Indio, California: We had a busy few days with Tamra and Steve and have come to the very obvious conclusion we have a lot of friends/relatives named Steve. This season we have entertained/housed (my brother) Steve and Kris, (Dave's brother) Steve, friends Steve and Mary, and friends Steve and Tamra.
Yep - we each have a Brother Steve.
Smoked Chicken Enchiladas from Blue Coyote GrillWe sent our friends back to Oregon with full bellies. Lunch at Blue Coyote Grill in Palm Springs before taking Tamra and Steve to the airport was the perfect send-off... and a margarita guaranteed a nap after lunch.
Your correspondent, day-drinking
Two Chicken tacos, smothered in spicy red salsa at Tacos GSo now we are back to the same ol' grind. Emails, work, exercise, conference, lunch at Tacos Gonzalez and a home cooked dinner.
On the plane back from Portland a few weeks ago, I read a recipe in the April 2016 issue to Bon Appetit for a Thai-style coconut curry with cod. It sounded like it would be delicious. The recipe claimed it was "curry in a hurry", which only further enticed me to test this dish.
Weeknight Red Curry required a little prep work, so I chopped, diced and sliced early in the day, so the dish came together quickly (and without much hands-on stirring) while I was watching the NCAA basketball final.The recipe calls for browning shallots, garlic and ginger in vegetable oil, then adding red curry paste, ground turmeric, tinned tomatoes and coconut milk. Once this mixture has thickened a bit, veggies (your choice) are added and given a little time to cook, then chunks of firm white fish are nestled down in the sauce to quickly poach. It was suggested to serve the fish over noodles, but I used steamed jasmine rice. Garnish was fresh cilantro leaves and lime wedges. Our neighbor, Lois (and her Golden Retriever, Rocky) joined us.
I used wild-caught cod, cauliflower, red bell pepper and an already-baked-and-peeled sweet potato. It was a good combination and I recommend these veggies. I also recommend Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste. This curry paste is widely available across America. The finished dish was not very spicy, so you may want to kick it up by adding an additional tablespoon of curry paste or passing a bottle of Asian hot sauce at the table.NOTES: This dish can be made gluten-free if served with rice or gluten-free rice noodles (Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste is gluten free), and can easily be made vegetarian/vegan by adding more vegetables or substituting firm tofu or canned garbanzo beans for the fish. The recipe calls for a can of whole tomatoes, which need to be broken up. Next time I will simply use a can of diced tomatoes.
Until my next update, I remain, your curried correspondent.