A Hot and Sour December Day

We're officially in the middle of December. It seems crazy to think that Christmas is a mere 12 days away. (And a partridge in a pear tree) I've gotten most of my holiday shopping done and am just picking away at the loose ends at this point. We've taken our Christmas photo for the year (though none of them really turned out well) and the tree is decorated and has presents under it (and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care) and my car radio is essentially permanently stuck on a non-stop Christmas music station. We're in full swing here, people!

But it's funny. You know, December in the great white north --- except it's not white. No, it's actually rainy. Not freezing rainy that poses potential threats with ice and heavy power lines. No it's a balmy 50 degrees and yesterday it didn't stop raining for even one minute. If it were snow, we'd have a foot on the ground right now. But it's rain and instead I have a puddle in my yard. I woke up this morning and the thermometer outside showed a warm 55 degrees. I cringe. I live in fear that we will have a winter without a good snow. It's ridiculous to think that, but I still worry.

This morning started off good. I was productive. Tossed some laundry in the washer and started some hot and sour soup (recipe to follow) that seemed too easy to be true. Things were going well. It was 10:30 and I had just settled down with a taste test of soup and I got a call from work. The cashier hadn't shown up. So I'm immediately tossed into scramble-mode. I switched my laundry to the drier, doled out the soup into to-go containers, got dressed, speed-straightened my hair, did my makeup, etc, etc. And out the door in 30 minutes flat! I find that somewhere between miraculous and phenomenal.

The soup was damn amazing, but the rest of the day has kind of been an exhausting drag. Believe me when I say I'm glad to have tomorrow off to get some nice R&R. I am contemplating trying to make another round of this soup using a vegetable stock or bouillon instead of the chicken stock. This hot and sour soup recipe was quick, easy, and really delicious! I felt like I was eating at a yummy Chinese restaurant and there wasn't even MSG!

For some reason, a good hot and sour soup recipe seems to be coveted. I've already had a few requests from work for this soup. I'm just glad I found an easy, authentic-tasting, not-from-a-packet recipe! Not to mention that it's low fat....

If you like your hot and sour soup with meat, replace 1/2 C. of mushrooms with 1/2 C. of pork or chicken.

Hot and Sour Soup

• 4 C. chicken broth or stock
  
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 c. mushrooms, diced
• 1/3 c. frozen or fresh peas
• 1/2 Tbsp. garlic chili sauce (Sriracha)
• 1/4 Tsp. ground pepper (Cracked pepper - regular powdered pepper will NOT give you the same taste)
• 1/4 C. white vinegar
• 1/3 C. canned bamboo shoots, julienned
• 3 oz firm tofu, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I used Nasoya and had good results but be careful, a block of tofu is usually 14-16 oz and you only need 3 oz for this recipe)
• 2 Tbsp. corn starch
• 2 Tbsp. cold water
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 green onions, including stalks, diced
• 1/2 Tsp. sesame oil

1. Bring the broth to a simmer, and add soy sauce, mushrooms and garlic chili sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add the pepper, vinegar, bamboo shoots, tofu and peas. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Combine the cornstarch and water until very smooth and milky, and then add to soup and stir well. Simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Stir in beaten egg in a slow stream. Don't dump it all at once.
5. Wait 30 seconds and add green onions and sesame oil. Remove from heat.
6. Serve!
   

A story, a beginning, and a recipe

If you had asked me when I was twelve where on the map New Hampshire was I am not sure I'd be able to tell you if it was even an American state. So how did I end up here? How did a little Memphis, Tennessee girl end up going from a state that gets one inch of snow annually to a state where you're lucky if you get only two feet in a year? It's all because of the internet. No, no... I didn't google "coldest places to live in the USA" - I just fell in love. On the internet.

I met my husband when I was thirteen. Obviously he wasn't my husband now. In fact I thought he was a freaking weirdo because, being fourteen, he thought it was "wicked" cool to use jive talk from the sixties. Cool Cat. Well somehow we ended up talking...and talking...and talking... for years. Four years to be exact. We talked from ages thirteen to seventeen. Then we decided to meet. It was the summer before I was headed to college in Missouri. Well the second he was off the plane it was decided - it was love and we knew it.

I finished college, and not having any particular ties to any specific part of the US (I had been moved from house to house - never staying in the same place more than 2 years - and eventually moved from Tennessee to Mississippi.) I packed up my 1999 Ford Taurus in 2008 with all the belongings I could possibly cram, and two dogs, and a boyfriend, and we drove from Missouri to New Hampshire - Damn that's a long drive.

We were married shortly after, and just celebrated our two year anniversary, and that is how I ended up here. With no real plans to leave. The truth of the matter is that I have a job I love, and I live somewhere I feel safe, and I am just a stone's throw from the culture of Boston or the ocean or the moose of Maine and Canada. It's a great place. Cold, but great.

We now rent a house that's in the family, and it's still flaunting its mid 20th century Youngstown Teppan range and oven. The double-oven was partly out of commission until today when it was repaired, so I am starting this blog in honor of that (and because I love to cook - but this is more romantic). I'm ecstatic to have my in-oven rotisserie back in operation, and even though only two of the four of the eyes on my rangetop work and they have one heat (hot, and hot) - I can't explain how glad I was that we didn't have to have it replaced. There is something beyond romantic about my retro house. We've settled into its retro-ness. We've made it ours.

Here is a recipe I made just yesterday. I was trying desperately to find something that would recreate the delicious Thai Butternut Squash soup I had at the Salem,MA New England Soup Factory. I lucked upon this recipe from Allotment 2 Kitchen that had a good base soup that I ran with. I had never had a butternut squash until I attended my first Yankee Thanksgiving with my husband's parents, so to me it's the most New England vegetable in existence and quite appropriate for a first blog post.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

• 400 ml (1.7 cups) light coconut milk
• 4 tsp. Thai red curry paste
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pint (2 cups) vegetable stock
• Zest of half a lime
• 1 medium/large butternut squash (about 4 cups cubed)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Roast the butternut squash in a tablespoon of olive oil at 400°F for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender. Be careful not to let the squash over brown or burn.
2. Either mash or puree the squash. I think pureeing at this stage will provide a better texture for the finished soup.
3. In a large 6 to 8 cup pot, whisk together all the ingredients until smooth.
4. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer gently on medium heat for 15 minutes (you can imagine how much fun simmering something is on a stovetop that only functions on the high heat setting).
5. Taste for spice and consistency. Add more red curry paste or lime zest to taste. If the consistency is not smooth at this point, pureeing will provide a smooth, whipped consistency that is very creamy. If your squash was overly large (They grow huge up here!), consider adding some heavy cream or more coconut milk.

Serves 5

Nutrition: Calories 150, Carbs 23g, Fat 6g, Protein 1g