I love pho soup but we dont have any Vietnamese restaurants in Kodiak. So I did some routing around online and found an easy pho soup recipe that can be cooked up in about 30 minutes. Also, I dont own a tea infuser so I used a coffee filter to hold the spices and tied it shut with thread. It worked quite nicely. Here's the recipe, I forgot to take a picture, so I will update this the next time I make it.
Faux Pho Soup
Ingredients
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 5/8 ounces fresh ginger, 2- 1/2 inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 1/2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 star anise
• 5 whole cloves
• 1 large skinless, boneless chicken breast, trimmed
• 4 ounces rice stick noodles or udon noodles
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 1 or 2 limes, cut into wedges
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• Sriracha Hot Chili sauce
• Soy sauce
• Red bell peppers sliced
Directions
1. Cook noodles according to the directions on the package, then drain and set aside in a large serving bowl.
2. Combine chicken broth, onion slices, fish sauce and chicken in a soup pot; bring to a simmer.
3. In a tea infuser, add the whole cloves, sliced ginger, garlic, star anise and place in the soup pot with the chicken.
4. Simmer the chicken, vegetables and spice mixture for about 30 minutes, until chicken is tender and cooked through.
5. Remove chicken and cool it until you can cut into small pieces, then place back into the simmering soup pot.
6. Remove the tea infuser, discard ingredients inside.
7. Ladle the soup into the large serving bowl with the noodles.
8. Add the red bell pepper, green onions, cilantro and lime. Drizzle in some sriracha and soy sauce.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Strawberry Chardonnay Smoothies
Its actually a nice day here in Kodiak which makes it the perfect time for some delicious alcoholic smoothies! I searched the web trying to find a recipe that would use up the half a bottle of Chardonnay sitting in my fridge and found nothing, so I experimented and got fabulous results. I used half a can of Bacardi Strawberry daquiri mix that I had in my freezer along with some frozen straberries, a banana and of course chardonnay. the bacardi mix added a sweet and tart flavor that goes perfect with the dry fruity chardonnay and the banana adds a little creaminess. Heres the recipe:
Strawberry Chardonnay Smoothies
- 3 cups frozen strawberries
- 1/2 can bacardi strawberry daquiri mix (juice concentrate would work too)
- 1 banana
- 2 cups chardonnay (champagne or sparkling wine would work well too)
Monday, August 9, 2010
A Passion Fuit Challenge
I was recently asked to make a passion fruit cake for a friends birthday. I had never worked with passion fruit and I quickly learned that it is not something easily found in Kodiak, Alaska. But I searched around and finally came accross Torani Passion Fruit Syrup. Its very sugary compared to the unsweetened fruit juice that my recipe called for so I had to make a few tweaks, but it ended up turning out amazing!
Passion Fruit Chiffon Cake with Passion Fruit Mousse Filling
and Buttercream Frosting:
SERVES 15
MAKES one 9.5” three layer cake
Ingredients:
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 eggs, separated
2 lemons, zest of
3/4 cup Torani passion fruit syrup
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Mousse Filling
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup Torani passion fruit syrup
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup Torani passion fruit syrup (measure separately)
2 teaspoons gelatin powder
1 cup heavy cream
Buttercream Frosting
3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter or margarine softened
1.5 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1.5 lbs.)
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons Torani Passion Fruit Syrup
For the Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. You will need three 9.5” round cake pans, greased and floured.
2. Into a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Make a wide well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add in the following order, without mixing, the oil, egg yolks, the lemon zest and passion fruit syrup. With a large wire whisk, beat until smooth. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they hold a stiff peak when the beaters are raised. They should not be beaten until they are dry.
5. In three additions, fold about ¾ of the yolk mixture into the whites. Then fold the whites into the remaining yolk mixture. Do not handle any more than necessary.
6. Gently pour the batter into the pans. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees F, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip. Cool completely.
~~~~
For the Mousse:
1. Fill a medium bowl with ice water; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine eggs, sugar and 1/3 cup passion fruit syrup. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, immediately add the butter and stir well to combine.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine ¼ cup passion fruit syrup and 2 tablespoon cold water. Sprinkle the gelatin over the juice, let stand for 5 minutes. Place over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour the passion fruit/egg yolk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in the gelatin mixture. Place the bowl over the ice water, whisk constantly until mixture has cooled.
4. In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Whisk 1/3 of the passion fruit mixture. Then in 2 additions fold the lightened passion fruit mixture into the remaining whipped cream.
~~~~
For the butter cream:
1. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
2. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
3. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using
~~~~
To Assemble: Spread the mouse between each layer and chill atleast 1 hour. Frost all sides with the Buttercream, Decorate as desired.
and Buttercream Frosting:
SERVES 15
MAKES one 9.5” three layer cake
Ingredients:
Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 eggs, separated
2 lemons, zest of
3/4 cup Torani passion fruit syrup
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Mousse Filling
3 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup Torani passion fruit syrup
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup Torani passion fruit syrup (measure separately)
2 teaspoons gelatin powder
1 cup heavy cream
Buttercream Frosting
3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter or margarine softened
1.5 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1.5 lbs.)
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons Torani Passion Fruit Syrup
For the Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. You will need three 9.5” round cake pans, greased and floured.
2. Into a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Make a wide well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add in the following order, without mixing, the oil, egg yolks, the lemon zest and passion fruit syrup. With a large wire whisk, beat until smooth. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they hold a stiff peak when the beaters are raised. They should not be beaten until they are dry.
5. In three additions, fold about ¾ of the yolk mixture into the whites. Then fold the whites into the remaining yolk mixture. Do not handle any more than necessary.
6. Gently pour the batter into the pans. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees F, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip. Cool completely.
~~~~
For the Mousse:
1. Fill a medium bowl with ice water; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine eggs, sugar and 1/3 cup passion fruit syrup. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, immediately add the butter and stir well to combine.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine ¼ cup passion fruit syrup and 2 tablespoon cold water. Sprinkle the gelatin over the juice, let stand for 5 minutes. Place over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour the passion fruit/egg yolk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in the gelatin mixture. Place the bowl over the ice water, whisk constantly until mixture has cooled.
4. In a chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Whisk 1/3 of the passion fruit mixture. Then in 2 additions fold the lightened passion fruit mixture into the remaining whipped cream.
~~~~
For the butter cream:
1. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
2. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
3. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using
~~~~
To Assemble: Spread the mouse between each layer and chill atleast 1 hour. Frost all sides with the Buttercream, Decorate as desired.
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