En-Thai-sing soup: Chicken-coconut with vegetables

I've made several soups and crock pot recipes over the past few weeks, but nothing that excited me enough to say, "I really need to blog about this." Until today!

Brandon's Thai chicken-coconut soup with vegetables
From a fairly lame husband vs. wife column on CNN.

32 ounces chicken broth
1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 pound boneless chicken breast
4 garlic cloves
3 jalapeños
6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
4 medium-sized carrots, sliced thinly
6 ounces water chestnuts, sliced thinly
6 stalks fresh lemongrass, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 bunch fresh cilantro
6 ounces frozen corn
3 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
Dash red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Tips:

• Don't want to squeeze limes? Me either. Your supermarket produce section sells lime juice for a reason.
• Don't know how to prepare jalapeños? Me either. Hot peppers are scary. Thank heavens for YouTube.
• Sub-tip: Wear gloves, especially if you have a paper cut and/or are prone to biting your fingernails, even hours after the fact. Yow.
• Can't find fresh lemongrass? I actually did (props to ShopRite!), but they didn't have enough. Right below the fresh stuff were what I like to call Squeezy Herb Tubes by Gourmet Garden. I think the name will catch on. One Squeezy Lemongrass Tube equals 6 fresh lemongrass stalks. Perfect! I also got a Squeezy Ginger Tube because I hardly ever use ginger and didn't want to buy a whole root for one tablespoon.
  
• I bought a bottle of Thai fish sauce without checking to see if I already had some. Because really, why would I have Thai fish sauce? But I did. So now I have two bottles.  What's a girl to do with so much fish sauce?
• One bunch of cilantro is way too much for garnish. I'm drying the rest for use in my future spice rack.
• My supermarket produce section sells fresh, pre-sliced water chestnuts! Also picked up a container of bamboo shoots. Easy.

Let's make some soup!

Finely chop the garlic and 2 jalapeños. Sauté with olive oil over medium heat for a few minutes.

Dice chicken and add to pan.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Sauté for a few more minutes. Don't cook the chicken all the way through. It will cook more in the soup.

Pretty!

Add chicken broth, coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce, lemongrass, soy sauce and ginger to a big pot. Stir and bring to a gentle boil for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots, mushrooms, corn and water chestnuts (and bamboo shoots, if you got 'em). Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Slice remaining jalapeño and add to soup.  Simmer for 10 more minutes.  Remove lemongrass stalks (if you used fresh).  Ladle into bowls and garnish with cilantro.

Excuse the lame bowl. I was packing my lunch for work.

If you read the CNN column and are observant, you may have noticed the shiitake mushrooms in the ingredients list, but not in the recipe. That's because the bonehead who wrote it neglected to say what to do with them. I didn't realize this until after the soup was finished and cooled, so now I have a bunch of unused mushrooms. I'd imagine they get thrown in with the carrots so I added that above, but I'll have to wait until next time to find out for sure.

I had to stop myself from sneaking tastes while it was simmering. The lemongrass, lime juice and coconut work so well together. I may add more coconut milk next time, as it was overshadowed a bit by the citrus. The jalapeños add just enough heat for my taste. I don't eat the slices, but I do eat the minced pieces. If you like it hot, consider adding more jalapeños and/or red pepper flakes. Serve with bread if you're looking for more substance. I've been eating an Italian soft roll with each bowl. Perfect for dipping! I've brought this soup in for lunch all week, and every time I take that first spoonful, I do a little happy dance in my seat. I love it that much.

Note: This can be a gluten free soup if you use fresh lemongrass and ginger, and gluten free soy sauce. Squeezy Herb Tubes may contain trace amounts of gluten.

My little butternut has the sweetest smile

Someone once told me that upstate New York has two seasons: winter and July.  They couldn't be more correct.  I went to college up here, but don't remember being so cold all the time. Maybe all that alcohol kept me warm.  (If you're my father, "alcohol" is slang for nutritious dining hall food.)

Needless to say, I've been going soup-crazy trying to stay warm.  The CSA wrapped up recently, leaving several butternut squashes to consume.  I'd been wanting to try butternut squash soup for ages, so I figured it was as good a time as any.

Most of the work went into finding a recipe.  Who knew there were so many variations of butternut squash soup?  Many of them involve cream, cheese, and/or cream cheese.  Yum!  I'm into artery clogging as much as the next gal, but I just wasn't feeling it this time.

Then, I found the Best Butternut Squash Soup Ever.  Seriously, that's its name.  Could it really be the best, even without a hint of dairy?  Well, I don't know because I haven't tried any other butternut squash soups.  But this one was very easy to make and insanely tasty, so I'd say it's at least top five.

The Best Butternut Squash Soup Ever!
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cube chicken bouillon
1 pinch ground cumin
1 pinch ground allspice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Cook onion, garlic and thyme in butter until onion has softened, about 5 minutes.
   
3. Add squash and chicken stock.
4. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
   
5. Crumble the bouillon into the soup.
6. Season with cumin, allspice, salt and pepper.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Fish out the thyme sprigs. Pluck any remaining leaves from the sprigs. Put the leaves back in the soup and discard the sprigs.
9. Get your handy immersion blender and go nuts.  I'd never used mine before, and I'm really glad there's no photographic evidence.  I was a woman possessed.
   
   If you don't have an immersion blender, pour it into a regular blender or food processor and similarly go nuts.

Post-blending!


NOTES
I doubled the recipe because frankly, what am I going to do with half a squash, onion AND bouillon cube?  Oh, I know!  Make more soup!  Genius.

My vegetable peeler works GREAT on carrots.  Squash, not so much.  If your peeler sucks as much as mine, use a knife, like 0:47 in this video:


The soup is thicker than it looks.  Most times, I couldn't even finish the bowl, let alone eat the bread served with it. Very filling!