thai i love you.

did you see this curry that alicia made? did you? oh it makes me swoon. i went straight to the store yesterday and bought up some shrimp and green curry paste. i plan to get down to business this afternoon. i love curry, masaman being my favorite. a totally funny and random side note, i met a girl named curry yesterday. cool, kinda. ok so, like i said, i love curry, and i fully extend that love to thai food in general. and indian food. i love all the spices and layers of flavor. and i like to tell myself that if i didnt have two small tummies to feed everyday, i would make these kinds of things more often. last weekend i had my first go at a peanut sauce recipe that i tossed with a chicken vegetable stir fry and some rice. it was good. yummy good. and the huffsters even had a few bites apiece (and then finished out dinner with two glasses of milk and one huge banana each. hey at least they are getting their calcium and potassium, right?). so here is the recipe, adapted from the food network kitchens i believe.

peanut sauce good for just about anything savory
2 tsp grated ginger
3 cloves garlic minced
1 c chicken or vegetable stock (more for reaching your desired consistency)
1/2 c peanut butter (regular or natural)
1/4 c soy sauce
2 tbls rice or white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
sugar to taste (i like mine a little more sweet and added about a tablespoon)
chopped cilantro for garnish if you like. i like.

sauté the ginger and garlic in a small sauce pan in a good bit of olive oil for a few minutes, until garlic is softened and fragrant. add the stock, peanut butter, soy sauce and vinegar and let simmer for ten minutes to melt and thicken on medium heat. watch it. mine got pretty thick pretty fast, and i ended up adding about another half cup of stock to thin it a bit. i wanted it more pour-able. add salt and sugar to taste. you might not need any sugar, especially if you use regular peanut butter. and that is it. so easy and so good.

i stir fried a combination of carrots, red and yellow bell pepper and broccoli with a dash of salt and pepper, and a splash of stock (it was right there). tossed in some pan grilled chicken cut into bite sized pieces and piled it on rice and topped with the peanut sauce and cilantro. yum. if i would have had some crushed peanuts i would have sprinkled a few on there too. i imagine that you could easily make this sauce with crunchy peanut butter too. and really put it on just about any veggie or meat, rice or noodles.

i will definitely let you know how my green curry comes out. if it tastes even half as good as that picture (courtesy of alicia, thank you sweetie!) looks i know i will have a happy tummy tonight. plus, the two big huffsters are spending the night with my mom, making dinner that much more enjoyable. dont get me wrong, they are good eaters for the most part, but i can only take so many nights in a row of "what is this??" "eeewww" "can we have broccoli cheese soup??". so david and arlo and i will sit down to a nice quiet dinner, enjoy a glass of wine (none for arlo) and relax. devil wears prada perhaps? i think so.