Moules and a red Thai curry

October 22nd-23rd

I was spending a weekend in Rheda as it was our 4 weekly kegelabend. I was up very early on Saturday morning just so that I could get out and about looking at the wildlife and do my shopping before the rush.
I hadn’t thought about what I was going to eat over the weekend I decided to see what was on the market.

I noticed some nice Schnitzelfleish by my butchers stall, so I decided to do a red Thai pork curry for Sunday lunch and as the fish stall had some nice looking Mussels it was to be Moules Marinier for Saturday.



So for the Moules (1 portion +)

2 kg mussels (pre cleaned as it saves a lot of work)

1 carrot diced

White of a leek sliced

A Piece of celeriac diced

3 shallots diced

2 table spoons of olive oil

Wine glass of white wine

Slug of Cinzano bianco (or similar vermouth)

1 large tomato diced

300 ml of vegetable stock

1 dessert spoon of crème double

Soften the vegetables in the oil (I like mine still with a bite of bite, chefs call this, a la dente)

add the washed and cleaned mussels, add the wine and bring to the boil and add the tomatoes, put the lid on and shake the pan to make sure all of the mussels get the liquor over them.

When they are open they are ready (do not over cook them, please),  add the stock and Cinzano and crème double, bring to the boil and quickly serve.

Serve with fresh baguette.

This is one of the quickest cooked meals on the planet, I do love my moules, I gave the frites a miss this time.


I had some mussels left over and quite a bit of sauce, I removed the mussels from their shells, put the sauce etc into a container and blitzed into a soup, adding the mussel meat, this went into a container for Monday’s lunch.

Thai red pork curry


100 g of pork mince

200 g of lean sliced pork (I used Schnitzelfleisch) sliced

2 dessert spoons of neutral oil (corn oil)

1 dessert spoon of light soy sauce (Japanese)

1 teaspoon Cumin seeds

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

1 teaspoon of Garam Marsala

2 carrots sliced into matchsticks

2.5 cm piece of ginger cut into small dice

A slice of celeriac cut into small dice

The white of leek. Sliced length ways into matchsticks

2 shallots thinly sliced

3 spring onions sliced

3 red Chillies, seeds and pith removed and sliced

Small handful of chopped coriander

1 large tomato diced

1 piece of cauliflower diced (I like this added as it gives a nice crunch)

3 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped

1 stalk of lemon grass crushed and finely sliced

100 g of shitake mushrooms sliced

200 ml of coconut cream

Dark Soy sauce to taste

100 g of soya bean sprouts

3 pieces of lemon peel shredded (or a tea spoon of grated lemon peel)

2  heaped tea spoons of my home made red Thai paste (see my Tom yam recipe)



Back row: minced pork,  marinating pork strips, coconut cream, tomatoes, curry paste.
Top Middle: Oil, cauliflower,carrots,garlic, shallots, bean sprouts
Lower middle: chilli, celeriac, ginger,leek, lemon zest, lemon grass
Front row: heavy dark soy sauce, spring onions, shitake mushrooms, coriander




Method
Marinate the pork with the fennel, cumin and Garam Marsala along with some soy sauce and oil for about 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a wok and fry the garlic, shallots and ginger, add the marinated pork over a high heat, browning it quickly, add the pork mince and also fry quickly.

Remove and set to one side. Now add the curry paste and fry (you will in all probability not need any more oil).

Add the rest of the vegetables and lemon grass etc and fry quickly,

add the shitake mushrooms and Chillies,

add the pork, then the bean sprouts and tomatoes, finally pour in the coconut cream, stir, adjust the seasoning (I only use soy for the saltiness but a little pepper may be to your taste).

Serve straight away with fresh boiled rice, another quick and tasty meal, I think the preparation takes longer than the cooking.