Red Curry with Blue Rice

 

  Red Curry with Blue Rice by Jay Scott on 500px

Angie had a girls' night out so I whipped up a red curry so spicy that, even though it was cold by the time I was done shooting, I had to eat slowly and a smaller portion for fear of burning my mouth.

I tire of "nice" photos so, despite an overhead soft box to believably imitate to candle, I added a blue touch to the rice for an element of surrealism. It was also nice to have a good time to incorporate the candle holder made by my grandfather's skilled hands. It deserves a detail shot of its own. His choices of wood, glued together in such a way to make the pattern it does, has always impressed me. It, in itself, is art.

Mango Curried Chicken

Fresh Mangoes by Jay Scott

So, typically Angie is the one to post recipes but since I came up with tonight's supper using a few recipes I saw online as guidelines, it is my turn.

 

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 medium mangoes peeled, seeded and cut into small cubes
1 white onion coarsely chopped
1/2 red onion coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper coarsely chopped
1 coloured bell pepper coarsely chopped
1 can of bamboo shoots
5 cloves of garlic
3-5 tablespoons of minced ginger
2 tablespoons of oil for browning chicken
1 can of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1-3 generous tablespoons of red curry paste
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

Method:

Start by browning the chicken breasts. Cook them so that they are just finished being pink in the middle, remove them from the heat and set aside. Cook the onion, peppers, garlic and ginger until they are just starting to become tender. While they are cooking prepare your sauce which consists of the coconut milk, soy sauce, curry paste and chicken stock.

Cut your cooked chicken into small pieces. Add the sauce, mango and bamboo shoots to the vegetables and simmer for 2-4 min. Add back in the cut up chicken. At this point the thickness is up to you. I prepared this with jasmine rice with the intention of making it a medium to soak up sauce so we left a little bit thinner. We did still need to remove some of the sauce, mix it with cornstarch and stir it back into thicken it up to our desired consistency. After that, stir in the cilantro and serve over rice.

It could've been a little bit spicier so you may want to add more curry or another form of heat if that is what you like. We tend to like things pretty spicy.

I was going for a dish that tastes very similar to a curry that I have had at Royal Thai in Saskatoon. I have been craving it for some time and I think I got it as close as I could ever hope to get it on the first try and am, to be perfectly honest, quite proud of it. My craving for that dish has been thoroughly satisfied with what I cooked this evening.

Sushi!

Monday evening a few photographers, also from Saskatoon, dropped over for a potluck food photo shoot. It was a lot of fun and whether a single good photo was made or not, it was the kind of social gathering of local photographers I crave. In fact, I'm thinking about trying to organize something monthly. Food, a photo walk, maybe portraits of ourselves or of a model (I know some guys that have working relationships with a few models), or anything else that comes to mind. On to the food.

We started and ended the evening with some sushi I bought at Charlie's Seafood Market here in Saskatoon.

Maki by Jay Scott

The maki consisted of California rolls, curried chicken and a type (I'm unsure of the name) with roe.

Macro Maki by Jay Scott

Because of a different plating and setup we left the smoked salmon nigiri until the end.

Smoked Salmon Nigiri by Jay Scott

I was in a low key, dramatic light, mood. It worked just fine with me, but the white, bright background and setting Kim used made for very inviting photos. Nice to see such diverse photos of the same subjects by different people with just slight changes to lighting or setting.

I did find myself experiencing a bit of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) during and after the shoot. My current lenses don't let me get as close as I need to to get the shot I want. I am hoping the macro lens in my future comes on sale again before flower season.

More of the treats we shot and ate to come.