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Crowd-pleasing curry: Red curry paste has all the spice minus the burn
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It's red, but it isn't red hot. And that's why it's the sort of curry the average American is going to love. I'm talking about red curry paste, one of a literal rainbow of intensely flavorful Southeast Asian seasonings. To be clear, curry pastes are not the same as the curry powders most people know, though they do share some ingredients. Curry pastes — which are used in Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian cooking — combine dry spices with ground fresh herbs and roots, garlic, chilies and other ingredients to form thick pastes. These pastes often are classified by color. Green curry paste, for example, is a fiery Thai blend that combines green chilies, lemon grass, garlic, shrimp paste and kaffir lime leaves. It usually is blended with coconut milk to season beef, pork and chicken. Yellow curry paste is a bit milder and usually sports garlic, lemon grass, galangal (a relative of ginger), cumin, cinnamon and turmeric. It's popular for adding to soups. But the most versatile and widely used is red curry paste, a mash of red chilies, coriander roots and leaves, shrimp paste, lemon grass, garlic, shallots and galangal. It's got some kick, but it won't sear your mouth. It's used with everything from chicken, duck and beef to pork and shrimp. And it lands in everything from stews, curries and soups to dressings, marinades and condiments. The smell is both comfortingly tomatoey and exotically heady with spicy aromas. The flavor is warm, but not biting, with tastes of ginger and garlic. Conveniently, red curry paste also is the easiest variety to find at the typical American grocer. It usually is packed in small glass jars or cans and can be found in the Asian section. Once opened, the remainder can be refrigerated for months. I like to combine red curry paste with the meat from a rotisserie chicken and a package of fresh pasta for an easy and incredibly delicious weeknight dinner. For more ideas for using red curry paste, check out the Off the Beaten Aisle column over on Food Network: http://bit.ly/Hfg2Jm Red Curry Chicken Noodles Not in the mood for noodles? The curried chicken mixture also makes a killer sandwich, both warm and cold. Start to finish: 20 minutes. Servings: 4. 12-ounce package fresh fettuccine pasta 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 large yellow onion, diced 1 red bell pepper, cored and diced 14-ounce can coconut milk 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons red curry paste (more or less to taste) Meat from a 1 1/2-pound rotisserie chicken 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro 1 lime, quartered Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan over medium-high, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and bell pepper, then saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the coconut milk and red curry paste. Stir until the curry paste and coconut milk are smooth, then bring to a simmer. Chop or pull the chicken meat into bite-size chunks, then add to the coconut milk mixture. Toss well to coat evenly. If the meat is cold, return to a simmer. Stir in the cilantro. Serve the pasta topped with the chicken. Alternatively, add the drained pasta to the pan with the chicken and toss to mix. Just before serving, squeeze a bit of lime juice over each plate. Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 610 calories; 260 calories from fat (43 percent of total calories); 29 g fat (20 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 120 mg cholesterol; 57 g carbohydrate; 30 g protein; 6 g fiber; 390 mg sodium. 
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Today is Tuesday, May 21, the 141st day of 2013. There are 224 days left in the year.
1863 -- 150 years ago: On Monday the 11th inst. on Center Ridge in Mercer County,some citizens got out their cannon to celebrate the taking of Richmond. The gun wasoverloaded and burst. No one was injured, but one 30-pound piece went though thesecond story of a house.
1888 -- 125 years ago: The old folks concert at the Harper Theater last night to benefit St.Luke's Cottage Hospital, attracted a large audience.
1913 -- 100 years ago: Unless depredation by vandals in Rock Island parks is halted,special policemen will be assigned to night duty to protect the flowers and other property.
1938 -- 75 years ago: Station WHBF has received a special citation from Washington forits participation in Air Mail Week, which was observed this week throughout the nation.
1963 -- 50 years ago: A 10-year high in employment in the Quad-City area was reachedat the end of the last quarter, according to an industrial employment barometer releasedtoday.
1988 -- 25 years ago: Pee Wee teams will be able to play baseball and softball as usualon Diamond Three at Dorrance Park this summer, but after that, the ball field is doomed.County crews have put the diamond back in shape after heavy trucks marred the playingfield earlier this spring. Illinois Department of Transportation crews drove onto it to makeborings for the relocation of the junction of Illinois 84 and the Port Byron-Hillsdale road.
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