1/2 bag of Mini bell peppers
Thai chili’s
1 lime
1 stalk of lemon grass
Package of cremini (baby bella) mushrooms
2 lbs ground turkey
1 lb ground chicken
Thai basil
2 tbs Red curry paste
2 tbs Panang curry paste
2 tbs Massaman curry
2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp Minced ginger
1 can of bamboo shoots, finely chopped
2 tbs Sambal oelek
4 or 5 Kafir lime leaves
1 can coconut cream
1 can of coconut milk
1-2 cans great northern beans Or cannelloni beans
1/2 bag of those $5 for a bag of mini orange, yellow and red bell peppers. Finely julienne them into slivers. You can add more peppers if you like.
Finely chop two Thai chilis (omit this Thai chili step if you don’t want to fry the family’s taste buds)
collect the zest from one lime and squeeze the juice into a bowl.
Finely mince the soft bottom portion of a stalk of lemongrass.
Open, rinse and drain on can of bamboo shoots and finely chop them.
Finely chop 1/2 pkg of baby Bella mushrooms.
Next heat a large pot and brown a large package of ground turkey (about 2 lbs) combined with 1 lb of ground chicken. Just brown it enough to release the grease. Remove the meat from the pot, discard the grease.
Don’t rinse out the pot. In the same pot, heat up in a little oil and stir-fry the leaves from a large bunch of Thai basil until crispy.
Remove the basil leaves and set aside.
To your basil oil, Add a little more oil to warm your aromatics: 2 tbsp red curry paste, 2 tbsp panang curry paste and 1 tbsp massaman or yellow curry, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 2 teaspoons of minced ginger, 2 tbsp of sambal oelek, your Thai chili and lemongrass. Stir fry that for about 1 minute. Add your julienned bell peppers to the spice blend, followed by the mushrooms, chopped bamboo shoots and lime zest. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Add the turkey/chicken back into the mix along with your crisp basil leaves, lime juice and two whole kaffir lime leaves (not a crisis if you can’t find this ingredient, it “softens” the lime flavor). Mix and season with salt and pepper. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of coconut cream to the mixture. Open and Rinse 1-2 cans of great northern beans (I use 1 but it’s your call if it all looks too meaty) and add to the mixture. You can sub out cannelloni beans for the great northern beans if you want more of that kidney bean texture.
Stir in a can of coconut milk until your chili has the desired thickness.
Stir in 1 tbsp of fish sauce and 2 tbsp of sugar and let it all simmer until the flavors are blended. (you can adjust the moisture level with prepackaged chicken stock if it gets too thick.) If the Thai flavor is too mild, mix more red curry paste in some coconut milk or chicken broth and stir it into the chili. Remove the kaffir lime leaves. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with jasmine rice.