Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry Soup

Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry Soup

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons red curry paste
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon curry powder (I used McCormick)
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
4 mushrooms, chopped
3-4 red potatoes, chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs, or tenders, or bone-in breasts or thighs)
1 (14.5oz) can coconut milk
4 tablespoons cilantro, plus more for serving (or less if you're not really into cilantro)

Directions:
Combine first 11 ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours. Add coconut milk and cilantro and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through shred it. If you used bone-in chicken be sure to remove the bones.

Notes:
Bone-in chicken will give a heartier more chicken-rich flavor to the soup.

Adjust the amount of curry paste to your preference. If you're using a grocery store curry paste it won't be as spicy as a curry paste purchased at an ethnic foods store. You can also make this soup with green or yellow curry paste, so adjust to suit your preference.

If you like your food on the spicy side Sriracha makes a nice addition to the soup. If you're sharing the soup with others wait until the soup is served and add the desired amount to each bowl.

If you don't use ginger often you can slice or mince the remainder of the root and freeze it. Place the minced ginger into a resealable freezer bag and press it out flat. Next time you need ginger for a recipe open the baggie and break off a chunk!

These potatoes will come out quite soft. If you prefer your potatoes on the firmer side either add them in half way through the cooking time, or cut them into larger chunks.

Recipe Testing: October 2015

I made this simple Baked Ziti dish and served it with garlic bread & salad. It was tasty, but not a big hit with my husband. He isn't a big fan of tomato sauces, but I'm still hopeful in my quest to find a tomato based pasta dish he'll like!

We don't eat much seafood, so I decided to branch out and make Lemon Garlic Tilapia. Served with mashed potatoes & asparagus. This was really good, and I'd make it again. I used frozen tilapia filets and next time I think I'd hunt down something really fresh.

I was given a ton of pears from the pear tree on the farm and decided to make an open face apple pie style pear pie. I based the filling off of this Apple Pie recipe, with the only differences being that I used pears & brown sugar. I made the crumb topping from this Apple Pie recipe, using chopped pecans.

I spent a good amount of time trying to catch loose pigs on the farm, and in payment I was given a ham steak. I'd never made ham steak so I found this recipe for Maple Glazed Ham Steak. I don't like maple syrup much so I used honey instead. I served it with baked potatoes & green beans. The glaze was tasty and I might use it for pork chops or tenderloin in the future!

I made White Chicken Enchiladas from the Pioneer Woman's website, and true to all her recipes they turned out delicious! Unlike many recipes I try, I followed this one exactly. I think frying the tortillas really helps them maintain their texture. This dish felt very "comfort food" to me, tasty cheesy creamy gooey goodness :)

I made burgers on the stovetop recently, and found this info from TheKitchn to be very helpful!

We ran out of the waffle mix my husband loves, Stonewall Kitchen Farmhouse Mix, so I made this Waffles I recipe. It was tasty, but didn't turn out as crispy as the usual mix.

Cream Cheese Danish Recipe

Cream Cheese Danish

Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (I use kosher salt)
1 package (2 sheets) puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water (eggwash)

Directions:
Prior to starting you'll want to set the cream cheese and puff pastry out at room temperature to soften and thaw, respectively.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can preheat the oven in a bit.

Combine the cream cheese and sugar in a medium size bowl and stir until smooth. Add the lemon zest, vanilla, egg yolk & salt. Stir until just combined.

Unfold the puff pastry and cut each sheet into 4 squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle of each square. Brush all edges with eggwash and fold each pastry into a triangle. Press down the edges with a fork to seal. Brush the tops of the pastries with eggwash and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Bake pastries for 20 - 25 minutes, until golden and puff pastry is cooked through.