Thai Inspired Chicken Curry Soup

So I bought this new cookbook last time I was at Half Price Books. I couldn't help it, it had a photo with EVERY single recipe. (I only buy cookbooks with lots and lots of photos!) Which would lead one to think that the recipes had been tested. Apparently I was mistaken. There was a Thai Curry soup listed that looked tasty so I thought I'd try it out. When I looked closer and saw it wanted FOUR bell peppers, I got suspicious. That is a lot of bell pepper. Then for this 5 quart soup it called for one itty bitty tsp of brown sugar. Might as well leave it out! So I took the recipe and photo as an inspiration and turned out a pretty decent soup!
-Amanda

Thai inspired Chicken Curry Soup

1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp oil
2-3 tbsp curry powder
salt/ soy sauce
3-4 carrots
2 cups shredded cabbage
zest of lime
1 cup shredded pre-cooked chicken
2 cups chicken stock (I used homemade!)
1 cup water
1 can coconut milk
juice of two limes
1 tbsp fish sauce <- I'm not too familiar with this ingredient, so I could have probably used more>
1 (um, heaping...) tbsp brown sugar
cilantro leaves would have been great, but I didn't have any
cooked rice to serve over (I used brown)

Saute diced onion and garlic and lime zest in oil, keeping onion translucent. Cut bell pepper into thin strips. Cut carrot into thin strips. Add curry powder and salt to oil and onions. Then add the carrot and bell pepper. Stir in can of coconut milk, chicken broth and water. In a small bowl mix the lime juice, fish sauce and brown sugar, stir to dissolve the sugar. Add to soup. Add cooked chicken and cabbage and simmer until cabbage is done. Serve over rice.

Beef Lo Mein with Thai Peanut Sauce

I took a shortcut tonight and used a bottled sauce. One I could have made from scratch, but I had bought it before I started making sauces from scratch and I decided I wanted to try and use it up. It was pretty tasty and it was fast to throw this dinner together.
-Amanda

Beef Lo Mein with Thai Peanut Sauce

8-10 oz sirlion beef
1 red bell pepper
2 handfuls of sugar snap peas
1/2 pint of button mushrooms
3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup peanuts
1/2 cup bottled Thai Peanut Sauce
Whole wheat spaghetti noodles

Prepare noodles according to package directions.
Slice beef into very thin strips going against the grain of the meat. Cut the bell pepper into thin strips too. Slice the mushrooms. In a large pan, add some of the vegetable oil and get it very hot. Add beef but do not try to stir it right away. Let it start to sear. Then after a minute or two, stir it and cook until almost cooked through, only about 4 minutes total. Remove meat from skillet. Drain any fat. Add a bit more vegetable oil and saute vegetables until cooked through. Add beef back in and peanut sauce. Cook until meat is done. Pour over noodles and top with some raw peanuts.

Thai Steak

I don't know how authentic this is, but it sure was good! I was blog surfing yesterday (just discovered an evil way to waste a bunch of time... stumbleupon.com!) Anyway, I surfed right up to NoTakeOut.com. The site really intrigued me and I as I was browsing some of the recipes this Thai Steak caught my eye. One thing that is nice about this cooking site is that it has an entire meal planned out and tells you how to cook the entire meal in order step by step. I changed a few of the amounts and ingredients, but kept most of it the same.
-Amanda

Thai Steak, Cabbage and Lime Scented Rice

1/2 green cabbage
1 bunch cilantro
2 limes, preferably organic
1 jalapeno or other chile pepper
½ cup salted peanuts
2 tbsp Curry Powder
One 15 oz. can coconut milk
2 cups jasmine or other aromatic white rice
1-1/2 lbs. flank steak
1 tbsp + 1 tsp fish sauce, split
3 tbsp sugar, split
2 tbsp olive oil

Cook rice according to package directions. Zest one lime in the rice before it boils.

In a small pot mix coconut milk, curry powder, minced chili pepper, 2 tsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp sugar. Whisk together and let it reduce on a back burner. This takes time. This is the sauce to pour over your steak and rice. (After I finished cooking the steak, I added the steak "drippings" to this pot for more flavor.)

In a large bowl whisk 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1/4 cup of fresh lime juice + zest, 3 tbsp chopped cilantro. Chop cabbage into small strips. Add to dressing you just made and toss. Add peanuts.

Salt and pepper your steak. Squeeze some lime on it if you have any leftover. Grill until cooked, about 6-8 minutes per side on a really hot grill skillet (or outside on a grill.) Cut steak against the grain. Serve with rice and coleslaw and drizzle coconut sauce ontop of steak and rice.