Made it twice...

Cookin' with Marie was so darned tasty that I actually made the dish again tonight, so that I could have a batch in the freezer.  Oh, my!  Tastiness sublime!

Marie emboldens me, gives me the courage to consider recipes I would have thought out of reach.  Today, we cooked Vietnamese Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes.  SIGH.  As I said, I liked it so much that I made a second batch ... and I had it for dinner, too!

The recipe has several changes to accommodate both an allergy and preference, but the end result made Marie's eyes widen with her first bite.  That's a sure sign the recipe is a winner.

I spent quite a bit of time Googling a non-seafood substitution for fish sauce.  After much reading and comparison, the product that rose to the top is Golden Mountain® Seasoning Sauce.  This bottle came from Amazon.com.

For many of the recipes on my want-to-make list have odd ingredients, primarily because they are cultural foods.  For this recipe, I failed to track down chili paste.  However, another recipe called for garlic chili sauce, and the bottle I got is Vietnamese, so that was my substitute.

On the topic of odd cupboard items, it took me over two months to track down Thai yellow curry paste.  I finally did, but now need to track down the recipe I planned to try that required the Thai yellow curry paste.  SIGH.

I thought that since this is such a wonderful dish, I would post a few progress photos, just in case anyone wanted to try it.  I will note, however, that the original recipe did not have a photo, so I have no idea if what Marie and I made ended up close to what it should be like.

Again, I "made" chicken thighs from breasts.  I find it really interesting that you essentially dredge the chicken in curry powder and salt.  I have learned that brand really does matter when it comes to spices.  Spending a bit more on your spices will result in tastier dishes.  For a middle of the line spice, I have enjoyed the quality of Target's Archer Farms brand.

Once again, my GREEN cast iron enameled dutch oven turned out a spectacular dish.  Have you bought yourself a magic pot yet??  This is the olive oil, curry powder, shallots, and ginger.  This was my first cooking experience with shallots.  I should get brownie points for not puréeing them!

Thinking about what I learned in the Beef Stew with Beer and Israeli Chicken Sofrito, I braised the chicken in three batches.  In part, I did so because I did not understand that you cooked the chicken and then started adding the rest of the ingredients on top of it.  I ended up setting aside the chicken for later.

Rest assured, I was careful to scrape all the juices and tasty bits back into the pot when it was time.

The sight of my pot in this condition no longer worries me, because I know it will be nearly clean by the time the dish is done.

This is where I diverged from the recipe, not understanding the chicken was to remain.  However, I think the way I did it prevented the chicken from overcooking.  This is the stock, ginger, lemon grass, Golden Mountain® Seasoning Sauce, sugar, and carrots cooking up first.

When Marie and I made it, I chose the largest sweet potato I had.  This photo is not from tonight, but from our lunch.  When I made the second batch, I flat out put in two sweet potatoes. I wanted the dish to be a tad more hearty.  And I just loved how they came out in the first batch.

What I decided to do with the chicken was to first put in the sweet potatoes and coconut milk, stirring until the latter was blended in, and then laid the chicken pieces on top.  I thought that way they would ensure all the sweet potato bits cooked.  I covered the pot and cooked it for 15 minutes before uncovering it to reduce the liquid a bit.  You know me and reducing!

So, this evening, I ended up with seven servings.  Want to come over for a meal??

I have been working very, very, very hard at not wasting food.  In this area, I have made significant strides.  A part of that effort has been to use the pint jars for my meals, because a quart jar is really three servings for me, two for most adults.  I am trying to thaw out only what I need to eat.  Clearly, having chosen all pint jars, I am not actually planning on sharing this batch of curry.  However, when Becky and her mother were here, I simply got out three pint jars of stew for dinner one evening.  So....

In the past month, the only waste I have had is some iceberg lettuce that I did not finish in time and a cucumber that went bad on me before I could use it.  I think I need cucumber-choosing-lessons.

Anyway, at lunch, Marie had the bright idea of cooking up some naan to sop up all that tasty curry sauce.  We might possibly have cooked two pieces each.  I think I am a horribly gluttonous influence on her.

Our dessert today was Nutella Rice Krispy Treats.  Marie labored long and hard preparing it for us.  I am not posting a photo because these are incredibly wicked, horribly addictive, totally unredeeemable things.  I do not want to tempt you.  Nor will I discuss just how many of my half of the pan are actually still in the freezer.

Speaking of dessert, I got the bright idea of bartering some of the Double Chocolate Dr Pepper Cake with Marie, since she is not a great fan of making desserts, but is a huge fan of eating them.  I made an offer.  She countered.  I accepted.  Then she brought over a loaf of homemade bread to see if we could barter further.  Our bartering means that I really might be able to make it to the end of the month without spending any more money save for two prescriptions and the cardiologist co-pay.

And, despite having fed extra mouths this month, I believe that I will only need to spend half my grocery budget next month, with all the extra food production I have done.  Primarily, I shall be buying dairy, fruits, and vegetables.  And flour, of course.  I will need more roasted cumin in the near future.

Long after Marie left, I was still high on the realization that we had conquered a Vietnamese dish.  So, I channeled that energy into tackling a few outstanding items:

• I fetched my glasses.  I can see a tad better, but the left eye is still blurry. I am trying to gird my loins to insist that the doctor see me again instead of all this three-way conversations.  However, I agreed to wear them over the weekend to see how I "adjusted" to them.
• I did two returns whilst at Walmart.  [I ended up sitting on the floor because the line was so long and all the wheelchair shopping carts were taken.]
• I stopped by Best Buy and made the smallest of purchases so that my credit account—not used since I bought my television many years ago—would not be canceled, as was warned in a mailing I received last month.
• I found the receipt to return the unopened spices that match the ones Becky brought me from her new store and put the spice jars and receipt in the front seat of my car.  [My total returns will almost cover one of the final two prescriptions this month.] 
• I finally got TD Ameritrade to close this long "closed" account.  They are sending me a check for $0.67 to do so.
• I called the Medicare company and finally confirmed that they found the second check and will soon be applying it to my account.
• I called the insurance company to request the form faxed to the surgeon to have my new medication authorized so it will be covered.
• I mailed the consent form for the Medicare medical supply company to (hopefully) move the process along in getting the blood sugar testing supplies sent to the house.
• I checked in with the surgeon's nurse since Monday marks the likely beginning of the next rough spate of time if the new medication is not working.
• I ran and then emptied the dishwasher.

This evening, I enjoyed a fire and then gave in and made another batch of the curry.  Now that I am finished, I have typed up the recipes on my recipe rememberer blog and am enjoying a pot of tea as the fire dies down.  On the morrow, I have to fetch the erythromycin, but then I plan on going back to an agenda that consists solely of copious amounts of resting.


I am Yours, Lord.  Save me!