Curry by a Klutz

Haven't we all had one of those days where you feel like the biggest klutz in the world? One of those days where everything you touch drops to the floor and every time you lift your foot to take a step you trip? I have a lot of these days. I imagine my mother could see that being a klutz was going to be a problem so when I was 4 years old she put me in dance class. But, after 24 years of ballet and then 10 years of yoga I still have some pretty rough days in the klutz department. The day I made Jamie's Thai Green Curry (pg. 91) was one of those days. Everything I touched I dropped, every time I stirred the curry there was a spatter. It's amazing I sat down to the dinner table with all fingers and toes intact. The shame of it is that this is a really easy recipe and the fact that it is loaded with green stuff made the mom in me feel extra happy. Of course that was a bit overshadowed by the fact that I made such a huge mess making it and that I had made a really easy recipe rather difficult.

Even the grocery shopping seemed easy. I bought asparagus, a pound of frozen shrimp, a can of coconut milk, scallions and some lemongrass. The only spice I didn't have on hand was coriander seeds so I bought those too. The other ingredients: peanut oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, snow peas, a lime, garlic, a piece of ginger and cilantro I seem to usually have in my kitchen now. This would not have been the case a year ago but my grocery shopping seems to have gotten to the point now where I always have certain things on hand or at least seem to know when I need them even when they are not in a recipe.

To make the curry paste you combine the peeled and crushed lemongrass stalks, trimmed scallions, garlic, ginger, seeds and cilantro in a food processor until it is finely chopped. (Jamie also calls for green chile but I omitted this in hopes that the kids would eat it if it wasn't too spicy. When I make it again, I will add the chile). It smells so good! That lemongrass is really cool stuff! While chopping, add the soy sauce and fish sauce and keep mixing until it becomes a smooth paste.
After your paste is made, snap the ends off the asparagus and slice lengthwise. I would cut them in half too. In a pan on high heat add the oils and when they are hot add the shrimp and then the asparagus and paste. Pour in the coconut milk and snow peas and bring to a boil. Squeeze in the lime juice and you're done.

Doesn't it sound easy? Now insert into the above paragraph several splatters, a dropped knife that missed my toes by an inch, an emergency trip to the store because my cilantro was yucky, a near boil over and you'd see how I made this easy recipe way too difficult.

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