Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Walk Away, Muffin Face. This is About Curry Paste!


I'm a huge fan of Jill Bari, who pens a blog called The World According to Muffin Face. I post this warning for her, as she has a particular aversion to curry.

I am working like a dawg this week. Scheduling and staffing two summer camps has me stymied and I am working my second job this week on Wednesday through Sunday. Now, I love to cook and I can't stand shortcuts, but I am against the wall. Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste comes to the rescue. I don't have much time to shop. I have frozen cauliflower and broccoli and peas, so I'll use the curry paste to make a veg curry. Rice is a given, as Andy has purchased what looks like a 50-thousand pound bag of rice so we'll have something to eat when there's no more oil. Go ahead and laugh. We'll be livin' large on beans and rice while you are all reminiscing about the good old days when we had gasoline.

Anyway, here's a quick red curry for you. Sautee an onion in some canola oil. I like to add some pureed ginger and garlic to this when the onions are soft. Add the curry paste and saute it until you can smell the aroma come alive. Add broth--maybe a cup. Heat through. Add your veggies. Add coconut milk, about 6 ounces, to lend a creamy element. Get everything incorporated and just simmer until the veggies are tender. They should be just tender--not cooked within an inch of recognition. Feel free to substitute any veggies in this recipe. It's a good one for using up little bits of this and that.



These quantities are not etched in stone. If you like a really rich curry, use less broth and more coconut milk. The end result should look like a creamy broth with a generous amount of chunky vegetables sitting in it. You can use reduced fat coconut milk, but you will forego some of that wonderful coconut flavor. Serve this with rice.

3 comments:

pnlkotula said...

Hey - I missed this one! I have only in the last couple of years discoverd thai food, and I'm still a novice, but that looks really yummy. See, I'm not entirely picky.

JB said...

Thanks for the warning - the only thing worse would have been a clown using curry!

Janine Serresseque said...

I remember one night, years ago--you were rehearsing something in the little theatre, and I was rehearsing Pinnoccho at Theatre IV. I encountered you out in the alley, probably we were both sneaking out for a smoke. What I most remembered is that the werd half mask of my costume kind of freaked you out. Lord knows, I don't blame you! Clown makeup and masks can be very creepy.