thai green curry chicken

In viewing this blog, you could probably infer that I only like Italian food, and Americanized interpretations of Italian, at that. But what I cook is an inaccurate representation of what I love to eat - if I want good Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, or anything more adventurous, I go out (blog entries are not daily for a reason). But a few weeks ago our good friends Karel and Talia had us over for dinner, and Talia whipped up some red coconut curry seemingly effortlessly. Not only did it seem approachable, but it was also delicious. Ever since, I've been thinking about how I might need to forget about the disaster that was my one experiment with phad thai (HORRIBLE waste of 3 hours in the kitchen), and try this whole Thai thing again. I found a few recipes on Epicurious and one from Tyler Florence that I was able to work together. It would have still been easier to go to Thai Palate for some take out, but it was great, I knew exactly what was in it, so I'm marking this one down as a win. See what you think...

Grocery list: 1+ pound boneless, skinless chicken (cut into bite-size chunks), green curry paste (found at my local farmers market, but available any grocery store), 1 can coconut milk, chicken broth, 1 onion & 1 bell pepper chopped, 1 eggplant peeled and chopped, minced fresh ginger, cilantro, basil.



In a large heavy skillet or dutch oven, heat a few T oil over medium heat. Add the eggplant, onion and pepper, and saute for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften. Add about 1 T fresh minced ginger, and 2 T green curry paste (this will make 1 - 1 1/2 pounds chicken pretty spicey - you may want to use less curry paste the first time, or read the label to see what kind of ratio they recommend). Stir to coat the paste on the vegetables and cook for another couple minutes.



Add 1 can coconut milk and about 1 cup of chicken broth and stir well; season with salt. Lay the chicken pieces in the pot so they can poach in the hot liquid. Simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Before serving over rice, stir in the juice of one lime plus handfuls of chopped basil and cilantro.