Winter Melon Soup

My first attempt at a chinese soup! It turned out quite delicious and Thomas's mom liked it too! Eventually I want to learn how to make it inside the melon! I used the recipe from Epicurious as a guideline but pretty much eyeballed things. This recipe was for a lot more soup than I intended to make so everything is scaled down.

For broth

• 1 (3- to 3 1/2-lb) whole chicken (3 chicken thighs)
• 1 bunch scallions, halved crosswise (2)
• 2 oz Smithfield or other cured ham (1 piece or sliced), trimmed of any spice coating (I used 2 slices of ham and was afraid that it wouldn't be strong enough so I added a little bit of bacon too. Ideally you would use chinese ham)
• 1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, smashed (sliced so that I could pick it out easily later)
• 14 cups water (half a box of chicken broth and then enough water to cover the thighs in the med pot)
• 1 tablespoon salt

For soup

• 5 (1-inch-wide) large dried scallops (I didn't have any -_-, I was going to add fish sauce to taste if the soup was too bland but I ended up not needing to)
• 1 (2-lb) wedge winter melon (ok I have no idea, I just cut enough melon to fill the pot)
• 2 oz Smithfield or other cured ham (1 piece or sliced), trimmed of any spice coating and cut into very thin matchsticks (1/2 cup) (I cut up the chicken from the broth making instead)
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into very thin matchsticks (2 tablespoons) (skipped)
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup) (1 was enough)

preparation

Make broth: I did this differently so this part is not copy pasted

Place all the broth ingredients together and boil. Skim off the scum as you go. Once it has boiled for about 5-10 minutes you can put the lid on and bring the heat down to low. Overall cook for about an hour and then take everything out. Cut up the bits of chicken but discard the rest. Hehe at this point I was a bit scared because the soup smelled kinda like bacon. The flavor was good and a rather mild thankfully

Make soup:

Bring broth to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan,

Cut off and discard rind from winter melon. Remove and discard seeds, then cut melon into 1/3-inch cubes). Add to broth and gently simmer, uncovered, until melon is transparent, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in chicken, scallions, and salt to taste just before serving. This was the most amazing part. I covered the soup because I like my green onions cooked and when I opened it again the bacon smell was gone! replaced by the greener smell of the green onions but not too strong. Yum. Very satisfying esp. when it's cold outside.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Winter-Melon-Soup-233787#ixzz2kObE2Ff6

Pumpkin Pie Improved!

      I was wandering around in the supermarket collecting a heck of a lot more than I was supposed to again and I saw canned pumpkin. Well, I had already been playing with a pie idea in my head, replacing a traditional crust with a Graham cracker crust because they taste so good. I wanted to see if the flavors would match or if perhaps the crust would be too strongly flavored.

      I didn't have a recipe on hand but the back of the Libby's can has one conveniently written on it! I figured that either it would turn out gross or be really good the way that they have the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of Tollhouse chocolate chips. It was a hit! So good.

This recipe is more like a custard for the filling (notice no flour). When I was pulling it out of the oven to see if it was done the center jiggled haha. It took longer for me than the time written on the can, I had to turn up the oven to 375 deg. I think It baked for an hour and 15? Next time I wont turn it down as low as 350 for this oven. 

There was too much batter for my little pie crust (store bought). I don't know if they have deep dish versions but if not then you might want to have a ramekin or something on hand to take care of the excess filling.