Royal Thai Dining at Home with D.

This sumptuous and fun-filled dinner party came about after a lucky run-in with a friend at the grocery store. It went from “I really need to have you come over and teach me some recipes” to “how about tonight?!” That very night, I gave a Thai cooking demo in D.’s gorgeous new kitchen and then we all ate heartily. There was much rejoicing. Much. See below for how you too can replicate this at home! Herein lies the evidence…

Here’s the delicious breakdown below (serves 4):

: But first, the fish. Mmm, salmon trout.

: Making a marinade for the fish: 1 medium onion, 2-3 cloves garlic, 1-inch piece ginger, 1/2 8oz can coconut milk, 1 large kefir lime leaf sliced thinly and 1 heaping Tbsp red curry paste. Spread this on anything any it’ll be delish!

: The beauty of chopped goodness: red onion, ginger and garlic. Oh and bird’s eye chilies.

: 20 minutes in the oven at 425F is all it takes to get to deliciousness. I added 2 chopped green onion and 1 diced red bell pepper to the red curry sauce. Simply slather lovely over fish and bake away uncovered.

: Eggplants and zucchini sliced obliquely having fun in olive oil in the pan, with 1 small onion, 2 cloves garlic, and eventually a healthy dash of soy sauce and fresh basil for taste and style.

: Saladus Exoticus: diced together 1 mango, 1/2 english cucumber, 1/2 large red onion and bird’s eye chili (I used 3). Toss in a palmful of coarsely chopped fresh coriander/cilantro. Add a dash of olive oil, juice of half a lime, fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Exciting!

: Steamed rice, basmati instead of jasmine, in this case: so simple, so good.

: Royal Thai spread: salmon-trout baked in a red curry sauce, eggplant and zucchini in soy sauce with fresh basil, spicy mango-cucumber salad and steamed rice. And lime wedges.