Day Thirty-Two

She Said:

Continuing on with our own Julie/Julia Project, here's what we made from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Chicken Curry with Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch strips
1½ cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes (we used fresh)
1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (we used flat-leaf parsley - my life will be much better if I just skip cilantro for the most part)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cayenne
Hot cooked basmati rice, to serve

1. Blanch the green beans in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the onion and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, jalapeño, ginger, and curry powder. Sauté until the onion is tender and the spices are fragrant, stirring frequently, 2 to 3 minutes longer.

3. Add the chicken and sauté, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, and green beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the cilantro and basil. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Add the cayenne to taste, starting with just a pinch and adding more, depending on how hot you enjoy your curries. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Serve hot over a bed of rice.

I don't know what it is about the flavor of curry powder and we've only made four or five curry dishes in our lives but the flavor just gets into my head to where I start to crave it. I was so happy to have this last night. It was really delicious, healthy, and had a really nice heat. We do like things hot so we went a little heavy on the cayenne and I think it was just right.

Normally, I like this kind of spicy food with a good dry Riesling. So we opened a good dry Riesling. Before taking a bite of dinner, the wine was just wonderful - fruity, slightly sweet, perfect for a warm day. But then it just did not pair well with the food. It wasn't horrible but we did it no favors by pairing it with this dish. Maybe we needed a Riesling that wasn't quite so dry, who knows. But after dinner, we finished the bottle and it was quite good again. Weird.

Day 32/365:Recipe 22/175