.curried carrot soup.

Back in November, my mom and sister were here from Seattle. Their visit coincided with a cooking class I was having here at the house. The topic for the class was "Soups, Stews, and Sauces". Nothing fancy, mind you, but I wanted to teach the ladies how to make a proper roux which is the root knowledge for making things like clam chowder, gravy, and alfredo!

I always try to offer a vegetarian dish too because I usually have a couple non-meat-eaters in the group. So I made a roasted carrot soup and added a dash of curry to it for a middle eastern taste and it was delicious! So delicious, that I decided to make it again for a church function yesterday.

**Note: Not only is this soup delicious and meat-free, it's VEGAN!

1. Begin by making vegetable broth. In a small soup pot, put water, carrots, celery, bay leaf, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat. Leave uncovered so the liquid can reduce. After it simmers on the cooktop for 1 hour, strain and reserve the liquid.

This stock can be made ahead of time and held in the fridge, or even put in the freezer!

2. Peel about 10 carrots and cutting them into 2-3 pieces. I use only organic carrots when I make this soup, but I can only imagine how delicious it would be with carrots grown from your own garden. I'm sure it would be so sweet!

3. Put the carrots on a baking sheet and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pop carrots into a 350* oven and roast until they're fork tender (approximately 30 minutes). emove from the oven and put into a blender with 1 can coconut milk, 1/2 tsp curry powder and 1 tsp ground coriander seed toasted.

4. To toast the coriander seed, spoon into a small saute pan and put over medium high heat. Swirl the pan around so the seeds don't burn. The heat will draw out the oil and fragrance from the coriander and it smells slightly lemony. Remove from the pan after toasting 2 minutes and put in a spice grinder and pulse until fine.

5. I pulsed the blender for a minute, but found it too thick to really puree adequately, so I spooned in ladles full of the vegetable broth to thin it down. Once you get the desired consistency, taste and re-season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot or cold. I topped each bowl with some pine nuts and chopped cilantro.

Makes 6-8 servings

.chicken curry.

My husband has traveled around the globe courtesy of the Navy and one of his favorite things was having curry while on port visits in the middle east.  I had tried curry once and wasn't horribly impressed but someone told me when you have bad curry, it's BAD, but when it's good... you will never be the same.  Jim used to ask me to make curry for him but I would just turn my nose up at him... eventually he gave up the idea I'd ever turn around.

Then one day we were out for lunch and he ordered curry.  I tried a bite and was shocked!  It was fantastic and since then sought out a recipe that would compare.  After I made this, Jim said  it was very close to what he's had in the Gulf.   It wasn't spicy because I left out the peppers (the girls gobbled this up!), but if you want it kicked up, add a little Thai chili.

Start with your prep.  Peel and slice 2 carrots, julienne 1 red bell pepper, slice 1 onion, and peel and cube 3 potatoes (I used white potatoes).

You'll also want to mince 4 cloves of garlic, and grate 1 Tbsp fresh gingerroot.

In a stock pot, heat up 2 Tbsp oil (you can use chili oil if you want) and saute the garlic, ginger, and 3 tsp curry paste.  I used red curry paste.  Stir to make sure nothing burns.  Work that curry paste into the ginger and garlic.

Add 1 can coconut milk.  If you can find a light version of this, go ahead and use it to cut down on the fat content.  I had this in my pantry and wanted to use it up.

Also add 2 tsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and 1 can chicken stock.

I didn't get a picture of this either, but you'll want to thick this a little.  So put 3 Tbsp flour in a bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup water until there aren't any lumps.  While stirring the sauce in the stock pot, add the flour/water.

Now for the chicken.  The best thing to use for curry are the thighs.  The meat is so tender and juicy and practically falls off the bone when it's all cooked.  So delicious.

Put the thighs in a ziploc and sprinkle in a little flour, salt, and pepper.  Shake to coat it all.

Put a little oil in a skillet and heat over medium.  Add the chicken thighs and fry on each side until they're nice and golden.  Remove from the pan and let sit on a plate.

Then add the prepped veggies and saute until the potatoes start getting translucent on all sides.  Season with a little Thai basil.  If you don't have Thai basil, use regular.  I used about 1 1/2 tsp.

Add the chicken and sauteed vegetables to the curry.  Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce the heat and cover the pot with a lid.  Allow to cook for 20-30 minutes.  Season with a little salt.

Serve over rice.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_151d9vg6tsz

.curry chicken with rice.

When I was a teenager, my mom got a recipe from my great grandmother for curry chicken with rice. She called it curry chicken.. but that is too undescriptive. It conjurs images of the soupy indian dish, which this isn't. About a year ago, I emailed my mom asking her to get me a copy of it, because I was craving it. I don't like curry normally, but this has very subtle flavor, which paired with the veggies and chicken is perfect!

She told me she had no idea what I was talking about, but checked anyway. She couldn't find it. Well, fast forward to about a month or two ago, I get a card in the mail from my mom and tucked inside was..... THE RECIPE! She really DID have it! HA! (see mom, it WASN'T just my imagination!) Not only did she give me a typed copy of the recipe, but she attached a copy of the original written by my Grandma's own hand! She passed away almost 7 years ago so this is something I'll treasure.

I needed to take a dish to a potluck and thought I would make this. I doubled the recipe so what you see in the photos? Cut in half. :)



Cook 2 chicken breasts.


Chop up when cool to handle.


Cook up some rice. You can use white or brown. You'll need 2 cups (cooked).


Cut up some green bell pepper. 1/2 cup worth.


Dice up 1 cup onion.


Chop 1 cup celery.


Mince 2 cloves garlic.


Slice 1 cup mushrooms. You can take the easy way and buy them presliced like I did.


Heat a little oil in a skillet and saute the garlic for 30 seconds.


Add the onion, pepper, and celery.


Season with salt and pepper.


When the onions are soft and transparent, add the mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes.

Add 2 tsp curry powder. Mix well.


Put the rice in a large bowl.


Add the chicken and sauteed veggies. Mix well.


Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup.


Mix everything together really well. If you want, add 1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds. It gives this dish a little crunch.


Dump everything into a casserole dish and bake at 350* for 1/2 hour.

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_99c4j5t7gp