Thai Mushroom Soup

I made this soup a while ago (i.e. before the heat wave) but never got around to blogging it. It is actually quite good at room temp, so it is a good summer soup. It is based on a seafood soup recipe in a cookbook I have and I had every intention of using oyster mushrooms but there were none at the store. Turns out, plain ol' white mushrooms work really well, too. I also threw in some lobster mushrooms for colour and texture, but they are totally optional. So, once the heat breaks wherever you are, give this recipe a try.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 1/2 cups veggie stock, or water
- 1" piece fresh ginger, cut into thin slices
- 3 limes leaves, sliced if fresh, crumbled if dried
- 2 stalks lemon grass, chopped
- 5 stalks cilantro
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 shallots, chopped
- 16 oz mushrooms, chopped (white, oyster, etc., or a mix)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- green curry paste, to taste
- 1 14 oz can light coconut milk
- juice of 1/3 lime
- salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
1. Put stock, ginger, lemon grass, and lime leaves into a pot. Strip leaves from cilantro and add the stalks as well. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 mins. Strain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat, the saute shallots for 5-7 mins, until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are just releasing their water. Add strained stock to the pot, then add soy sauce and curry paste.
3. Add coconut milk and lime juice and mix well. Season to taste. Chop cilantro leaves and mix in. You can heat this up as much as you want before serving.

Baking Bread on the BBQ

I know this will amuse my southern readers, but it is really hot here. By hot I mean 32 degrees celsius (90 F) and humid. We have no air conditioning, so it got pretty stuffy and hot inside. By keeping the windows shut we were able to keep the house at a balmy 26 degrees. That meant bread baking was out of the question even though we were down to our last slice. Then I thought, why can't I just bake it on the BBQ? Why not, indeed. It worked splendidly.

First, I removed the grill and placed a cast iron pan underneath for steam.
I then replaced the grill and put a clay dish on top to raise the baking stone off the grill a bit. This way the stone does not get too hot and burns the bottom of the bread before the loaf is done. You could also use metal cans or something else fireproof. Just make sure not to raise the stone too much--you need room for the bread to rise.
On top of the dish went the baking stone and a thermometer to get an accurate idea of the temp.
I made Reinhart's Italian Bread recipe then preheated the BBQ for about 15 mins to get the stone hot and to make sure I had a consistent temp around 450 degrees. I put the loaves on the stone and poured a cup of hot water into the pan below. I did not bother with spritzing the inside with water 3 times as I do with oven baking since I figured I would lose too much heat. Instead, I baked at 450 for 10 mins, rotated the loaves, then baked for another 12(ish). I kept an eye on the temp but tried not to fiddle too much (or lift the lid too much). The end result was perfect.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Today I turned 35. Son # 1 made these cupcakes for me. What a sweetie.

Happy Canada Day Donuts

Just a quick post after a day of Canada Day festivities. I had a lot of fun in the sun with the kids today, and it was great to just hang out on various porches up and down the street. I made these maple leaf shaped donuts to serve to all who stopped by, and to take when we visited other people. I used this recipe I posted before, and then made this glaze with soy milk and some red dye. I used a maple leaf shaped cookie cutter, then punched a hole in the centre. I am not sure if that was necessary, but I thought it would make them cook more evenly. The shape morphed a bit during rising and cooking, but it still looks pretty good.
Speaking of feeding the neighbourhood vegan goodies, I made these cupcakes for a recent block party.

Portuguese Sweet Bread: Baking Through the Bread Baker's Apprentice

Portuguese sweet bread? Yeah, I've never heard if it either. But, supposedly it's a thing, and according the Reinhart the east coast is the "center of the Portuguese sweet bread universe." I wonder what Portugal thinks of that. This is a large, fluffy, slightly sweet loaf, scented with lemon and orange extracts. It has a thick, deep brown crust and makes great toast in the morning. I also can't find the picture I took of the bread so go check out this one.

GENERAL NOTES
1. I used 9" pie plates, as Reinhart instructs, but my dough did not rise and overlap the edge as his instruction indicate. No matter. It still baked up just fine.
2. I baked for 50 mins. Any more and it would have been too dry, I think.

VEGAN NOTES
1. I replaced the powdered milk with powdered soy.
2. I replaced the eggs with an equal weight of soy yogurt.
3. I replaced the butter with margarine.
4. I replaced the egg wash with plain soy milk.