Jim Kofron Photography

So, this post is for Grace and Alex; I’m hoping that they’ll be able to recreate this delicious curry. There are so few ingredients to this, but I’ll list them here:

3 cans coconut milk (thick, unsweetened). Separate into ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ if possible

2-3 Tbsp fish sauce

3 Tbsp red curry paste

1/4 c basil, chopped

1/4 c cilantro, chopped (garnish)

ground peanuts (garnish)]

So, this recipe is a bit of a combination of these two recipes from Jennifer Brennan’s The Original Thai Cookbook. I don’t have all the fun spices and veggies, so this is a simple stripped down version. I would add Serrano chilies if I were making it just for me, but some of the kids don’t care for the heat.

Here are the assembled ingredients

Here’s the chicken as I’m chopping it into 1/4-1/2 in cubes. I have about 7-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I miss the days when a giant package was $3 because everyone wanted breasts. Now the foodies have ruined it for me...

Here’s the coconut milk separated. I start off using the thick stuff (inside the cans).

The thick milk goes into the pan. Add the fish sauce and bring to a boil with the chicken in it. Let the chicken cook at a low-med boil for about 18 minutes (you don’t want pink, but you’ll still have plenty more cooking time). Once this is done, remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and continue to cook the coconut milk down until you’ve got it thick and ‘oily’ (med heat)

I use about a half can of curry for this. You’ll add the curry to the coconut milk and continue cooking it over medium heat with stirring for about 5 minutes.

Once the curry is well incorporated into the coconut milk and smells fantastic, add the chicken back.

After this, add the thin coconut milk back (between 1/2-3/4 of what remains. You want it boiling again (low-medium boil). Once it gets up to temp, let it cook a few minutes, then add basil.

Let this mixture cook low (simmer) for another 10 minutes. This would be when you add the Serrano’s as well, if you were going to do that. Otherwise, cook until delicious, serve over rice, garnish with cilantro and ground peanut.

Here’s a movie that catches some of the cooking…

I got to take some of ‘my’ kids and a coworker down to Chicago to see a fun music lineup: Airways, The Technicolors, Vesperteen, and The Wrecks. First time at this venue, and it was a lot of fun. Similar (a bit smaller?) than Schubas. The Airways were on at 5:30, so we got there a bit late for the start.

I got to chat a bit with Brennan Smiley—we hosted a house show this summer, and it was great to see him out on the road making some incredible music. Everyone had a great time, and we’re looking forward to seeing them the next time they come to the midwest!

So, I’m still a bit unclear how this all came together, but Noah and Grace are big fans of a relatively new band called the Technicolor’s. Alt/Indie rock style—they’ve got some very cool songs. Anyhow, the lead singer, Brennan Smiley felt that he had some time on his hands. The band had just finished up an album (still not released), and he figured he’d get out of Phoenix and tour some cooler parts of the US. At small venues. 'But how small,’ you ask?

Houses. People’s houses!

Noah signed up early on, and apparently Wisconsin is on the route—so we got an email a few weeks ago confirming the date and shoring up the financials. Brennan was due over on the 24th! That gave me time to vacuum and vacuum and vacuum (and vacuum some more). I also had an opportunity to smoke a couple pork shoulders for pulled pork for the event. Noah invited about 10 of his friends, and I did the same. So we had teens to nearly 60 there…

It was a complete blast! Brennan (right) is set up in the great room just jamming on an acoustical guitar.

He probably did a 90 minute set. I want to just say ‘wow!’ Mike K and I like to go to Shank Hall in Milwaukee for live music—it’s a small venue that is pretty cool to see live music at. But this was another level up, and Brennan really brought it. He’s a very talented guitarist (at least that I can judge), and an incredibly gifted vocalist (that I CAN judge). The nuances of the performance—just wow! And he’s a gifted songwriter as well. We enjoyed a wide variety of his catalog, including some stuff off the yet-unreleased album. The management group asked that there be no recording devices, and it was shocking to see a bunch of people without cell phones in their hands! I admit I was the only one—I called Jen so she could hear some of the music.

It was both a privilege and a delight to host Brennan. He was a super nice, very chill person with a great sense of humor. I’m really impressed that he can do a tour like this—never knowing what you’re going to get night after night. All I know is that all the kids who were already fans completely loved the show. My friends, who had no real idea what they were getting into, loved it as well. He’s got a new following in this area, and if he ever does another one of these tours—we’re absolutely going to do this again!

Brennan—awesome job!!!