Darienne

Thanks to eGullet friend, Deryn, I now am equipped to cook my first Thai curry (I hope.) Yesterday I stopped at our go-to Asian grocery store and stocked up on Thai specialities. I have pretty much all the ingredients I need such as: lemongrass, kaffir leaves, turmeric root, palm sugar, coconut cream, seeds of a variety of spices, rice noodles, tamarind, long skinny eggplant, etc, etc, and etc. I already cook some Indian, Arabic, Mexican and Chinese so I have a good variety of ingredients for these on hand. I could spend three hours now googling Thai curry recipes and come away confused about where to start. Please, someone take pity on me and supply me with a starter's type of curry. (No seafood please and thank you.) My thanks for any and all help.

You really are an amazing M-i-L. I hope his company is at least paying for the ingredients.

What? No one has purchased any more cook books since June 2014? Amazing. While I was at Laser Therapy yesterday, my DH went to a local second hand store and bought me the coffee table cookbook to end all coffee table cookbooks. It weighs 7 pounds and is huge. Can't sit in bed and look at it...too big and too heavy. But it looks fascinating: Italy: Pasta, Pesto, Passion put out by Culinaria. 2000, English edition. Lots of recipes, but also lots of photos, stories, features, history, geography, etc. I'll have to keep it in the living room. (And we don't eat Italian food very often.) I have no idea why he bought it. :wub:

Thanks for the information, Shel.

If you have trouble sticking to it, what is the sticking point? Lack of coffee?

How did your anti-jet lag preparations work for you? Were they successful?

I can't imagine that I could buy Lentilles de Puy in our small city and I also can't imagine that they would fit into our snack bracket.

Shel. According to David Lebovitz, only lentils marked Lentilles de Puy are the real thing and that they cost much more than the plain ole green lentils which I am accustomed to buying. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/11/cheap-caviar-1/

Thanks Shel. I've printed out your recipe. Nancy, we really like Cumin too. Really. And I'll probably go for the cayenne. I thought the Thai curried soup was pretty hot while I was making it (and tasting it) and then I added the coconut milk and that changed it greatly. DH thought it was really as hot as he thought it would be and asked for more heat. We're eating it tomorrow and besides putting an amount of chickpeas in it (to make me happy), I shall also add to the curry paste to make him happy. ps. Just googled Lentilles de Puy. Don't know where I could get them in my area. I'll just have to use plain old green lentils.

Maybe we need a new topic: Recipes I'm Going to Try. Or probably it's already been done.

This sounds good, Nancy. Googled it and found the recipe toute suite. Any changes that you make to the recipe? Thanks.

Puerco Pibil, a household favorite here. Here's Roberto Rodriguez' recipe: Sorry, I don't know where I got the actual recipe. It predates my careful noting of provenance.

Thanks Jaymes. Actually, that's exactly what DH does. If he doesn't like something served...he douses it with curry powder. Especially if it's Brussels Sprouts which I love.

Bon Voyage, Kerry.

In my long years of life, never before have I had or made a curried soup. I found a recipe which appealed to me in a free vegetarian magazine distributed by our local bulk and health food store: Alive . I bring it home to read every time I go in there, although mostly to see what recipes might appeal to me...and most don't I have to admit. It's not that I don't like vegetarian food, which I do, but this is just a tad 'too' healthy for me usually. But this recipe was for a "Spicy Thai Yam and Lentil Soup" and I made it for lunch today. I have to admit that I did add shredded pork leftover from the last Puerco Pibil. If the recipe is traditionally Thai I have no idea, but adding pork from the Yucatan region certainly did not add to its authenticity. It was a huge success and now I am definitely in the market for curried soup recipes. All regional cuisines are welcome. Just found the recipe online: http://www.alive.com/recipes/view/1563/spicy_thai_yam_and_lentil_soup

I'd just be happy to see the end of the snow.

Once met the owner/chef of a Mexican restaurant which didn't last long in Peterborough, Ontario, and asked him why Mexican restaurants didn't offer pork on their menu in this area. He said pretty much the same thing.

I have a 7-quart mixer, in Ontario, Canada, with no special wiring.

Just realized that I have a contribution to make to this thread. I've had fun reading it. Every now and then, I love to have a hot dog. Red Hots or Ziggy's, but for me well-scorched on all sides, in the cheapest squashiest hot dog bun you can find with cheap yellow mustard only and sweet relish. No fancy buns, no dijon mustard. If it's not the way it was when I was a child...then I don't want it. Oh, and potato chips. But only Miss Vicki's Original, which I must admit does not go back to my childhood. Last time I tried to drink a Pepsi with this meal...but that was just too much. I have grown too old I fear.

Thanks John. I warmed up the pudding in the oven during lunch and served it with ice cream. Wonderful. The entire meal was, if I may say so, and who, indeed, can stop me?, was a brilliant success. My friend, Annette, said that they had had some memorable meals at our place, but this topped them all. So glad. I am delighted to add some new items to my repertoire and shall serve this one to guests again. Thanks again to all who helped.

Quick question: do you serve Malva pudding hot, cold or at room temperature? Unfortunately I need the answer in 4 hours. Oh well...I guess I'll heat it up again. We really like the pudding and tried it hot with vanilla ice cream. Made the Bobotie again, this time with no topping. I'll add it today when I do the second part of the cooking. Made two containers and one is in the freezer. Stewed apricots are done. All is in readiness. Thanks again for all the help.

Actually, our garage fridge is not a special fridge but when it's really, really cold we simply put a 40 watt bulb inside it and it works fine and so does the freezer. Right now it's going up to plus 8 today and there's a 25 watt bulb in it. Then in the summer, out comes the light altogether. And all is well. ps. Note that we live in East Central Ontario.

Not exciting and not difficult, but still adorable for Easter. Haven't made one for 6 years now. (sorry, it's not a very good photo. The bunnies came out really well.)

We've solved our fridge storage problems. ....long pause..... we have two fridges. Sorry. I couldn't resist. We had our son living in the house for a couple of years and bought him his own fridge. He's long moved out but we still have the fridge. Makes life much simpler.

And, furthermore, DH suggested that I cover the pan next time...one of my four recipes does...as he found it a bit too dry. I didn't. Yes, he is a cook too. In fact, he taught me how to cook when we first got married.