Sweet Ginger Sauce For Chicken Soup

 Transform ordinary chicken soup into zesty livened up soup with this sauce. 

So what is it?

This sauce is comprised of some pretty potent ingredients like fish sauce, ginger and garlic. It might seem intimidating to some, but this sauce will really add a kick to chicken soup. The sauce has oriental undertones from the ginger and lemon/lime combo. All the flavors come together and pair up wonderfully with chicken soup. Bonus: the citrus, garlic and ginger only help this sauce transform chicken soup to be all the more healthier and vitamin packed for anyone suffering from a cold and in need of a heart warming bowl of soup.

This recipe was taught to my mom by my paternal grandmother and her sister who are from Vietnam. My mom's chicken soup is already really good, but when you add in this sauce it becomes virtually irresistible! Break down barriers and try adding this sauce to your chicken soup the next time you need a bowl of comfort.

Sweet Ginger Sauce For Chicken Soup

Servings: Makes about 3/4 cup of sauce which can serve 4-6 Time: 10 minutes Source: Family recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup fish sauce

 1/2 tbsp peeled grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic grated

1 1/2 tbsps fresh lemon or lime juice

2 tbsps sugar

1 dash of salt or to taste

Step 1

Grate ginger and garlic. Obtain juice from lemon or lime.

Step 2 

Add all ingredients together and stir.

Step 3

Taste and adjust as necessary.

How to serve? Prepare chicken soup as you normally would. Prepare a bowl of starch such as rice, abc noodles or orzo pasta in my case. Drench with chicken soup. Add ginger sauce to your bowl one spoon full at a time according to your preferences and stir in.

Note: This is a recipe that can be adjusted to your liking. Some people may prefer the sauce to be sweeter and others may prefer to add a little more citrus. You can freely add or downtown the ingredients to your preferences.

Buen provecho!

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

 My daughter and I had so much fun making the chocolate chunk muffins that I couldn't help but find another muffin recipe to try out. We whipped up this batch in minutes. It was really simple and I am finding that muffins are making the perfect go to breakfast and snack for us. These were perfectly moist and soo chocolatey dense. Kind of like a brownie in muffin form!

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

Servings: 32 mini muffins, recipe is easily halved for 16 mini muffins Time: 30 minutes Source: Slightly adapted from Eva Bakes Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Step 1
Pre-heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Grease muffin molds.
Step 2
Mix all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and sugar) together in one mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine and flatten out any clumps.
Step 3
In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients ( eggs, sour cream, milk, melted butter, oil and vanilla).
Step 4
Slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until smoothly combined. Add chocolate chips at the end and mix just enough to incorporate them evenly.
Step 5 
Add mix to molds and bake for 11-15 minutes. If using a tester a few crumbs should come out while testing to ensure that it is adequately moist.

Buen provecho!

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

My three year old loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. In one of the episodes Clarabelle makes moo-muffins for her moo-mart. Ever since them my daughter brings them up. I couldn't help but make these and call them "moo-muffins". My daughter loved them & I was very happy with how they turned out as well.  They have just the right consistency and are perfect for children or to pack for lunch.

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Servings: 24 mini muffins, 12 regular or 9 large muffins Time: 45 minutes Source: Slightly adapted from Bakerella's Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla 

1/4 cup melted butter, cooled slightly

1/2 cup milk chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin molds. Start melting butter.

Step 2

Combine and whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Step 3 

In a separate bowl combine and whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter.

Step 4

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add in chocolate chips.

Step 5

Add batter to muffin molds. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until done depending on the size of muffins you are making.

Buen Provecho!

Thin Spiced Eggnog

A couple years ago my sister & my mom started a tradition of making homemade eggnog for the Christmas season. This version is very rich and spiced, but thin. If you like very thick eggnog this may not be the recipe for you. Past that, this eggnog is perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit and it is a drink that will always remind me of my family.

Thin Spiced Eggnog

Servings: 12 Time: Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 10 minutes Total Time Including Refrigeration: 6 hours and 30 minutes Source: All Recipe's Amazingly Good Eggnog by user Nataliesmom

Ingredients

4 cups milk

5 whole cloves

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, separated

1 tsp ground cinnamon

12 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups light cream

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (plus more for garnish if desired)

optional rum to taste

Step 1

Combine milk, cloves, 1/2 tsp vanilla and cinnamon in a saucepan. Heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring this mixture to a boil.

Step 2

In a large bowl combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk together until fluffy. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Pour whole mixture back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly for 3 minutes or until it is thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Make sure that eggs do not scramble. 

Step 3

Strain to remove the cloves. Let cool for 1 hour.

Step 4 

Stir in rum if using, 2 tsp vanilla extract and nutmeg. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Buen provecho!

Eggnog Bars

Anyone who loves eggnog will really fall for these bars. The eggnog flavor is key & this means that you should opt for a good quality eggnog that doesn't use artificial flavors because it will really effect the taste quality of the bars. I would even recommend making your own homemade eggnog to use in this recipe. 

Eggnog Bars

Servings: 8x8 inch pan yielding 9 servings Time: Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 25-29 minutes Cooling time: 40 minutes Source: Averie Cook's Eggnog Bars

Ingredients

Bars

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter melted

1 large egg, room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup eggnog

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/3 cup eggnog or more for consistency

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

ground nutmeg to sprinkle on top

Bars:

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 350. Line baking pan with aluminum foil. Grease foil & set aside.

Step 2

Melt the white chocolate and the butter being careful to not overheat.

Step 3

Wait a moment until the chocolate-butter mixture has cooled slightly. Add the eggs to this mixture being careful to not scramble them. Whisk to combine.

Step 4

Add the sugar, eggnog and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

Step 5

Add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir until just combined.

Step 6

Pour batter into pan and bake for 25-29 minutes, or until cooked through. To get the ideal consistency you can insert a tester. If a few moist crumbs come off then it is just right.

Step 7

Once cake is baked set aside to cool.

Glaze:

Step 1

In a medium bowl whisk all glaze ingredients together besides the nutmeg. Add more eggnog if a thinner consistency is desired. Glaze should be pourable.
Step 2 
Pour glaze on top of cake once it is completely cooled. Sprinkle some ground nutmeg on top. Serve at room temperature.

Challah Bread

Challah! Truly my favorite bread. I love how it is sweet, soft and filling. Nothing is better than warm challah right out of the oven. If you are unfamiliar with challah it is a rich bread aided by the eggs that are added to its dough. It has a characteristic yellow color and it is oh so soft and pull apart-able with your hands. For toppings who can resist challah with nutella, jelly or butter?

Challah Bread

Servings: 2 loaves, approximately 14 1 inch slices Time: 30 minutes to assemble, 1.5 hours to rise and 30-33 minutes to cook.  Source: Slightly adapted from What Jew Wanna Eat's recipe for Challah

Ingredients
1 envelope instant yeast
3/4 cup warm water (at about 100 degrees)
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 extra for glazing
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
3 and 3/4 cups bread flour

Step 1
Prepare the yeast by mixing it with the warm water and one tablespoon sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes for the yeast to puff up.
Step 2
In a separate bowl add 2 eggs, remaining sugar, oil and salt. Pour yeast mixture over. Mix briefly and gently until just incorporated. Add the bread flour. Mix with hands until the dough forms a thick ball. Dough should not be too wet. Mix with hands for about 2 minutes, until dough is totally incorporated.
Step 3
Cover and let rise for at least 1 hour or up to 2 hours.
Step 4
At the end of rising uncover and divide dough into 2 chunks. Then divide each chunk into 3. Roll the 3 pieces from the 2 chunks out as if you were trying to make a snake with play doh. Braid each 3 pieces as if you were braiding hair. When done tuck the ends underneath. Lay the 2 loaves onto an ungreased baking sheet or casserole.
Step 5
Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. I do this by letting it rise covered in my oven while it is off.
Step 6
Uncover and glaze with last egg.
Step 7 
Bake at 375 for 30-33 minutes, or until cooked through to your liking.

Buen Provecho

Key Lime Pie

Piggy In Paradise is named accordingly for 2 reasons. 1: Because my goal is that you take a bite of each meal feeling as if you're in foodie paradise. And 2: Because I am am a self proclaimed piggy and I live in my opinion of paradise in the Florida Keys. One thing we're famous for here is our Key Lime Pies. Though it has become something of a typical tourist menu food, for us its authenticity and reminder of home never gets old. Using fresh Key Lime juice is essential. We love going to our neighbors house to pick them off our neighbors tree and have just started growing our own. We can't wait to harvest the first Key Limes from it to make more of this delicious stuff.

Key Lime Pie

Servings:6 servings of 2 mini pies each, or 1 large pie Time:30 minutes Source: My Mom's recipe

Ingredients

1 can (14 oz or 396g) condensed milk

3/4 of a (7 oz  198g) tub of crème fraiche

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice

4 egg yolks

2 egg whites

12 premade mini graham cracker pie crusts or 1 large premade graham cracker crust

Step 1

In a large bowl stir all ingredients together besides the egg whites and crusts.

Step 2

Brush the graham cracker crusts with the egg whites. Fill with filling.

Step 3

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until center is mostly firm.





Key West, Fl