It has been cold and damp around here lately which means one thing... all I want is some good soup! Soup to me is like a warm hug from a loved one on a cold day. I know, how cliche right? But that is just how I feel about soup! I even love it on hot days. Heck when I was traveling through south east Asia where temperatures hovered around the 40 degree mark without humidity, I was still slurping up soup any time I got the chance! 

So when outside looks like this!

I want my meal to look like this!

The best thing about soup, besides the warm hug aspect, is that it can take you places. A good ramen bursts with the flavours of Japan. A spicy piping hot dwenjeon jiggae transports me to Korea and a sweet, spicy beef soup with a mess of noodles reminds my taste buds of Laos mountain sides!

So when I woke up to a drizzly damp day the first thing I thought was, today looks like a Laos Beef Noodle Soup kind of day! Not only was I hoping to taste a bit of one of my favourite countries I was also hoping to recreate something purely from memory!

Laos Beef Noodle Soup

Recipe...

1 can of reduced salt beef broth

1 can of chicken and herb broth

6 cups of water

2 cloves of garlic

1.5 tablespoons of oyster sauce

1.5 tablespoons of fish sauce

3 sprigs of fresh tarragon

1 sweet onion diced

1.5 tablespoons of hot chili sauce

1 package of thin rice vermicelli noodles

1 bunch of watercress

1 lime

1 bunch of green onions

bean sprouts

.5-1lb of very thinly sliced beef (depending on how much meat you want)

1 bunch of cilantro (I left this out as I can't stand cilantro but it is very present in south east Asian cooking)

Boil broth, water, garlic, sauces, onion and tarragon. Reduce heat and simmer until garlic and tarragon infuse broth. (Remove tarragon and garlic chunks before serving)

Prepare noodles according to package directions.

Roughly chop watercress and green onions.

Cut lime into wedges

Put a handful of noodles at the bottom of a deep serving bowl (1 bowl per person)

Lay a few pieces of beef over noodles

Ladle broth over beef and noodles (the beef will be cooked by the hot broth)

Top with watercress, onions, bean sprouts and lime juice (put used lime right in the bowl) and cilantro 

Individuals can add more fish sauce, oyster sauce or hot sauce depending on their tastes.

Of course we in the west have some fabulous soups as well. Clam chowder, corn chowder, minestrone, cream of mushroom, chicken noodle, french onion and cream of broccoli just to name a few. My favourite soup on this side of the world has got to be cream of mushroom. It's just so darn good with its mushrooms and cream and goodness! 

Well for years now I have been making my very own cream of mushroom soup without... cream! You see one reaches a point where they think, gee that sure is a lot of cream... that can't be too good for me! So I made some substitutions and came up with something just as rich and creamy as the original!

"Cream" of Mushroom Soup

Recipe...

3 packs of white button mushrooms (I've done it with a mix of button and crimini and it's good!)

1 large red onion

Worcester Sauce

3 cloves of garlic

thyme (I just used about a tablespoon of dried stuff)

Milk

Butter

flour to make a rue.

salt and pepper to taste

chop red onion and caramelize with olive oil and butter

chop mushrooms and brown

fill a pot with about 4 cups of milk (I just keep going until it looks like it's going to be enough!)

on a very low heat simmer the milk with garlic and about 1/4c of butter

add mushrooms and onions (I split the garlic and throw it in, when it's time for serving I remove the cloves)

add 1/3c of Worcester sauce (more or less depending on preference)

add rue and let simmer until all the flavours have combined

Of course with autumn upon us it's always nice to indulge in the warm and colourful flavours that the season is best known for. 

Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Soup with Caramelized Onions.

Recipe...

3 large sweet potatoes

2 apples (whichever you prefer)

5 cups of milk

1/3 cup of cream

2 tablespoons of butter

1 large sweet onion

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of nutmeg

1 tablespoon of cloves

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch discs

Peel and core apples and cut into 1/2 inch discs

Roast sweet potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil at 350 for 12 minutes or until soft

Roast apples at 350 for 10 minutes or until soft

In a blender blend apples and sweet potatoes, add milk if mixture is too thick

Chop onions and caramelize in a pan with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil

In a pot mix sweet potato and apple puree with milk and spices

Add caramelized onions and stir

Simmer all ingredients together for 20 minutes

Put soup through a sieve until desired texture is reached

Ladle into bowls and finish with a swirl of cream

Travel for the Taste Buds

It's not a secret that Asian cuisines are delicious. After all there seem to be as many Chinese
restaurants out there as Italian ones. Living in Korea for 3 years with side trips to various other countries and a 4 month backpacking trip post-Korea meant that my taste buds got a workout! 

What is truly great about Asia is the dining experiences across the continent. Every country brings new and exotic flavours to the table. It’s incredibly intoxicating and they do it in such a relaxing way. Whether it’s dining in a cheap kimbap shop in Korea or sitting on bamboo mats beside a busy street in Indonesia it’s about the food. No chairs? No worries! No utensils? It’s all good dig in! In the west it’s all about fuss, is the tablecloth straight? Is there enough garnish on the dish? Are all the drips cleaned off the side of the plates? Guess what, garnish is overrated and sometimes so are expectations!

Haejung Gook (Korean Spicy Pork Spine Soup, one of my favs!)

Some of my favourite food abroad was from a shady looking stall partially hidden by the darkness and maybe a few spider webs that no doubt housed something with far too many legs and eyes. Sure you may be thinking you’ll pay for your culinary choice later but right now who care’s it’s friggin’ tasty!

Street food market in Luang Prabang, Laos (a heaping plate of food for $1!)

Keju pancake in Java was an experiment that went more right than any of us had anticipated, so right in fact that we spent our remaining time in Indonesia searching for more.  The almighty sate…. tuna, chicken or tofu all receive high marks for yumminess! Grilled barracuda with lemon butter sauce and grouper that makes your taste buds sing. Delicate cobra and python curry that tastes just like... you've got it, chicken! And last but not least a chili garlic sauce so delicious that no one would blame you from drinking it right from the bottle!

Snake Curry in Java, Indonesia (Cobra and Python)

Laos/Cambodian BBQ is delectable and should be tried if encountered! A noodle soup from a road side bus stop on the side of a Laos mountain so tasty that it still haunts my taste buds! 

Laos BBQ with water buffalo meat

 

 Cambodian fish amok is ridiculously delicious. Similar to Thai coconut curry it is steamed perfection wrapped in a banana leaf.

Fish Amok in Siem Reap, Cambodia (HEAVEN!)

Red snapper caught just feet away from your table in the Philippines, grilled and stuffed with garlic, tomatoes and onions. Melt in your mouth Marlin steaks with lemon and pepper, big fluffy banana pancakes, grilled and perfectly seasoned cuttlefish and mango shakes to die for await you in the Philippines!

Grilled Red Snapper on the beach in El Nido, Philippines

Proper Ramen topped with succulent pork in a rich broth, mouthwatering sushi and blowfish that could possibly kill you in Tokyo.

Salmon and Shrimp sushi in Tokyo, Japan.

 Sweet Peking duck in Peking, China (Beijing).

A plethora of Chinese dishes including Peking Duck in Beijing, China.

Spicy flavourful soups, winter street food and fermented goodness in Korea.

Chicken Juk (rice porridge) with various salty, fermented sides in Daegu, South Korea

A cornucopia of ethnic flavours bursting from every street in Malaysia...

Spicy Chinese noodle dish with shrimp in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

... and Singapore.

Fabulous Indian food in Little India, Singapore.

Creamy curries, soup that is so spicy that even the toughest tourists are left with watering eyes and dripping noses and pineapple so incredibly sweet you may mistake it for something else entirely in Thailand.

Different dishes at a market in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Across Southeast Asia, tropical fruit that looks uglier than rotting meat but leaves you craving more long after you’ve returned home. 

Bananas, mangoes, leche, mangosteen, ugly fruit to name a few at a market in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

While traveling there is a lot of talk about what you’ll eat the second you get home. What dinner you want your mom to cook, daydreams about family BBQ’s in the backyard and how long you have to wait for the next turkey holiday! But I guarantee that when you leave Asia you’ll daydream about the culinary delights you took advantage of during your trip!

Coming up in the very near future, I'm going to try and recreate some of my favourite meals from Asia. Wish me luck!

Mouthwatering Peaches with My Favourite New Taste Sensation!

                                                  

Peaches, peaches, peaches! Nothing proclaims the end of summer quite so deliciously as the beautiful Niagara peach. So why not showcase peaches in your meals by highlighting their amazing flavour with another of Niagara’s deliciously natural products, Ice Syrup!

I did just that and… my taste buds were dancing up a storm!

First came breakfast (obviously), a meal that I myself could eat 3 times a day! I stood staring at my bottles of Cabernet Franc Ice Syrup and Vidal Ice Syrup. They are both delicious but in the end I decided to go with the Cabernet Franc.

What followed was a beautiful peach crepe infused with the Cab Franc Ice Syrup. The flavours were bright and summery and got my imagination racing.

Recipe…      

Prepare crepes using your favourite pancake/crepe mix (I recommend Bisquick)
Cut peaches into wedges and saute in a bit of butter with 2 tablespoons of Cabernet Franc Ice Syrup until they are soft
Prepare whipped cream  (I recommend forgoing the whole pre-whipped products and doing it yourself! It's just too easy not to do! (See recipe page for a variety of flavour suggestions.)
Wrap peaches in crepe and garnish with the whipped cream and a generous drizzle of Cabernet Franc Ice Syrup

For a refreshing treat try a Sparkling Peach Water with Cabernet Franc Ice Syrup.

 

     

Recipe...

Slice peaches into wedges
Place in a glass
Pour sparkling water (or club soda) into glass
Add 2 tablespoons of Cabernet Franc Ice Syrup and gently stir
Add ice
Enjoy!                 

For dinner I had a pork loin. Pork lends itself fabulously to fruit so I stuffed the pork with peaches, glazed it with the Vidal Ice Syrup and BBQ’d it…. YUM!

Recipe…

Slice pork loin and season with a blend of garlic salt, seasoning salt, parsley, dehydrated minced onion, cracked black pepper and meat tenderizer
Stuff with sliced peaches
Tie pork with string and place on BBQ
Grill on high for 5-10 minutes and then turn heat to low for 30-40 mins (for a small loin)
Let meat rest
Cut and drizzle with Vidal Ice Syrup
 
For dessert we have the oh-so-traditional shortcake amplified to take advantage of what’s in season and at the end of August that is certainly not the strawberry!

Imagine this, grilled peaches with a Vidal Syrup glaze sinking into a pillowy bed of whipped cream and cream cheese on top of a golden shortcake biscuit… finished with a shortcake cap and a drizzle of Vidal Ice Syrup. Trust me your mouth with thank you!

                        

Recipe…

Bake biscuits ahead of time (again I recommend Bisquick mix following the package directions for biscuits and adding  tsp of white sugar!)
Brush sliced peaches with Vidal Ice Syrup and place on grill over medium heat for 5-10 minutes flipping halfway through
Whip a 250ml carton of whipped cream. Add 1/2  package of softened cream cheese when the whipped cream is stiff and just blend to mix.
Drizzle with Vidal Ice Syrup and serve