Green Curry Chicken

*Post by Angela.

I'm very lucky. I don't have kids and I typically have an 8:30 am to 6:00 pm work day, so generally, I have the time and the resources to make most of our dinners at home from scratch. And while I understand other people's affection for the show, and though my feelings on the subject don't quite reach the epic emotions expressed by Anthony Bourdain, I gotta say that Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee is really not for me - the few episodes I've watched did nothing to convince me to forsake my commitment to using mainly fresh ingredients in my kitchen. 

All that aside, there are a few prepared items that I lean on from time to time to help me make a good meal. Prime example? Green curry paste, available in most grocery stores in the Asian food section. Buying the individual ingredients to make my own can run up the grocery bill quickly, and for the most part, green curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand) is made up of real ingredients (chili, lemon grass, garlic, galangal, salt, onion, pepper, rhizome, lime and peanut oil) rather than artificial/chemical ones. And the result is a practically restaurant-quality Thai curry dish.

List of ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 4 green onions, minced
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 3 tbsp green curry paste
• 1 tbsp chicken bouillon granules (or 1 cube)
• 3 lbs chicken thighs, cubed into roughly 1" pieces
• 1 large handful cilantro leaves, roughly chopped and divided in half
• 1 tsp salt
• Cooked white rice

First, I heated the oil in a wok over medium high heat and tossed in the green onions, sauteeing about 30 seconds.

I added the coconut milk, green curry paste, and chicken bouillon granules, stirred until well combined and brought the mixture to a boil.

I added the chicken, half the cilantro, and the salt, lowered the heat to a simmer and cooked about 12 minutes, until the meat was cooked through.

Then I removed the wok from the heat, stirred in the remaining cilantro, and served the curry over some steaming hot white rice. For me, there was very little difference between this and the green curry we get from the Thai restaurant around the corner - creamy, yet not too heavy, and absolutely delicious on rice. Is homemade green curry paste better? Sure. A little. But I'm probably not gonna give up my store bought paste. If you see me make that kwanzaa cake, though, I give you leave to hit me in the face.

Satan's Ashes Pt. 2 (with video!)

*Post by Mark.

I'm not quite sure what we were expecting.

At best, I was pulling for a hospital visit. With our cameras rolling, blood coming out of the eyes or projectile vomiting would've been enough to take our video viral. A little part of me may have even been pulling for something like this. But after seeing Nick taste the hottest known pepper in the world without any table-pounding or steam pouring out of his ears, I was compelled to taste the Bhut Jolokia myself. How bad could it be?

While my several bites was maybe 1/20th of what Nick consumed, I can attest that it was indeed the hottest thing I've ever tasted. While there was no immediate knee-jerking effect to it, it had a slowly-unfolding and sustained burn - like being in a car accident... but in slow motion. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, or haven't yet read it, I'd urge you to check out Nick's firsthand account of eating an entire serving of the Satan's Ashes Curry. 

But, if you're more of a visual person, can't read or are just a flat-out sadist, then you should probably check out the video below.

(And yes, I spelled tabasco wrong. But, it SHOULD be spelled tobasco.. Let's make it happen, internet.)

A couple hours after eating the curry, I felt the strangest sense of nausea - like a giant ball of energy was charging in the core of my stomach. Luckily, the sensation soon passed, but I can only imagine what forces were at play inside of Nick.  

So, just how hot is this pepper?

For comparison's sake, let's take a quick look at the Scoville Scale, which can be used to measure the relative pungency of peppers.

• Poblano Pepper - 500 - 2,500
• Jalapeno Pepper - 2,500 - 8,000
• Cayenne Pepper - 30,000 - 50,000
• Habanero Chili - 100,000 - 350,000
• Bhut Jolokia - 855,000 - 1,075,000
• Pepper Spray - 2,000,00 - 2,500,000

So, what did we learn?

That's right. If you want that real burn, Pepper Spray is the way to go. We're already warming the skillet and getting the tomato paste ready..