I love Thai curries! I eat them all of the time. I think that Southeast Asian food in general has an amazing command of the balance of the different taste types: salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami. I needed to make a soup for a social function recently and the idea of turning a curry sauce into a soup sounded fun. Maybe it’s centered around their use of Fish sauce.

You could add rice or rice noodles to this soup, but I chose potatoes because they would last better while sitting in a crock pot during the function. Potatoes are a common ingredient in Massaman curry so that’s why I used that style. In the end, this soup turned out to be wonderful! It’s light, with a hint of sweetness. The fragrance that the fresh lemongrass imparts is also great.

 

Massaman Chicken Curry Soup

2 Tbsp. – Light peanut oil (or other light oil like Canola)

1 lb – Boneless, skinless, chicken thighs

1 – Large onion

5 cloves – Fresh garlic

6 inch nob – Fresh lemongrass (optional)

1 1/2 Tbsp. – Massaman Curry Paste

2 Tbsp. – Raw sugar

1 – 2 Tbsp. – Fish sauce

3 – Russet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 – Large peppers (I used 1 green and 1 red)

5-6 cups – Chicken broth

16 oz – Coconut milk

1 cup – Fresh tree mushrooms (lower stems removed, larger mushrooms split in half)

1 Tbsp. – Tapioca starch (you can substitute corn starch)

1 – Large lime

1/2 cup – Toasted cashews (whole, split)

1/2 cup – Fresh cilantro (chopped)

Thai bird chilis to taste (optional)

Salt to taste

 

For anything like this, I believe in prepping everything first (miss en place). Slice the chicken into thin strips then dice (it works better if partially frozen). Cut the onion and peppers into thin 1 inch long slivers, mince the garlic. Pound the lemongrass with a kitchen mallet to release it’s juices then mince finely. Dice the potatoes in a fairly small dice. Clean and prep the mushrooms, cashews, and cilantro.

Preheat a large wok on high heat. Add the oil and heat until just smoking. Add the chicken and allow to fry for 5-8 minutes or until mostly cooked (but not browned), stirring every 2-3 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and lemongrass, stir and continue sautéing until the onions are translucent (but nothing should be browned). Add the potatoes, sugar, and fish sauce, and curry paste. Stir and bring to a simmer (a sauce should begin to form) until the potatoes are about half cooked. Add the peppers and broth, bring to a simmer, then lower the heat and allow a low simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are finished cooking.

Open the cans of coconut milk into a small bowl, add the tapioca starch and stir until well incorporated. Add coconut milk mixture to the soup. Stir well and bring to a low simmer. Once it comes to a simmer again it should begin to thicken. Add water as necessary to thin to desired consistency (it should be thin with just a hint of silkiness). Add mushrooms and the juice from the lime and allow to cook for 3-5 more minutes. Taste and add more salt or fish sauce as needed. Add chilies if you want a bit of kick (but beware, they can be very hot!).

Serve topped with cashews and cilantro.

Recently I posted about making traditional wood-fired pizza in a 4 part series. Today I’d like to share a new type of pizza that I’ve been making, potato pizza. This pizza is not based on a tomato sauce, rather uses a Buerre Blanc sauce (white butter). This sauce is also tasty tossed with pasta with fresh cherry tomatoes and basil.

I had always heard that potato pizza was one of the favorite types in Italy, so I decided that I had to try it. Let’s just say that it was a success! I recommend trying this. You can make it in your oven on a pizza stone as well (if you don’t happen to have a wood fired pizza oven, that is).

Potato Rosemary Pizza (makes 2 pizzas)

2 – 2 ounce balls of pizza dough

1/2 cup – Buerre Blanc sauce, chilled (see below)

2 sprigs – Fresh rosemary

2 – 2 ounce balls of fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup – Fresh grated pecorino

3 paper thin slices – Prosciutto

1 – Thinly sliced Yukon gold potato

olive oil

salt/pepper

semolina flour (or fine corn meal or all-purpose flour)

 

Preheat wood fired oven (or pizza stone in conventional oven) on highest possible heat until pre-heated (I recommend at least 30 minutes of preheating if using a pizza stone). I heat my conventional oven to 550 and my wood fired oven to 950. Remove the dough from the refrigerator 90 minutes before making the pizza.

Toss the sliced potatoes and a generous tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl then lay the potatoes on a large baking sheet. Apply a generous amount of salt and pepper then roast until soft and lightly browned in the oven during the preheating.

Coat a pizza peel (or large cutting board) with semolina flour (or one of the other substitutes). Gently stretch a ball of dough to form a thin crust, place it one the peel. Never roll your dough out with a rolling pin! You’ll lose the good bubbles and lift. Just gently stretch and pull on the dough until it forms a nice even thickness. Make sure and flour it heavily on the bottom as it will be very sticky.

Take about 1/4 cup of the chilled sauce and spread it all over the center of the dough. Leave a 2-3 inch crust around the outside. Pluck and tear 1 sprig of rosemary and scatter on top of the sauce. Take 1 1/2 slices of Prosciutto and tear roughly into 1 1/2 inch square pieces. Scatter on sauce. Slice one ball of mozzarella into 1/4 inch slices and gently scatter evenly around the pizza. Scatter 1/8 cup pecorino as well then place half of the potato slices.

Slide from the peel directly to the stone and bake until golden brown. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes, slice and enjoy!

 

Buerre Blanc Sauce

1 Tbsp – Extra virgin olive oil

1 – Large shallot, finely minced

2 cloves – Garlic, finely minced

2 Tbsp – Fresh thyme, finely minced

1 cup – Chardonnay (or other dry white wine)

1 Tbsp – Fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp – Chicken demi glace (or 1 Tbsp Better-than-bullion)

2 Tbsp – Butter, chilled and cubed

salt

fresh ground white pepper

 

Preheat a medium skillet or medium heat.

Add oil and heat until almost smoking, add shallot and sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and thyme and sauté for 1 minute. Add wine and bring to a simmer. Cook down until the sauce starts to thicken slightly, no longer smells of alcohol, and reduces by half. Add lemon juice and demi glace; simmer until the sauce is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Lower heat and add the butter. Whisk quickly until the butter melts entirely and the sauce emulsifies and thickens. Remove from heat and add salt and white pepper to taste. Chill before use.