pot over medium heat and add the oil.  

Add the leeks, onion and sea salt and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion begins to turn translucent. 

Add the garlic and stir well.  Cook for 1 minute more.

Add the potatoes and vegetable stock, cover, and bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat to simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the soup from heat and use an immersion/stick blender to blend the soup in the pot OR ladle the soup into a blender, 1 cup at a time.  Blend the soup with the fresh rosemary until smooth and free of chunks.  Pour smooth soup into a heat-proof bowl and continue until all the soup has been blended.

Transfer the blended soup back to the original soup pot and warm over low heat until heated through.  Serve hot.   

NOTES:

If once were not concerned with adhering to the Detox plan, once could potentially add some super crispy bacon and bring the soup to a whole other level...

Cod & Fennel Chowder

I'm always on the lookout for good, easy seafood options, and appreciate simple, one-dish recipes.  And there are chilly winter days that are just right for soup.  This recipe fits all those criteria, with paleo options if that's what you're looking for.

Recipe

2 fennel bulbs, fronds & core removed, chopped
1 onion chopped
1 pint cream (coconut creamer for paleo)
1 qt stock
1 - 1 1/2 lb cod, cut into chunks
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 lb bacon, chopped
salt & pepper

Crisp up your bacon in a large soup pot, then remove but leave in that grease.  Next, in goes the fennel and onion until soft.  Then add the creamer and stock.  Once it simmers, add in your cod and cook for about 10 minutes.  Squeeze in the lemon juice, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, and top with the bacon.

Notes

This was not a premeditated dinner.  I actually went to Morton Williams for some red meat, but saw their usually unimpressive seafood cooler had a bunch of cod as the day's special.  So I fired up the mobile Internet, recovered this recipe, and went to work.  Things looked grim, though, when I went to the produce section and there was no fennel.  The only thing that looked like my very vague conception of raw fennel was labeled anise.  Back to the smartphone!  Wikipedia calls fennel and anise "similar-tasting"; I also figured that, if either one is good enough for the anise swallowtail, who am I to discriminate?  Onward!

The grocery store was the trickiest part.  Otherwise, the recipe was pretty simple.  The fennel-onion saute seemed to take a while; not sure if it needed that long since you want it kind of crisp in the chowder.  I also figured the whole thing was (over-)done when the cod chunks started to fall apart.

Paleo Beef Stew

Paleo Beef Stew

INGREDIENTS:

-1 lb. stewing meat

-2 tbsp paleo cooking fat (olive oil, coconut oil or bacon fat)

-4 cups beef stock

-1 cup onion, chopped

-1 cup celery, chopped

-3 carrots, peeled and chopped

-2 bell peppers

-1 28oz. can diced tomatoes

-1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

-1/2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

-sea salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large saucepan over a medium-high heat, combine the onions, celery, carrots and bell peppers, as well as the cooking fat.  Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the beef to the saucepan, followed by the tomatoes, beef stock, rosemary and thyme.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover the saucepan and cook for about one hour, allowing the stew to simmer.  Stir a few times during the cooking process.

Remove the lid and cook uncovered for about 45 minutes.  If the mixture is too thick at the end of the cooking process, you can add a little bit of water or stock.

NOTES:

*THIS IS SO EASY AND HEARTY AND DELICIOUS!!

Also:

*I opted for mushrooms INSTEAD of celery--good choice

*I didn't put bell peppers in...I just wasn't feeling it...

*I don't finely chop my herbs, I like to see and really taste them

*And I probably doubled or even tripled the amount of herbs that I put in...

Avocado Cucumber Soup

My inaugural paleo-month dish was this absolutely DELICIOUS raw, creamy avocado soup with a surprising amount of zest due to--Dan's favorite--CUCUMBER!

*BUT, I must preface the recipe...I had to alter things slighty based on a few...issues...

NOTES:

I couldn't open the jar of coconut oil so I used extra-virgin olive oil.

I am an idiot and couldn't find green onions at the store so I left them out.

I don't like celery so I left that out as well.

And I garnished with blackberries instead of parsley, BECAUSE I CAN.

ALSO, you can definitely add whatever spices you want to jazz it up; chili powder, garlic, etc...

INGREDIENTS: (serves 2-4)

∙ 2 organic green onions

∙ handful of organic Italian parsley

∙ 1 organic cucumber

∙ 2 organic celery stalks

∙ 2 organic avocados

∙ 2 tbsp of organic coconut oil (melted, but not heated, at room temperature)

∙ 2+ cups of water (fluoride free is best)

∙ sea salt

∙ organic black pepper

Directions:

1. Chop green onions and parsley. Set aside.

2. Dice cucumbers and celery. Set aside.

3. Peel avocados and remove seed. Then add to a container for blending.

4. Blend avocados, onions, parsley, cucumber, celery, coconut oil and water.

5. Add spices and blend again. Taste and make adjustments. Add more water if necessary.

6. Pour soup into 2 bowls and garnish with parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Crockpot Apple Ginger Pork

I first tried this recipe a little while back at the convergence of a few themes of my cooking experimentation to that point - paleo recipes from CrossFit, getting use out of my crockpot, and trying to incorporate ginger.  This isn't my favorite crockpot pork roast preparation, but it's a solid recipe with distinctive sweet-but-not-too-sweet flavors.

The Recipe

2 lb pork roast
1 onion, sliced
2 apples, sliced
2/3 cup broth
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf

It's a crockpot recipe.  Put it all in there and cook for like 6-8 hours on high.

Notes

Because of my much lamented mini-crockpot I really had to cut back on the onion and apple just to fit everything.  And I used vegetable broth as the liquid base.  Otherwise, not much to improve on!  I would point out that the recipe doesn't specify a type of apple, but since it gets kind of mushed into the gravy it's not a big deal - I just lean toward something sweet versus tart.

Here's the finished product - that crispy green on the side is a batch of kale chips:

Apple Onion Pork with Butternut Squash

Fall is in the air, but maybe not enough of an autumn chill to turn entirely to soups and stews and such...  Instead, we started with some seasonal produce with this recipe.  It's a bit of an ambitious undertaking, appropriate for a group cooking and eating evening.  Butternut squash is always a bit of an ordeal, and this preparation took longer than anticipated to cook.  On the plus side, though, the crockpot can really turn not-quite-ripe squash into a pleasant goo...  It was a shame it wasn't ready with the rest of the entree, though, because the pork and apple-onion relish (?) really could have used another savory component, and it was not nearly sweet enough to pass off as a dessert.  But it was interesting and fun, and now that I've rambled on, I guess trying to provide those thousand words to make up for no picture...  But yeah, no picture :(

Crockpot Chile Pork

I went through a phase where I was ducking out of work briefly to set up a crockpot meal about once a week - don't know why I stopped!  Aside from the Johnson family classic, this crockpot pork and peppers was maybe the biggest success.  A lot of peppers and spices in there - too many to fit into my kiddie crockpot, unfortunately.  But even cutting back gives the meat plenty of flavor and a great sauce.

The Recipe

2 lb pork roast
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 4-oz cans of diced chiles
2-3 jalapenos, diced
2 cups broth
1 8-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp each of oregano, salt, pepper
1/2 tsp each of cumin, sage, paprika, cayenne pepper

Put your pork in the crockpot, then veggies, then chiles and tomatoes, then spices, then broth.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Outcome

Because of said mini-crockpot, I had to stretch the pork for a couple people.  With some tortilla, papaya and kale chips, made a very nice meal:

Cider Braised Brats

This is one of my favorites. It's simple enough, with just a handful of ingredients, and you can enjoy one of your extra bottles of cider while you cook and/or eat.  You might not think that sausage could absorb much flavor from the cider, but that just isn't the case at all.

The Recipe

bratwurst
1 onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 bottle hard cider

Melt a tbsp or two of butter over medium low, and put on your peppers and onions.  Once they're pretty well cooked, add the cider and brats, cover loosely and simmer until the sausage is cooked through.  Then char the brats a little on a grill pan, while turning up the heat to reduce the cider and finish off the veggies.

Thoughts

My only problem with the recipe is that it's a bit ambiguous with the peppers and onions.  What does it mean to "sweat" them out?  I basically soften them pretty good, and then you have to make sure to nuke them pretty well at the end.  And if you don't have a grill pan, sear the brats a bit in another pan.  And did I mention, enjoy another cider while you eat?

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

A.k.a. Tom Kha Gai, this one was a team effort by Emma and me on an uncharacteristically cool and rainy spring day.  As good as it was, it'll be a while before I make it again, but when winter hits, it could be a go-to dinner.

The Recipe

chicken breast - a pound and change? - cut into small pieces
1 onion, sliced
2 cans coconut milk
4 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp coconut (or sesame) oil
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp red chili paste
2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lemongrass - paste or minced - if you can find it

Cook onion in the oil over low heat for about 15 minutes.  Mix in the spices/sauces.  Add the coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes, then the stock and chicken, raise heat to low boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until done.

Results

So yeah, it was really good.  A lot of elements, but they go in in phases, so you can prep the next batch while the previous one is cooking.  We had some (friendly, of course) debate over the proportion of broth to solid ingredients, as well as the possible addition of mushroom.  And it's a little tricky to find the exact right amount of sriracha to balance flavor and heat.  But overall a success and something to make a seasonal favorite!

It was very good, but look - it's mostly broth!

Emma, feel free to add your notes or pictures!