Thai Country Curry

This Thai Country Curry, Gaeng Bah, is one of my favorite Asian dishes.  It is especially good on one of those days when you have been eating too much meat lately.The main ingredient is Japanese eggplant, those skinny purple ones, and it has just a bit of pork for flavor.The recipe is very flexible -- make it spicy or not, add different vegetables like corn, summer squash, or, if you must, snow peas.

Thai Country Style Curry (Gaeng Bah)

Served with jasmine rice, this spicy Thai dish makes a hearty one-dish meal. It is a flexible dish -- feel free to add other vegetables like corn or summer squash, or snow peas. Add delicate vegetables at the same time as the basil and chiles. You may also substitute beef for the pork.

Yield: Six servings.

Ingredients For the Stock 2 cups chicken stock 3 green onions 6 kaffir lime leaves, torn 2 stalks lemon grass, lower portion smashed and cut into 1 inch lengths 6 black peppercorns 2 cups water, approximately For the Curry 3 Tbs vegetable oil 2-3 Tbs red curry paste 1 Tbs red chili paste 1/2 lb trimmed pork shoulder, sliced into thin strips 1 1/2 by 3/4 inches the stock 3 Tbs fish sauce 1 1/2 Tbs palm sugar (may substitute turbinado or white cane sugar) 2 unpeeled Japanese eggplants, in 1-inch dice (about 3-4 cups) 15 green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths handful fresh graprao basil leaves, or other fresh basil leaves 6 kaffir lime leaves, torn 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into long thin strips 1-2 serrano chiles, sliced thinly on diagonal chopped cilantro, for garnish

How to Make Prepare the Stock 1  Simmer the stock, green onions, 6 torn kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and peppercorns for about 15 minutes. Strain into a 4 cup measuring bowl, and discard solids. Add enough water to stock to bring to 4 cups. Prepare the Curry 1  In a large saucepan over low heat warm the oil until hot but not smoking. Add the curry paste and chili paste. It should sizzle, but not spit and pop wildly; if it does, remove from the heat for a moment. Press and stir the paste into the oil and cook until fragrant, about 3 or 4 minutes. 2  Add the meat and stir fry to brown and coat with paste. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meat absorbs most of the paste and oil and becomes shiny. 3  Add the stock and bring the curry to a boil. Add the fish sauce and sugar, the eggplant, and the green beans. Cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are barely done. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil, remaining 6 lime leaves, and red pepper strips and green chiles. Cover and let stand for about 7 minutes. Add additional fish sauce, to taste. 4  Serve with jasmine rice, and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Author: Adapted from Real Thai, by Nancie McDermott

Turtle Burger

This is a break from my standard of only providing my favorite recipes -- I haven't even tried it, but it seems so obvious that it would be good that I have included it anyway.

If you wear a t-shirt similar to the one above, then maybe this recipe is for you:

Handmade ground beef patties, topped with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave, then the next step, add hotdogs as the heads, legs with slits for toes and tail.   

Next step.  Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and baked for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.  A little crispy, not too crunchy...just how a turtle should be, no?

Rick Bayless' Essential Simmered Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce

This last weekend, Kathy and I had what was possibly the best meal we have had all year.  Not at a restaurant, but at home.  Kind of odd combination, but it was amazing.  


It started out with a stop in a little grocery store after my haircut in Comfort on Saturday.  A bag of tomatillos and some serrano chiles came home with me.  (Also some all-natural Kim Chee, but that's a story for another time.)

The tomatillos and serrano chiles became Essential Simmered Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce, prepared from a recipe by Rick Bayless, who operates Frontera Grill and Topolobampo restaurants in Chicago, and who has a number of excellent cookbooks including Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen. When you make this sauce, make sure you use the roasting method -- it makes all the difference in the world.

We had pork tenderloins in the freezer just begging to go on the grill before freezer burn set in, so they got a quick bath in olive oil and a sprinkling of a spice rub called Ozark Seasoning from Penzey's Spices, where we buy most of our spices. This was not a natural choice when thinking of a Mexican Sauce, but it turned out to be a perfect combination. Pork was grilled over charcoal and pecan wood until just medium (slightly pink with internal temperature about 150-155°.)


Some of the tomatillo-serrano sauce got mixed in with some sliced onions that had been fried over medium-high heat until brown but still crunchy (almost all the way to the high setting on most stove tops like most of you and I use), then simmered briefly over medium heat.  Perfect with the tenderloin.


Served with some chunks of potatoes roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper until golden brown, and a tangy cole slaw.  Since we are being eclectic - maybe a nice India Pale Ale.  Yumm!

Cuban Sandwich

Kathy and I first learned to love Cuban Sandwiches when we lived in Tampa in the early 70's and had the benefit of living in a city with a major Cuban heritage. I never really thought a recipe was necessary - they are about as simple as a sandwich could be.  But someone asked and I realized that there are a lot of people that have not been so lucky as to have experienced the Cuban foods that are such an integral part of life in Tampa and Miami.

As with many traditional foods, there are those that will get pretty snooty with you if you don't follow their idea of what the traditional recipe is. Some say that you should butter the (inside) bread before putting the sandwich together.  Most recipes say that mayonnaise does not ever belong, but I like mayonnaise anyway.  I also like additions and substitutions like provolone or some hot sauce or slivers of hot green chiles.

The cookbook from the Columbia Restaurant, a very famous century old Spanish restaurant in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa has this to say: "The authentic Cuban sandwich has roast pork that has been marinated Cuban-style with sour orange juice, garlic, and oregano.  Sugar-cured ham cut in thin slices is a very important part of this delicious sandwich.  And it has to have hard salami, not bologna which some people use.  There's also Swiss cheese and sour pickle.  Most everyone today uses dill pickle, but it should be sour pickle.  Yellow mustard is spread on one of the slices.  It has to be cut diagonally, and it has to be wrapped in tissue paper.  If it's not wrapped, with a toothpick through the paper, it's not right."

If you feel like taking the effort to make the sandwich like the Columbia Restaurant does, you can't go wrong.  My advice though, is to use the general recipe idea and enjoy whatever variation you like.  The one in the picture above was as good as any I ever had in Tampa.

Gingered Pork Tenderloin

In my introduction to Jim's Place for Food and Booze, I mentioned how good a simple grilled tenderloin could be.  This Gingered Pork Tenderloin recipe is an great example.  The marinade uses ginger and soy sauce, giving it a great Asian accent, but it is very flexible - the leftovers from last weekend became an integral part of a great Cuban sandwich.  Buy only unadulterated pork tenderloin for this dish, avoiding the kind packed with all kinds of sodium filled marinades or preservatives.  Cook it over good charcoal (preferably the natural lump kind) and don't overcook it - if you follow the original recipe you will get leather, so use a thermometer and aim for about 150° to 155°.  It will be slightly pink inside, but entirely safe to eat.

Serve it with something simple, maybe a nice pasta salad with lots of vegetables in it, or some good stone ground grits (with cheese if you prefer) and a salad.  Just none of those Quaker quick or instant grits...

Add a nice India Pale Ale and you are set.