Chasing the chill away with curry

Hearing the forecast for this week sent a little shiver through me. After shoveling yesterday morning, I knew I needed to come home to a warm dinner- and soup sounded just the ticket.

This did take longer than I thought to come together- but I am still adjusting to my new stove. But, it made a huge batch of soup! Half of it will be frozen & I brought some in for lunch today. Penzeys sweet curry powder gave it a rich flavor and a deep golden color. Perfect winter dish to curl up with the season premier of 24- GO JACK!!

Turkey Curry Soup

From: Enlightened Soups by Camilla Saulsbury

Ingredients:

1 TB unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 TB minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 TB sweet curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped carrots
2 medium tart apples, peeled and diced
8 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups uncooked long grain rice
3 cups shredded cooked turkey
2 TB lime juice
1 14oz can light coconut milk
1/2 cup flour
Optional: hot sauce

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped peanuts or cashews
1/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Method:

Melt butter in large saucepan (I used my dutch oven & glad I did) over medium high heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Add ginger, curry powder and garlic. Cook and stir for one minute.

Add the carrots, celery, apples and 4 cups of broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions.

Puree soup- either by working in batches with a blender or use an immersion blender. Stir in turkey, lime juice, remaining broth & cooked rice.

Whisk the coconut milk and flour together in small bowl until blended. Add to the soup. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes until thick, stirring constantly. Season to taste- add hot sauce if desired. Garnish with cilantro, peanuts and coconut.

My changes- I used basmati rice- but I really couldn't tell that I had, so next time I'll use just regular rice. And I did only use 7 cups of broth- and still have oodles of soup. And the next time, I'll add a dash of cayenne and maybe a little garam marsala to add another layer of flavor. I didn't have the stuff on hand to garnish- but the peanuts would be nice. No coconut for me though- I love coconut milk but still don't care for coconut that much. Unless it's covered in chocolate, then I can willingly eat it.