Culinary Calisthenics

or cooking something marvelous for the first time.

'Poor man's Tom Kha' or What-Have-I-Got-in-my-Cupboardses?

by ME

one small onion
one red chili (cayenne) thoroughly deseeded
(although I myself wouldn't mind extra heat)
two large cloves of garlic
a couple inches of fresh ginger
zest and juice of a lime
cilantro

Proof positive that one doesn't need fancy contraptions, just one good knife.
Chop all of those up very finely, mix on the cutting board, continue chopping.
Add lime juice, chop and meld.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan, throw in the finely-chopped flavor-base, and cook to meld flavors. The steam off this is glorious and pungent.

While it's cooking, open a can of coconut milk, and when the mixture begins to get dry, add it in.
As you bring this mixture to a simmer, add a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce, a cup or so of broth or stock, slice several mushrooms, chop up a few green beans, and cube a fillet of fish. 
When it has reached the simmer, add the fish and the mushrooms, chop a few leaves of basil, and a bit more cilantro. Grab some rice stick noodles.

When the soup has returned to a simmer and you think the fish is cooked (hardly any time at all),
add the green beans and the rice stick, broken up a little. Bring back to a simmer, add the last of the cilantro and basil, another squeeze of lime, and a touch of salt to taste.

a bar-room-brawl of a smell.

ruffian in a cashmere cardi

all the greens: basil, cilantro, lime, green beans. 

Tom Kha (or as close as I could get), a Thai soup practically guaranteed to cure mind, body, and soul.