The NJ Report: January 2011

Monday, January 10, 2011

Coconut lime shrimp soup

This amazing soup is tangy, sweet, creamy, and spicy! But it's light! Everyone who's tried this soup loves it! I've made several times with my sisters Kaye and Adrienne and then for the third time with sous chef Ashley Rae for Heather's birthday, which we celebrated in Charleston recently. Since the birthday girl loved it so much I'm adding the recipe that I made to the blog, which I adapted from food.com. Easy recipe! Enjoy!

Serves 6-8

You will need:

1 tpsp olive oil
4 tbsp pickled ginger minced
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 tpsp red pepper flakes
2 cups matchstick carrots (cut in half if the carrots are too long)
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
3 cups of low sodium chicken broth
3 oz angel hair pasta, noodles broken in thirds
2 cups of shrimp peeled
1/4 cup of fresh lime juice (or juice of two limes)
Salt
4 scallions sliced

1. Over medium heat, heat the oil, pickled ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large soup stock pot. Saute for about 1-2 minutes. This step is quite fragrant!

2. Add the carrots, coconut milk, and three cups of chicken broth, and bring it to a boil.

3. Add the pasta, bring to boil, then reduce heat and cook until the noodles are al dente. It should take about 4-5 minutes.

4. Add shrimp to the pot until they turn pink, about 1 minute.

5. Remove from heat, add lime juice, salt if desired, and serve with scallions on top as garnish!

Lots of Love! NJ

Cold weather is perfect for this!

It was soooo icy cold in the Lowcountry today, Mount Pleasant Police and the SC Department of Transportation closed both bridges that I use to get to work in West Ashley! My boss told me I should go around town and take pictures of what I saw...

Icicles on a police cruiser

Ice melting from a tree

Cops not letting me or other drivers onto Ravenel Bridge

"Ravenel Bridge Closed"

So back to the title of this blog... I guess a day like today is perfect for soup! I made a sweet potato soup from some sweet potatoes that William's sweet aunt and uncle gave us last week. It was a quick and simple recipe and quite tasty. Enjoy and stay warm!

Steamy, creamy sweet potato soup

Grab these items:
4 Sweet Potatoes
1 small diced onion (I used two diced shallots)
1 minced garlic clove
2 diced celery stalks
2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tpsp ginger
1/8 tpsp nutmeg
1/8 tpsp cinnamon
2 cans of chicken broth
1/2 cup of half and half (or skim milk)
S&P
A food processor or blender

1. Boil four sweet potatoes until tender, peel them, and chop into one inch cubes.

2. In a soup stock pot, over low heat saute one small diced onion, one minced garlic clove, and two diced celery sticks in olive oil for about five minutes.

3. Measure out the ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

4. The next step you must do in batches. Find someone who isn't accident prone (for me it's the husband!) and pour about half of the sweet potatoes, half of the sauteed veggies, half of the seasonings, and one can of chicken broth and puree it in the food processor until smooth. Then do the other half of the contents and the remaining can of broth.

5. Return all contents into the stock pot and add a half cup of half and half, salt and pepper if desired. Simmer until nice and warm.

6. I even garnished it with parsley flakes!

Lots of Love! NJ

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Playing catch up on the blog . . .

Twas a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I spent a few days in NYC visiting Kaye and touring the city with some of my best friends. I celebrated NYE at Kimmi's Masquerade party. Then I dressed up like my favorite animal with some co-workers and splashed around at the beach in 40-something degree water! Check it out!