Curry Soup

Strangely, my cafeteria at work made a pretty kick ass chicken and curried vegetable soup yesterday with lentils and yumbombs.  It was really good and I was hoping to find a similar recipe online, though I'm sure I could give it a go myself at recreating it.  (it was basically chicken and veggies and curry - ta da!  recipe done)
A peek at the interwebs brought up this intriguing recipe though, and I definitely want to give it a whirl.  See, one of the dishes I dream about is the red curry mussels at Fog City Diner.  The only problem with this, is that I don't like mussels.  I can't order a plate of mussels just so I can eat the broth - that would be stupid.  And I can't always drag Andrea with me to eat the mussels and not share any of the broth with her - that would be mean.
So maybe, JUST MAYBE this soup could do for me, just a little, of what the broth does.  And PERHAPS I can live without the crusty sourdough, but I make no promises.

Bon Appetit tells me that this recipe is from Aruns in Chicago, where owner and chef Arun Sampanthavivat has come up with this fresh take on a traditional Thai recipe.

Thai Red Curry Soup 

2 tablespoons corn oil

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste

12 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips

4 ounces green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths

2 small Japanese eggplants, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 cups canned low-salt chicken broth

3 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon fish sauce (nam pla)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chicken; stir 2 minutes. Add green beans and eggplant pieces; stir 1 minute. Add broth, coconut milk and fish sauce; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in basil and serve.

Attempt #1 at Thai Food

I awoke Tuesday morning CRAVING Thai. Like, I had been dreaming about it and then it was all I could think about. Mmmm, Thai food. I had some extra lean ground turkey in the fridge and I thought it could potentially make some kick ass gai pad gra pow.
I found a couple of recipes that inspired me, and ruminated for a couple of days, and finally, tonight (Thursday), I went for it. It was okay, but it tasted NOTHING like the pad grapow you'll get at a Thai joint. Not even a little bit. It was probably way healthier, but. . . . I think if I hadn't been thinking about and craving the real deal, I may have been able to appreciate it a little more.
Did I need more fish sauce? More Tamari? I don't think I needed more oil, I used way more than I normally do. Do I need to go sit at the counter at Bang San and watch those ladies make it?
In any case, if you have some ground bird meat and some basil, and you're craving something spicy, give this a whirl, but don't expect it to replace your favorite takeout - deal?

Spicy Basil Chicken
4 - 5 tbsp oil; I wanted to use peanut oil but only had veg
7-8 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
6 peppers (I used 2 jalapenos, 2 serranos, and 2 uh, red ones) - if you can find Thai chilies I'd go for those though you'll probably need several more (the first recipe calls for 12-20!)
1 lb of bird meat - either finely chopped or ground
A generous drizzling of Tamari (maybe 2-3 tbsp)
Fish sauce to taste (and I have no idea what the correct amount is; I used maybe 1 tbsp)
1 cup of basil (again, go for Thai basil if you can find it, or holy basil if you're lucky enough to run across it - this is, after all the gra pow this dish is named for!)
brown rice
Sriracha
Gewurztraminer or other sweet white (Riesling or maybe a Pinot Gris if you don't like your wine quite as sweet)

Get your mise en place ready to go -
pulverize your peppers with your garlic (we tried the mortar and pestle route and failed, so it went into the food processor or got smashed on the cutting board) and set aside. Finely chop your shallots and set aside. Prep your basil (wash and remove stems). Get out your bird meat.

Heat a large pan or wok until it's smoking hot, then get ready to move quickly. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan and heat the oil quickly. Stir in the garlic and pepper mix just long enough to get it coated and spread around and then add the shallots. Stir for 10-15 seconds to combine and then add the chicken. Stir fry (breaking up the larger slab if you dumped a container of ground meat into your pan like I did) until the meat is "browned" on the outside. I say "browned" because it doesn't really go brown so much as it goes. . . I dunno, less pink.

Sprinkle 1 tbsp or so of Tamari and stir in. Season "to taste" with fish sauce. I have no idea what this means even for my own tastebuds as this was my first time being brave enough to deal with fish sauce on my own because, hello, ew. I suppose it was about a tbsp.

Add in the basil and keep stirring and cooking until the basil is wilted. Give the meat a taste - add more Tamari or fish sauce as needed. We added another tbsp or 2 of Tamari.

Serve over brown rice if you're trying to be healthy. Taste before dousing in Sriracha - your chilies might be plenty hot. Maybe a squeeze of lime juice over the top would be lovely as well.

Drink with a nice cold, sweet white wine. Enjoy the fact that your entire house smells amazing (way better than dinner tasted if you ask me) for the rest of the evening. I really wish I had a fan/vent in my kitchen.

This would serve four if you were serving with other dishes or apps (or all skinny chicks watching their waistlines); or maybe three if it was the only course or you're sharing with boys.

Cucumber Salad

One of my very favorite Thai dishes is the cucumber salad that comes alongside satay. I know it's practically a garnish, but I adore it.
Old roomie, McD, was coming over for dinner earlier this week and I knew he'd enjoy the SB pork satay and I knew I had everything I needed at home already - major bonus. I also knew I had a cucumber and a half - excellent. * Mr. Burns fingers *
I asked McD to grab a red onion and some cilantro on his way over and we were in business.

Cucumber Salad
1 1/2 cucumbers, sliced thinly
1/4 of a red onion, sliced very thinly
3-4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp Splenda (don't inhale while opening or closing the package or you'll get a lung full)
3 dashes of sesame oil
3 dashes of chili oil (or to taste)
1-2 tsp soy sauce (or to taste)
cilantro if you have it and like it

Of course I'm trying to use muscle memory to recall how much of everything went in as I glugged and dashed it into the bowl, but please keep in mind that I am in my 30s and I drink, so I cannot promise this is entirely accurate.

You can probably mix up all of the dressing ingredients first, so they're well blended, then add in the cukes and onion, but I threw everything into the bowl as I thought about it and it still worked out well, so you just go ahead and do whatever feels right. I let it sit for about 20 minutes as I prepped and cooked the satay, stirring periodically to make sure everyone got sauced. This is probably enough to make a decent sized side dish for four people, but two of us ate the hell out of it.

Crying Tiger

I had Thai food last night with the adorable Miss Judy Wheeler (who knew she liked Thai?!) and it got me thinking about this Yam Nua/Yam Neua (I prefer to call it by the name it used when I was first introduced to it - Crying Tiger) recipe I had made once using thinly sliced roast beef from the deli. The thin little meat flaps made me happy, especially since the meat in this dish tends to be really stringy and tough. The ratio of yummy, tangy, spicy dressing to beef is high with thinly sliced meat, so there is a ton of flavor without a ton of calories. PLUS - totally SB friendly if you don't use sugar in your dressing, which I don't think you need to do personally. If you must, you can get away with a really small amount though, so it wouldn't be the end of the world. This is a great way to use leftover meat, an easy to whip up super quick dinner if you go the roast beef route, and a decent intro to Thai flavors for those less adventurous.
There are a ton of decent recipes out there, but the fewer ingredients I have to mess with the better. This one from Good Housekeeping is probably the closest to the one I used way back when.

Crying Tiger Salad
2 limes
1 - 3 tablespoon(s) less-sodium fish sauce (I'd go with a tablespoon at a time, tasting as I go; I don't know that you'd need all three tablespoons the original recipe calls for)
0 - 1 tablespoon(s) sugar (ack! too much sugar! start with a TEASPOON and adjust to taste! if you're brave and South Beachy try a little Splenda or Stevia)
1 bag (10-ounce) romaine salad mix
1 seedless cucumber, cut lengthwise in half, then thinly sliced crosswise
8 ounces deli-sliced rare roast beef, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1 cup packed fresh cilantro or mint leaves
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

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Directions

1. From limes, grate 1 teaspoon peel and squeeze 3 tablespoons juice (again, I'd do this to taste, maybe you'll want more lime juice than that and if your limes are game to give it to you, why not?).
2. In a small bowl, prepare dressing: Combine lime peel and juice, fish sauce, and sugar; stir until sugar completely dissolves. Toss the beef in the dressing.
   
3. In large bowl, combine romaine salad mix, sliced cucumber, cilantro or mint, and onion. Add dressing & meat to bowl and toss to combine. Divide salad among 4 dinner plates.

You can also sautee the onion a bit if you don't want to deal with the "I just ate a bunch of raw onion" aftermath. Or try using green onions if you have them. Yum, now I want Thai again.

Thai-Style Chicken Salad

Yes please. You can bet I'm making this with a ready to go rotisserie chicken. I'm also envisioning little wraps with butter lettuce leaves as the wrapper. Yum.

Thai-Style Chicken Salad
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
3 - 3 1/2 pound whole chicken
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/2 cup canola oil
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup fresh lime juice from 3 to 4 limes
2 tablespoons water
3 small cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
1/2 medium cucumber , peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch by 1/4-inch matchsticks (about 1 cup)
1 medium carrot , peeled and grated on large holes of box grater (about 1/2 cup)
4 scallions , white and green parts, sliced thin
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 cup chopped toasted peanuts
bag of mixed greens or butter lettuce leaves if you're doing wraps

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Roast in a 375-degree oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 165 to 170 degrees, about 1 hour, 10 minutes. When cool, pull the meat off the bones in 2-inch shreds, discarding fat and sinew. Reserve 5 cups for this recipe; set the rest aside for another use. (The chicken can be roasted, shredded, and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.)
* cough * rotisserie chicken

2. Puree oil, peanut butter, lime juice, water, 1/4 teaspoon salt, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes in blender until combined. Transfer to large bowl. (Dressing may be made ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated overnight. Whisk to recombine before using.)

3. Add cucumber, carrot, scallions, and cilantro to vinaigrette; toss to combine. Add chicken and toss gently to combine; let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve immediately on top of a bed of greens.
** Do not dress warm chicken - use cool or room temp chicken or it will absorb too much of the dressing.