I am not big on planning my meals ahead. I go to the farmers market and buy what looks good, and generally figure out day by day what I'm going to cook. I've written about this before, but one of the tricks to making this work is knowing good substitutions. This week I had corn from the farmers market we had not managed to eat. Soup sounded good (apologies to my friends in Phoenix, but "summer soup" is not an oxymoron in Coronado). I almost always have bacon in the freezer (you can just cut pieces off the frozen chunk, start cooking it slowly to thaw), and an onion, But I did not have any milk or jalapeno peppers to make the corn soup I wanted. I did have coconut milk, and chipotle chili flakes. So I thinned the coconut milk with water (its very rich, more so than even half and half), used the chili flakes, and it came out very nice.
There is a level of confidence and experience needed to pull off substitutions. Google is also a good help for some things. I find that onions, shallots, and leeks are pretty interchangeable, buttermilk can be faked with yogurt or milk with lemon juice or vinegar added. Red peppers can substitute for tomatoes (for some dishes, its best to roast the peppers first). I try to think through -- what will the texture / moisture or fat level / heat level / sweetness / color be like? How different will the flavor be, and will the different flavor be different good or different in a bad way? Then just taste as you go along. And remember that salt, acid (like lemon juice) and hot sauce can fix a lot of things that aren't quite right.
And now I have half a can of coconut milk to use up. I have rum, but not any pineapple juice...
Bacon, Corn, and Chili Soup
Serves 2 as main or 4 as appetizer
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 slices (about 4 oz) bacon, cut in ½ inch pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 jalapeno chilies, minced or ¼ - ½ teaspoon chipotle chili flakes
Salt – about a ½ teaspoon or so to start
4 ears of corn, cut from the cob (or 4 cups of thawed, frozen corn)
1 cup of water
1 cup coconut milk
Black pepper, 3 or 4 good grinds
Hot sauce
Avocado or sour cream or yogurt to garnish, maybe a squeeze of lime
Chives or cilantro to garnish
In medium pot, cook the bacon in olive oil until crisp. Remove bacon (but not the grease) from pan. Add onions, garlic, and chilies to pan along with some salt. Sauté until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Add corn from 3 of the ears along with the water, and cook for 5 minutes at a gentle boil. Remove from heat, add milk, and blend with an immersion blender (or food processor if you like to do dishes). Just blend a bit, still want some texture.
Add remaining corn and pepper. Taste… add more salt and/or hot sauce as needed. Heat back up to steaming (don’t boil) and serve with garnishes and reserved bacon.
Summer is here, and my last post was around New Year's. I have a bunch of really good excuses for having gone 6 months without a blog post. The best excuse is moving my home from Phoenix to Coronado. The second best excuse is moving my blog from GoDaddy to Blogger. Both have been a pain in the you know what. And both have been a bit of a trip down memory lane. I was in the Phoenix house for 13 years, and have been doing the blog for 7 years.
For both moves, I had to decide what to take, and what to not. Some things are good to let go, some things need to go, just make space, and make life easier. One thing that I am losing on the blog move are the comments. I do have them all backed up, but don't know how to put them back into the blog. But all of the recipe posts (along with travel and pottery related posts) are still here, and you can still link to them from the firecooked.com food page. At least I think that everything is linked... let me know if there is a broken link! Also... If you want to get emails when I do a new post (hopefully won't be another 6 months!), you need to re-signup.
We are getting good cucumbers at the farmers market now. Here is an easy salad that goes great with a summer dinner.
Cucumber Salad
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons finely chopped fresh dill (or 1 teaspoon dry)
note... I have been using garlic chives, since that's what I have in the garden.
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (or black, just not as pretty)
3 medium cucumbers, peeled and very thinly sliced
Whisk vinegar, water, sugar, dill, salt, and pepper in medium bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add cucumbers; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, tossing occasionally, at least 4 hours (or 1 or 2 hours if you plan like me) before serving.
