Thailicious: Red Curry w. Shrimp, Spinach and Bay Scallops*

What did I eat before I knew the deliciousness of Thai food? It sort of amazes me because now it's something I eat one to three times a month. Greg and I made a dish last night that may arguably be our best yet. The most fun part about making it seems to be the variety of combinations and the anticipation of how it will turn out. Like Greg, I get really excited about eating. I got so inspired by last night's concoction, I took a picture and decided I'd write about it. Here's how we made it. Luckily, Charlottesville has a Farmer's Market on Saturdays, so we were able to get the basil and most of the veggies straight from local growers. I think this was one of the main reasons it tasted so good. Everything else came either from the supermarket or stuff I have around my kitchen. Here are rough proportions, and let me just say this makes a lot of sauce, enough for 6 healthy servings.

• 1 bunch Thai basil
• 3 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 tbsp crushed, red pepper
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 eggplant
• 1 carrot
• 1 potato
• 2 small red peppers (or 1 large red pepper)
• handful shitake and/or crimini mushrooms (6-12)
• 1/2 box frozen baby (sweet) peas -- unbuttered!
• 9 oz bag of spinach
• 1/2 lbs fresh, unpeeled shrimp
• 1/4 lbs bay scallops
• 2 cups jasmine rice
• lime wedges for garnish
• **

One of the hardest things to perfect about this sauce is the right amount of chunkiness-to-liquid, so while it may not seem like enough to just have one carrot or one potato, it goes a long way once everything else is in there. Okay, start by getting everything ready. The potato cooks a little differently than everything else, so wash it, cut it into cubes and give it a quick boil for about 5 minutes or until just soft. When that's done, drain and put to the side. Consider adding a little salt and or cumin to the potato cubes while they're still warm. Wash all the veggies. Peel the carrot and cut it and the red pepper(s) into small strips. Depending on how large the eggplant is, cut into half-circles or cubes. I really love shitake mushrooms but I also had some fresh crimini mushrooms so I chopped up about 5 or 6 of each. Peel the shrimp and rinse them in cold water along with the bay scallops. If you have enough forethought to know you'll be making curry later in the day, chill the coconut milk (overnight or all day is preferable, but I always forget) until ready to cook as this helps separate the cream from the clear juice. The cream sits on top, so scoop off the cream (from both cans) into a large skillet and put the juice aside. Add the curry paste and crushed red pepper to the cream and simmer until everything is well blended. Add some basil now if you'd like. I just rinsed and pulled it directly off the stems. How much you add is up to you; overall we used about a third of the bunch. Now's a good time to get the water boiling for the rice. Once added, the rice takes about 15 minutes to cook. Add the shrimp and scallops to the curry cream sauce. DO NOT COOK ALL THE WAY. This is key or you will just have a mouth full of chewiness. Simmer the mixture for a minute or two, just until the shrimp start to turn pink, then remove the seafood from the sauce, put in a bowl and set aside. Pour in the remainder of the coconut juice (the clear stuff) and the can of chicken broth. Bring back up to a low, bubbly simmer. Now it's veggie time***. Add the eggplant, peppers, peas and carrots to the sauce however you'd like -- we usually hold back on the mushrooms because they cook quickly. Simmer to your liking and cover. Then begin adding spinach by the handful. Cover after adding, let it wilt a bit, stir it in, then add more spinach. You can add up to the whole bag or save it for salads. Once your rice is almost done and you're about ready to eat, stir in the mushrooms for about a minute. If the potatoes are not very soft, add now. If they are, remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the potatoes and seafood. The residual heat from the sauce itself will cook them quite nicely. Let me reiterate about the spices: the Thai basil is fantastic. It has a mintiness that is perfect for this dish. If you can't get your hands on it, mixing regular basil with mint works well, too. Try chopping it up. Add the basil throughout cooking and chop up some raw basil to put on top when served. Also, I love this dish *really* spicy. I add crushed red pepper throughout cooking and also use more curry paste than the recommended 2 tablespoons. Serve the mixture over rice, garnish with basil and a lime wedge (don't just look at it -- squeeze the juice all over the sauce) and enjoy! * This began as a variation of the Epicurious.com recipe, "Thai Shrimp and Spinach Curry". ** Experiment! Butternut squash, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts area really great additions, too. Using reddish vegetables for red curry and greener vegetables for green curry works really well. Or delete meat! This is great with tofu, too. *** Normally, we use naam pla, or Thai fish sauce, but to my dismay, I was out. I think it worked fine this time because the seafood has its own inherent fishiness, but otherwise, this adds a nice flavor (2 tablespoons added to the veggies).