A Couple of Recipes to Share

My friend Maurnie has been a little busy and she missed a couple of Share a Spoons.  Imagine my surprise when I got an email this week with not one, not two but three recipes!   I shared the turtle cookie recipe yesterday and linked for Share a Spoon. 


Today I am going to post her recipes for soup and bars.  I hope you enjoy.  Both recipes sounded fabulous to me!


Marnie writes: 


This is a recipe I found somewhere, think it may have been Bon Appetit, which I shamelessly changed, tweaked and now tell everyone is my own.  It is savory and a little spicy (most palettes can take it though).

Mulligatawny Soup

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 cups chopped onions (about 1 pound)

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala

1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves

2 cups dried red lentils

8 cups low-salt chicken broth

2 cups diced cooked chicken ( I used poached chicken breasts)

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups cooked basmati rice

Lemon wedges

Directions:

Heat vegetable oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until golden brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add garam masala and next 4 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add lentils; stir until coated. Add chicken broth. Bring soup to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are very tender, about 20 minutes. Discard bay leaves.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to pot. Stir in chicken, coconut milk, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide rice among bowls. Pour soup over. Garnish with lemon wedges; serve.

Bars:

Nanaimo Bars to be exact.  Nanaimo is a town on Vancouver Island and there are all kinds of stories about how the recipe came to be.  Nonetheless….I make it in my house and it is gone – it’s *that* good.

Nanaimo Bars

(Picture courtesy of Google Images)

Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
½ c. finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut

Directions Bottom Layer:

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder (or vanilla pudding powder will work in a pinch)
2 cups icing sugar

Directions Second Layer:

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Directions Third Layer:

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

Since we are moving into fall and my two favorite things to do and eat are soups and baked goods, I couldn't keep these all to myself and not share!  ;)

Enjoy!