What a strange day it is today! For the first time this year it is cool and rainy; after a long desert summer with normal high temperatures above 110F and even 120F, weather such as this makes one feel as if it is a foreign country. The cool weather does make it easier however to do chores that work up a sweat -- such as gardening, moving boxes of stuff back into their closets after the interior paint went up, etc etc. So even a sun and heat worshipper like myself can see benefits in grey skies, I suppose...
Today I thought I'd try doing my own version of Iron Chef and see what kind of meals I can make from the things in the garden and backyard that are currently mature and ready to eat. (Iron Jonny?) Here's what I came up with: lemon, jalapeno peppers, Korean gochu pepper, kaffir lime leavs, lemongrass stalk, and some Greek basil.
Last night I also realized that I had frozen some unused galangal, so taken together with this week's "food as medicine" theme (geared towards helping me duke it out with whatever sickness I have been fighting), I thought I'd make galangal soup for lunch. (Most people I know love this Southeast Asian soup and know it mainly by its Thai name, tom kha. A very appropriate name considering how yum it is.) Here I'm making the base broth by boiling sliced galangal, bruised lemongrass stalk, kaffir lime leaves, a little black pepper, a little salt, and half a cube of vegetable broth. (Normally I think chicken is used but I'm not a big chicken fan.)
After the broth has boiled a while, I strained out the contents leaving only the broth itself. I then returned the stock to the stove and added coconut milk, a little fish sauce, some tofu, and some mushrooms. This was then re-heated.
Into the base of my serving bowl, I squeezed half a lime and then added the galangal soup. I ate the final product with a big bowl of rice. Oh, pure heaven! Is there anybody in this world who doesn't like galangal soup?
For dinner I will try and use up the remaining lemon and Greek basil... stay tuned...