I have the best people in my life. Was hit by a metaphorical train – during a train ride, even — of some kind of flu/cold/nasty germ last Thursday. On Monday, as I was lazing around fading in and out of sleep and Downton Abby reruns, one of my colleagues called to say he had dropped off some raw chicken liver for the kitty from the bio (organic) chicken farm. I asked him if he knew where I could find the chicken carcasses for soup – and he brought me one. So I cooked the carcass, saved the bones for a certain certified hunting dog, and made Thai Soup with a nice Panang paste that I had.
Panang is my favorite of the curries, followed by Green, then red, finally yellow and well, Massamen is right out. The carcass has a little bit of meat on it, which was just enough, and the addition of leek, mushrooms, beans and more! more! more! garlic made it quite lovely. The only thing missing was the fish sauce, which all cookers-of-Thai-food realize is a necessity, but it was still quite lovely. And it was a lot. I have a vat.
I also have more chicken stock — but it isn’t anything more than the chicken extract, so to speak. I think crock pot dumplings might be in order in the coming week! Might cook the stock down to be more concentrated and freeze portions for later, that makes the most sense as I don’t have a pressure canner right now.
The neighbors across the way were playing music, and it was the kind of music that reminded me of Kex, and Reykjavik, and the airwaves festivals, with a bit of folksy yet good lyrics. It seemed to be mostly live recordings, and the neighbors sang along with the songs that were favorites, and made the evening very nice. I wonder if they like Thai soup.