Thai Corn Soup

I love Thai flavors but find that when I cook them at home, I end up muddling them too far with Indian flavors, and then I don't really end up with Thai food, but with some sort of weird hybrid. I came across this recipe and it had great reviews so I decided to try it. When I followed the recipe, it came out sort of bland, so I added a few extra touches of my own the second time, to spice it up.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon light olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 to 5 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into short, narrow strips

Two 15-ounce cans light coconut milk

1½ cups rice milk

One 16-ounce bag frozen corn

2 teaspoons good quality curry powder

¼ teaspoon Thai red curry paste, more or less to taste

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

½ cup minced fresh cilantro

I added:

1 green chili, diced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of Thai red curry paste (instead of 1/4 teaspoon)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oil in a small soup pot. Add the garlic, the white parts of the scallions, and the bell pepper. Add green chili here, if you choose. Sauté over medium-low heat until softened and golden, about 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Add the coconut milk, rice milk, corn, curry powder, the green parts of the scallions. If using the curry paste, dissolve it in a small amount of water before adding to the soup. I also added three fourths of the cilantro and the lemon juice here.

3. Bring to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Season with salt and remove from the heat.

4. Serve, passing around the cilantro for topping.

YUMMY!

Quick Whipped Potatoes

One of the BEST wedding gifts I received was my Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer. It has made my life so much easier… particularly because I LOVE whipped potatoes. And so does my husband. And so does anyone that comes over to my house for dinner. And the best thing is… everyone thinks they are so labor intensive and time consuming. Well, not if you have a stand mixer!



You can make them with or without skins. I prefer with skins for two reasons: (1) it adds elements of color and texture to your potatoes and (2) it is easier and faster to make than without skins.

What you’ll need:

4 pounds of white or red potatoes
2 to 5 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter (you can skip this, if you want)
Salt to taste

(1) Peel potatoes if you want your whipped potatoes to have no skin. Dice the potatoes into pieces about 2 inches by 2 inches (you can quarter small potatoes, and cut larger ones into 6ths or 8ths).
(2) Boil potatoes in a pot of boiling, lightly salted water until they are cooked through and soft.
(3) Drain the cooked potatoes. Using the whip attachment on your stand mixer, add them into the bowl. Turn the setting on mix (not faster!).
(4) As the potatoes begin to mash, slowly add in butter (if desired). Add in cream slowly. You can add more or less cream depending on the consistency you are looking for.
(5) Once added, you can turn the whipping speed up one notch. Be careful to avoid splattering.
(6) That’s it! Plate and serve alone or with toppings like chopped chives, gravy, or cilantro pesto.