Rambling
On Saturday, Hubby and I met some family downtown for “happy hour” drinks. I put “happy hour” in quotes, because it’s never just an hour. For us on weekends, we usually turn this into a “happy half-day” event. Fortunately (unfortunately?), there is no shortage of “spirited” venues in Saratoga Springs. Many of them have good late-afternoon/early-evening deals on drinks and small plates, even on Saturdays, so we enjoy making the rounds before the crowds come out. This night found us at a local Irish pub, which serves a really nice hard cider. Hard cider is a deceptive drink, as I learned on Sunday morning. It goes down much too easily–like a refreshing, tongue-tickling apple juice–and is too good at quenching the thirst for one to be wary of its 4.5% alcohol content (on a par with the average beer). Needless to say, I got my fill of fermented fruit on Saturday, and so was looking for some solid edibles to calm my sour belly on Sunday. I had gone shopping earlier in the week to stock up on ingredients for an experimental Thai curry. Protein + carbs + toxin-releasing spiciness = Perfect post-imbibing grub. So the next time you “tie one on”, Thai one on…
Roast
Spicy Beef & Butternut Squash Curry (Hangover Cure-y)
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lbs. stew beef chunks
- Large onion, sliced
- Few cloves garlic, minced
- 3-4 tablespoons prepared Thai red curry paste
- 1-2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- (2) cans (about 4 cups) coconut milk (not sweetened)
- 16-20 oz. frozen diced butternut squash, thawed
- 1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons Thai-style sweet chili sauce
- Unsalted peanuts, crushed
* Post-post additions: Recipes are ever-evolving. After letting this one meld for a day or two, both Hubby and I felt it was “lacking”. I think this could be kicked up by adding 1/2-1 cup of creamy butter and a few generous glugs of red hot chili sauce. Hubby thinks the “hot” could be complemented by some “sweet”, and suggests this concoction be enhanced with a can of pineapple chunks. Will try adding all of this the next time around…if you get there before I do, let me know how the recipe turns out with these add-ins!
Directions: In a large sauce pan, heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Add stew beef, and season with salt and ground pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook beef until browned, about 7-10 minutes. Remove beef from sauce pan using slotted spoon and set aside. Discard drippings.
To the same sauce pan, add another tablespoon or two of vegetable oil, along with sliced onion, garlic, curry paste, curry powder, and cayenne. Stir thoroughly to coat onions with the spices, and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until onions soften.
Add beef chunks back in, stirring and cooking for a few minutes more. Pour in coconut milk, stir, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 45 minutes, until beef is tender.
Stir in butternut squash, Worcestershire sauce, and sweet chili sauce, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Season to taste with additional cayenne, salt, and pepper. Serve hot over steamed jasmine rice, and topped with crushed peanuts.
ramblings & roasts 
Mmmmmmm, hard cider…..yes, please. 🙂 Sounds like you had a great Saturday afternoon! The Irish Times looks like my kind of place too.
I was just thinking about making another curry, I love the flavor. But. Um. And I hate to admit this, but I’m not a big fan of beef. Ok, I hate it. I know! The question is, can I make this with something else? Any suggestions? Hubby, a beef lover, is sitting here practically drooling at your pictures and telling me to, “suck it up. We’re so making this.” 🙂
What do you think? Should I suck it up and make it, or try it with something else?
Beef is not high on my oft-consumed list either, Sarah, but Hubby is a “meat-and-potatoes” man, so every once in a while I throw him a bone 🙂 The nice thing about curry dishes is ANY meat is fair game (pardon the pun). I think this recipe would hold up well with chicken, firm tofu, shrimp, duck…even goat! I love goat meat, and just discovered that our local farmers’ market carries this, so might try that next time (or in another curry-ish dish). Let me know what you go with and how it comes out!
Sarah, I also just made a “post-script” note to this recipe. Both Hubby and I think it could benefit from some additional “hot” and “sweet”. I think you posted on Facebook that someone was looking for a recipe combining beef and pineapple? Well, maybe with the addition of the fruit, this recipe could work. I haven’t yet tried the updated version of the curry, but our local Thai restaurant makes a dish with similar flavor combinations, and it is yummy!
Thank you! Great idea, and I’ve sent the link to my friend. I think she’ll love this with pineapple.
By the way, I’m making this for dinner tomorrow night. We’re using beef. Hubby really, really, really wants to try the beef. He’s such a diva that way 😉 I agreed to the beef, under the condition that next time we try tofu. That just sounds perfect to me. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Thanks again!
This looks very delish. I love the Thai kitchen. 😉