Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Thai Red Curry Chicken and Corn Soup

Yum
 
 I love coming up with new soups I can make with leftover rotisserie chicken.  It makes me feel like I am utilizing every bit of the rotisserie and not wasting anything.  This large pot of soup only costs a few dollars to make when you consider that the stock and chicken were from the leftover rotisserie that we would not have eaten.  I consider Thai coconut soups one of my favorites styles of soup so using some red curry paste in this soup was exciting and fun.  My husband ate two bowls of this soup for lunch and was raving on not only how good it was in flavor but how smart I was by using up all the leftover ingredients in our fridge.  Kudos to me. :) 


Ingredients:

Homemade Chicken Stock:
1 chicken (leftover roast or rotisserie preferable)
1 onion
1-2 carrots
1-2 celery
8 cups of water
1-2 bay leaves
1 tsp black pepper corns
1 Tbs parsley (fresh or dried)
salt to taste or bullion cubes
1-2 slices lemon (optional)

Red Curry Soup Ingredients:
Broth from homemade stock (total of 8 cups of liquid needed-substitute water and bullion if shy)
2 cups of shredded chicken
1Tbs canola oil
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
2-3 cloves garlic minced finely or grated
1 cup carrot diced finely
1 cup celery diced finely
1 cup bell pepper diced finely (any color diced finely)
1-2 stalks lemongrass (bottom portion only- bruised gently)
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes with chilies
1-2 Tbs Thai red curry paste
1-2 Tbs fish sauce (to taste)
2 cups coconut milk (low-fat coconut milk is good here) 
2 cups frozen corn
1/2-1 tsp brown sugar (if needed to balance the fish sauce salty flavor)
1 cup of fresh Thai basil leaves 
limes juice to taste - serve at table


Directions:
For Homemade Stock:
Place all ingredients for stock into large soup pot and bring to a boil for 45-55 minutes.  Strain ingredients out of stock so you have a clear stock.  Discard all other ingredients except chicken.  De-bone cooked chicken and cut into small chunks.

To make Red Curry Soup:
Heat large soup pot with 1 Tbs canola oil.  Saute diced celery, bell peppers, lemongrass and carrots for 2 minutes. .  Then add ginger and garlic and saute for another minute.  Next add red curry paste and saute for another minute.  Then add prepared chicken stock, diced tomatoes, fish sauce and brown sugar. Bring ingredients to a boil for 10-12 minutes.  Next add shredded/diced cooked chicken, frozen corn, coconut milk and Thai basil leaves and simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Taste for salt and seasoning. Serve hot with lime wedges at the table.






Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Kitchen Simmer formerly known as Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Vegetarian Mushroom Eggplant and Pepper Pasta

Yum
 I found some great deals at the grocery store yesterday.  I got mushrooms, eggplant, tomatoes and a variety of peppers at rock bottom prices.  I brought my treasures home and this pasta was the creation.  I wanted to make a vegetarian style pasta since I wanted the vegetables to be the star of this dish.  I ate it just as is and was totally satisfied by the meaty texture and flavor the mushrooms gave the dish.  Of course my meat loving husband had to add some rotisserie chicken to his plate.  Either way you want to eat this dish, it's hearty and totally satisfying.

 
  
Ingredients:
1lb spaghetti or linguine pasta cooked
1 large eggplant diced small
3 large tomatoes chopped
1lb sliced button mushrooms sliced
3-5 sweet peppers sliced
1 medium onion chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp granulated garlic
salt to taste
red chili flakes
1/2 cup starchy water
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2-3 Tbs fresh chopped parsley.
 
 Directions:

Boil pasta in well salted water until 80% cooked. Reserve 1 cup of starchy cooking water.  Drain pasta and set aside.


In a large pan heat 1 tablespoon canola oil and add diced eggplant.  Saute until eggplant until brown with some salt.   Remove from pan and add 1 Tbs of canola oil and add sliced mushrooms.  Saute until brown then add salt to season.

Next add sauteed eggplant back into the pan with them mushroom and add the chopped tomatoes, diced onions and sliced peppers to the pan. Saute all together.   Then add the chili flakes, granulated garlic, dried basil and oregano.





Saute all the ingredients  in pan then add 1/2 cup of starchy cooking water (more if necessary) and the drained pasta.  Toss with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Taste for salt and seasoning.  Serve hot with more Parmesan cheese and some parsley.
 





Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Kitchen Simmer formerly known as Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.