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: July 2015

When discussing different ways to use ground beef my husband mentioned Hamburger Helper type meals, minus the pre-processed taste. After some googling I decided to make Taco Mac n' Cheese (found in this article discussing ways to enhance boxed mac n' cheese) and was really impressed! We wolfed down way more than I anticipated. I made a few alterations:

• used half a pound of local grass fed 90/10 ground beef
• added half an onion, finely chopped
• added half a red bell pepper, finely chopped
• added 1 can diced green chilis
• added 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
• added taco seasoning & water per instructions and simmered a few minutes
• added ~1 cup freshly grated cheddar and prepared mac n' cheese to taco beef skillet, stirring to combine
• topped skillet with a layer of freshly grated cheddar & layer crushed corn chips
• broiled on high ~8 inches from heat until cheese is melted

*****

I got a good deal on Boursin cheese spreads and used one to create this Creamy Chicken and Herb Skillet. I found this to be on the far-too-rich side, but my husband really enjoyed it. I served it with steamed asparagus and these Extra Crispy Tossed Potatoes. The potatoes really did turn out crispy, which was impressive considering the minimal amount of oil. The olive oil flavor really predominated the potatoes, though, and I think the addition of minced garlic or another strong flavor would compliment them well.

*****

My husband requested I make Pepperoni Garlic Knots, but I didn't have pizza dough ready to go so instead I offered to make these Easy Pepperoni Rolls. We decided to add some variety to our Pepperoni Rolls by sauteing the pepperoni with minced onion, garlic, and mushrooms before adding it to the biscuit with the cheese. These turned out okay. Next time I would bake them on a baking sheet instead of a pan, and I would try to make them with less dough.

*****

I had left over biscuits (4 total) and decided to make Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread. I winged the amounts for most of the ingredients (trying my best to make 1/4 of the recipe) and wound up with a single layer in my pan, but it turned out super tasty! This would definitely be one to make again.

*****

I made Chocolate Chip Cookies as well. My favorite recipe is still the one on the back of the bag of Nestle chocolate chips. Simple ingredients make for the best cookies. A great tip I learned a few years back for baking cookies is to refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes prior to (and between batches) baking for chewier cookies, or leave the dough room temperature for crunchy cookies!

*****

I made these Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls for dinner one night and found it created a TON of food. The rice was pretty sticky; next time I'd make it separately. I used this as taco filling for another dinner and it was very tasty. I still have more in the fridge and I think I'll make some freezer burritos with it!

Weekly Meal Plan: Mon, Sept. 23 - Sun, Sept. 29

Mon, Sept. 23:
Garlic Lemon Roast Chicken, Steamed Green Beans, Freezer Fries, and Leftover Hush Puppies

Tues, Sept. 24:
Leftover Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup with Tortilla Chips, Grated Cheddar, Sour Cream, and Pickled Jalapeno Toppings

Weds, Sept. 25:
Slow Cooker Brats with Onions, [Non-Greek]Roast Potatoes, and Baked Zucchini

Thurs, Sept. 26:
Slow Cooker Indonesian Chicken in Peanut Sauce over Jasmine Rice

Fri, Sept. 27:
Spicy Pork Sausage and Breadcrumb Stuffed Acorn Squash and Toasted French Bread

Also make: Lemon Blueberry Rice Pudding, Cream of Potato Soup, and Amish Friendship Bread Waffle Batter

Sat, Sept. 28:
Chicken Nachos

Sun, Sept. 29:
Alton's Perfect Potstickers, Improvised Asian Pork Dumplings, and Improvised Asian Stir Fry over Jasmine Rice

Weekly Meal Plan: Mon, Sept. 9 - Sun, Sept. 15

Mon, Sept. 9:
Pork, Zucchini, and Mushroom Stir Fry over Jasmine Rice

Tues, Sept. 10:
Pizza and Garlic Cheese Bread

Weds, Sept. 11:
Chicken, Mushroom, Potato, and Cheese Flautas

Thurs, Sept. 12:
Dinner out at Horsemasters

Fri, Sept. 13:
Slow Cooker Spicy Country Ribs, Mac n' Cheese, and Salad

Also make: Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Sat, Sept. 14:
Slow Cooker Brats with Sauerkraut and Potatoes and Steamed Green Beans

Also make: Amish Friendship Bread Pie Crust

Sun, Sept. 15:
Ranch Style Chicken, Leftover Mac n' Cheese, and Salad

Also make: Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup, Amish Friendship Monkey Bread and Amish Friendship Bread Cheesy Dilly Rolls

Crock Pot Stock

Crock Pot Stock

Ingredients:
Bones & other remnants from 1 cooked chicken (you can use bones from multiple split chicken breasts, from a de-boned rotisserie, or really any combination of chicken bones you've got! You can also keep a gallon bag in your freezer and add bones from cooked chicken as it adds up, and make stock once you've got enough - roughly 2/3 gallon bag).
1 onion, quartered with skins left on
3 garlic cloves, skins left on
2 celery stalks, chopped lengthwise into thirds
1 - 2 carrots, chopped into manageable sizes
4 - 5 black peppercorns (if you have them)
water to almost fill your crock pot

You can make variations to this by using different aromatic vegetables. Fennel is nice. You don't always need carrots and celery either. Mix it up and be creative!

Directions:
Add all ingredients to the crock pot, filling with water to 1 inch below the brim. Top and set on high for 5 hours, then reduce heat and cook on low for another 5 hours.

Using a mesh strainer separate your broth from remaining ingredients.

Allow broth to cool on the counter until close to room temperature.

Place broth in refrigerator overnight.

Skim congealed fat off top of stock and toss out. Separate stock into manageable containers and store as desired.

Stock can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days, or can be frozen for several months. I prefer to divide my stock into ice cube trays and 2 cup containers before freezing so that I can either add a bit of stock to a sautee dish or use 2 cups at a time to create soups or sauces.