Using What You Have: Curried Coconut Chicken
July 3, 2009
“There is no sight on earth more appealing than the sight of a woman making dinner for someone she loves.” ~ Thomas Wolfe
I needed something to make for dinner last night and I didn’t feel like going to the store. So I searched my pantry and found this broth, which I had forgotten that I bought a couple of months ago. I then went and searched the freezer and found a package of chicken and a package of peas. Then I began to think of what to do with it all…. this is what I came up with…. I wasn’t sure what to expect.. but, it turned out to be one of the best meals I’ve made to date. I got rave reviews from my critics… so I thought I would pass it along to you.. makes an excellent one dish meal.. full of flavor.. quick and easy!
What You Will Need:
2 tbs. vegetable oil
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated
1.5 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts (i prefer thighs), cut up*
4 c. Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Broth
2 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
Dash ground corriander
Dash curry powder
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. uncooked white rice ( i use jasmati)
10 oz. frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste
What To Do:
Heat oil in a large skillet, over medium heat. Add crushed red pepper, onion and garlic. Sautee until onions are transluscent and tender. Add chicken, 1/2 cup of the flavored chicken broth, the soy sauce, corriander, curry, salt and pepper. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stir often.
In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, over medium high heat, combine 2 cups of the chicken broth with 1 cup of uncooked rice. Cook according to directions, but, watch carefully to avoid burning!! ( i speak from experience ) Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in the remaining chicken broth.
Pour cornstarch mixture over chicken. Cook and stir for approximately 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken. Add rice and peas to the skillet. Cover and cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes until all liquid is absorbed and peas are heated through. Stir often to prevent sticking. That’s it!
I will definitely be making this one again! Next time I may try omitting the rice and serve the chicken and sauce over couscous…… Would love to know what you think if you try this one! Hope you enjoy!!
♥Cas♥
*TIP: To make cutting easier, cut while chicken is partially frozen.
What to do with Dixie Cups?
July 1, 2009
At the end of a long and strange chain of events, which I won’t go into here, I find myself in possession of a case of Dixie Cups, the small ones like your dentist might hand you with instructions to rinse and spit. While some of these are destined for seed starting next year, food is always on my mind, so I’ve been wondering what kind of party food I could serve in them. Gazpacho is obvious, but it would take years to use up my supply that way, so I’ve been contemplating what other treat would go over well as a shooter at a finger food gathering. After long hours of contemplating my navel and flipping through my vast collection of cook books, I finally had a vision of…
… pot stickers. I love pot stickers, both the concept and the taste and their versatility. Really, you can stuff them with a huge variety of things, serve them hot or at room temperature, with any number of sauces, and even in soup. And the soup part of that is what got me to thinking that, although with a normal service for finger food as a basis to go by offering up pot stickers in soup had never crossed my mind, with a huge supply of disposable cups of just the right size for holding a single pot sticker and a drink of soup, appetizers at our Christmas party this year are going to be quite interesting as, and I’m hoping that experiments will confirm this, I should be able to offer pot stickers with 3 different fillings, served in bite sized portions, and each in its own unique soup. Obviously, I haven’t tried this yet, but the concept seems sound, and I will certainly keep y’all informed of my progress in this area.
Until then, and while we’re talking about this marvelous category of food, here’s a good video that shows how to make them…
In addition, here’s a recipe for a filling that, while I haven’t made it yet, sounds really good…
Beyond that, any Internet search will point you to hundreds of potential stuffings, and lots of your leftovers are candidates as well. Once, for instance, I made pulled BBQ pork and coleslaw pot stickers, served with a side of sweet BBQ sauce, and they were quite nice. Which goes to demonstrate that this is a general cooking style, like pizza, and not a single recipe.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that the basis of the soup will be the concentrated liquid used to steam the pot stickers, with a bit of added wine or broth, and with extra spices and finely minced vegetables cooked in it.
Enjoy,
the Grit
