Wouldn't you love to be best friends with Nigella Lawson?

Think of the glamorous life, riding round to all the shops with her driver, cooking together in her fabulous Belgravia kitchen, getting up in the middle of the night during sleep-overs to go down & raid the fridge together....we bet old man Saatchi's wine cellar's not too shabby, either!

Well, if we can't have the real thing, we'll take solace in the next best: Nigella's Thai Yellow Pumpkin & Seafood Curry. Like your best mate, it's hassle free, always forgiving, will back you up in the face of a hostile crowd, and is never ever tiresome. In fact, we've always taken advantage of its forgiving nature by substituting butternut squash for pumpkin, and never once has it complained.

The seafood called for in this curry includes salmon & prawns, and again we test the friendship by substituting large shrimp for the prawns.

We picked up our salmon, which they kindly dressed for us, at Mike's in St. Lawrence Market.

Also at St. Lawrence we re-stocked the freezer by picking up some fresh lemongrass. And after a few years we finally tossed out the curry paste from the condiment rack in the fridge door & started fresh. (interestingly, the new stuff wasn't nearly as spicy as the old- does it increase in intensity the longer it's kept?)

Back in a kitchen much more modest than Nigella's, the ingredients are laid out.

A suitable wine is selected & put to chill. Our selection today is a nice Ontario Gewurtz, which interestingly enough turned out to lack a bit of the acidic backbone we would have preferred for this curry. Next time we'll try a Niagara Riesling.

Above, the stock (curry paste, coconut milk, clam juice, lemongrass, turmeric, lime juice & fish sauce) with the squash added. The green strips are the slivered lime leaves.
Below, the salmon is added right near the end.

Next, the shrimp...

...and finally the bok choy and we're ready to eat.

Again we personalized by serving this pickled papaya, discovered in Broadview/ Gerrard Chinatown, as a side condiment. Crunchy, sweet & tart, with a real chili kick!

The finished plate, served with rice & topped with chopped cilantro.

A table set for 3; Nigella, Jay & Bee.

Alas, our chum was a no show. We guess she couldn't make up her mind which cardigan to wear. We understand- these decisions are not to be made lightly.

From a New York Times article:

"Ms. Lawson, 47, said she had always worn these sweaters to suit her body. 'The only small parts of me are my waist and my wrists,' she said. 'I’m pretty bosomy with a very small waist, and if I wear something that’s not tight on the waist, I look like Mama Cass.'

'...The camera on television can’t distinguish between empty fabric and full fabric, and if you wear empty fabric, it looks very bulky,' she added. 'The three-quarter length sleeve is more flattering to the wrist, and I don’t want sleeves in my food.

And if you wear sleeveless after a certain age, you shouldn’t be beating eggs.' "

Wise words from our girl.

Find the recipe here.http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/thai-yellow-pumpkin-and-seafood-curry-172