Baby Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Stir-Fry

I sure am glad I love eggplant because these Thai recipes call for a ton of it.

Crispy Thai Basil and Chicken

Frying is fun. Frying basil and having the apartment smell like an herb garden is even more fun. Eating that fried basil and realizing my arteries aren't going to clog nearly as fast as if I'd dropped a Twinkie in that oil is the bestest fun. Yes... bestest.

The most difficult part of the whole recipe is getting your hands on the Thai Basil (or if you're really lucky, Holy Basil). Thai Basil is different from Italian Basil. It's sweeter, more floral and carries a distinct note of pepper. I buy this stuff all the time from my shop down the street but I know I can also get it for a higher price at our local overpriced farmer's market.

When Holly got home from her 10 weeks in Thailand in 2008, one dish she remembered quite fondly was Crispy Basil. She just walked past me, saw a picture of Thai basil and told me the story of her first time trying it. She and her classmates were on their way to temple and the bus driver pulled over for lunch. They ordered up a dish of crispy basil and the driver warned them that it would be spicy. She had Holy Basil, not standard Thai Basil, so this won't burn your face off.

This recipe comes from The Food of Thailand on page 182

Ingredients:

• 2 handfuls Thai basil
• cooking oil
• 5 bird's eye chillies
• 1 tbsp fish oil
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 5 minced garlic cloves
• 1# finely sliced chicken
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 4 shallots, peeled and largely sliced
• 2 tbs chicken stock
• 1 red pepper

Mix the chicken, garlic, chillies, fish sauce and oyster sauce in a bowl. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.

Heat about 1 inch of oil in a wok or deep frying pan over medium heat. Allow oil to heat for about 5 minutes then test temperature by dropping in a small piece of the basil. If it sizzles, it's ready to go. Deep fry 3/4 of the basil for about 1 minute until they are crispy. Trust me, they crisp up pretty quickly. Remove with a metal slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Discard the oil. I don't discard it. I transfer it to another pan and allow it to cool. I then strain it and funnel it into a jar. Since I only used it for the basil there is no sense in wasting this wonderfully flavored oil. Label the jar and store it somewhere for the next time you make this recipe.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the same wok or frying pan and stir fry half the chicken over high heat for 3-4 minutes. Remove the chicken and repeat with the other half. Return all the chicken to the wok.

Reduce heat to medium and add the stock and sugar to the wok, then the red pepper and shallots, and stir-fry for another 3-4 minutes. Stir in the fresh basil leaves. Serve up and garnish with the cooled crispy basil leaves. As always, accompany with rice. In this picture I've seasoned the Jasmine rice with a delicious garlic pepper sauce.

Chicken Stock Made Easy

Yes... I'm cheap. Today I had a master plan. I'm making another batch of Tomato and Black Bean Soup for lunches and knew I was going to need to purchase some chicken stock. No way... I'm going to save $2.98 and do it the old fashioned way, getting another meal or two out of the deal in the process. I cooked and carved a Rich's Famous Roaster (see previous recipe), found a better recipe for stock here, and got to work. Thanks to the Unemployed Chef and his blog for this simple recipe.

I am completely sold on making my own broth. I can make it taste however I wish and one batch of broth will save me about $10 in the long run. No sense in throwing out all those chicken bones and skin if you can put them to good use, eh?

Looks like something went wrong in the picture but it didn't. It only went right.

Recipe (mostly copied from the Unemployed Chef):

Ingredients:

• 1 roasted chicken carcass with the skin
• 8 cups of water
• 1 chopped large carrot
• 3 celery stalks chopped into thirds
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 rosemary stalk, whole
• sea salt
• whole peppercorns
• two handfuls of Italian parsley
• a handful of green onions, cut into thirds

Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 3.5 hours. Strain and enjoy. You can keep it in the fridge for about 5 days or freeze it for a few months.

Oh hey... I opened the fridge this morning and discovered that the stock had turned to jelly. I thought for sure I had just invented the world's worst Jell-O flavor imaginable. Turns out that this is supposed to happen. Where as chemical laden store bought stock stays liquid in the carton, you can watch the real stuff jiggle.

Uncle Marc's Homemade Apple Sauce

This ain't your supermarket's Mott's.

About two years ago I discovered the joys of making apple sauce at home. Living in an area where apple farm exist in abundance offers up a fall time advantage. Fresh cider in every store, inexpensive apples and pies of all sorts coming out of bakery ovens county wide. In San Luis Obispo County the undisputed place to visit this time of year is See Canyon, a coastal valley dotted with acres and acres of apple growers. It's fun to head out there and visit any one of the groves, much like a wine tasting tour of Paso Robles up north. My favorite grower to visit is Gopher Glen with their 30+ varieties on stock at any point during the season.

If you've never made apple sauce, I can assure you it's quite simple and very rewarding. If you've only have store bought apple sauce then you've been missing out on what apple sauce should taste like. I use the sweet apples and the brown sugar because Holly prefers her sauce sweet and as I prefer to cook for other people, she wins. Were it for just me, I'd make it a bit more tart. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2# Braeburn apples (sweet)
• 2# Chieftan apples (sweet but different)
• 1# Limbertwig (to offset the sweetness of the other two)
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs brown sugar

Peel, core and quarter the apples. Give them a good rinse and add to a large pot. Add the water, cinnamon and brown sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours; stirring occasionally to work the seasoning around. Mash (or immersion blend) them together real well until you reach the consistence you prefer, add the sugar, mix it in real good... and you're done. You can eat this hot or cold and it is soooo good. Leaves a great aroma in the house as well.

Pan-Fried Aubergine & Lamb (Turkish)

"Istanbul, now Constantinople"

Holly and I both have the same dream to travel to Istanbul one day. After knowing one another for almost 20 years, we only learned that detail about each other a couple of months ago. Since then we've started ourselves on the path to an Istanbul, Turkey vacation in 2012. To get myself worked up I put on an episode of No Reservations wherein Tony goes to Istanbul (see collection 8 on Netflix). Everywhere he went there was lamb being served. Lots and lots and lamb.

Now, I love lamb. The flavor is unlike any other meat, it's succulent, flavorful, mildly oily and it sits on the palette for hours if cooked properly. Last night at dinner with the Hovey's I ordered the Braised Lamb Shank and was in heaven. Eating lamb takes me back to the happier days of my childhood when my parents were still married and we'd take our annual trip out to the Lazy-H Ranch in the mountains of San Diego for Easter dinner. I can still see the dining room full of people enjoying their meals and hear my dad telling us boys that the only way to eat Easter dinner is to make sure it's with lamb and some mint jelly. Ah memories...

After my experience last night, the pleasant memories of holiday dinners swimming through my head and Anthony Bourdain shoving images of cooked lamb into my retinas for an hour, Holly surprised me and said "I wonder if this cookbook has any Turkish recipes?". Lo and behold it did and not surprisingly most are lamb based.

The decision of which to cook was simple. I was already planning on making a tomato and eggplant Thai stir-fry for dinner, all I needed to pick up were a couple of onions and the lamb. That sweet, beautiful lamb.

It starts out as a stir-fry but winds up being like a stew. Holly had never tried lamb and doesn't care for the texture of onions (but enjoys the flavor of them). For me, it was like eating some of my best memories... only better. For Holly, she kept replaying that scene from the Simpsons wherein the lamb begs Lisa not eat it. I say butcher that lamb and let's make some dinner.

This recipe comes from an old cookbook from 1984 entitled Best of International Cooking by HPBooks and can be found on page 194.

Ingredients:

• 2 small eggplants, cut in cubes
• Salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tbs butter
• 3 tbs sesame oil
• 1.5 # of lamb, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 3 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• Ground pepper
• 5 cups of hot beef stock

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the cubed eggplant with 1 tbs of salt; let stand for 30 minutes off to the side while you prep and measure everything else. Put the stock in a saucepan and start heating it on low.

Rinse the eggplant and dry with a paper towel. Heat your large skillet (I used my wok) to medium and add the oil and butter. Once nice and hot, toss in the eggplant and saute until brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to dry.

Increase the heat to high and add the lamb to the juices still in the wok. You're only going to sear it, so once the lamb has browned, remove it with the slotted spoon and place into a bowl.

Turn down to the heat to medium high and saute the onions until they are nice and gold. I used white onions. Red onions would have scared Holly away and lets be honest... yellow onions are pretty flavorless. Throw in the tomatoes, the garlic and as much salt as you want; cook for 5 minutes.

Add the browned lamb with some more salt and pepper. Add the hot stock to the mix and turn down the heat to low to simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the eggplant and increase the heat to medium. Cook for 30 more minutes.

Serve with a slotted spoon. Serves 4 to 6.

Open Faced Chicken Parm Sandwich

I've made this quite a few times and have never blogged it. Not too sure why but naturally on the night I decide to, I don't have the recommended Mozzarella cheese. Meh... I cooked it anyway.

The most crucial ingredient to this tasty dish is, quite honestly, the bread. Not to discount the intricacies of the cheese you use or the marinara sauce, but the bread makes a real difference with each meal. This time around I chose a Rosemary and Olive Oil Round loaf and I'll be on hunt for that guy again.

Ingredients:

• 2 precooked chicken breasts. I poach mine rather than grill.
• Marinara sauce
• 2 cups of raw spinach
• Artisan bread
• Shredded cheese (cheddar works better than mozzarella for my tastes)
• Grated Parmesan

I start by cutting the bread in half. Take one of the halves and slice it lengthwise. Hollow out each of these halves by scraping out all the bread that can easily be removed. This will serve as the bed for your chicken.

Coat each bed in a layer marinara sauce and rest a chicken breast on top. It took me a few times before I figured out that you don't want your piece of chicken to be amazingly thick. I now cut the breasts in half lengthwise and rest them side by side. Trust me, it makes for more enjoyable eating. For my sandwiches I put some sliced red onion on at this point but I leave that off of Holly's.

Cover each breast with a cup of raw spinach and coat with more marinara sauce. The object here is to put enough on top to prevent the spinach from roasting in the broiler. Sprinkle with as much shredded cheese as you wish and top off with the grated Parmesan.

Broil for 4-5 minutes and server. You won't be disappointed. Remember, the bread is the key. It can infuse a flavor you might otherwise miss out on.

And yes... those are cans of Tecate Light in the upper right. Sometimes a man just feels like slumming it. And before you insult my choice consider that I didn't buy Natty Light.

Red Curry with Pork

Made this before and you can find the recipe under my August 2010 post Kaeng Muu Phrik Thai Orn. I still haven't gotten my hands on any green peppercorns but that doesn't stop me from charging ahead. I decided not to substitute any amount of whole black peppercorns this time.

Remember me commenting before that I like to put some TV on while I cook? This time it was the first two episodes of The Apprentice rather than a Bourdain. I'm also a slave to The Apprentice as it not only entertains me but gives me great ideas for planning lessons at school. So with The Apprentice playing, a Fat Tire in my glass and my apron on, I hit the kitchen.

One thing I changed this time was the type of eggplant. My local guy didn't have any Thai eggplant (much to my dismay) so I used regular purple eggplant cut into cubes. I wasn't sure how it would taste so I also tossed in about 1/4 cup of chopped green onions. The onions were a great addition.

The photo leaves something to be desired as the plastic container doesn't make you ooh and aww but suffice to say, it was very tasty. I'm looking forward to a few days of this being my lunch.

One other thing I'm proud of is the fact that I cooked this dish AND the Black Bean and Tomato Soup simultaneously... both to perfection. My skills are improving.

Black Bean and Tomato Soup

I made this soup last week and never really got to have any as Holly loved it so much she claimed it for her lunches. Round two ensured that I got some for lunch today and oh man... she's right.

Ingredients:

• 3 Large Tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 Large red onion, cut into large slices
• 3 whole, peeled, garlic cloves
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 can black beans
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Preheat the oven to 375F

In a large bowl mix together the tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 pepper. Get everything nice and coated. I actually added a bit more salt at this point just because I like salt. Put it all on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 40 minutes, stirring the mixture at about 20 mins in. You want the tomato to be collapsing in on itself and the edges of the onion to be browning.

Toss the mixture into a large saucepan, add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

If you have an immersion blender, start immersioning (yes, I made that up). If you're like me then you'll want to put small batches into your normal blender and set to puree. I break mine up into 4 batches.

Pour straight from the blender to the bowls, garnishing each with your favorite hot sauce and some fresh cilantro and Italian parsley leaves. Win!

Rich's Famous Roaster

I defy you to not devour this chicken like a lion at an open buffet of zebra meat.

The urge came over me about 10 minutes before leaving work to roast a chicken. No real reason. It turns out that Rich Hovey has his own recipe that Cherie swears by. A quick stop at the market on the way home (thanks for the ride cherm) and I had everything I needed.

I call this "Rich's Famous Roaster" because (most of) the marinade and the stuffing are his idea.

Preheat the oven to 375F and get your roasting pan ready.

After cleaning the chicken I rubbed it with a mixture of the following:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tsp sea salt
• 3 minced garlic cloves (I loves me the garlic)
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 stripped sprig of fresh rosemary

As my hand gently massaged the marinade into the happily awaiting carcass and rested ever so gently into the roasting pan, I diverted my attention to an episode of No Reservations (Street Food from season 7). I'm a true fan of Anthony Bourdain and love to Netflix up an episode when I cook. Back to the prep, however.

Once the chicken was properly sexed up I tossed a full sprig under the chicken and got out the cutting board. I crammed... yes Moe... "crammed," a full sliced apple and pear into the beast as a stuffing and began to salivate just anticipating the eventual onslaught of flavor.

The last thing I did was quarter 4 gold potatoes and smash 2 shallots (not sliced), scattering them around chicken. Garnish with a crushed garlic clove (skin on) in each corner and toss that baby in the preheated oven.

Pork with Coriander Leaves and Chilli

Time to cook dinner and looking over what rested in the fridge, I decided to make a shrimp recipe but with the pork I had defrosted. I'm stoked on this recipe. Anthony Bourdain has many things to say about food, most of which I agree with him on. His love for pork and for meats cooked on a stick transcend to my own and with that said, I loved this dish before I even began preparing it.

Check out those beauties just waiting to be broiled. The marinade is simple to make.

In a flat and shallow bowl combine the following:

• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (next time I'll use 1/2 tsp)
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp light soy
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper

Cut up the pork into skewer sized bit, soak in the marinade for about 5 minutes and then jam it on the stick. I put about 4 or 5 pieces on each skewer.

Preheat your grill or broiler (I used broiler) and cook, turning about halfway through. At these small sizes it only took about 12 minutes for the pork to cook thoroughly.

As these were cooking I made one of my favorite and fast stir fry recipes, Stir-Fried Broccoli with Oyster Sauce, the recipe for which is quite simple:

• Blanch about 12oz of broccoli for 2 to 3 mins
• Drain thoroughly
• Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a wok and fry 2 cloves of minced garlic until light brown.
• Toss in the broccoli and
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp lite soy
• Stir fry for about 2 mins over high heat.

Dinner is done. The whole process took about 20 mins.

Sunday, Cooking Sunday

Due to the events of last weekend, no cooking got done around here. Although I had an amazing time performing at Dana Point and a wonderful time at Disneyland with my nephew, I missed the home-cooked lunches once it was time to get back to work. Rich could tell things were nad when I brought a cheese sandwich for lunch on Friday.

So today it was back to a couple of basics and my first attempt at something new. I was behind on my episodes of Master Chef so I not only had the finale to watch but a bit more. That put me in the mood to keep the recipes coming.

10am rousted me from the couch and I made up a batch of ratatouille. Nothing new was added to the recipe this time around with the exception of shallots which I tossed in last time for flavor. If you haven't cooked with shallots you're missing out.

After the ratatouille was my first attempt at tomato and black bean soup. This came out wonderfully. You start by roasting tomatoes, onion quarters and garlic cloves for about 40 mins at 375 (I also added 2 shallots to the blend) and then transferring them to a 4-qt pot. Add 2 1/2 cups of chicken broth, chili powder, ground coriander and salt and simmer it all for about 15 mins. Once it was done I blended it in the blender and and added some of that great garlic pepper sauce that Trent bought me from Gilroy. This is supposed to Holly's lunch food for a couple of days but I'm fairly certain a serving will find it's way into my lunch bag as it tasted amazing.

Lastly, I made up some of my increasingly awesome green curry with chicken. I added 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 diced onion this time around and I'm pleased with the decision. Holly tried the coconut milk before hand and decided that it was "gross" so that means more curry for me.

What are you guys cooking?

Shrimp Won Ton Soup

I'll begin by saying this is waaaay better than any won ton soup I've ever had at a restaurant. The most difficult part of the whole procedure, also the most fun, was the making of the won tons.

I chopped up about a 1/2 pound of small shrimp, mixed it together with garlic and white pepper and started stuffing the won tons. At that point the phone rang so I decided to wash dishes while chatting. While washing my chopping knife I managed to slice my finger. Rather than get mad I remember saying, "Well, I guess I know my new knives are sharp."

After some quick triage it was back work. As you can see from the photo, it came out looking pro. I added in some slivered green onions, bamboo sprouts, spinach and a lot of flavor. One serving was definitely enough to satisfy.

Kaeng Karii Kai, Master Chef and my old friend Stella

Third time making my "Yellow Curry with Chicken" and it just gets better each go around. The first two times followed the recipe right out of the book with the only deviation being seeded bird's eye chilies to replace the green peppercorns that I can't find anywhere around here (Internet here I come). The book I primarily use is The Food of Thailand: A Journey for Food Lovers, Whitecap Publishing.

After cracking open a Stella and queuing up the latest Master Chef, I got right to work. One thing I enjoy about cooking Thai is the prep work that goes into it. Slicing meat, measuring liquids and chopping veggies can be very therapeutic as you watch it all come together bowl after bowl. The anticipation of what it's all about to become gives me great satisfaction. Once it's all cut and placed in small bowls, I fire up the wok and make some magic.

Yellow curry isn't the most colorful of the varieties as the turmeric color of the mixture tends to, well, yellow everything. Who cares about color... it's damned good. I'll include the process below but the ingredients are simple: chicken thigh, yellow curry paste, coconut milk and bamboo shoots would be the primary ingredients if I made it right from the book but I added Thai eggplant because I love it and the decision was the right one. Not too spicy but full of a flavor that lingers, is a dish that I will continue to make.

Recipe (italics are my additional notes or ingredients):

Put 1/4 cup of coconut cream in a wok on medium heat and cook until the oil separates and forms a layer on top. The book calls for 5 mins but it only takes about 1 min on my stove.

Add 2 tbsp (I go for 3) of yellow curry paste and stir well, cooking until fragrant. Add 1 tbsp Fish sauce, 2 tbsp palm sugar (the more you add the sweeter it'll be) and 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Cook until the mixture is darkened.

Throw in 1# of thin sliced chicken thigh (the thigh is much better than breast when it comes to this recipe). Mix the chicken around well to ensure that every last bit is coated in the sauce. Now cook for about 5 minutes or until your chicken is thoroughly cooked. Throughout this 5 minutes add in a full can of coconut milk about 1 tbsp at a time. Just keep adding until the can is empty.

Here is where I deviated a little. Once all the coconut milk was added I tossed in about 1# of Thai eggplant, cut in quarters, to allow it to soften while the chicken cooked.

I also chose to add 4 bird's eye chilies, seeded during the "chicken" phase.

Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the curry is simmering, add 3oz of finely sliced bamboo shoots, 12 Thai basil leaves and 6 to 10 kaffir leaves. Simmer for 5 more minutes and you're all set.

Serve alone or over 1/4 cup of jasmine rice.

Savory Peach Chicken

Both simple and fun to make, I have to say that it came out with a lot of flavor. Holly picked this from our cook book So Easy (p 143) with the intention of making it. Since her work schedule sucks, I took it upon myself to whip this up.

While prepping the dish I put on an episode of No Reservations to get me in a foody mood. There is nothing quite like Anthony Bourdain's narrations on exotic foods to get my corpuscles loosened and my hands ready to chop and cook. Tonight's episode was London/Edinburgh. Given the focus of the show it made me crave haggis.

Back to the dinner. Whole chicken breasts, lots of peach quarters and a quick mix of oriental flavorings combined to make what actually turned out to be a very savory dish. I made the command decision to add spring onions right at the end because lets face it, spring onions make everything better. Seriously. Served over a bed of brown rice, I was eating this dish at break neck speed. The warm peaches coated in the brown sugar sauce were very welcome on this warm San Luis night.

I'm enjoying doing a lot more cooking than heating. We've spent years buying a lot of frozen this and frozen that but veggies from the freezer aisle cannot substitute for the fresh, organic broccoli that accompanied tonight's meal. The downside to making this change of course is timeliness. Twice now my coriander has wilted beyond flavor in the fridge because I didn't get to it in time and that's irritating. I'm thinking trips to the market need to be more frequent and Thursday night at Farmers needs to be reserved for items that I'll be cooking by Sunday night.

Until next time!

Kaeng Muu Phrik Thai Orn (Pork Curry with Thai Eggplant)

I'll start by saying "My lips are on fire and I love it".

Literally meaning "Curry with pork and green peppercorns," this dish is supposed to contain an ingredient not easy to come by around here... green peppercorns. Neither the shop in SLO nor the one in Atascadero carry the green so I decided to use 1/4 the amount called for in black peppercorn. This may or may not have been a big mistake.

It's easy enough. Red curry paste, pork, Thai eggplant, coconut milk and (green peppercorns). Cook, serve with rice and enjoy. As I eat it I can make out the various flavors captured within but without a doubt the decision to use black peppercorns was a fatal one. The pepper outweighs the other flavors at times but I can think of at least one person that wouldn't care in the least. Given that green peppercorns are supposed to be a bit sour, I definitely got this one wrong.

Oh well, no harm no foul. I'm still happily eating it, just sifting out the corns.

The Food of Thailand: A journey for food lovers). My notes can be followed in italic.

Put 1/4 cup of coconut cream in a wok and simmer over medium heat for about 5 mins, or until the cream separates and a layer of oil forms on the surface. Stir the cream if it starts to brown around the edges. *My wok heats things up real fast so I don't wait 5 mins. The cream begins to reduce early so I've learned to give it about 1 min or less before moving on.

Add 2 tbps of red curry paste, stir well to combine and cook until fragrant. This is hard to determine as the stuff is fragrant right out of the can. After a bit of practice using pastes I've come to know when "fragrant" happens.

Add 3 tbsp of fish sauce and 1 1/2 tbsp of palm sugar and cook for another 2 mins or until the mixture begins to darken. The fish sauce will darken it automatically. Be patient and you'll notice a gradual darkening over time.

Add the pork and stir for 5 to 7 minutes. Make sure the pork is cooked thoroughly or you'll have some serious Thai Revenge later.

Add 440ml of coconut milk (one can) and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add 10oz of Thai eggplant, cut in quarters, and then 3oz fresh green peppercorns and cook for another 5 minutes. My guy down the street carries Thai eggplant from time to time. If you can't find it then you can use a regular eggplant cut into cubes.

When done throw in about 7 makrut, torn in half, for flavoring. Stir them in real good then remove from heat.

Garnish with red chilies, seeded and finely sliced.

Tom Khaa Kai

The objective with my cooking is not only to cook well (healthy can just be a part of it) but to be able to share it. Holly and Rich have both been the beneficiaries of my explorations into Thai cooking and I gotta say, when I nail it... I nail it.

Today it was Tom Khaa Kai for lunch. Translated it works out to "Soup with coconut and chicken" but the name doesn't do it justice. Coconut milk, fresh tomato, *galangal root, button mushroom, shallots, chicken and a mess of other flavors. Although it contains about 6 bird's eye chilies (seeded) the fish sauce mellowed out the spice real nicely and the palm sugar jazzed it up just enough to make this an amazing quasi-creamy sweet and sour soup. I was in love.

I could tell Rich liked it because he just kept looking down at it and back up at me with a smirk that portrayed all it needed to.

*The first time I had galangal was at a Thai restaurant up in Atascadero. Holly didn't remember liking it much when she was in Thailand but I lapped up that Tom Yum like I'd been starved for galangal all my life. So delicious. It's related to ginger and looks quite similar but doesn't have the snap flavor of its cousin. I don't how to describe it. Sour, tough, aromatic and just amazing. Lots of Thai recipes call for it and I'm glad I can get it frozen or jarred in brine from Bob down the street at the Oriental Market.

I wonder how this would taste with prawns...

Getting older and cooking a TON

No reason to not start this up again.

This getting older sucks. My dna doesn't necessarily age well apparently. My doctor, a guy I like quite a bit, finally decided to get me proactive (and admittedly, somewhat reactive) about my cholesterol levels. After checking in at an unwelcome 256 he put me on a statin drug that is supposed to help my liver reduce cholesterol. I don't like the idea of taking medications every day of my life... that's for people with real problems I don't want. So I made him a deal: he gives me the lowest dose possible and I start eating much healthier.

Cue Pete Seeger singing "Where have all the pizzas gone? Long time passing."

So in that vane I'm reinventing this blog to include something I've always enjoyed doing, cooking. Enjoy.