Eatin' Good in a Brand New Hood!

As most of you know my husband, Ron, has been working and living in New York more than he's been in Philly for the past couple of years. It's been a bummer for a lot of reasons:

1. being apart 5 days a week stinks

2. staying in short term sublets with strangers stinks for him and for visitors (i.e. ME)

3. constantly searching for a new place to live stinks

4. not having your own kitchen means you eat out all the time which is bad for the wallet and the waistline - which, you guessed it, stinks!

So...we bit the bullet and signed a year lease for an amazing apartment in Brooklyn - and it's kind of in the hood so we feel right at home! We're renting our place in Philly for now but I'll be back there soon for work so Ron and I really trying to enjoy this rare time we have of actually living together in a new place.

We've been here just over a month and there are tons of places in the neighborhood I want to visit but we've been adhering to our new year's resolutions and eating healthy and easing up on the booze (boring!). Which also means I've been cooking things like split pea soup and beans and greens, things I've written about one million times! Hence my severe lack of blogs.

I did make this killer Eggplant and Chicken Green Curry the other night:

First I salted a medium cut up eggplant and let it sit in a colander for a bit. Then I sauteed a small onion with some ginger and garlic then added a can of light coconut milk and a couple tablespoons of green curry paste. I added about a cup and a half of leftover roasted chicken and let it all simmer together. Separately I sauteed a half of a green pepper and a half of a red pepper with another small onion and the eggplant. When the veggies started to get a little color but still had bite I added them to the chicken with a few splashes of chicken stock. I also threw in come bamboo shoots and water chestnuts and a touch of brown sugar - I like my curry a little bit sweet! Right before it hit the plate I added chopped cilantro and green onions. I served it all over a smashed sweet potato.

Delicious. I'm gonna go eat leftovers.

PS - Ron hates that I haven't been blogging so he's agreed to a guest blog. Keep an eye out for his David Chang inspired entry soon.