Thai Curry Paste

This week's box contained:

• Salad Mix (left in swap box)
  
• Bunched Leeks
• Strawberries
• Mei Quin Choy
• San Marzano Tomatoes
• Onions
• Bunched Orange Carrots
• Bag of Poblano, Jalapeno and Serrano Peppers

Leeks: My favorite way to eat leeks is braised in cream - absolutely decadent.  However, I now generally eat vegan unless I have no other option.  A bit of Googling uncovered some viable options:

• New York Times: Braised Leeks
• Epicurious: Braised Leeks with Lemon

Strawberries:  Cleaned and frozen for smoothies.

Mei Quin Choy: This will definitely go into a Thai curry given the sauce now on hand!

San Marzano Tomatoes: Paninis for lunch today, with roasted fennel, white bean pate, and oven-roasted tomatoes.

Onions: We'll just keep these on hand for general cooking.

Bunched Carrots:; There's a backlog of carrots on hand now.  Some will go into a vegetable curry with the Mei Quin Choy and the coconut curry sauce, the rest will likely go into carrot-ginger soup.

Chili Peppers:  All the peppers went into a Thai curry paste, loosely adapted from Chat Mingkwan's recipe in Buddha's Table.

Thai Curry Paste
Makes about 2 cups

12 serrano chiles, chopped
4 jalapeno chiles, chopped
5 poblano chiles, chopped
2T whole coriander seeds
1t ground cumin
2t whole black peppercorns
1 7oz jar Thai Taste prepared lemongrass
6T shallots, chopped
2t Ginger People candied ginger puree
5 large garlic cloves
3T Thai Taste prepared galangal
2T Thai Taste prepared kaffir lime leaves
2t salt
1/4c water

Add all ingredients and blend well. 

This curry paste is hot.  I froze most of it in an ice cube tray for future use.  I combined the remainder, about 1/2 cup, with a 14 ounce can of coconut milk and 2T candied ginger puree to make a curry sauce.