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.
This is one of my favourite new breads from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Potatoes make for a wonderfully soft bread with a chewy crust. The loaf has a beautiful golden colour (probably because I used Yukon Gold), and the rosemary is a nice addition because it is not overdone. In other words: perfection.
I guess I am a little late with this post since strawberry season is over here, but I don't see why this recipe would not work with frozen (and then thawed) berries. We have been enjoying this syrup in endless glasses of lemonade, or with some simple syrup and club soda on ice. It is fairly potent and not too sweet. If you want it a bit thicker, just cook it for a little longer (but not too long or you will get jelly).
I just used my raspberry syrup recipe, subbing in crushed strawberries for the raspberries. It put the hot syrup in mason jars and sealed lots away for later.
And even some wild blueberries! We have had some awesome pancake breakfasts lately.
Today is my youngest son's 4th birthday. We watched some old family videos of when he was a baby and I got a little teary seeing how fast he is growing up. He will be off to school in September and has developed so much since he was a tiny 5 lb preemie 4 years ago. Sniff. Here is the cake he wanted (you can get cake pans at the library), decorated in the colours he wanted. Not my finest work (and the cake pans kind of stifle creativity), but he did not care. Whilst on the phone to his grandparents he said, "my Dad is making my castle cake and I love it!" I love you too, little buddy.
Well, the heat wave is over here, but before it ended I did more baking on the BBQ. I used the set up described here and made kaiser rolls and whole wheat bread in loaf pans. Everything turned out awesome, just as good as in the oven. They key is making sure your temperature is consistent, which is easily done by putting an oven thermometer in the BBQ. Also, I also put some water in the steam pan, even for bread in loaf pans, because the BBQ is a pretty dry heat.
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.