Oh The Weather Outside is........who cares!

You remember those dishes that the first time you have them you're like "Wow, this is really really good!"? Well we had that recently at the West A house. With the weather turning cold I've shifted gears to those hearty, spicy, filling meals our family enjoys. Not that I'm against shoveling that white stuff falling down right now and fire up the Weber. I've been craving steak and who knows, maybe during Tuesdays blizzard I'll have me some beef!

Anyway, now that winter has apparently set in early, here are two dishes to warm you up. I don't have the cool service bowls/dishes for any Asian food yet so bear with the Fiesta.



Our first winter dish was Massaman beef curry. Its hard to find a good definition of "Massaman" but I'd call it good. It's a Muslin inspired dish from what I've read. We've had Thai before so we expected the sweet fiery coconut and red chili burn. The tenderness of the meat, almost velvety, was fantastic. I've usually had chicken in my Thai so I was very happy with this dish. The leftovers the next day were even better. I used black cardamom this time and I'm wondering if green would change the dish very much? There are numerous recipes on the web and most are pretty similiar. I went with one that included bay leaf, cinnamon stick, tamarind. I omitted cashews this time which you'll see in this dish also.

The second dish is a Burmese chicken stew. I was really intrigued by this the first time I read it back in April. I stored the idea away till it seemed appropriate. Today seemed perfect.



This is the dish that made me say "Wow!". Going in with a whole head of garlic and two cups of julienned ginger made me worry this dish might be a bit too much for some in my family. I was wrong. The finished dish is so delicious it's hard to describe. Rich, highly seasoned, aromatic (understatement) and irresistable. I limited myself to one thigh but had a small second serving of jasmine rice with some of the gravy. I'm looking forward to lunch tomorrow and my co-workers hovering around wondering what tasty good smelling victuals I'm eating now.
I really encourage you to try this. It's not hard. And in less that an hour you'll be glad you did. I swears! Miss Mindy asked me to put this recipe towards the front of the list to be served again soon. I'm happy to oblige.

You all have a great week but be careful. Weather forecast looks awesome if you like snow.