Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I was so hungry the night I made this soup that I simply could not stop to take a picture of it. The next day, I pulled out the leftovers to take a picture and it looked way too close to vomit to post on here, so here is a fancier, professional photo of the recipe I was so excited to eat.

This was actually a pretty fun soup to make - I loved using ingredients like lemongrass and coconut milk, which I don't often use. I made it on a cold, damp day (aren't they all, though?) and it was warm and comforting and just spicy enough to be a little more challenging on your palate than a plain old soup.

I would definitely recommend the recipe to anyone who likes spice and coconut and thai flavors. It could be a pretty easy and quick weeknight meal, I would just recommend cooking and shredding the chicken beforehand.

Spicy Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (from Cooking Light)


2 teaspoons canola oil

• (1 cup sliced mushrooms - I didn't use mushrooms because they're disgusting, but you're free to)
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 4 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (3-inch) stalk lemongrass, halved lengthwise
• 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
• 3 cups chicken stock or fat free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/4 cups light coconut milk
• 4 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 8 ounces)
• 1/2 cup green onion strips
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 
  
• Heat a Dutch oven (I used a large pot) over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add mushrooms and the next 4 ingredients (through lemongrass); cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chile paste; cook 1 minute. Add Chicken Stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Discard lemongrass. Top with onions, cilantro, and juice.

Simple Frozen Chocolate Banana "Ice Cream"

A short, simple recipe post:

I found this idea via Pinterest. Take one frozen banana, blend with 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder — then eat! This simple dessert or snack is a great alternative to ice cream for a sweet tooth like me. I would recommend adding a few ice cubes to the mixture in order to cut some of the stickyness that comes from the major textural component being bananas which soften up during the blending process even though they're frozen. Takes just a couple minutes, and is healthy and tasty!

The Most Amazing Ron Weasley-Inspired Meat Pie

This is the most fatty and the most amazing meat pie ever. I mean really. It has ground beef, sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, and bacon (and technically ham although I took it out in my version because ham is gross). Yes, this is real life. Spoon Fork Bacon is a really wonderful food blog that I've started following since finding this meat pie on Pinterest and pretty much falling in love. You should probably take a look, as they post really tasty and beautiful looking recipes.

Probably the best thing about making this pie (aside from eating it, because let me tell you - that was downright wonderful) was that the morning I was prepping to make it, I called my mom and told her about it. She then proceeded to say "I want to make a meat pie too!" and had me send her the recipe so we could make the same savory pie at the same time two states away. So, in far Northern California, my mom made a full size "Ron Weasley's Everything But The Kitchen Sink Pie," for her and my dad to enjoy, and I made six mini pies in Washington state for me and the boyfriend. We all enjoyed the pies immensely, and if they weren't so fatty, I would make them all the time.

If you're a meat enthusiast, I would definitely take a stab at this recipe, found here. It was hearty and warm and comforting, like the best possible winter recipe. I'm sure even Ron Weasley would be sated by a couple of these little pies.

[Also, a note on the pictures: I took them on my iPhone, and then it proceeded to die after I dropped it on the floor, making it so I could turn it on but not actually transfer anything to my computer. So, these pictures are actually photos of the screen of my old iPhone showing the image. This type of picture will continue for the next few recipe posts.]


In other news, I was sick for about two weeks straight and have thus been a sedentary bump on a log. But before that, I did some good exercising, adding a couple hours of hiking and a few hours of gym time.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Parmesan and Roasted Garlic Couscous

Okay, so I said I'd be back and then I wasn't. But now I am again! And here comes the backlog of recipes....

I made these two recipes back in January, one very good and one really mediocre. The first one is a Stuffed Chicken Creast with Crosciutto and Goat Cheese from an old Reader's Digest cookbook that my mother gave me around the time I graduated college, and it was totally delicious. It was simple and easy, yet seemed really classy and impressive as a dish. Also, if you love goat cheese and prosciutto (and really, who doesn't?), you'll love this. I'd definitely giving this recipe a try, I've included it below.

The second recipe I made that evening was Parmesan Couscous with Roasted Garlic, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Caramelized Onions. This recipe was almost like the opposite of the first. It was not particularly simple, as you had to roast garlic, toast pine nuts, and caramelize onions all for a side dish that was quite underwhelming. The title made it sound so promising, but I was ultimately let down and thought it lacked a lot of flavor, especially given that it so many ingredients. It was fine, but I bet there are better ways to prepare a couscous side dish. If you're still interested, the recipe was found here.

Baked Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Prosciutto and Goat Cheese 

(from Reader's Digest's Kitchen Secrets)

4 Skinned and boned chicken breast halves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 ounces fresh creamy goat cheese

2 ounces prosciutto or ham, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees  F. Pound chicken between sheets of plastic wrap until 1/4-inch thick. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, blend cheese and prosciutto and spread 3 tablespoons on each breast. Starting at a short end, roll up and secure with toothpicks.

Arrange chicken rolls, seam side down, in a buttered 8" x 8" x 2" ovenproof glass baking dish and bake, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through — 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove toothpicks and slice diagonally at 1/2-inch intervals. Pour pan juices over chicken and serve immediately.

Harry Potter Food Fest

This past weekend I completed the first 4 of my recipes for the year in a whirlwind day (January 1st!) at my friend Maggie's house down in Tigard, Oregon. Maggie, her friend and blog-partner, Kelsey, and I spent the whole day cooking, from about noon to 9 PM. We produced 3 Harry Potter related sweets, and a hearty dinner of chicken pot pie. Here's a picture to give you an idea of what the day was like:

Yep, that's a giant Harry Potter movie poster, three Harry Potter recipes, and Maggie with a small lightning bolt drawn on her forehead.

The first recipe of the day was butterbeer cupcakes, recipe found online here. These cupcakes were tasty and very butterscotch-y, with a butterscotch ganache injected into the middle of the cupcake using a plastic bottle bought at a beauty supply store. We used a ziploc as a homemade pastry bag to frost the cupcakes, and bought some gold gems to jazz them up a bit - they were really pretty! The other great thing about these cupcakes is that apparently Jared loves butterscotch, so when I brought some home to him he was really excited!

Harry Potter dessert number 2 was chocolate cauldron cupcakes, that we made from a combo of this recipe (for the cake itself), this recipe (for the chocolate ganache), and some store bought "Whipped Cream" frosting. These cupcakes were almost more like brownies in texture, and were really tasty in combination with the chocolate ganache and frosting. They were fun to decorate, but it also ended up being really stressful trying to get the ganache, frosting, sprinkles, and handles on all at the same time. I'm not really sure we could have done it with less than the three people we had. For the HP nerds out there, the green cauldron on the front right of the photo is what we deemed "Neville's Cauldron." We spent a lot of time completely cackling about how hilarious it was, and it became our crowning achievement for the night (despite the fact that we initially made it because the cupcake broke when it came out of the pan).

The third and final treat of the night was butterbeer, made from this recipe. I love the Bakingdom blog, and I had really high hopes for what the butterbeer would taste like, especially because Darla (from Bakingdom) has been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and she says that this recipe tastes really similar to the butterbeer they serve there. It was essentially cream soda with McCormick Imitation Butter Flavor, topped with whipped cream that was also made with the butter flavor (I know, right? We were a little freaked out by the idea of whole butter flavor thing, especially because it smells exactly like the butter you get at the movie theater). The butterbeer wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite as much of a revelation as I was hoping for. We also talked a bit about how we all imagined butterbeer to be a little more along the lines of hot buttered rum, instead of a cold soda-type drink, but that may just be something our 13 year old heads made up when first reading Harry Potter.

Now, the day wasn't all sweets. We also made a delicious chicken pot pie from Joy The Baker. It was really easy, really delicious, and a great way to add something savory to an otherwise super sweet-filled day. I would definitely recommend that anyone who likes chicken pot pie give the recipe a try.

Well, this is a pretty long post to go along with a pretty long day of cooking. It was a great start to the new year, particularly spending it with a far away friend (everyone should check out her blog)! Hope everyone has had a great and productive first week of the year!