After two years of radio silence...

When you don't blog for two years after a hurtful break up, it's hard to know what to make. What does one post as their first article in a very long while? What subject, recipe or discussion merits being your first post in two years?

To be honest, I allowed my mojo to be taken while I dealt with the fallout from how I had been treated. I stopped cooking for the large part. So here I am, two years later, 20 pounds heavier, and it's time for a change. My depression wasn't all about the boy. I was hurt at the lack of support shown by many people in my life (though very impressed at how some unexpected people stepped up). On top of all that, just as I was starting to get better, my beloved Granny died a year ago and I fell off the rails again.

It's been a tough year, but also a year with many blessings and healing. I've joined a choir, been very lucky to have some amazing people come into my life, and I've done some things I thought I would never in a million years do.

It's time I got back on the horse - so to speak - and got back to writing. Time to move on. In that spirit I bring you my first recipe post in two years. Bring out the big stockpot; you're gonna need it!

Michelle's Thai Fish Ball Breakup Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 cups long beans, chopped into 2 cm batons (they taste a bit grassier and are more delicate than regular green beans)
3 - 4 cups sliced mushrooms (I used cremini, but do use whatever you like/have)
7 cups bok choi chopped, whites separated from greens (you can use any dark leafy green you fancy, and yes they do wilt so don't be afraid of the quantity I've cited)
1/2 tsp salt
2 - 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 cup beer (I used Mill Street's Oktoberfest Beer which was part of a seasonal sampler, but you can use what you like as long as it's not too dark)
5 cups hot vegetable or chicken broth mixed with 2 tbsp green curry paste (adjust proportion of curry paste to taste)
4 cups fish balls (Mine were assorted kinds and frozen when I put them in the pot, but feel free to use fresh. You will just have to add the bean sprouts a bit earlier and not cook as long in the end)
3 cup soybean sprouts

Method:

In a large stockpot, heat oil on medium heat. Add the mushrooms, beans and bok choi bottoms (if you're using bok choi) with the salt until they are partially cooked and the bok choi whites start to look translucent. Toss in the green tops of the bok choi and cook until wilted. Add the garlic and cook for a minute of two so the garlic cooks. Add the beer and cook until the alcohol burns off (your kitchen will start to get that delicious yeasty, bready scent). Mix in the stock/curry paste mixture, the fish balls, and the sprouts. Cook until the fish balls are warmed through and the sprouts are tender. Season to taste. Makes a huge stockpot's worth of soup so you'll have leftovers for days. Or a large party.

I found that between the saltiness of the stock and the big flavour from the curry paste, I did not need more salt but do season it to your taste. I also think this would do very well as a noodle soup and certainly more filling that way. I almost added a can of coconut milk and some peanut butter to this, but the broth tasted so nice that I decided to save those for a hearty curry at a later date.

So there you are guys. Back to writing after two years of silence. Do enjoy and I hope to have more articles on here more often than not ;)

Love,
Michelle xoxo