Asparagus Mushroom Soup with Coconut Milk

This is a combination of 2 different soup recipes which I thought would be pretty good together. I think it has a great taste, but it is not the prettiest soup to look at. The mushrooms tone down the bright green of the asparagus. I think it works.

• 3 tablespoons un salted butter
• 1 bunch of Asparagus, peeled if needed
• 1 medium Sweet Onion, chopped
• 1 pound fresh Mushroom of your choice, chopped coarse
• 1/2 cup dry White Wine or Sherry
• 2 slices of Sour Dough bread, crumbled
• 4 cups Chicken stock, store bought or home-made
• 1 1/4 teaspoon fresh Ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 can (14 ozs) Whole Coconut Milk
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Slice the asparagus spears into 1 inch pieces. Reserve the tips to garnish the bowls when serving. Warm butter in a large stock or soup pot over medium heat. Add asparagus pieces, onions, mushrooms and ginger. Saute for 10 minutes until tender. Do not allow to brown. Add wine/sherry,bread, chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium high and then reduce to a simmer. Stir in coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree soup with a handheld stick mixer or allow soup to cool and puree in blender. Warm soup again, season to taste. Garnish with asparagus tips and serve.

 

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup with Noodles

Lately, I have been experimenting with coconut. That usually leads a cook into Asian and specifically Thai cooking. I have not eaten at a real Thai restaurant  yet. Looking forward to that but for now I have to be satisfied with my version. Probably I am far off the authentic style. LOL!!!! I found this soup in a Good Housekeeping Soup and Stew cookbook. Of course, I bumped up the spices and seasonings to suit my taste. Try it and see what you think.

• 4 ozs Asian style Noodles, could be glass noodles or stir fry type
• 1 can (14 ozs) Whole Milk of Coconut
• 2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and pressed
• 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh Ginger, grated
• 1 teaspoon ground Coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground Cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground Cayenne
• 1 pound skinless, boneless Chicken Breast or thigh and leg meat, thinly sliced
• 3 1/2 cups Chicken Broth, store bought or home made
• 2 Green Onions, thin sliced
• 2 small Carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks (2″ x 1/4″)
• 1/2 Sweet Red pepper cut into matchsticks
• 2 tablespoons Asian Fish Sauce
• 1 cup Water
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1 cup loose packed fresh Cilantro, chopped

In a 5 quart soup pot or Dutch Oven, heat 1/2 cup coconut milk to boiling over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, cayenne and cook for one minute stirring constantly so not to burn. Turn to medium high and add chicken. Stir constantly until chicken  loses the pink color but do not brown the meat. Add noodles cut to 3 inch length pieces. Add broth, green onions, carrots, red peppers, fish sauce, water, and remaining coconut milk. Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes. Stir in lime juice and cilantro just before serving. I served my soup with my homemade Buttermilk and Honey bread. I’ll post that recipe soon.

 

Baked Chicken and Coconut Peanut Satay Sauce

For the past year, I have been reading up on the benefits of adding cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil and other cold processed coconut products to my diet. I found the following recipe in a book by Mary Enig, titled “Eat Fat, Lose Fat”.  I combined 2 different recipes to get this dish. People who know Chicken Satay may find this a little different, but it tastes great.

• 1 Whole cut up Chicken, keep the skin on and use the breasts, thighs and legs. You can reserve  wings and back to make stock or to add to a soup.
• 1/2 tablespoon Coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tablespoon Butter, melted
• Sea Salt and fresh ground Black Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place chicken pieces skin up in a large baking dish. Combine butter and coconut oil and brush on the chicken skin. This will give a lovely browned crispy skin. Season to taste. Bake for 2 hours.

Coconut Peanut Satay Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1 Sweet Onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh grated Ginger, peeled
• 2 cloves Garlic peeled and pressed
• 1/3 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 cup Coconut Cream or Milk
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce or Tamari Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Coconut or Maple Sugar or natural Maple Syrup
• 1 Jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
• Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Warm coconut oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and saute until onion id clear and golden. Add peanut butter and coconut milk. Stir well. Add soy/tamari, sugar or syrup, jalapeno and lemon juice and season to taste. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Serve warm over the chicken.

 

Hot Mulled Apple Cider

This the season!!! This is just the beverage to make spirits bright!

• 1 quart Apple Cider (non alcoholic) or Hard Apple Cider (like Scrumpys)
• 2 Oranges sliced round like the sun
• 12 whole Cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 6 Whole Cinnamon sticks
• Honey to taste

In a large pot combine all ingredients. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. Makes about 6 servings. Lade into mugs and be sure to have a cinnamon stick in each and orange slice in each. Enjoy!

Beer Bread

This is an unbelievably awesome tasting beer bread. I found this recipe while browsing for “the best beer bread” recipe. It is by Gerald Norman posted in 2003 on food.com. It is so simple. I used Sam Adams Double Bock. This ale is not for the faint hearted at 9.5% alcohol level, It is an in your face beverage. And tastes so good in this recipe.

 

 

 

 

• 3 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
• 3 teaspoons Baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt, I used Kosher
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1 bottle (12 oz) Samuel Adams Double Bock, warm
• 1/4 cup Butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease loaf pan.

Mix dry ingredients together. Add Double Bock. Mix until all no dry ingredients are left in bowl. Pour into  loaf pan. Pour melted butter on top of bread batter. Bake for 1 hour and cool on rack for 15 minutes.

The original baker states that the sifting is vital to have a light loaf. The melted butter on top will produce a very crusty hearty loaf. He also says if people like a more traditional loaf, the butter can be mixed into the batter itself. I like the crusty type.

Bacon Blue Cheese Scones

Bottom line up front— I did find this recipe in a recent Grit Magazine. I wish I could claim it as my own but I don’t roll that way. What is better than bacon? Bacon and blue cheese combined! LOL!! Anyway, these scones are cooling on my stove top right now. And the house smells great! I think you’ll enjoy these.

• 4 Strip Bacon cooked crisp, drained and crumbled into small bits
• 2 cups All Purpose Flour, I use unbleached
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar or Substitute
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 stick cold Unsalted Butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 whole Egg, lightly beaten for glaze

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray nonstick spray, lightly butter or use a piece of parchment baking paper on a cookie sheet.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a food processor. Pulse to mix. Scatter butter pieces over the flour mixture. Pulse to mix. Add bacon and blue cheese crumbles. Pulse again. Pour the cream over the mix and pulse 2 or 3 times until the mixture forms large crumbles.  Dump crumbles out onto a lightly floured surface. Pack the crumbles together and pat into a large ball. Flatten out into a 8 inch diameter circle. CUt dough into 8 even wedges. Then place onto the cookie sheet. Brush the wedges with the beaten egg. Bake for 18 minutes until golden brown. Your oven temps may vary. Watch the color. My oven did just fine at 17 minutes. Remove and cool on a rack.

 

 

 

Creamed Cauliflower Soup

This is my lunch today and dinner. And for several more days! LOL!! With the cold weather and dark nights moving in, my cooking is changing to more hardy, filling and warming food. Enjoy.

 

 

• 1 large Cauliflower, stems removed and florets chopped small
• 1 medium potato, peeled and diced small
• 1/2 Sweet Onion, chopped small or 6 Green Onions using only the white part (Keep the green part to garnish finished soup)
• 1 tablespoon unsalted Butter
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
• 4 cups Low sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• Sea salt or Kosher Salt to taste
• Ground White Pepper
• 1 slice Bacon for each soup bowl
• Green parts of Green Onions sliced for garnish

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add EVOO, cauliflower, white onion, and potato to the saucepan. Heat gently over low heat and sweat the veggies. Cover the saucepan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Don’t allow the veggies to brown. This is a white soup. Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Pour in the milk and gently simmer for 20 minutes. Don’t allow the milk mixture to burn. Season to taste.  Add in the cream. In a food processor, blender or using an immersion stick blender process the soup in batches until it is all pureed.

Cook the slices of bacon until very crisp. Ladle soup into bowls and top with bacon crumbles and green tops of the onions. Serve with crusty French bread.