Yul and the Gang

My son, James (not Jim), is home for a visit and in need of some real, home-cooked food — none of that “prepared by a chef, cooked by you” frozen fair for these hungry boys. [Please note: Boy #2, who is missing from the photo, returns from London tomorrow!]

See how hungry they look?

What better opportunity to try out my Yul Brynner Cookbook?

The recipes in the book (supposedly) reflect Yul’s heritage: Russian, Japanese, Gypsy, Swiss, French, Chinese, and Thai. Oh, my! Since we’re fond of curry and don’t mind a little heat to it, I chose “sauteed chicken with hot curry” from the Thai section.

Yul liked his curry REALLY HOT. The recipe calls for 6-8 dried chillies! Fortunately, I know better than to follow even Yul Brynner’s recipes slavishly, so I just put in a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes. Aside from the peppers, the recipe is really quite simple and (when modified) very delicious accompanied by Naan bread and a cooling Adirondack Lager. Trust me, you would not want to put 6-8 chillies in this curry!

I give Yul Brynner, chef extraordinaire, two thumbs up! And this is what I imagine he’d think of our blog:

For my next Yul Brynner movie night I’ll have to prepare something from the Gypsy section of the book. I think Yul would approve, don’t you?