Thai Vegetable Curry

Thai Vegetable Curry

I love exploring the various Asian cuisines. The cuisines of each Asian country are as different as their landscapes yet they bear certain similarities also. As I try out the dishes from these countries I can only describe them as an adventure in flavors. This recipe, Thai Vegetable (Veggie) Curry is one such dish. Just looking at the picture will tell you it has a lot going on. Even more will happen when you take your first bite.

Here is my recipe for this traditional Thai dish and mind you, this curry is totally unlike Indian curry.

Ingredients: 

• 2-3 Tbsp of the oil of your choice. I like Sesame Seed Oil
• ¼ Red Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced thin 
• ¼ Green Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced thin 
• 1 bundle of Kangkong (approx. ½ lb.) Use the leaves and very small stems only, not the larger stems. 
• 3 Thai or Thai Bird hot peppers, green, sliced thin and cross-ways 
• 3 Long Purple Japanese Eggplants sliced ¼ inch diagonally 
• 20 Young Long Green Beans like Asparagus Beans sliced diagonally about 1 inch long and par-boiled 
• ¼ cup loose Cilantro chopped 
• 10 leaves of Thai Basil chopped 
• 1 medium Onion thinly sliced 
• 3 tbsp Ginger minced
• 7 cloves Garlic minced 
• ½ tsp Black Pepper 
• 1 tbsp powdered Turmeric 
• 3 cups of fresh Chicken stock 
• 1 can of Coconut milk 
• ¼ cup of chopped Green Onions for garnish 
• 1 long Red Hot Pepper cut lengthwise in fours for garnish 
• Black Pepper for final garnish. 
• Salt to taste

Directions: 

1. First thing you do is prep everything and have it all ready before you start your cooking;
2. Using a wok, over medium/high heat, add your oil and sauté green Thai hot peppers, garlic, ginger and ½ tsp black pepper; 
3. Add chicken stock and turmeric and cook for about 1-2  minutes so that the flavors blend in;
4. Add coconut milk and the rest of the ingredients. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 1 minute "tossing" the ingredients within the wok using two spatulas. 
5. Salt to taste. 
6. Plate your curry. Garnish with the chopped green onions and sliced red hot pepper.
7. Give one final sprinkle of black pepper.

You can serve this with white rice on the side.

That's it!!!

Here is another view of the completed dish....

Hope you give this a try. 

Until next time....

Simple Shrimp Dinner

Well, I made it back from my short trip to New Mexico and Calif. It was a great trip seeing all the family and BBQing and what not. The only thing that could have made it better is if my lovely wife Lupe could have accompanied me. But unfortunately she had students to teach.

Though I am still recovering from major jet lag, I did want to cook a little something for Lupe. So I decided I would grill some shrimp and veggies. Due to the inclement weather, I was not able to grill outside so I went to plan B.......indoor grilling. 

I bought my wife a little handy device made just for the job at hand. A little stove top indoor griller. And boy does this stove top griller do the job. Just place it on top of the stove's gas burner and you are all set.

Stove Top Indoor Griller

Here are some pics of what I grilled....

Skewered Shrimp

Baby Bok Choy. One of my wife's favorites.

Asparagus

Button Mushrooms

After the grilling chores were finished, it was time to serve it all up to my wife....

Lupe looks happy with the spread...

Making her selection...

Looks like she is enjoying it so far...

Ah yes... the look of approval!!!

Gotta keep my lady happy.

Until next time.... 

BBQ for Breakfast?.......Why Not?

When I BBQ and Grill, I always like to cook more than enough so that we will have a few meals worth of delicious BBQ. And one of my favorites for breakfast is leftover BBQ. Ahhh yes, the "Breakfast of Champions". You all know how that is....right? Oh yeah!!!

This morning my wife Lupe and I got up at the crack of dawn, had our coffee and turned out to the yard. We have a small lot of about 1/2 acre but we have so many plants, flowers, ferns and orchids, that it keeps us two old folks busy enough.

Right around 10 o'clock things were starting to wind down and Lupe went inside to cook us some breakfast. I finished up what I had to and went inside to cool off. Lupe told me, "Breakfast in 5 minutes!". That was music to my ears.

She brought my plate out and...whoa!!! What I saw was definitely a culinary treat. I had a feeling something was up when I smelled the aroma of coconut oil in the air.

Here's what I was served by my wife Lupe....

What you see here are the leftover BBQ'd marinated pork spare ribs, with white rice and the sautéed eggplant/green onion/cream cheese omelet.

The unique treat that she served up on me was the way she made her egg omelet. Here is what she did...

First she diced up the Asian eggplants, about 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch thin cuts and also diced up the green onions. She sautéed these in 1 tablespoon of virgin coconut oil. That was the secret. If you have never tried cooking with coconut oil, you are in for one big treat. The flavor, the aroma, is something so unique, it just characterizes the tropical island flair.

While sautéing the veges for about two minutes, my wife seasoned with granulated onion and garlic powders as well as freshly ground black pepper. When finished, she sets this aside.

Next she prepares the egg omelet (6 eggs) using a little butter. After the first flip she "folds" in about 2 oz. of cream cheese then flips the omelet over in half.

She then layers the sautéed eggplant and green onions over the top of the omelet.

The final step is to slice up the omelet so that all the flavors blend into one another and serve.

I have got to say, this was the first time I have tried this dish and it was delicious. Of course I had to pour a little of my Salsa Ranchero over the ribs and a little taste on the omelet just for a kicker. You can imagine, right?

What did my wife, Lupe, have to say about her scrumptious breakfast...."Don't Bother Me!!!!".

This is the "Don't Bother Me" look. Ever seen this look before?

Well, this powered me up for a few more hours out in the yard. It's pure hell working for a slave driver. All you guys out there know what I'm talking about. HeHeHe!!

Until next time....

Making Bunelos Dagu (Making Yam Donuts) on Guam

Typically once a year on Guam, the harvesting of Dagu (Yam) occurs. Usually around the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season. One of the local favorites from the Dagu are Bunelos (donuts).

Here is our family video, unedited, on all the steps from the harvesting of the Dagu to the eating of this delicious holiday favorite. I apologize for the video quality as I lost resolution on the conversion.

And that's how it's done.

Though it is not the professional production, I hope you found it interesting and informational.

Until next time....