I do love curry.
Not so much as Lister does on Red Dwarf, because if I had curry for every dinner my bowels might not appreciate me.
But almost as much as Lister.
Tonight after a very beautiful hike right outside of town, my friends and I gathered at my house and we made two different curries: a pineapple-chicken curry and a spicy vegetarian green curry. I was responsible for the veg curry and my friend whipped up the other one.
Neither of us followed any sort of recipe, but rather just started putting things into a pot. Mine had coconut milk, sauted onions, peppers, eggplant, some potatoes, tofu, carrots, bananas, pineapples with juice, coconut flakes, garlic, curry paste, and then a bunch of spices like curry powder, red pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin, cinnamon, onion powder, but no salt.
I'm all salted out from salt & pepper pistachios from Everybody's Nuts! Have you tried those? You have to, they're just too good. They're more peppery than salty, but if you eat half of the huge bags, you'll be salted out too.
The pineapple-chicken curry consisted of basically the same, but with coconut flakes and eggplant omitted and chicken instead of tofu. She also added cashews and honey. She is a fantastic cook. We served it with delicious store-bought naan from Costco and some white rice. Then we watched a Western. Monte Walsh.
Do you like my idea? "Curry and Cowboys." I thought it was clever. It sounds nice at least.
Also, Monte Walsh is one of my favorite movies. Behind Quigley Down Under, my top movie of all time, but still pretty good. Tom Selleck makes one fine cowboy. He's just a great actor in general.
So go try making curry! It's simple, delicious, and a fun event to do with friends. Curry is a social food.
It may come off as rather odd, but most foods I post and/or make in my kitchen are not consumed by myself. I love making cookies, but would rather give them away to neighbors, friends, strangers, etc. rather than eat them up myself.
Also, I do not eat a lot of meat. "Pescetarian" is the technical term, so I eat fish and seafood, but chicken, beef, pork, and the likes are not part of my diet. So it might be a little weird that I get excited about foods like chicken bakes from Costco (mmmm) and bacon in any form.*
Mostly, I feed my boyfriend. I like making food for him because he appreciates it and says that everything I make is delicious, even when it is not. He always eats what is on his plate, even my terrible experiments. Luckily, tonight's dinner was "delicious."
As always.
I must be some cook. :)
ON THE MENU TONIGHT: chicken breast sautéd with garlic, pepper, and rice vinegar; white buttered sticky rice; steamed broccoli; and to top everything off, some homemade peanut sauce.**
But first an appetizer? Frozen boxed eggroll and Asian dumplings from Trader Joes.
Peanut Sauce
(Recipe from Cooking With Amy)
1/4 cup peanut butter (natural, no sugar added kind)
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon or lime juice
1/4 cup coconut milk (lite is fine, if you prefer or substitute water)
1/4 cup water
red chili flakes to taste
chili garlic sauce to taste or 1 clove crushed garlic
Optional:***
sesame oil
curry paste
rice wine vinegar
fish sauce
grated ginger
shallots sauteed till brown in oil
Worcestershire sauce
Combine all ingredients with a whisk in a small bowl, adding the water last. Pour into a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until sauce begins to bubble and thicken. Experiment with this sauce adding a teaspoon at a time of one the optional additions and tasting as you go. Serve hot or cold.
Try it out. My boyfriend says, "If one was okay and ten was pretty great, I think I'd probably give you a hundred and ten thousand stars."
Oh, I like that man.
*There are so many things you can do with bacon! You have the classics like eggs and bacon and toast, BLTs, twice baked potatoes with bacon and chives, chicken bakes. Then you get the weirder stuff like bacon weaves, bacon cookies, peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, etc. etc. Everybody loves bacon. I love bacon. Just not eating it.
**My friend tells me that next time I HAVE to make some Pad Thai to go with the peanut sauce.
***I added one teaspoon yellow curry paste and two teaspoons rice vinegar.
Tonight I fed some nerds, some very dear and beloved nerds playing Magic: The Gathering.
Curry for dinner, and cookie dough balls for dessert. Yes, I am a (semi-)grown-up, but I still love eating cookie dough. Just make your standard Tollhouse cookie recipe, stick some toothpicks in them, freeze them for a while, dip them in melted chocolate chips, and there you have it! Delicious.
It was fun. That is all I have to say for tonight, aside from try this sometime. It's good stuff; filling, flavorful, and fun to make.
Pineapple Chicken Curry
2 c. rice
5 chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
4 potatoes
1 c. sweet yellow onion, sliced
1 c. sliced carrots
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cans coconut milk
2 T. yellow curry paste
1 can pineapple
Begin cooking the rice as instructions dictate.
Boil the potatoes until they become soft and tender. Cool and proceed to cube them.
In the meanwhile, cook cut chicken in a large skillet over medium heat until fully cooked. Set aside. In the same skillet, saute potatoes, sliced onions, and carrots adding water as necessary. When vegetables are tender, combine chicken. Spice with curry powder, cinnamon, and salt to taste.*
In a large pot, add sauted veggies and chicken along with the coconut milk and curry paste. Bring to a boil than reduce to a simmer until thick. Add the pineapples with the juice. Enjoy over the cooked rice!
