Chaotic Cooking

• 1 rutabaga, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 8 cups veggie stock
• 1/2 bag frozen corn, or kernels from 2 peices fresh corn
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper
• salt to taste

CROCKPOT: You know the drill. Put it all in there in the morning. Turn it on and let it go till the night.

STOVETOP: Put all ingredients into a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and let boil for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Let cook for an hour, or until the rutabaga is soft.

• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 – 2.5 cups dried beans (one kind or various), soaked in water for an hour or more
• 8 cups stock (chicken works best, but veggie or mushroom is good too)
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup dark beer
• pinch of each: sage, basil, chili powder
• 1 – 1.5 cups naturally fermented saurkraut
• 1 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, cook coconut oil until hot. Add onions, garlic, celery and carrots. Cook until onions carmelize. Add vinegar and beer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, herbs, soy sauce and salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2 hours, or until beans are tender. Add saurkraut and enjoy.

• 1 small yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 lb mushrooms, or two cans straw mushrooms
• 2 lbs chicken thigh meat
• 2 cans (about 3-4 cups) coconut milk
• 3-4 teaspoons sambal chili paste
• 3/4 cup patis (fish sauce)
• 5-6 juicing limes
• 1/4 bunch cilantro

This soup is badass for sick people and doesn’t take very long to make. In fact, I’ve made it twice for myself in the last week and a half, while I’ve been stuck to my couch with a box of tissues. Interfuron (the HIV immune boosting medication) is made from coconut milk, so get as much as you can, and don’t lower yourself to the lowfat varieties. You’re too good for it.

So, put the onion, garlic and ginger in the food processor and grind the hell out of ‘em. If you don’t have a food processor, put them in a blender with the chicken stock. Put the pureed stuff in a pot with the chicken stock. Cut the stalks of lemongrass so that they are about 4-5 inches long. Slice the mushrooms (or open the cans) and add them. Add the 3/4 cup fish sauce and the chili paste. Bring to a boil.

Turn the heat down to super low, even simmer works at this point. Cut the chicken into pieces and put that into the pot. Cut the limes and juice them all into the mix. Shake the cans of coconut milk well and add them, then chop the cilantro up and throw it on top. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Cooking it at this low temperature keeps it really soft and moist, and keeps all the cholesterol in it healthy and good for you. I know you’re tempted to turn it up, but just let it sit at low. You’re done!! Eat up. It’s good for you.

As far as the patis and the sambal, you can pretty much buy these things at any regular store in the asian section now. Thai Kitchen makes fish sauce and that’s usually what they sell at the “regular” grocery store. If you’ve got an asian store nearby, I recommend buying the fish sauce there. It should be super stinky, which the Thai Kitchen stuff is not. Not to be rude, but that stuff is make for the people with overly sensitive taste buds, and your soup will not taste like the stuff you get in the restaurant. The fish sauce is the most important ingredient in this soup, and if you can get a better quality, you will thank yourself later. I prefer Lucky Brand. Buy a big one. It lasts forever.

• 2 quarts of chicken stock
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 cup diced chicken meat (left over from making stock)
• 2 carrots, cut into small pieces
• 2 celery stalks, cut into small pieces
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 5 or 6 cloves garlic
• 2 cups shitake mushrooms, sliced
• Fresh herbs (dill, fennel, thyme, oregano, basil, whatever)
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil or butter

In a pot over medium heat, add oil, then cook onion and garlic until slightly carmelized. Add carrots, celery and mushrooms. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, then add wine. Cook until barely any liquid is left. Pour in stock and rice. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for about an hour, until the rice is tender. Add the chicken and herbs and cook for another 10-15 minutes or so.

• 1 large onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 5-8 red peppers (depending on how much you love ‘em)
• 1 large can of stewed tomatoes, or 4 or 5 large fresh ones
• Chinese five spice powder
• 3-4 cups organic veggie, mushroom, beef or chicken broth
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Sour cream

Roast the red peppers. There are a couple of different ways to do this:
1) Gas stove: Turn on one of the burners and hold the pepper over the flames (preferrably with tongs) until the outer skin is blackened.
2) Electric stove: Coat them in olive oil and throw them in the oven at 425 degrees. After 15 minutes or so, the skin should be starting to turn dark brown and bubbly. They’re done.
Once the peppers are roasted, throw them in a bowl of ice and water. This will shock the skins, and then you can peel them off easily. It’s okay if you can’t get all of it off…just try for most of it.
Julienne the onion (slice it in half, and then cut into long strips).
Cut up the garlic (separate the cloves from the head. put the flat part of the knife on top of the clove, and then use the palm of your hand to press down on the knife and squish the clove. the skin will come off easily this way).
Open the can of tomatoes, or peel and rough dice the fresh tomatoes.
Open the broth.
Put a large pot on the stove at med-high heat. Let it get hot for a minute or two. Put about 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, and immediately throw in the onions and garlic. Stir until the onions are starting to carmelize (turn brown and soft). Now put in the tomatoes. (The juices from the tomatoes are acidic, so they will pull all the good brown sugar that came off the onions back into the mix). Pour in the broth.
Add salt, pepper and Chinese 5 spice to taste. Do not skimp on the 5 spice. Keep adding and tasting until it’s perfectly seasoned.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

• 1 whole chicken
• 3 carrots
• 1 large onion
• 4 stalks celery
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 5-8 kaffir lime leaves
• 6-10 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
• 2 stalks lemongrass, cut on bias into 2 inch long pieces
• 1/2 inch piece of galangal, or ginger root
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 8-15 small thai chilies
• 2-3 cups mushrooms (straw, portobello, white, whatever you like)
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 8-10 limes
• 3 tablespoons unhydrogenated coconut oil

This soup literally takes all day long to make, because I make the chicken stock in the morning and then put the soup together in the afternoon. This offers the highest health benefit, because the chicken fat and marrow are infused into the stock. You can use canned/boxed chicken stock, but you won’t get anywhere near the health benefits supplied by this longer version. This soup will cure your cold and revitalize your energies. (The stock can be made ahead of time and frozen, which can save a lot of time).
In the morning: put whole chicken (including skin) into a large pot. Chop carrots, celery and one onion and toss these in the pot with the chicken. Let cook for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken from the pot, put it on a huge plate and put in the refrigerator to cool. Strain the stock (through a colander), and place to the side, or in the refrigerator.

In the afternoon: Peel galangal or ginger. Cut into small pieces. Peel onion and cut into large pieces. Peel garlic cloves. Puree galangal, onion and garlic in a food processor. Put a large pot on medium high heat. Add coconut oil and give it a few seconds to warm up. Toss pureed mixture into pan. Stir and turn heat down to medium. Allow onions to achieve a light caramel color. Add chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, thai chilies. Let this cook for two hours, so that all the flavors will infuse into the stock. Add water as necessary to keep the original level. While this is cooking, use a fork to remove the chicken from the bone and set aside.

To finish soup, add chicken, mushrooms and fishsauce. While this cooks, juice the limes (Using tongs works very well for this) and chop the cilantro. Immediately before serving, stir in lime juice, coconut milk and cilantro.

This soup gets better as the flavors are allowed to infuse. It is always better the second day.