Red Curry.

In our CSA box we got a bunch of lemon grass, another big bag of okra, 6 or 8 red potatoes, one small eggplant, a lot of basil, two onions, and the usual squash, cucumbers, and assortment of chilies. Since A left some ginger here, and we have all these Thai chilies from the garden, I decided to make a red curry.

I got very good at curries when I worked at Greens. It takes a while and makes our unair-conditioned kitchen very hot, but it's rewarding. I roast most of the vegetables first, which boosts the flavor. (Like the potatoes and carrots and eggplant, cut them in bite-sized pieces, toss with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper, and roast on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven until they're tender. Do them in separate pans to get each vegetable perfectly done.)

Our blender died. We have a hand blender, but it's not quite strong enough to really pulverize the lemon grass and ginger, so the curry sauce is a little fibrous, but it tastes delicious.

The sauce is easy. Sautee some sliced onions and chili peppers with a pinch of salt -- I used three small Thai chilies for the whole batch and it turned out about medium hot. (If I had red bells peppers I would have sauteed some with the onions, for more flavor and a nice red color.) Add some broth or water and blend until smooth. Cut up some ginger, garlic, and lemon grass into chunks and blend with water or stock until very smooth. Add it to the pan with some coconut milk (I'd say 2 or 3 parts broth to one part coconut milk) and simmer until the flavors come together. Taste it frequently. Add some paprika to make it redder.

I sliced and added the okra about two minutes before I turned off the sauce, just long enough to make it tender. Then I added the roasted veggies to the hot sauce to heat them through. It's ready now, but J is gone for the afternoon, so it'll sit all day, and tonight we'll eat it over rice topped with some chopped basil.