Attack of the Rubber Chicken! The finale....

As you know from the soon-to-be famous rubber chicken posts (go here for the beginning), I have one, count 'em ONE chicken breast left to use up to complete my goal of three meals, a snack and stock from the one bird. Here is what I did.

Recently, although it IS in fact, summer...I longed for soup.  Many in my family are this way as well ~ we can eat soup throughout the year. I suppose it is that we descend from a long line of Portuguese fishermen (and women, ahem), and peasant food is serious soul food. 

While perusing one of my 8 gazillion many cooking periodicals and books, I came across a recipe for Thai Chicken Soup in the Food Network magazine. Go here to print ye a copy.

As per usual, let's assemble all the goodies ahead of time, so our cooking is a labor of love, not a rushed or stressful time...

We have; coconut milk, fish sauce, curry paste, rice noodles, a lime, the diced up chicken breast, minced garlic, chopped cilantro and a thinly sliced red bell pepper. The hard part is done! Notice how I lined my cutting board with wax paper, to avoid any contamination from any uncooked chicken.  Let's go!

First, get a nice 2-quart saucepan, and heat some plain vegetable oil in it (not pictured), and begin to saute' your onions...

Saute' until you get them beginning to caramelize, and turn a nice golden brown...like this;

That will take a good ten to fifteen minutes, to properly soften and get nicely browned. Do that step on medium-low heat, you do not want bitter, burnt onions here.  Then, add a few chunks of your curry paste and the garlic..

Saute' for about five more minutes, until the curry paste is blended in nicely, like this....

Then, add in the coconut milk and water or chicken broth. I use a couple teaspoons of chicken base (not pictured) with the water...

Now, bring it to a boil, and add in your diced chicken breast.....

Reduce the heat to medium, and simmer for about 10 minutes, just until the chicken is cooked through, and has begun to lend its flavor to the soup. Now, add the bell pepper strips and rice noodles, stir, and simmer for another ten minutes...

Now, just before serving, throw the cilantro in there, squeeze a little fresh lime juice too, dish it up, and enjoy!  Although I am a self-confessed soup nut, I must say that this one is so amazing that it is addictive!  In fact, I admit that when I am making this for myself, and there is nothing left in the pan but broth, I have added more rice noodles, more bell pepper, garlic and cilantro....and enjoyed rounds two, three, and OH I'VE SAID TOO MUCH!  Gee, I don't know why I'm not hungry when Dear Husband comes home from work....yikes. This was probably my seventh time making it! And of course, the Attack of the Rubber chicken! was a resounding success! Three meals, a snack, and chicken stock from our wonderful, versatile bird.  Have a look at the bowl o' Thai goodness..

Stay tuned for a trip down to the Big Easy (foodie-wise, of course), and another visit from Kitchen Angel!  Love and kindness to all,

Pixie