Archive for May 2012

Hiking... Then A Gnome.







We went hiking. Around the back of Mt. Timpanogos. The only disappointing thing was the dirt bikes shattering the silence every 20 minutes, smelling like NOT happy flowers and trees. Here's more pictures from our Canon EOS 60D!






pretty stuff.




human beans.



gnome goes places.


We keep seeing this gnome everywhere we go. Oh well. 
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Tom Kha Gai Soup Recipe



One of the most delicious food experiences in this life is Tom Kha Gai, a thai soup made of chicken (Gaicooked (Tom) in coconut milk which has been infused with galangal (Kha), lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves. Galangal and kaffir lime leaves are hard to come by, so I use thai paste (which has all those ingredients) I found in the "asian" aisle of my grocery store. Also, I cooked my chicken alone on the stove prior to adding it to the soup because using a crock-pot to cook this soup can sometimes warrant rubbery chicken, which I like to avoid. This recipe can be pretty daunting the first time you make it, but once you stock all the ingredients its very easy. 


Traditional Tom Kha Gai is very complex in flavor and tastes so good because the flavors are perfectly balanced. I haven't tried to get it perfect, but each time I make it I get a slightly different and delicious flavor. This post is a great in depth look at the traditional way to make the soup, and is a good read if you want to understand why you would ever add fish sauce and lemongrass to coconut milk.

Crock Pot Tom Kha Gai 

1 chicken stock   2 coconut milk   3 lime juice   4 ground ginger   5 lemongrass   6 mushrooms  
7 red and green thai curry paste   8 fish sauce   9 cilantro   10 chicken



Ingredients


  • 2-3 cups chicken stock
  • 3 Kaffir lime leaves (or about 2 teaspoons each of the green and red thai curry paste I used)
  • 1-2 stalks of lemongrass, cut into inch pieces and bruise to release flavor 
  • 2-3 pieces of fresh galangal (I used about 3 teaspoons of my ground fresh ginger)
  • 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (NOT OPTIONAL)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (I used juice from a lime-shaped container)
  • 1-2 thai chili peppers (this is also in the red curry paste I use, so I don't add anything extra for that. You could use cayenne pepper, but I don't like how hot that makes this soup, and it's not a great flavor)
----------------------
  • 1 cup (or more) sliced mushrooms
  • 2 cans coconut milk
  • 2 pounds chicken breasts, sliced into bite-size strips or pieces 
  • 2-3 tablespoons cilantro (as garnish before eating)


Directions


1. Put the first section of ingredients in crock pot on high and bring to a simmer.

red and green thai curry paste
lemongrass
mmm, fish sauce!


2. Let simmer alone at least fifteen minutes to enhance flavors.
3. Add mushrooms and coconut milk and bring back up to a simmer.

mushrooms
coconut milk


4. While simmering, cook chicken pieces on stove with a little curry paste (this step is optional, but in a crock pot the chicken can become rubbery; in a pan the sugars caramelize instead of boil away).

chicken cooked with red thai curry paste


5. Put crock pot on low for 4+ hours or on high for 1-2 hours (if you didn't cook the chicken in a pan make sure to check if it's cooked through before eating). 

cooking on high

6. Garnish with cilantro before eating and enjoy! 
This recipe makes about 4-6 servings.



I get the ingredients for this soup every time I shop for groceries. In fact, I ate this while writing this post! Have you tried this recipe before? If so, what do you do differently? If not, will you  try it now?






NEXT POST: Pictures from a hike in which we brought a gnome and saw pretty things.


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New DSLR Camera: Canon EOS 60D




I have a new toy! Actually I don't even consider it a toy. It's a really freaking expensive piece of professional equipment. It's the second most expensive thing I own after my car. It's a Canon EOS 60D and it's wonderful. Here's a few of our first pictures:


i walked around.






gnome goes places.



real human beans.




That last guy there is my husband. He's my favorite subject because I like the challenge of getting his real smile to show itself. 

Here is the listing for my exact camera:


NEXT POST: Tom Kah Gai soup recipe + pictures!




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Fresh New Design


It was about time for something different. The internet needs more simple, beautiful designs. A design change also gets the ball rolling with what I'm going to be posting about soon. Just a bit more planning and I'll finally reveal it! Go ahead, click around the site. Tell me how you like it.
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