Start reapin' October's Bounty: Minneapolis Farmers' Market

At the Minneapolis Farmers' Market this morning, I overheard a farmer chatting up another farmer: "This is the worst Sunday we've seen since before Spring crops". Yeah, it was pretty much a ghost town in there. What was most disappointing was that farmers are still in their peak of fall veggie harvest. This girl got a bag, A BAG, full of veggies for $7 today. I'm not trying to gloat or sound preachy, but I'm just wonderin' where everyone else is to scoop up these deals and support the local economy.

After my previous Sunday visit, I made enough Red Curry for my lunches every day of the week, passed some onto friends, and froze some! And the veggies were so perfect, I never got sick of it! The whole pot of curry set me back $20. $20!!! It ended up being $2 per serving, using all fresh, locally-grown veggies.  I thought it is darn time for me to pass on the recipe immediately, straight from Thailand, to boost our local farmers and their prized October crops. Everyone will run out and buy mad veggies from their local farmer!

So the history of the recipe: the hubby and I had the privilege to travel to Thailand and take a vegetarian cooking class from the lovely international-sensation May Kaidee. I finally learned all the secrets that had been preventing me from making a non-jacked-up curry! How exciting! And at the class, we hit up the local Bangkok neighborhood farmer's market, and I loved hearing about the connections the ingredients had with the surrounding environment. This recipe can use any veggies in season, just go for a variety of textures. Curry is so versatile! It's a great recipe right now for the lucious creamy squashes!

So! DISCLAIMER: this recipe is a SKELETON for folks who like to experiment in the kitchen. The secret ingredients are the most crucial elements anyway, but I think a lot of the measurements got lost in translation. No joke. At the class, she mostly measured by "handfuls" and "pinches", which is the most natural way to cook, but proves a bit harder to share recipes. But any cook that knows how to add ingredients "to taste" will have a blast. 

May Kaidee's Red Thai Curry

Make Red Chili Paste first:

Add to food processor or Mortar and Pestle and go at it:

3 TBSP hot Red Thai chills

1 Small handful each of chopped onion and garlic

1 TBSP each:

chopped lemon grass

galangal

kaffir lime leaves

coriander or cumin

The paste freezes well (seen above in the processor, don't be scared of the oyster mushrooms!), so don't be afraid to baggie up excess. It's SUPER potent. You will use many of the same ingredients for the actual curry, so set needed items aside before going crazy with the processor.

Now for the CURRY! I'm using her direct excerpt from the cookbook, look for notes below. 

1 TBSP oil of choice

1 tsp Red Chili Paste

2 Slices Galangal*

2 Kaffir lime leaves

2 two-inch stalks of lemon grass

1 handful mixed veggies (try to include pumpkin, squash, beans, carrots and onions)**

1.25 cup coconut cream or coconut milk

1 TBSP Soy Sauce mixture***

1 tsp Sugar

1. Add red chili pasted in hot oil until fragrant.

2. Add galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and 1/4 of the coconut milk. Stir thoroughly.

3. Add veggies and remaining cup of coconut of milk and cook until the mixture is thick. 

4. Slacken with a little water and add soy sauce and sugar.

5. Serve with prepared brown rice after veggies have softened.

* Galangal is the secret! It's in the ginger family, but ginger is NOT a substitute. Yes, you need to go to an Asian market to pull this off. Galangal is also known as Kalanga at Shuang Hur market, where I shop for my ingredients in MPLS. The galangal, lemon grass, and kaffir lime leaves are used like bay leaves: you remove them before eating. (Sometimes I cheat and chop them small and leave them, because I know I will forget!).

**You can see by using only "a handful" of veggies, the original recipe is for one person. I usually do this x 10 (ish) and do stuff "by taste" and estimates. It's kind of fun, if you think you can pull off ratios. This is about the quantity of veggies I use (below). I wanna eat all week!

***The "Soy Sauce" Mixture is an awesome fish sauce substitute. It's a 50/50 split of a sweet thick soy sauce, and a salty one. I'm including the photos, cause it was just dumb luck we got it purchased correctly the first time returning from Thailand. May Kaidee basically told us to look for a pair in the same brand, one with a sugar content, one with a sodium content. All the characters on the bottles are non-english, but the salty, sweet goodness when mixed together prove fish sauce is not necessary in curry.

Other Julie tips:

I add a whole block of tofu. I cube it, throw it in my wok on top of some sizzling peanut oil, lightly fry it, and continue on with step 1 of the Red Curry recipe directions right then and there. I leave the tofu to absorb all the spicy chili paste goodness.

 

Also, think ahead of what veggies will get soggy if they're in the bubbly curry too long. I tend to overcook broccoli, personally! For this amount of veggies and tofu this time, I only required two cans of coconut milk. I almost pushed the limits...another 1/2 cup would have been nice.

Here's how I did my shopping:

Shuang Hur:

brown rice (big bag lasts forever!)

soy sauces (again, will last forever...)

galangal (3 inch piece is sufficient, and about $2)

kaffir lime leaves (small package about $1.50)

lemon grass (about $1 for 3 sticks)

tofu brick ($1.49)

oyster mushrooms (totally love them, but totally optional, about $2)

Farmers' Market:

bundle of "Jewel Carrots" $1

variety of 5 squash $4

Broccoli $2

Green Beans $1

red HOT thai chilis (Cheap..they are potent! You only need a handful)

Trader Joe's

TJ's has dirt cheap organic light coconut milk for $0.99 a can! The hubby and I stock up on staples like this (but not our groceries) once a month. Buy at the Asian Market if you prefer.

Have fun, and remember...this recipe is a total adventure! Good luck!