Spicy Chicken and Basil (with Spinach)

My fella took me to this Thai restaurant on Alberta and now I can't remember what its name was. I got a beef noodle soup which was pretty good, he got a fried catfish which was A. Mazing. It had this dark red chili sauce on it, and some bell peppers, and sauteed basil as a vegetable. I reminded me of some of the few positive experiences I had when I was living in Taiwan. I don't think I had any Thai food there, but some of the stuff I ate there was similar in retrospect. Basil used as a vegetable rather than a seasoning is one of those things.

This makes 2 dinner- sized servings for me.

Prep about 1/2 lb of chicken tenders with salt, pepper & oil. Leave them to sit in the fridge a few days. The day of, you need:

1 T oyster sauce
1 T fish sauce
1 T sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced lemongrass- I use a chunk of pre-minced lemongrass that came in a little vacuum sealed packet out of the frozen section at Fubonn.
3 or 4 green onions, tops & bottoms minced. This is optional because the 2nd time I made this dish, I forgot to put them in and it didn't really matter. Up to you.
1 large bunch of basil, leaves only
a double handful of fresh spinach leaves

If you want to eat it with noodles like the picture, put on a pot of salted water. The chicken takes maybe about as long to cook as the noodles do. Start the chicken at the same time the noodles go in the pot. That's if you like your noodles pretty firm.

Chop up the chicken and stir in the sesame oil, oyster sauce & fish sauce.  Heat 2 T cooking oil in a frying pan, and when it's hot enough to almost smoke, put in the pepper flakes, garlic, ginger and lemongrass, plus the onions if you've got 'em. Stir a bit until the seasonings brown and get just a tad crispy then dump in the chicken and stir really fast for about 2 more minutes. When the chicken is looking maybe half done, put the greens in the pan and keep stirring until everything is cooked through and the liquid that comes out of the greens has pretty much evaporated.

On a totally unrelated note, the hummingbirds like my sage plant.

Causa!

Yes, it is mashed potatoes. Awesome mashed potatoes. You know why? Because the people who invented potatoes make 'em like this, that's why. I've had the causa at Andina twice now, and it was one of those dishes that the first bite made me feel giddy with excitement. I may even have bounced in my chair a little bit. I'm not saying my recipe is that fantabulous. They make a fancy crab salad and top it with ahi tuna ceviche. And a crunchy fried shrimp. Mine ain't so costive, but it does cure the jones.

about a pound of yellow potatoes
1/2 cup small cooked shrimp
a generous tablespoon of finely diced celery
the same amount of diced bell pepper, I had yellow, but red would look better
1 teaspoon minced cilantro
1 teaspoon finely minced onion
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of turmeric for color
1 tablespoon mayo
olive oil- use the good stuff, something you could just eat with bread
dash of cayenne pepper
salt
some olives
avocadoes for serving

Boil the potatoes in salted water until they're tender, then drain them and slip off the skins while they're still warm. Mash them slightly, then mix in the juice of 1/4 of a lime, about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the turmeric and a pinch of salt. They should come out to a creamy texture a little softer than play-doh. Cover and refrigerate while you make up the rest of the stuff.

You could just leave the shrimp whole, but I sliced mine up a bit. Mix all the remaining ingredients except avocadoes and olives to make the shrimp salad. Put the shrimp mix in the bottom of a small (about 2 cup) dish, arrange some olives over it, and layer on the potato mix. Press down firmly, refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Try not to mangle it if you want to unmold it and serve it all fancy-lookin. The avocadoes are traditional, aparently. Most of the recipes I looked up called for them either in or with the causa. Also, I think the potatoes themselves are supposed to be a little spicy. Next time.

I used to work with a guy from Peru. It seems I should have asked him about peruvian food when I had a chance.