Winter Blooms and Chicken Soup

The best thing about blogging is you can prepare posts well in advance. 

Which comes in very handy at times. I present one I prepared earlier - winter blooms and chicken soup. 

Winter Blooms

There is an abundance of bright yellow and orange colour in our garden at the moment, there are the tall flowers - "red hot pokers" - I don't know their correct name; 

pretty pale yellow and orange nasturtiums climbing on the fence and 

our majestic Banksia Menziesi which is now producing beautiful flowers! 

Chicken Soup

Sometimes when one feels unwell, the most wonderful thing is a steamy hot bowl of homemade chicken soup. Try this one out if you don't believe me...

Thai chicken and coconut soup

Ingredients

1-2 tablespoons red curry paste

3 small chicken breasts, trimmed and thinly sliced

4 cups chicken stock

3 cups coconut cream

200g rice vermicelli noodles

coriander sprigs, to serve

bean sprouts, to serve

Method 

Place a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add the curry paste and cook for 1-2 minutes until aromatic.

Add the chicken breast pieces, stock and coconut cream.

Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add the noodles and cook for 1-2 minutes until soft.

Serve topped with coriander sprigs and bean sprouts.

source: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/16909/thai+chicken+and+coconut+soup

Note: I found that two tablespoons of red curry paste gives a better flavour. 

I also found that the noodles absorb the liquid quite readily and next time will add an extra two cups of stock to the soup base. A welcome garnish of finely julienned carrot, thinly sliced spring onions and thinly sliced chilli also really add to this dish. You could also add some toasted shredded coconut for that extra touch. 

I hope you enjoyed Winter Blooms and Chicken Soup, see you on Wednesday for the next Wednesday Wishes blog post xo