Sunny Days Are Back

I think my rant last week may have paid off as whoever was reading by blog ‘upstairs’ switched the lights back on and we had the loveliest weekend so far this year. To make the most of it, we headed out to Curragh Chase with the dog on Sunday with a stop made to Caroline Rigney’s on the way home. I picked up some home cured bacon & 6 eggs from some of her rare breed pigs & hens. I was trying to think of what to do to celebrate such good produce on the way home when the proverbial light-bulb went off and I knew what to make… I’ll give you a hint, it’s a ‘creamy’ dish but certain critics freak out when it’s served to them with cream added; any guesses??? Check back later in the week for the recipe.

            Back to today’s recipe; I picked this thai curry out of the Channel 4 website during the week for something nice to use up some of the squash from the market. It was delicious but if I was to do it again (and I will) I’d probably add another chilli, a red pepper and some sugar snap peas for some variety of texture. I also added a small bag of salted peanuts for extra crunch. It was nice and light and I’d enough to freeze an extra portion for another day so can’t complain about that. And here it is…

Pumpkin & Peanut Curry

Serves 2

What You Need

400g of pumpkin, peeled & deseeded

1 red onion sliced

1 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter

100ml hot water

1 Tbsp soy or fish sauce

1 tsp tomato puree

Zest & juice of a lime

1 tsp sugar

A handful of coriander with the stalks (could also add a pepper & sugar snap peas at the end also)

2 cloves of garlic

1cm piece of fresh ginger

1 chilli (I’ll add an extra one next time)

1 can of coconut milk

2 tbsp sunflower oil

Rice to serve

What You Do

• Dissolve the peanut butter in the hot water and add the tomato puree, lime juice & zest, soy sauce and sugar.
• Finely chop the chilli, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wok and add the red onion, cook briskly for a few minutes before adding the pumpkin. After a minute or two, add the garlic, coriander, chilli, ginger mix and cook for another minute before adding the peanut butter liquid & coconut milk.
• Cook for 20 / 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the pumpkin is tender.
• Add the coriander and other veggies if you wish and plate up with the rice.

Hairy Bikers Update – My boyfriend made the Dulce de Leche cheesecake from the Hairy Bikers cookbook at the weekend. It was ridiculous it was so good. We donated some to my parents, some to his and kept two slices each for ourselves. There are two more slices in the fridge which I’ve been warned to donate to one of my friends & her boyfriend. I guess I’d better do as I’m told…. Hadn’t I???

Comments

[lorraine@italianfoodies]

Would this "creamy" dish upset Paulo????:)

[Brian Moloney]

I am the boyfriend mentioned on Sarah's blog.

The creamy dish certainly would upset Paolo Tullio if made with cream. Italian friends of mine made it for me on a number of occassions a few years back and were horified to hear that the Irish/English version had cream.

Dulche de Leche Cheesecake - great fun to make. Not too heavy to eat even given that i know what went in to it. Not for those on diets but go for an extra walk/jog during the week and sure who cares. If you can't cook nice stuff on the weekend and enjoy it then there's no point in having weekends.

Well done to the Hairy Bikers and such an excellent cookbook. Go buy it!!

[Sarah@lettersonlunches]

Well Lorraine, I didn't want to name names, but yes.... You're right!!!

[Lisa]

The curry sounds great, I LOVE curry!

[jen]

I've been meaning to make a curry for a while now - just craving those sorts of flavours at the moment. Yours looks like just the thing :-)

[Rachel@fairycakeheaven]

OMG that curry looks divine!!! I am such a fan of pumpkin mmmmmmm am definitely trying this asap, and dulche de leche tart delish!!!

I definitely think ~Paulo would have his knickers in a knot over your "creamy dish"

[Sarah@lettersonlunches]

Girls, it's a lovely January dish - warm, light and comforting.

[Jen]

Also did Curragh Chase with dog and then up to Carolines for the sausages and rashers on Sunday. People were almost delirious with joy at the sun walking around. Mother in law has hens so we get boxes of yummy free range happy hen eggs every week. The one time I saw Paulo in the flesh he was gorging on a gross hot dog at a concert.

[Sarah@lettersonlunches]

Jen, it was lovely wasn't it? That's funny about Paulo. The only excuse for gorging on a hot-dog ever is out on the street after an evening dans le Sinbin!!!