Yucatan Lime Soup

Today is Jon's birthday!!  I am relatively sure that this is his favorite dish in my repertoire.  The first time we had this soup (well sort of) was on our honeymoon in Mexico almost 4 years ago.  It was our second to last day there and we went on a snorkeling excursion on the island of Cozumel.  After snorkeling, our excursion included lunch.  We headed over to a quaint traditional looking Mexican restaurant (I wish I remembered the name of it) and this soup was the starter.  Well it was something like this soup.  They served it with garlic bread and it paired so well.  The flavor of the garlic bread being flooded with lime soup was fantastic.  Mmmmm.

  When we got home, I was determined to try to replicate the soup because we liked it so much.  I spent a lot of time searching on the internet for the right recipe, and this seemed like it would come the closest and taste the best.  We were also honeymooning on the Yucatan Peninsula, so with the name I thought it would be a safe bet.  At least the region was right! 

Unfortunately I really can't remember what the original tasted like anymore, but this is so good.  I think it comes pretty close.  I was a little hesitant because I didn't think a food network recipe would be authentic, but it seems like it could be.  Maybe my Mexican friends can tell me if they try it.

I'm just going to post the recipe from the website.

Yucatan Lime Soup

I didn't make any real changes to it.  Well, okay I made a few changes.  Okay, well I made 7 changes.  But they're really small changes! 

1.  I used chicken thighs, not breasts because organic chicken breasts are ridiculously expensive and I didn't want to cut up a whole chicken today.  I also let the bones simmer with everything because bones in broth are supposed to be good for you.

2.  I let everything simmer for an hour before adding the lime right before serving.  That way the lime taste is still bright and fresh.  I used the juice of 1 1/2 limes.

3.  I didn't want to buy an avocado because organic avocados are really expensive.

4.  I fried the tortilla separately while the soup was simmering.

5.  I don't ever use vegetable (soybean) oil.  I used organic canola oil to fry the tortillas.

6.  I used 4 cloves of garlic, I think I have a garlic problem. 

7.  I added another dash of cumin when the chicken was sauteeing.

Don't substitue the fresh fried tortilla for bagged tortilla chips.  The freshly fried tortilla chips make such a huge difference!



Saute the onions and cajun seasoning (Emeril's essence).



Add chicken, garlic, chiles, and tomatoes.

Saute everything for a few minutes.



Add the chicken broth!

Oh and tonight I found that if you use homemade chicken broth it tastes SOOOOO much better.  I had previously store bought boxed chicken broth and it just doesn't compare.



Add the lime juice, garnish with tortilla strips, cilantro and a slice of lime!  Yum!



Tonight's attempt was the best I've ever done so far.  I think it was the broth!  Jon said, "Wow that's really good" three times during dinner!!  Woohoo!  That spells birthday dinner success in my books.

Try it out and let me know what you think!  I love reading comments!!

Birthday man also got a mini cherry pie for dessert, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post that recipe.  It's his mom's.  I'll have to ask!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
  thank you so much for my amazing husband!  Please continue to bless him with health and holiness and help him to continue to be a wonderful husband to me and father to Clare and Mikey.  Amen.

Beef Pho, sort of.

Some of you have seen this post on facebook, some of you haven't.  Yet others of you have been around when I've made Pho and had the pleasure (or so you say) of trying it.  I think it's pretty good. 

Jon loves Pho and until ....around 6 months ago(I think) I had never tried making it.  Every time we went to a Pho restaurant Jon would say something like, "We should really learn how to make this at home." or "I'd love to learn how to make this."  To which I'd chuckle because...well for those of you who witnessed Jon's cooking habits in college....you know.  Let's just say Pho is a bit more involved than heating up a costco burrito or making scrambled eggs.  Ha ha ha!! Poor husband.  I kid!  I kid!  He does other things in the kitchen sometimes, like make steak.  One time he really impressed me for Valentine's and make some filet mignons with bordelaise sauce.  It was amazing!

I digress.  Back to the Pho.  And that's pronounced "Fuh" and not "Poe"  hee hee!  My dad always says "Poe" and I still don't know what happened to the "H". 

The preparation isn't actually all that involved, but tonight I wasn't at my Pho best because mommy brain caught up to me and I just forgot to get a bunch of things while we were at Central Market after Mass.  No cilantro for garnish, no noodles, and no beef stock.  It was....okay.  But every other time I've made it, it's been mouth wateringly good. Whenever you make it, it will be delicious!  Just don't forget to actually buy ingredients like I did today.  Sigh.  Here's the recipe!!

I've read a few (like 4 or 5 I don't remember) pho recipes online and sort of mashed a few together.
I hope I don't offend any Vietnamese friends with my recipe.  It tastes great to us, so I hope you like it!

Oh and pay no attention to the noodles in the picture.  We usually use vermicelli noodles but mommy crazy brains forgot to get some at the store and had to make due with pad thai noodles instead.  Bah.

Pho Val style
1lb of beef stew meat.
4 or 5 cloves of garlic minced
2 thumb sized chunks of fresh ginger minced
1 large onion chopped
1 large cinnamon stick
2 star anise pods
3-4 tbsp fish sauce (Patis for you filipinos)
1 carton of beef stock (organic without msg is best!)
oil for sauteing

1/2 package Rice vermicelli noodles.


1.   Saute garlic, onions and ginger in a dutch oven or stock pot until the onions become translucent and the garlic and ginger are soft.

2.  Add stew meat and saute until brown.

3.  Add a carton of beef broth and fill the pot with about 3 quarts of water.  Bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer for ....hours.  At least 4 hours.

4.  Add your noodles to another pot of boiling water and boil for 3 -4 minutes until soft. 

Assembly goes something like this.  Noodles go in the bottom of the bowl.  Then I usually ladle in some broth, pick out a few chunks of meat, and top with whatever condiments you want.

Jon usually likes cilantro as a topping and sometimes Jalapeno slices.  Some people use bean sprouts and sriracha sauce (type of hot sauce) too. 

See?  Saute, brown and simmer.  Easy peasy.

I've seen some recipes for the broth that use beef knuckle and lemongrass, but I didn't use those.  Every now and then I'll add beef soup bones or marrow bones too.

I think traditionally the meat is sliced really thin and is cooked in the super hot broth right before it's served, but I don't really do that.  If the broth has reduced a lot by the time you're done simmering it you can always add more water and just bring it up to a boil.

Hope you like it!

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father thank you for this soup which has nourished us tonight.  Thank you for the ease of preparation and my children's extreme love of noodles.  You never cease to provide for us, thank you for our blessings.  Amen.