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Posts Tagged ‘Coconut’

Chicken with Apricots and Coconut Milk

Posted in Chicken, Food, tagged , , , , on 31 July 2013| 2 Comments »

This is creamy, salty and tangy with little jewels of soft juicy apricots. Definitely the best cookers of the soft summer fruits.

You will have too much spice paste but it will keep (covered with a film of oil) in the fridge for a week.

Wine Suggestion:  A Pinot Gris will give you hints of sweetness to complement the heat from the chillies and enough weight to balance the rich coconut milk. It will also be slightly aromatic to match the lime and coriander on the nose.

Chicken with apricots and coconut milk – to serve 4

  • 3 short stalks lemongrass
  • 50g ginger
  • 2 small hot red chillies
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • a bunch of coriander
  • 2 limes, zested and juiced
  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil, plus extra for the paste
  • 200g tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 8 chicken thighs
  • 8 apricots, halved and stoned
  • 400ml tin coconut milk

Peel the outer leaves of the lemongrass and discard. Cut into short lengths and put into a food processor. Peel the ginger, slice into thin pieces and add to the lemongrass. Chop the chillies and add to the ginger with the garlic and roughly chopped stems and half the leaves of the coriander. Add the lime zest, then chop everything to a coarse paste, adding a little oil. Add the tomatoes, fish sauce and soy sauce and continue to blitz.

Warm the oil in a deep pan over a high-ish heat and brown the chicken pieces lightly. Lift the chicken out and pour away most of the oil, leaving about a tablespoon.

Add half the spice paste and fry over a low to moderate heat for a couple of minutes or until fragrant, then return the chicken to the pan. Pour in the coconut milk and leave to simmer gently over a low heat for 10 minutes.

Add the apricots and cook for another 10 minutes or until soft.

Check that the chicken is cooked, then add the lime juice and the remaining coriander, roughly chopped. Season to taste with salt and serve with rice.

(Original recipe from Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries II, Fourth Estate, 2012.)

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Coconut, Noodle & Vegetable Soup

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Soup, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 26 June 2013| 3 Comments »

We’re always on the lookout for low-calorie dishes for weeknights (so we can afford to redress the balance at the weekend!) This one was tasty and helpfully used up some of the bits and pieces we had in the fridge.

Coconut, noodle & vegetable soup – to serve 4

  • 1-2 tbsp Thai curry paste (use whatever colour you’ve got)
  • 1 tsp groundnut (or other flavourless oil)
  • 700ml vegetable stock
  • 300ml reduced-fat coconut milk
  • 200g thick-rice noodles
  • 200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 140g sugar snap peas, halved
  • 100g beansprouts
  • 1½ tbsp Thai fish sauce
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 3 scallions shredded
  • some mint and coriander leaves to serve (if you have some)

Put a large pot over a medium heat. Cook the curry paste in the oil for a minute until it starts to release its aroma. Add the stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir in the noodles. Simmer for 7 minutes, then stir in the mushrooms and sugar snaps. Cook for another 3 minutes, then add the beansprouts, fish sauce and lime juice. Take the pan off the heat.

Serve in bowls with some scallions, mint and coriander.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Meatballs in Fragrant Coconut Broth

Posted in Asian, Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 7 April 2013| 7 Comments »

These meatballs are melt in the mouth. Don’t make them too big (no bigger than golf ball size) or they will dry out.

Meatballs in Fragrant Coconut Broth – serves 2-3

  • 2tsp coriander seeds
  • 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed, bashed and cut in half
  • 5cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 1 x 400ml tin coconut  milk
  • zest and juice of 1 lime

FOR THE MEATBALLS: 

  • 1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
  • olive oil
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 500g minced beef
  • 75g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 3-4 tbsp milk

First make the meatballs. Sauté the onion and garlic and some seasoning in a hot frying pan in a little oil for about 5 minutes or until soft and lightly coloured, adding the chilli flakes after a couple of minutes. Put the mince in a large bowl and season. Put the breadcrumbs in a separate bowl and moisten with the milk. Add seasoning, then stir the breadcrumbs and onion mixture into the mince and combine well. With wet hands, shape the mince mixture into golf-size balls. Transfer to a lightly greased plate or tray and chill for 30 minutes until firm.

Brown the meatballs in a clean oiled pan for 4-5 minutes, turning until brown on all sides.

Add the coriander seeds, cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli flakes, lemongrass and ginger. Heat through, stirring, until aromatic, then add the stock and coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Simmer for 8-12 minutes until the sauce has a good flavour and has thickened and the meatballs are cooked through.

Add the lime zest and juice and serve hot.

Wine Suggestion: this is a rich and bold dish and requires a fuller bodied white wine with texture and savouriness. We would suggest a good Grand Cru Pinot Gris from Alsace (a drier version) or a Condrieu from the Northern Rhone. The wines would ideally have a couple of years development in the bottle to enable the overt fruitiness to mature and the savoury flavours to come to the fore.

(Original recipe from Gordon Ramsey’s Ultimate Cookery Course, Hodder & Stoughton, 2012.)

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