Shrimp Coconut Curry Soup

Our family loves Thai food, but not the price tag of eating out. So, like I said in an earlier post, I have been on a quest in the past 2 years to learn to re-create ethnic restaurant quality food at home. I created this soup and it was a definite winner! My husband, who is crazy about Thai food, really oohed and ahhed over this soup.
Note: If you don't like fish, no problemo (sorry I don't know how to say problem in Thai-ese, just Spanish). Just substitute 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced. Sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper and brown them in the olive oil with your onions and red peppers.

Shrimp Coconut Curry Soup
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Serves 6-8

1 lb. cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (I just buy the bag of those cooked, peeled little frozen shrimps at the store. It's actually cheaper than raw shrimp. Go figure. Why it's cheaper for them to cook, peel, and de-vein it for me is a mystery that ranks right up there with why fresh pineapples cost more in Hawaii than they do on the mainland.)
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 white or yellow Onion, chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
2 cups Water
2 teaspoons Chicken Bouillon Powder, (or 2 cubes chicken bouillon)
2 14 oz. cans unsweetened light Coconut Milk
1 cup Carrots, shredded or sliced thin
1 16 oz. bag frozen Sugar Snap Peas, or 2 cups fresh Sugar Snap Peas
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce (a large bottle of this can be found @ Walmart in the Asian Food Section, it's cheap.)
2 Tablespoons Red Curry Paste (again, Asian Food Section of your grocery store.)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Lime Juice
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped

4 cups cooked Brown Rice for serving (white works too)

Rinse shrimp to defrost it with warm water. Drain and pat dry. I usually marinate it for a little while before making this in 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, a dash of fresh ground pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. This brings out and improves the flavor of your little shrimps! I just do this the morning I plan on cooking this or like 1 hour before. This is optional.
In a saucepan, heat olive oil. Add red pepper and onion, cook for about 3 minutes til softened a bit. Add water, bouillon powder, coconut milk, shrimp, carrots, peas, fish sauce, curry paste, and brown sugar. Simmer this together for about 15 minutes. Add in the lime juice and cilantro. To serve, scoop warm rice into individual bowls and ladle soup over rice. Garnish with extra cilantro if desired.

Gingered Honey-Orange Salmon

**Or if you don't like fish, use this marinade on Chicken or Steak!! I have a confession to make: I broke one of the 10 commandments the other night when I served this for dinner. While the rest of my family was chowing down and saying "this is SO good mom!", one of my 4 year old twin boys was looking at his salmon, trying to decide if he would eat it. Then he looked up and asked "Is this chicken?" Hmmm..I thought for a moment and decided that since this marinade COULD be used with chicken, it was kind of LIKE chicken. So I smiled and enthusiastically said "Kind of!!" And then he ate it! And yes, I kind of lied. But now he has adequate protein running through his little active toddler self. This is really yummy!

Gingered Honey-Orange Salmon

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1/3 cup Orange Juice, fresh squeezed or ready made
1/3 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Honey
1 Green Onion, chopped
1 heaping Tablespoon Fresh Ginger,roughly chopped
2 cloves Garlic, peeled
1 1/2 pounds Salmon or other meat

First of all if you don't normally buy fresh ginger, it is so worth buying! And if you're in the store looking at that big brown blob thinking "I won't ever use all of that", then I have a tip for you! Just bring the brown blob home, peel the whole thing, use what you need for this recipe, and then freeze the rest! Just wrap in seran wrap and place in a ziploc sandwich bag, just make sure to peel first! It is actually easier to grate once frozen and you can use it again in another delicious recipe I will be posting soon!
Ok so for the marinade, just toss all above ingredients in your blender and mix together. Reserve 1/3 cup marinade for serving. Place salmon in a shallow glass container or resealable plastic bag and coat with marinade. Marinate 30 minutes-2 hours in fridge, turning once or twice.

We loved grilled fish but find that it can flake and fall through the grill, so now I always use this no-fail trick. **Before heating your grill** place a sheet of tin foil on grill and spray it with non stick spray.


Then heat grill to medium/medium-hot and place fish on foil, skin side down if it has skin. Pour a little of the marinade the fish was in over salmon. Cover and grill for 5 minutes, check. Grill 10-15 minutes longer or til fish flakes easily with a fork. I turn salmon once when grilling if it is skinless, but the skin on kind I just cook skin side down til done. When ready to serve, heat reserved marinade and place a spoonful over each serving of fish.

Shrimp Potstickers with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce

Is your family sick of turkey and mashed potatoes and turkey sandwiches and turkey and stuffing casserole and on and on and on???? Well so is mine and so when I announced tonight that we were having Chinese food, my kids exclaimed "YAY MOM!!" This is one of our favorite things to make and eat with Asian meals. I first saw this recipe in a Taste of Home Magazine, but I didn't like the dipping sauce so I created this one instead, which is just so so good!

Shrimp Potstickers with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce
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First make the Sauce:


1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 teaspoons fresh grated Ginger Root
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 teaspoon Thai Sweet Chili Sauce- if you don't have this then use 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Mix all together, refrigerate while making potstickers.

Potstickers:
Note:I am doubling the original recipe because we love these SO much that 24 wasn't enough! And honestly, I just want to use the whole container of wonton wrappers once I buy it so this uses the whole package.


1 pound uncooked Shrimp, peeled and deveined *(if you're not a fish person, you can substitute pork.)
2 Eggs, Beaten
1/2 cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
8 Tablespoons Canola Oil
1 package, about 56--round or square wonton wrappers. I like using round, but sometimes I only find the square ones.


In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add onions, salt, and pepper. In a food processor or blender, pulse shrimp til ground. Add shrimp to egg mixture and stir with a wire whisk til well combined. Place 1 level teaspoon shrimp mixture onto each wonton wrapper.

Brush edges with water and fold; if using sqare into a triangle, if using round into a half moon. Seal. This process of assembling the potstickers goes much quicker if you have some help. Isn't my assistant happy and wonderful?

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add 12 dumplings and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and let steam for 3-4 minutes. Repeat with remaining dumplings. Serve with dipping sauce. NOTE: you may be wondering if you turn the dumplings during cooking and the answer is "no", they come out with one side browned, the other steamed-looking. The only time I turn them is when I notice they over-browned in the first part of cooking, but I usually don't! That's more work!
Enjoy these while they last, they go quickly in my home!!