Spicy Coconut Milk and Mushroom Soup

It started innocently enough with my 3 jalapeño curry, the fella amped it up with 4 Serrano in his pea and paneer dish and the chef shamed us with this evilly delicious soup. There were 5 unseeded habenaros involved. I think it is safe to say I will not be continuing the spicy cooking challenge by making a jerk sauce with 6 Scotch bennet peppers. Im okay with letting Jacob win, he is after all the professional.

The really amazing thing about the soup was that not only was it hot but it was tasty as well. Yes it made us all cry in the very best way while clutching our beers (mine sorghum from Red Bridge and theirs Founders wet hopped seasonal) but it also had great flavor. The habenaros open up every taste bud you never knew you had to all the other things going in the soup. Citrusy lemon grass, salty fish sauce, herbal cilantro, creamy coconut milk. They all work together to make something amazing.

Were all crazy people who like spice so the heat wasnt a problem for us. If you arent up for that much spice you can put in less peppers or cook some of the heat off of them by frying up the onion puree which will cut the spice a bit. And if the spice is still too much in the finished product you can do what we resorted to and pour it over some brown rice and toss in some paneer to add something to compete with the habenaros.

Spicy Coconut Milk and Mushroom Soup

1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped
2 tablespoons oil
2 medium onions, chopped

3tablespoon lemon grass puree
1teaspoon fish sauce

5 cloves of garlic
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
5 habenaro peppers, seeded

3 cups coconut milk
6 Cubeb peppercorns, ground (1 teaspoon of regular pepper and a pinch of clove would work fine)
2 1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (mint or basil will work as well)


In a pot heat oil over medium heat then add mushrooms and one of the chopped onions. Cook until browned. Add lemon grass and fish sauce.

Puree remaining onion, garlic, ginger and habenaros in the food processor. Add in one cup of the coconut milk and puree until you have a paste. If you want to lesson the heat of the soup sauté this puree until the onions are no longer raw before adding to the pot with the mushroom mixture.

To soup pot add remaining 2 cups of coconut milk, peppercorns, and chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Add cilantro and simmer soup for 5 minutes. Serve over brown rice with paneer or tofu to cut spice if needed.

A purely original Jacob Schenk recipe.

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Funky Raspberry Vinegar Latte

Tonight I combined two of my favorite things about Madison--Alterra coffee from Barriques and crazy flavored vinegar from Vom Fass.  If you live any where else in the world prepare to wish for the first time ever that you lived in the Midwest because Im about to tell you how those two things together make a great latte. 

The great thing about working in a wine store that also is a cafe is the close proximity to two of my favorite things in life: coffee and wine.  This inevitably leads to opportunities to try a lot of tasty examples of each.  Even better is that on slow nights I can amuse myself by making unusual drinks on the espresso bar. 

Today I happened to have just enough time to follow through with an idea I had been pondering over for awhile, can a fruity vinegar make a great addition to a latte?  Some of the sweeter vinegars from Vom Fass make a good substitute for sugary syrups when combined to with sparkling water to make good non traditional Italian sodas.  Having experimented with that I figured the chances were decent that the right vinegar would work to make a flavored latte.  And I was right.

Turns out with the right ratio of fruity vinegar and honey to take the edge off the acidity this makes a fine drink.  It was a little weird at first but with a little more experimentation to find the perfect vinegar I believe the Vom Fass vinegar latte could outshine even my former favorite Emily experimental drink, the Earl Gray mocha.

Of course unless you have an espresso machine at home Im shamelessly teasing you with this recipe.  But that kind of is my job to tell you about tasty things even if a lot of them only exist in my own little world some of the time.

Vom Fass Vinegar Latte

1 scant ounce of a fruit flavored vinegar
2 shots of espresso
honey, to taste
12 ounces of steamed milk


I had good results with making this drink with the Raspberry Wadlburg Balsam Vinegar and the Blackcurrant Waldburg Balsam Vinegar from Vom Fass.  Buy some single serving sizes of some of the vinegars and experiment with what you like.  Or use your favorite fruity vinegar that you already have.

Pour the vinegar, espresso and honey into the bottom of a warm mug and stir well.  Steam your milk making sure not to make it too warm or it will curdle the vinegar, and pour gently into the mug.  Give the latte a stir.  Taste and add more honey if the drink is still too acidic for you.  Top with whipped cream if its to your taste.

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Crockpot Funky Chicken

Some girls like to be surprised with jewelery or flowers. I think both are a waste of money. Nothing thrills me more than being surprised by food. Especially coming home to a house than smells delicious when I thought I was coming home to an empty refrigerator.

The fella and I still havent recovered from Easter and therefor havent had time to go grocery shopping. I thought I was going to be eating whatever cheese was left over, a can of black beans and an apple for lunch between jobs today since there was no other food in the house. Instead I came home to the scent of spicy poultry and the dog laying on the floor near the door in a puddle of her own drool.

Amazing boyfriend that he is, the fella had gone out and bought a roasting chicken at 7AM and found a recipe for cooking it in our new programmable crockpot before he went to work. I was blown away. Having something tasty to eat made my day and made me fall in love with him a little bit more. Ill take surprise chicken over roses anyday.

The combination of sweet and spicy make a perfect chicken with very little work. It was tender and flavorful. The meat fell off the bones and by flavoring it differently on the inside and outside it added depth to a really simple recipe.

Crockpot Funky Chicken

1 lime, halved
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fructose
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 pound whole chicken
1 clove garlic
1 serrano pepper, halved

In a bowl, juice half of the lime. Stir in the soy sauce, fructose, coriander and cayenne. Rub this mixture into the skin of the entire chicken.

Place the other half of the lime, the garlic, and the serrano in the chickens cavity. Truss the chicken and place in slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 4 to 5 hours.

Original recipe from How to Make Love and Dinner at the Same Time.

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Photo a Day Challenge October Recap

The end of October... the end of my photo a days...

On to new adventures ;)

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