First I wanted to start with this great lobster bisque I had the chance to make. My dad got a dozen lobsters for his birthday as a gift from my younger brother. After all the meat was removed I boiled the shells in white wine with some garlic, onion, meyer lemon peel, szechuan pepper, thyme, bay leaves and a touch of cumin. After a few hours of boiling I strained the broth and blended in some mashed potato to help thicken the soup along with some heavy cream. I stirred in some lobster meat and I was good to go!
I have also recently made frijoles charros. To prepare this I took uncooked pinto beans and simmered for several hours along with sauteed onion, garlic, bay leaves and chile guajillo. In a separate pan i cooked down bacon along with onion, garlic and chile poblano. I added the beans with the broth to the bacon. The flavor was excellent, I just wish it came out a bit more spicy.
Last up is a tom kha soup I made with shrimp. I first fried some shrimp shells in a pan, I then added some white wine to deglaze the pan and added coconut milk and a bit of water. I boiled for about an hour to draw out as much shrimp flavor as I could before straining. In another pan I cooked down garlic, ginger, serrano chile and lemongrass. I covered with the coconut shrimp broth and cooked together for another half hour. While this cooked I added red bell pepper, kale as well as the shrimp towards the end. I served this soup over noodles and topped with sliced scallion, it was very satisfying and had a ton of flavor.
