May 01 2010
Dubiously Delicious
Spring green
As faithful readers know, Thursday is my night to make dinner. I like to try new things that day, even though, when you think about it, making something unfamiliar for a tired and hungry audience may not be the best possible idea. Yet I seem to forget this from week to week.
I’ve been thinking that I’ll post the recipes for my more successful Thursday dinners, so here’s the first one.
I got the recipe from the San Francisco Chronicle. There was a lovely story about having this soup in Paris which overcame my doubts about combining Mexican ingredients (chorizo and pinto beans) with Thai ingredients (lemongrass, coconut milk), so I gave it a try. Of course, I assigned myself this soup after a day of running errands in town, and regretted it when dinnertime came, since it seemed like a lot of hassle. Also, this was my first experience with preparing lemongrass, and I wish I’d taken off one more layer before mincing it up.
Other than that, though, it was a party in your mouth. I got the chorizo made on the premises at Harvest that very day, and it was great. Even Rob, who likes food on the less-fancy side (unfortunately for him), loved it and had seconds. He later observed that he would have had thirds if there had been any.
Notes: I was running out of red curry paste, so used about half of what’s called for in the recipe. I also failed to swirl it into the soup right before serving, but the balance of flavors was excellent. I will probably use more next time. I also just put the beans into the soup along with the coconut milk, instead of putting them into individual bowls and ladling the broth over. It worked just fine, as does regular basil instead of Thai basil.
The recipe (and story) are here. Enjoy!
3 Responses to “Dubiously Delicious”
Recipe sounds exciting. Congrats….
Love the photo….what is that up on one of the trees? Looks a bit small for a porcupine….any ideas
jx
Maybe a nest?
I took it in Megan’s garden – I looked up through the leaves and took the picture. It just looked like spring to me!
Sounds delicious, how nice for you to cook for the family, they must look forward to it, although I’m sure they deserve this treat since they do so much for you.