Stumbled on a magazine called VegNews, written mostly with a vegan perspective. In it was a recipe by Terry Hope Romero, of Veganomicon fame. It was called Jungle Curry. It's a thai-inspired dish with ginger, brine-packed green peppercorns (I used capers) eggplant, zucchini, chili peppers, lime and basil among other things.
Bill wanted to go out for dinner. I wanted to stay in and eat jungle curry. So, I sent him to the LCBO for a beautiful white wine and I grabbed a few ingredients at the grocery store, to the tune of $10.06 (including some brown rice flour for $4 so I can try gluten-free muffins this week). So - total ingredient cost for jungle curry goodness was 6 bucks.
Dinner was really REALLY good. And, since there was no coconut milk, it was much lighter than traditional thai fare. But - there was a lot of chopping.
Quick chopping, for sure. When sliced on the diagonal, a zucchini is really attractive to look at, making it attractive to eat. King oyster mushrooms look beautiful when chopped in a cross-section. And sweet snap peas require some finesse so mouths taste fresh sweetness, and not tips that taste like twigs.
I write this because you need to know one thing about cooking cheaply. You need to love to chop things. There is no way on this green earth that you can cook without learning proper chopping techniques.
Stocks need a different chop technique than risottos. Curries and stir-frys need still another. And don't even get me started on herbs, chives or green onions. Microplanes are still another way to break down something whole into something delicious. Other than some laundry and some reading, I am pretty caught up for a Sunday. Maybe I'll do some videos on proper chopping and load them tonight.
My point for now is Learn to LOVE to CHOP.
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