What's cooking: Really easy Thai something or other

I've long read and admired several food blogs, and my friend Gwendomama (queen of the bento box kid's lunch) recently sent me links to a few others of particular note. She even noted that one, use real butter, reminded her of me—a skiing Martha. Except NOT. This woman

1. can obviously shred on telemark skis, which hurt my knees just to watch people ski on them

2. can cook and bake really fancy stuff

3. can take amazing close-up pictures of said fancy stuff

Whereas I admire food blogs like this, they make me feel really inadequate. Like I have no business at all writing about food. Or even cooking dinner. But then I wonder, how many people look at these really slick food blogs and say "I can do that!" and then run off to whip up the recipe? I mean, seriously. The donut recipe on use real butter is pretty close to brain surgery. On the other hand, I can easily imagine people looking at my blog and saying "Well, damn! If that nitwit at Figs, Lavender, and Cheese can make this SO CAN I!" You think? Well, just try this. It's really easy. And I made up the recipe myself!

THAI CURRY

Ingredients

some kind of meat
whatever vegetables you've got on hand
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 of a 4-oz. can of Masaman curry paste
1 can of coconut milk
2 Tbl. palm sugar (or regular or brown sugar)
1/4 cup fish sauce
juice of one lime
2 tsp. vegetable oil

Here's how it goes.

What's great about this recipe is you can use any almost any kind of meat, poulty, or prawns. For this batch I used thinly sliced beef. And almost any vegetables you have on hand. Here's what I started with:


In addition to the required ingredients, I had a couple zucchini, a bag of spinach, a can of straw mushrooms, and a can of those funny little corns (I hate them, but Sophie loves them; fresh corn cut from the cob when it's in season is much better).


The magic ingredient here is the Masaman curry paste. It's got all the ingredients I love in Thai food: garlic, dried red chiles, tamarind juice, shallot, salt, lemon grass, Kaffir lime, and spices (coriander seed, cumin, cardamon, cinnamon, bay leaves, galanga, and clove). If you can't find it at a local Thai grocery, it's worth mail ordering. What's particularly nice is that it has a little zing but isn't too hot for a child's taste. Sophie is pretty sensitive to spicy food, and she eats this with no problem.

Heat about a teaspoon or so of oil in a wok. Saute the meat and the minced garlic until just barely done.


Transfer the meat to a bowl. Pour off any juices and wipe the wok with a paper towel.

Warm a teaspoon or so of oil in a wok. Add the curry paste and saute until fragrant.


Stir in coconut milk, one half can of water, palm sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce. Simmer until gently bubbling. Add vegetables and cook until tender. Add meat back in and simmer.

Serve over steamed jasmine rice.

The leftover curry paste freezes well for another time.

Gwendo, thanks for the compliment. I'll try to take your advice to shut up and take it. But seriously—those donuts . . .