On Burning Hands ...

I recently came across a recipe for homemade Sriracha, and because Ray loves the Southeast Asian condiment SO much, I knew I had to make some for him. And the recipe looked fairly easy.

We bought the peppers at the Collingswood Farmers Market on Saturday—I knew I wanted to do a mix of red bell peppers with whatever red hot peppers I could find. I procured 6 "long sweet" hot red peppers from one vendor for $1 and a pint of small red chiles (looked a lot like habaneros) for $2 from a different vendor. I picked up my bulb of garlic and was ready to go (there were already broken down red bell peppers waiting for me at home).

Yesterday I got to work. I roughly chopped the red bell slices, then began breaking down the chilis ... gloveless. I've worked with jalapenos a number of times (even accidentally touched my eyes once after working with them ... ow), and thought nothing of it. Just don't touch my eyes right?

I broke down all the chiles to come up with 12 oz of peppers...not the full pound the recipe called for, but good enough. And then the burning began. I thought it would go away after washing my hands with soap. No. The burning intensified, and left the back side of some of my fingers red and swollen. It sucked.

The pain would blossom anytime I got near the heat of the stove, which was often because I was also making Honey Lemon Apple Jam and Yellow Tomato Soup. Ugh.

Well, it's nearly 22 hours later. My hands feel "warm" and I don't dare bring them near my eyes to wipe away an errant eyelash. One test Ray suggested was to stick a finger in my mouth, under my tongue. If I feel the chili burn in my mouth, the capsaicin is still there. Because I was gloveless AND used my hands to pull out the seeds and ribs, I think my episode ended up being quite unpleasant. Here's hoping it improves (it's not fun wearing a glove to put in contacts.

And to add to your amusement, Ray took me up on the suggestion of comicking my peril. Pain doesn't hurt when it's funny.

Chili pepper image courtesy of flickr user huntz. Some rights reserved.

Carrot and Red Thai Curry Soup

Before heading out to Denver for vacation, I made an Indian Spiced Carrot Soup with Ginger, from Bon Appetit magazine. It was tasty enough, but I wasn't thrilled with it. I nearly tripled all the spices to get it to the level I wanted, and even then—after using an immersion blender—I just couldn't get it velvety smooth. But we ate it anyway.

Last weekend we had friends over, and I took another stab at the soup, this time channeling Denver's Root Down restaurant and its Organic Carrot & Red Thai Curry Soup. That soup was luscious, smooth as velvet and with the perfect pow! of curry. It was love at first sip.

Here is my version of the soup, using the original Indian Spiced Carrot Soup with Ginger recipe as a humble base and taking it from there. My one suggestion is to constantly taste and season the soup to your liking—that's the only way you'll get this to work for you.

The soup paired with my good friend Derek Lee's
recipe for Caramelized Onion Bread Pudding

Ingredients
• 2 teaspoons dried coriander or 2-3 teaspoons of coriander seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds (about 4 cups)
• 1 lime, zested
• 1-2 tablespoons red curry paste; more to taste
• 4 cups Thai culinary stock (can be found at Wegmans) and 1 cup vegetable stock (if you can't find the Thai stock, use 5 cups of vegetable stock)
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1 cup light cream

Directions
1. Grind coriander and mustard seeds in spice mill.
2. Heat sesame oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add ground seeds and curry powder; stir 1 minute.
3. Add ginger; stir 1 minute.
4. Add onions, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes.
5. Add red curry paste, thoroughly incorporating it. Add the lime zest and carrots. Cook down for 5-10 minutes, until carrots are tender.
6. Add 5 cups total broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer uncovered until about 30 minutes. Cool slightly.
7. Working in batches, puree in blender until smooth. If you want the soup to be super smooth and light, then pass the soup through a mesh sieve, pressing all the liquid out of the solids. Discard the solids (or keep to make carrot ravioli) and put the liquid back into the pot.
8. Add lime juice, and more red curry paste to taste. Add 1 cup of cream if you'd like it a little creamy, more if you'd like the soup to be thicker. Finish with salt and pepper.

Smokey Shrimp Chowder

Last weekend, when Ray was off at GameLoop in Boston, I decided to make chowder. I was originally inspired by Real Simple's Shrimp and Corn Chowder with Fennel recipe I had pulled out and saved months ago. However, upon reading the recipe, and the reviews, I started making changes.

I wanted something that would be satisfying, while not too heavy, especially because it's been pretty miserable in the Philly metro area, heat-wise. I also wanted to make sure the chowder stretched a bit, since we don't have a lot of time to cook on week nights. This means making a big batch of something Sunday and living off of it for as long as possible.

Ingredients
• 3 strips duck bacon (I used D'Artagnan uncured smoked duck bacon)
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 leek (white and light green parts), chopped
• 1 lb crimini mushrooms, sliced
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp chicken bouillon
• 1 lb raw peeled and deveined medium shrimp
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 8 oz frozen peas
• 3/4 cup light cream
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• Dried dill weed to taste
• Hot paprika to taste

Directions
•Thaw shrimp in cool water for later.
• Cook 3 strips of duck bacon in the main pot you'll be making the chowder. Once crispy, drain on a paper towel and set aside.

• Toss chopped leek and mushrooms into the pot with the rendered duck fat. Add 2-3 tbsp of unsalted butter and cook until leeks have softened and mushrooms have reduced in size. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add chicken stock and simmer.
• In a separate pot, boil cubed potatoes with 1 cup white wine and 2 cups water to cover the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Boil for 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
• Add 1 cup white wine to pot with veggies and chicken stock. Keep simmering.

• Once potatoes are tender, transfer them into the main pot. Reserve their cooking water. Add bay leaf, 1/4 cup white wine, 2 tbsp lemon juice, pepper and 1/4 tsp of chicken bouillon. Cook down for 10 minutes until flavor is concentrated.
• Add concentrated cooking liquid to main pot, along with corn and peas.
• Add the 3/4 cup of light cream, dill and parika. Crumble the duck bacon and add. Simmer for 10 minutes
• Add thawed shrimp and simmer for 5 minutes.


The flavor is great—the smoked duck bacon makes all the difference, in my opinion. I was a little disappointed with the shrimp—I didn't feel like they added much more flavor, so maybe I'll try this with some different seafood in the future. The broth was just right—not too creamy and gloppy, and the potatoes remained tender for a whole week.

Not to mention that the condo smelled wonderful.