Sunday in the Kitchen with the Hausfrau

I love lazy Sundays in the kitchen.

Well, I guess they're not that lazy, since they tend to involve a lot of cooking. Which I love. And cleaning of the kitchen. Which I hate.

Today's efforts so far....

Thai Chicken Soup. I saw them make this on America's Test Kitchen yesterday afternoon, and I've been jonesing for some Tom Kha Kai, which this basically is. I'm currently in the unlucky position of being cut off from my Thai food dealer, a former co-worker, who has taken a job in another state. I think his wife may still be running the resteraunt here for a few months, but it's no where near close to work or home, so the chances that I'd make it there are slim to none. But, the local produce mart is well stocked with Asian pantry items and some produce items, so it's not too far of a stretch to try and make some of the stuff at home. I used light coconut milk in the soup and panang curry paste since I prefer it over red curry paste, but I do have to say this stuff rocked. I happily slurped down a big bowl for lunch, and carefully packaged up the rest for future eating. I'm usually a stickler for some kind of starch in a soup - noodles or potatoes or something - but in this soup I did not miss it a bit. I even forgot to get lemongrass yesterday, and the soup was still wonderful.

Also have the mixture made up for a Chocolate Malted Ice Cream. Kinda combining two recipes out of the Perfect Scoop cookbook, since we're huuuuuge fans of malted chocolate shakes from Culvers. A taste test of just the mixture has me thinking the final product will not suck. It's chilling in the fridge, in an hour or so I'll probably put it in the ice cream maker, then it'll chill in the freezer until after dinner.

For dinner, I'm finally doing a belated V-Day meal, with butter poached lobster tails, some boursin mashed potatoes (to use up what didn't make it in to my omelette last week), a salad, and perhaps I'll crack open the shrimp bisque I bought yesterday. I headed out to a not-nearby Meijer store since they carry some awesome soups - Hope & Tims Fresh Soups - that I got addicted to when my local grocery store carried them. But, the store no longer carries them, and I've been less than thrilled by the replacement, especially since they didn't carry the lobster bisque that was like crack to me. The Meijer didn't have the lobster bisque, but I'll happily try the shrimp one. The stuff is actually packaged as a Meijer brand, but I'm hopeful.

Last night was Fish with Creamy Leeks for me and a steak for the hubby. I loved the fish and the sauce.... so much so that the sauce also topped my baked potato. So good, and so easy. It even "held" very well.... I finished that up before I even cooked the steak for the hubby, and I just clamped on the lid and let it sit while I dealt with the rest of the meal and it was still wonderful and warm by the time I plated it. So good.

Ok. Off to do more Hausfrau-ish things than blogging. In addition to the mess currently in my kitchen, I was hoping to get the bathroom wiped down and some general cleaning done so I'm not swamped next weekend. I always like to leave a realitively clean house before I go on vacation - nothing sucks worse than coming home from a place with maid service to a dirty house - and I've got my work cut out for me. And, between the lobster, ice cream and everything else on the agenda for dinner, I need to get in some excercise! I'm still doing well, down another pound this week, although I'm slightly peeved since they is one thing I bought for Vegas that I don't think will fit by then. Oh well. Just something else to look forward to.....