This is my most favourite soup in the whole world. If ever you go out for Thai food and you don’t know what to get, tom kha gai is a safe choice that everyone loves. The creamy rich sweet and tangy coconut broth, infused with lemongrass and kaffir lime and humming with a hint of red chili is simply good enough to eat on its own. Add in tender chicken and plump mushrooms which soak up all the yummy flavours and you will be just as addicted to this soup as I am.
My sister, our friend and I went to one of my favourite restaurants while we were in Edmonton. Syphay specializes in Thai and Laos cuisine and I am endlessly striving to emulate their amazing Tom Kha Gai. Since we returned I’ve made this soup 2 times, learning along the way the perfect balance of sweet, sour, spicy and creamy which this soup is so famous for. Often I become obsessed with certain dishes until I get them just right, part of this blog is that it forces me to create a document of recipes which I won’t ever be able to lose. Cause yeah, I’m kinda disorganized like that. I love this soup alongside a thai curry and jasmine rice, or just as a simple lunch. It’s perfect served with a wedge of lime, chopped cilantro, sprouts, and maybe a heaped spoonful of chile sauce, or maybe not. I may or may not have made this before on the blog, but it’s slightly different, I know I’m obsessed,I’ll get over it once I make Tom Kha 10 more times this cold month of January.
The ultimate in comfort food, these crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside little sweet potato cakes are the latkes great cousin. Super simple and consisting of about 5 ingredients, you just can’t go wrong. Top them with anything from lox to caviar, guacamole to a fried egg- the possibilities are endless.
Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi‘s recipe, I have simply made a gluten free version with a zippy lemon-chile yogurt sauce. I’ve been cooking with sweet potatoes a lot lately as baby Mav just loves them, he’s my kinda guy. Ottolenghi is a huge inspiration, his cookbooks make vegetables look as exciting as skydiving off Mount Corcovado.
It’s sunny and beautiful out and the massive pile of snow is swiftly melting down, the igloo J built has caved in on itself and winter seems to be dissipating for the time being. So I’m going to keep this short and sweet, just like these little cakes, and go for a jaunt in Vitamin D land out there.
TA-DA! Winter doldrums be gone, chocolate cream pie has arrived to banish you until next week! For real, what’s better than a hazelnut-almond shortbread crust topped with decadent chocolate laden with a top secret ingredient, layered with airy whipped coconut cream?
Secret ingredient: Sweet potato has passed the test and gone completely undetected by my guinea pig, twice. Have no fear, the small amount of sweet potato adds oomph and body without any characteristic taste whatsoever. Kinda like sweet potato brownies, only better.
Plus you don’t even have to bake it and the longer it stays in the fridge the better it gets, win and win.
Another excellent cure for the bare bottomed blues of winter is to rearrange all the furniture in your entire house.
My house is very small so this was easy and deeply satisfying. Not a bad excuse to clean sneaky lurking dust bunnies either. I realized there was a giant pointless shelf in my kitchen which did nothing but occupy space and clutter. Be gone useless shit, I don’t need you anymore.
Have you ever rearranged a room and thought, how did I ever not have it this way? How the hell could I ever have lived with this room any other way?!
Sitting in my newly arranged living room, noshing on a luscious creamy piece of pie and watching my giant wolf dog allow my baby to hug his neck, life doesn’t seem like it could get much better. But just like the way the furniture was fine before, things can always get better.
1 C roasted hazlenuts ( you can substitute for almonds or almond meal if you wish)
2 Tbs coconut sugar or raw cane sugar
½ C coconut oil, melted
¼ C raw cacao paste OR powder
1 C raw cashews, soaked for at least an hour and up to 8
½ tsp vanilla extract
⅓ tsp sea salt
½ C sweet potato, steamed or roasted
3 Tbs honey or maple syrup
1 can coconut milk, thoroughly chilled to separate the coconut cream from the liquid
Instructions
In a blender or food processor, pulverize the almonds and hazelnuts into a fine meal consistency. In a large bowl mix with sugar and 2 Tbs coconut oil. Press this mix into a pie plate making sure to bring it up nice and high on the sides and press firmly to set in place. Set aside in the fridge or freezer while you make the filling.
In a blender or food processor add cashews, sweet potato, cacao, coconut oil, vanilla, salt and honey or maple syrup. Blend until smooth and add about 2 Tbs of the liquid from your coconut milk. Pour onto the crust and allow to set in the fridge for half and hour at least.
To make the coconut whipped cream, add the separated cream to a stand mixer or whisk by hand until light and fluffy. Pour over chocolate layer and chill before serving.
A 5 ft pile of snow greeted us upon arriving home 2 days ago, since then we’ve been pleasantly nestled in our little home insulated with fresh powder. It feels so good to be home, our vacation in the city was wonderful but coming back to stillness and the scent of wood burning just feels right. Who would’ve thought a prairie girl would feel so comforted in the hands of mother mountain. The powers only gone out a handful of times since we got back and though you always think a million things will have changed in 2 weeks, everything remains the same. Aside from baby Mav nearly walking, yes at 9 months he is walking with the help of kitchen chairs and the mini car that his grandma got him. I’m not ready for this, it’s all happened so fast. A year ago he was a mere little bump, today he is an endlessly curious ball of energy. We tried our hand at mom and baby yoga class. Discovered that this is ideal for babies who aren’t yet movers and shakers. It was fun none the less, but I don’t think my boy is the next Iyengar.
Coming home to an empty fridge and belly is both daunting and exciting. I hate waste so I always make sure that everything perishable is enjoyed before leaving for a trip. If not, I give it all away, because there’s nothing worse than returning home to moldy kale leaves. Now we restock, oh what fun. Unfortunately we are relatively snowed in and a trip to town isn’t high on the list of priorities. After driving for 15 hours there must be at least a 3 day reprieve, at least. Simple comfort foods do the trick in this instance, and today this jalapeño and bacon cream of mushroom soup really hit the nail on the head. It’s dead simple, really, I don’t even have any chicken stock made so I had to opt for water and flavourful additions like smoky bacon, crispy garlic chips and a bit of kick with the jalapeño. I am in love, so is J, normally he is considerate and leaves me a little after the second serving but today he gobbled up all the leftovers and left not a crumb. Whatever. You can definitely make this soup paleo friendly by using coconut cream instead of heavy cream. I hope you love this decadent mushroom soup as much as I do.
1½ lb mushrooms (whatever types available to you), sliced
1 Tbs butter or ghee
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp fresh cracked pepper
3 C water
1½ C heavy cream or 1½ C coconut cream
3 cloves garlic, sliced
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
Instructions
In a large pot melt the butter and add chopped onion, when onion is translucent, add mushrooms (save a handful), thyme, salt and pepper and allow this to cook down for a few minutes.
In a skillet or frying pan, add the chopped bacon and let it release some fat before adding garlic, jalapeño and a handful of sliced mushrooms. Let the bacon get nice and crispy and the mushrooms golden brown.
When the mushrooms and onions have cooked down, add water and cream and simmer for a few minutes. Using a hand mixer or transferring to a blender until smooth and creamy.
Serve the soup with a generous helping of crispy bacon, garlic and jalapeño and enjoy.
Hey guys, woweeee it’s officially 2015, happy new year to you all and I hope it’s the best yet! I’ve seen a lot of talk around of people starting their cleanses and whole 30 resets come January so I thought I would start the year off with a delicious salad recipe suitable for any of your new years challenges. I myself really need to give my adrenals a break and stop drinking so much coffee. Aside from that, I’ve really questioned my belief in setting new years resolutions this year. Every day is an opportunity to set goals and make changes. Every moment a chance to change and improve.
It’s been awhile since I made a real shin diggery of a new years affair. Last night was no different, though we did have a little dance party with classic hits on much more retro, kool and the gang anyone? When we got close to midnight my dad tried to turn on Dicks countdown but instead got stuck on some interactive channel where you find santa, the credits were already playing by the time we got to the right channel. Kisses and hugs and a tired baby wondering why everyones clobbering him ensued. We’ve been having such a wonderful visit with the family, I came here prepared to be productive but it’s all fallen to the wayside. Food photography on location isn’t our strong suit but hey, it’s a learning curve. We have been eating some amazing food, including a brined turkey, which I wanted to post on but it got gobbled up too fast to take any photos. I will recreate it to share, promise, it was just too good not to.
This salad is super simple and it has all those lovely pad thai flavours. Normally when I make this dressing I add all sorts of thai flare like lemongrass and fish sauce but here at my parents those ingredients weren’t so handy, so I simplified it and it’s still delicious. There’s a huge snow storm today so our trip home has been postponed until further notice. In the meantime I’ll just imagine i’m perusing the amazing food markets of Thailand.
Just a little ditty that you might want to save for a special dinner, new years perhaps? I love scallops and seldom indulge, but once in awhile I can’t help myself. I pull into the parking lot where the resident fish bus is parked and load up on the good stuff from the coast. J despises the fact that anyone sells fish out of a school bus, so I make sure to go when he’s not with me. It’s not like the guys got salmon filets on the unwashed seats of school kids, I mean it’s all gutted and filled with freezers, what’s the big deal?
There are really so many ways to become enamoured with these little ocean morsels, seared, covered in butter and salt and pepper is my preferred method, super simple is sometimes best. You could serve these beauties with a nice mash, or grilled veggies, some steamed spinach and thick balsamic glaze or of course crispy shallots and sautéed kale with tamari.
So our celebrations are complete, we rang in the solstice with gift giving and a wonderful meal. J got me two handmade Japanese knives that are sharper than a serpents tooth. I mean they are the sharpest knives I’ve ever used, I barely touched a cucumber and it sliced right through. So now I’m trying to come up with a dish that involves copious amounts of finely chopped vegetables to show off the majesty of these knives. Any suggestions? Too bad I made french onion soup with ten onions last week with my incredibly dull knives.
Perfect Seared Scallops with Crispy Shallots and Kale
Author: Chantelle
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
10 scallops
1 Tbs+1 tsp clarified butter or ghee
1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil
salt+pepper
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
1 tsp tamari
1 shallot, very finely sliced
Instructions
Thoroughly dry the scallops and lightly sprinkle salt and pepper, heat a cast iron pan and add the clarified butter and oil, when it starts to smoke add the scallops, don't overcrowd the pan. Cook scallops for approx. 2 minutes per side, depending on their size it may take a bit less or more time. Refrain from turning unnecessarily as they won't brown up as nicely.
In a separate frying pan, heat up some more oil or clarified butter and add the shallot. Fry until crispy, add the kale and tamari and cover for 2 minutes until kale is nice and soft.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
