Red Thai?

As a teacher, I take assignments very seriously. If given one, I do try my best. It may be my sarcastic best, but it's my best.

So, now that one of my best friends has given me as assignment, I need to figure out how to do my best. And her assignment has keyed into cooking. So, now it's fun to do.

But...she's created a challenge. Create the Red Thai soup from A Single Pebble restaurant. Now, A Single Pebble is the best restaurant in Vermont, in my opinion. The chef there is amazing. One of my most favorite things in the whole world is the mock eel at this restaurant (and, my idol Alton Brown agrees with me). It is amazing. So, to consider recreating a dish from this place is daunting.

So, where do I begin?

A year ago I would have began with a trip to A Single Pebble. I would have had the soup (and the mock eel, of course) there with dinner, and then I would have gotten some as take out. I would have tasted it and tried to figure out all of the ingredients. Then, I would have tasted my creation beside another order of the soup from there (and some more mock eel). And this would have continued until I had it.

But now the Little Guy is here. So, impromptu trips to get soup an hour away is kind of hard.

So, what to do?

I have considered calling the restaurant and simply asking for the recipe. Cheating? Perhaps. But easy.

I can't do that though. It takes the fun out of the chase. It's like hiring a a cheap prostitute. So, I'm left with the question of what to do. The only thing I can think of is to try to make it from my memory and the description on the menu and just hope that it's good enough. Maybe I'll get up there and I'll get some take out. Maybe not.

What I can only hope it this. I hope that whatever it is that I do make, while it won't be the Red Thai soup, I hope it's amazing enough for her!