Cauliflower and Tofu Red Curry

 Now that we have all made a fresh batch of Red Curry Paste, (right everyone?) it's time to use it in a recipe! This dish was inspired by a veggie curry I saw on (never home)maker. I can't get enough red curry. I love the way sweet creaminess of the coconut milk plays off the rich flavors of the curry paste and cools the spiciness of the sriracha while the salty, unctuous fish sauce adds brightness. Now I'm hungry. I could call for some quick Thai takeout or I could just whip this little number up! It's easy, healthy and best of all, scrumptious. Try for yourself and see, there is no better reward for slaving away (hardly) to make your own curry paste!

Ingredients

- 1 red pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 large head of cauliflower or 1 medium to small head, cut into medium sized florets
- 1/2 block extra firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 14 ounces coconut milk
 - 1 - 2 Tbsp homemade (or store bought, you stinker!) red curry paste
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 splash dry white wine
- 1 splash fish sauce (optional)
- 1-2 tsp of sriracha chili sauce (optional and VERY spicy)
- Olive oil

Instructions

 In a small bowl, whisk together the red curry paste, brown sugar and coconut milk until well combined. Set aside.

 In a medium pan, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil until hot. Add your drained and cubed tofu (you may want to pat it down with paper towels to ensure you get all the moisture out that you can) and cook until well browned on all sides (as you can see from the picture, you will want to use a NON-stick pan and plenty of oil.)

Place a steamer insert into a medium to large pot and fill with water to just below the bottom of the insert (you shouldn't see any water.)

 Place cauliflower florets on top of the insert and cover the pot with a lid, bring to a boil and allow to steam for 5 - 10 minutes or until softened but still slightly al dente or crisp in the middle.

When the tofu is browned, add the red pepper and sautee a few minutes in the oil with the tofu to let it soften just a bit.

 Once the cauliflower is steamed to your desired level of crunch, add the curry mixture to the tofu and peppers, stir to mix then add the cauliflower.

Bring to a strong simmer then taste the curry and add fish sauce, wine and sriracha to your taste.

Reduce heat and cover pan, cook over low heat for another 15 to 30 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Taste again to determine if any additional seasonings are needed. Serve over rice.

Adapted from (never home)maker.com

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Make Your Own Red Curry Paste

 Let me begin by apologizing for my prolonged absence from the blog. Over the past few weeks I've been struggling with some pretty ugly headaches. They are not eradicated yet but with the help of my doc, I am working on it. Despite this setback, I want to stick to my promise to post more often so let's start this week right (yeah, I know it's Tuesday, give me a break!)

Spring is here! In Los Angeles, the flowers are blooming, the grass is green, the sun is shining and the fruits and veggies that have been absent all winter are sneaking back into the farmer's market stalls, one by one. Strawberries! Asparagus! Artichokes! WooHOOO! Veggies of all kinds are perfect for today's recipe.

I love Thai take-out but I my sous-chef and I are working on saving money by cutting way down on eating out and ordering take-out. This curry paste lets me make my favorite Thai curries at home! Using fresh veggies and making my own rice, we can eat for pennies and the food is so good, I actually like it better than the take-out we used to get because I can customize it and make it my own. Bamboo shoots: out! Cauliflower: in! SO easy!

I got many of my ingredients from Simpang Asian Market and plain ol Ralph's. If you are having trouble finding these ingredients near you, you might try asking someone from your fave Thai take out place where they get their lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves.

 I learned how to make this Thai curry paste in cooking school. My cooking school blog has been in a holding pattern while I work on merging that blog with this one but I couldn't wait any longer to share this recipe with you. It's incredibly vibrant in color and taste, it will stain anything it touches but will also drown veggies, fish, tofu, chicken or anything else in flavor. I like to mix it into some coconut milk and add enough Sriracha to make it a little spicy then go nuts with add ins. I will share a couple of great curry recipes in the next week or so, but first, you gotta make this curry paste! P.S. It's vegan!

Thai Curry Paste

Ingredients:

- 10 large dried red chiles, Guajillos or New Mexican
 - 2" section of Galangal or ginger
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 2 whole kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
- 1 stalk lemongrass, chopped
- 3 Tbsp cilantro stems
- 3 garlic cloves
- 5 shallots
- 1-2 fresh thai chilis (cut of the top and toss in)

 

Cut tops off dried chiles, cut in half, remove seeds and soak the chiles in HOT water until tender.

 

 Reserve the water to use later in thinning the curry paste.

Pound the chiles, garlic and galangal together until semi-smooth with a mortar and pestle OR blend in a blender.

 

My blender was not up to this task so I moved everything to the food processor and pulverized it.

 

Once smooth, add the remaining ingredients and blend until completely smooth. 

 

 

If needed, add a small amount of leftover chile water to get a smooth paste. (I added too much. My paste ended up with more of a pudding consistency but it still tasted great and works fine in recipes.)

 

This recipe yields 1/3 - 1 cup curry paste. It will keep up to 2 months in the fridge in an airtight container or zippered plastic bag.

 

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