chowder diamond head

Ginger, Pineapple, and Coconut 

make this an enchanting South Seas soup.

1 cup sliced celery
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter (earth balance) or coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 cans coconut milk
1.5 cups mock chicken broth
1.5 cups milk
1 can mock duck, diced
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained
shredded coconut milk

directions:
1. Sauté celery and onion in butter or coconut oil in a large sauce pan or dutch oven.  add ginger, blending thoroughly.
2. Stir in soup, water, and milk. Add mock duck and pineapple. heat, stirring frequently, until bubbly-hot.
3. Ladle into soup bowls. Sprinkle with coconut. Serve with hot buttered rolls, if you wish.

about the recipe: a vintage recipe, huzzah! and my fourth post in february, hotdamn! this coconut-chowder is downright delicious, and super easy to make. i used freshginger instead of powdered and halfed the recipe. it's very sweet, but also savory. i did add a little bit of salt and pepper, but it was fine without. i used this recipe as a test for photographing the ingredients which made sure i wasn't scrambling for ingredients per usual. hopefully this will help me in the baking realm hahaha. anyways, i can't wait to eat this all weekend!

 



from the book:
Family Circle Favorite Recipes
6th Edition, 1979

chocolate-coconut squares

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter (earth balance)
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 cup. package flaked coconut
1 (12 ounce) package chocolate (or carob) chips
2 tablespoons peanut butter
chopped peanuts (to garnish)

directions: Preheat oven to 350. Prepare an ungreased 13x9" baking pan. Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, flour and melted 'butter' and then press into ungreased baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Combine coconut flakes and coconut milk, mix, and spread over baked crust. Bake for another 10-12 minutes. Combine chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small saucepan. Cook, over low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Spread over coconut layer and garnish with chopped peanuts. Let cool and cut into bars.

about the recipe: the original recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk, and i thought, "hey! i bet you i could just replace that with equal amounts coconut milk!" i was half right, while it tastes amazing, it didn't solidify making the bars a hard-coated chocolate coconut goo-mess, but they are goddamn delicious if i say so myself, and my roommates agree.

potato coconut corn chowder

potato coconut corn chowder

1 T olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 small potatoes, cubed
1 t cumin (heaping)
1 vegetable bullion cube
3 c water (or enough to cover vegetables)
1 tiny (5.6 oz) can of coconut milk
1/2 t dried rosemary
1/2 c frozen corn
5 leaves fresh basil
freshly ground pepper & salt to taste
oystermushrooms

directions: In a medium sized pot, heat oil and add in diced onion, red pepper, celery and garlic. Saute until soft and stir in the cumin. Add in potatoes, bullion cube and water. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Add in coconut milk and rosemary and use a potato masher to mash down the potatoes and vegetables. Add in corn and fresh basil and grind in some pepper and add salt to taste (if necessary). Serve in 2 large bowls.

about this recipe: holy shit! i thought i would never be able to find a good vegan chowder. most always call for an absurd amount of heavy cream to get it chowdah'd. so when i found this recipe online a few months ago, i was a little hesitant. i put it in the archives to wait for a cold fall day to try it out. fast forward to today and a coconut craving that cannot be suppressed and i thought, "hey why not give this a shot". glad i did! the only downside to this recipe was that it doesn't leave much for leftovers so i'll have to double, if not triple, this recipe in the future! the original recipe does not call for mushrooms, but i added these in anyway, and if you do the same you won't be disappointed!

recipe & image courtesy of everybodylikessandwiches.com

in other exciting news!

my kitchen is getting a new counter space this weekend. this in turn means more dabbling in the baking arena... i'm thinking mini-apple pies (ha!), possibly pear as well, along with a new take on the vegan donut!