Coconut Braised Chicken with Chorizo & Potatoes

Coconut Braised Chicken with Chorizo & Potatoes

adapted from Food & Wine October 2015

This is a mash up of Central and South American ingredients that create a very rich stew even with using light coconut milk. I think if a full fat coconut milk was used it would be too rich. The gremolata added a nice brightness to the dish but the coffee did nit seem to add any flavor.

I have found 2 new tricks when dealing with ginger:

• Store it in the freezer and grate it on a microplane - it never shrivels up or goes bad
• Don't bother peeling it - If it is good enough for Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli it is good enough for me.

Makes 3 servings

1 Tbsp olive oil
3 large bone in chicken thighs
Kosher salt & Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 lb. fresh Mexican chorizo
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 small garlic clove, minced

1/2 dried chile de arbol, broken in half

1 can (13.5 oz.) light coconut milk

1/2 lb. baby potatoes, larger ones cut in half

1 Tbsp. lime juice, plus wedges for serving

1 tsp. butter

2 Tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

1/4 tsp. finely ground coffee

1 tsp. finely grated lime zest

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. 
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. 
3. In a Dutch oven, heat the oil and brown the chicken over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until nicely browned. 
4. Transfer the chicken to a large plate. 
5. Add the chorizo and onion to the pot and cook, stirring to break up the meat, until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. 
6. Stir in the ginger, garlic and chile and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. 
7. Add the coconut milk, potatoes and return the chicken to the casserole and bring to a simmer. 
8. Cover and braise in the oven for about 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through. 
9. Stir in the lime juice and butter and season with salt.
10. To make the gremolata, combine the ingredients cilantro, coffee and lime zest; mix well.
11. To serve, spoon the broth and potatoes into shallow bowls, top with the braised chicken and potatoes. Garnish with the gremolata and serve with lime wedges.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Collard Rolls

Chicken and Collard Rolls

adapted from Giant Food

I got small collard leaves in my Misfits Box . If you have large ones you will probably only need about 3 leaves. If you are interested in a Misfits subscription use my referral code.  https://www.misfitsmarket.com/?promo=COOKWME-XD5YBT 

Note: We were not thrilled with the curry sauce. We preferred them with soy sauce or sugar free sweet chili sauce.

Makes 9 rolls       1 Blue WW points per 3 rolls  + 1 point per Tbsp of sauce

9 small collard green leaves

1 ounce Pad Thai Rice noodles, prepared according to package directions

3/4 cup shredded cooked chicken (poached, rotisserie, leftover)

1/3 red bell pepper, julienned

1/2 cup julienned carrots

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 cup lite coconut milk

1 Tbsp red curry paste

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp chopped cashews

1. Remove the thick center stem from the collards, leaving the leaves attached at the top.
2. Cook in a pot of salted boiling water until soft, about 2 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
3. Lay the leaves out on a flat surface. Overlap the cut edges slightly to close the gap.
4. Divide the red pepper, carrots, chicken, noodles and cilantro among the leaves.
5. Fold up the bottom of the leaf over the filling. Fold sides of the leaf in and roll up to close.
6. Combine the lite coconut milk, curry paste, lime juice and cashews in a small bowl.
7. Serve the rolls with the sauce on the side.

Enjoy !

Malaysian Steak Skewers with Scallion Dipping Sauce

These are wonderfully tasty kabobs! I never would have thought to marinate beef in coconut milk. I ordered the chiniang (black) vinegar and coconut crystals from Amazon.com Coconut crystals are a low gylcemic sugar substitute - 15 calories / tsp.

Malaysian Steak Skewers with Scallion Dipping Sauce & Thai Chicken

Steak Skewers with Scallion Dipping Sauce

adapted from Bon Appetit July 2012

Marinade

1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

¼ cup fish sauce

2 Tbsp coconut crystals or brown sugar

1 Tbsp lime juice

6 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp dried Thai chiles

1 tsp lemongrass paste

1 tsp pureed ginger

1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak

Scallion Dipping Sauce

5 scallions, very thinly sliced

1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce (such as nuoc nam or nam pla)

1 Tbsp grapeseed oil

2 tsp chinkiang (black) vinegar

Basting Sauce

¼ cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce

3/4 tsp lime juice

1 garlic cloves, crushed

Reserved fat from trimming steak, minced

Preparation

Purée all the marinade ingredients until smooth. Trim the fat from the steak and reserve. Cut steak into 1" cubes. Place meat and the marinade in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

Thread the beef onto skewers.

Cook over medium heat until fat starts to render, about 3 minutes Add the remaining basting sauce ingredients and cook until just heated through. Strain and keep warm.

Combine all the scallion dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl just before grilling.

Grill the skewers to desired doneness, basting while cooking. Serve with the dipping sauce.