Cook the Books 2013: Soup weather = Tom Yum Goong

March was filled with more work travel, lots of family occasions and visitors, and now a cold...so it didn't allow me much time in the kitchen to try out this month's Cook the Books selection, Good Fish by Becky Selengut. But, my Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Shrimp and Lemongrass) soup was just what the doctor ordered, and I've got the ingredients on-hand to make the Wild Salmon Chowder with Fire-Roasted Tomatoes and Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Trout and Chive Sour Cream in the next few days. I also have BIG love for sardines, so always have them in the pantry and will try not just her version of Pasta con la Sarde for sure, but the fresh Skillet Sardines too.

Anyhow, on to what I did make...

Cooking shallots and lemongrass is up there in terms of kitchen smells, but it's the kaffir lime leaves that are the magic ingredient here and will transport you right into the heart of Thailand as you cook this deliciously, evocatively, fragrant broth. Or at least that's what happened to me.

Though this isn't an overly complex recipe, making the stock takes some time, so once again I broke it down over two days. Be sure to brown the shrimp shells over high heat in order to impart their distinctive flavor to the broth.

Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Shrimp & Lemongrass Soup)
Adapted from Good Fish by Becky Selengut
Serves 4

2 tablespoons high-heat vegetable oil (I used safflower)
1 medium onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (shells reserved)
5 to 6 cups of water
3 tomatoes, medium dice, or one 14-oz can of diced tomatoes with their juice
6 Kaffir lime leaves, or zest of 1 lime
6-8 thin slices of fresh, peeled galangal or ginger
2 jalapeños, halved (remove the seeds and membranes if you want to decrease the heat of your soup)
1/2 cup sliced shallots
3 stalks of lemongrass, cut into 1-inch pieces, woody top half discarded
1 cup cremini or button mushrooms, thickly sliced
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3-6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (2-3 limes)
Salt
Whole cilantro leaves, for garnish

Making the soup stock

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a stockpot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, carrot, and celery and saute for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned.

Turn the heat up to high and add the reserved shrimp shells. They will turn their recognizable pink almost immediately, but saute about 3-4 minutes until they are lightly browned.

Add the water to the pot. If you are using canned tomatoes, drain the juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to total 6 cups.

Stir in the sliced galangal, jalapeños, and kaffir lime leaves and bring to a boil.

Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits and simmer gently for approximately 30 minutes. (This is when the fragrance magic happens)

Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve and set aside. If you make the night before, store the stock in the fridge overnight.

Making the soup

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, and add the shallots and lemongrass. Saute about 8-10 minutes until  lightly browned.

Add the mushrooms, tomatoes and reserved stock and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the fish sauce. Simmer for another 10 minutes, then add the shrimp and turn off the heat (the residual heat will do the cooking for you).

Add the juice of 2 limes and season to taste with salt. Add more fish sauce if necessary, as well as lime juice which will brighten the flavors. A little sugar or honey can help if your soup is tart or bitter.

Be sure to taste the soup at this stage and balance the flavors according to your palate.

Serve garnished with cilantro leaves, and remember you can lightly chew on the lemongrass stalks to release some of their flavor, but do not try to eat them!

Cooking notes:
While deveining shrimp is not the sexiest job in the kitchen, it was actually a first for me and I kind of enjoyed it. This takes about 10 minutes, so plan your prep and cooking time accordingly. Selengut's website includes a number of how-to videos, including one on deveining shrimp.

I had exactly, to the drop, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce left in the bottle. I love it when that happens!

Here's an in-depth, Spring-filled post reviewing this cookbook by Oh, Briggsy, with the monthly round-up post coming soon from Grow & Resist!

Butter - Cook It! 2012: March Resolution + Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Garlic Shrimp Recipe

Sweet, fresh butter

It is the simplest of foods that sometimes bring the most joy. If I would have known before now that 1 cup of heavy cream and a hand mixer could produce the sweetest, softest, freshest butter...well it would've been trouble. Butter would undoubtedly be slathered on everything. 

Thanks to month three of Grow It Can It Cook It's Cook It! 2012 kitchen resolutions, that is just what happened. Oh well, consider it a celebration of spring. Fresh cream turned into fresh butter eaten on fresh bread in the sunshine — what could be better? 


There are a few modern variations of technique for making your own butter. You can use a jar, or you can use either a stand mixer or hand mixer. I went the hand mixer route, and followed the steps described here, but for ingredients I just used 1 cup of Strauss Family Creamery heavy whipping cream. After all the buttermilk was extracted, the butter was so sweet and delicious tasting I debated whether to add salt at all. Finally I went with 1/4 tsp kosher salt (mostly b/c the bf prefers salted butter), but you could easily skip it or add more to taste.

Cream and a hand mixer is all it took

I started out on low to minimize splattering

After about 5 minutes, I turned up the speed to medium

Kept it on medium for about 5 minutes

Once it started to thicken up, I switched to high speed

At the beginnings of butter, I switched back to medium speed

Slowly you'll start to see moisture appearing

Pour off the buttermilk as it begins to separate

It looks like runny scrambled eggs at this stage, right?

Becoming creamier

Looks like butter!

Keep adding very cold water & mixing until water is clear

Once done, knead it together like dough with your hands

Ta-da!

The final yield: a ball of butter & half a cup of buttermilk

First things first, I spread it on fresh olive bread

“Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.”  - James Beard

Recipe for Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes with Garlic Shrimp

Since I had produced half a cup of buttermilk from this whole process, mashed potatoes seemed like just the thing. Topped with garlic shrimp it was the perfect easy, fast dinner.

1 1/2 lb Yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 Tb butter

Salt

Pepper
20-24 shrimp (choose quantity depending on size of shrimp; you can use fresh or frozen — either cooked or uncooked — just adjust cooking times accordingly)
1-2 Tb olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, diced
Lemon zest 
Italian parsley for garnish
Sriracha or other hot sauce (optional)

Ready to mash

Whether to peel or not peel your potatoes when mashing them is a entirely personal preference, but I tend to not peel them if using thin-skinned, waxy potatoes like Yukon gold. Cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes and add to a large pot of boiling salted water. Cook for 15-20 minutes until soft, but before they start to disintegrate at the edges.

Light and fluffy

About 5 minutes before the potatoes are done, warm the buttermilk and butter on low heat.

Then heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat, add diced garlic and lemon zest and cook for 1 minute. Add shrimp and cook until done, approximately 3-5 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and return them to the warm pot. Add buttermilk/butter mixture and use a potato ricer to combine. If a little dry, add 2-3 tablespoons more of buttermilk if you have it on hand, or use regular milk. Add pepper and salt.

Top a bowl of mashed potatoes with the garlicky shrimp and garnish with parsley and hot sauce to taste. Eat immediately.

Serves 2, with generous mashed potato leftovers

Super easy dinner is served