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At Long Last, Finding DeathbedFood in MY Kitchen

I’ll look for DeathbedFood pretty much anywhere … anywhere, that is, except my kitchen.  Recently, however, that changed as I discovered a new DeathbedFood (Thai Curry) when Farina Kingsley showed me how to make it from scratch.

Farina Kingsley with Me ... in the Kitchen

I help Farina with social media.  Since she recently launched her updated iPhone/iPad Cooking App (“Farina’s Asian Pantry“), I thought it would be a helpful for me to take a cooking lesson from her where we could make a recipe from her App together.  That way I could better understand what it’s all about.

We had this lesson over the holidays when she and I were both in San Francisco (she lives in Singapore and I’m based in LA). We decided to start with Green Coconut Curry, a Southeast Asian recipe, since I’ve been on a Thai food kick lately.  We ordered one of her Asian Pantry Kits ahead of time (the Southeast Asian Kit) to help with the preparation.

In this video (Part 1 of 2), Farina shares the secrets of the ingredients she uses for the curry (some from her Pantry Kit and others which were from the Asian market which we found using the GPS Asian Grocery Locator feature on her App):

Yeah, that shrimp paste is really rank.  And yet, the experience was a turning point for me.  The curry was so flavorful and satisfying (yet not bad for the waistline!) that I became an instant hardcore fan.  Why do I say this?  Well, let’s review the evidence:

Exhibit A: New Years Eve.  After my lesson, I was so inspired that I decided to make it myself at home in my own kitchen … for New Years Eve!  What?  A restaurant Foodie like myself not going out for NYE and instead cooking at home? And Thai Curry from scratch nonetheless?  Suffice it to say, a HUGE step for a committed non-cook like myself.

Exhibit B:  January 1.  NYE was such a hit that I decided to make it AGAIN the next night (CRAZY in my world).

Exhibit C:  January 2.  My right hand was tingling and numb.  I could not figure it out … what was going on?  Then, finally it hit me.  Perhaps, just maybe, all of that Thai cooking may have strained it?  After all, that Thai Ginger is pretty darn dense.  It reminded me of when, after taking a shooting lesson where we fired off 50 rounds, my trigger finger was sore for a week.  Don’t get me wrong … I’m sure someone who cooks wouldn’t have had this reaction.  Still, even with the sore hand, I was psyched as I was now marching down the homemade curry path to Heaven.

And, finally, Exhibit D:  My first Cuisinart.  OK, well, technically my second but my first was a hand-me-down from my mother who was the first in her circle to get one in the 70’s.  I inherited it after college and took so little interest in it that it went to Goodwill shortly thereafter.  For the vast majority of my adult life since, I’ve been food processor-less (and proud of it).  To make the curry, you need either a mortar & pestle or a food processor.  I tried it with the mortar & pestle (hence, the sore hand/arm/shoulder) so decided maybe it’s time to finally break down and get a food processor.

I checked them out at Sur La Table and was thrilled to see that Cuisinart had a variety of small ones in very cute colors for about $40.  What a deal!  It almost made me want to get EVERY color so when I’m making red curry, I could use the red one while the green one could be used for the green curry.  Or maybe I’d just display all of the colors on my counter, like they do in the store, for dazzling effect.  Definitive evidence, I think, that I’ve lost my mind over this curry.

So stay tuned … next up, the actually cooking lesson with Farina where she tries to show me how to prepare the magical elixir.  Comedy does ensue …