Coconut & Peanut Chicken with Avocado Salad

Though I have a million excuses why I haven't been blogging lately, I won't bore you with any of them. In general, I don't like excuses anyway. They're as bad a habit as starting out everything with an apology. Therefore, I won't make either.

What I will make, however, is some fully roasted chicken, with a thai inspired sauce that combines some of my favorite things: spicy chili, coconut and PEANUT BUTTER! And then of course pair it with another one of my favorite things: AVOCADO. Yes, these fat-laden foods are some of my favorite things (next time I'll try to incorporate some of the bacon fat I've been rendering and storing in my fridge.) This chicken could also be served with a few other Thai inspired side dishes, like Stir Fried Garlic Bean Sprouts and Shrimp or Wilted Bok Choy with Cashews.

I bought a whole 'old chicken' from the Asian store down the street. What does it mean, 'old chicken'? Your guess is as good as mine. It did have some remaining hairs on its skin and I even had to pluck off a few of the feathers once it had defrosted. Kinda gross, I know, but people have been doing this forever and ever, and I figured it couldn't be worse for you than eating any other part of the bird, so let's not split hairs here. I prepared the bird as recommended, about 15 minutes at 220C and then another 50 or so at 190C, breast side down, uncovered.

Thai sauces always have a lot of ingredients, but they're repeated in so many of the dishes that they're worth it to have around if you make enough Thai food. The pastes typically last months in the fridge.
Here's the list:

Chili, Coconut & Peanut Sauce

1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of sweet chili sauce (I substituted papaya jam)
1 tbs saracha (chili paste) or to your liking
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs shrimp paste
1 tbs fish sauce



Toast the coconut - I put mine in a small teflon coated pan and cooked on high heat without any oils added until it browned a bit and smelled great. Add the rest of the ingredients, tasting and modifying as you go along.

Avocado Salad: 
2 avocados, chopped
2 limes, juiced
1 spring onion, greens parts only, diced
2 tbs tamarind past (or 1/4 cup tamarind water)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil
crushed cilantro
dash of saracha if you like it

Toss all the liquid ingredients and the sugar and cilantro together. Fold in the chopped avocado delicately, so as not to mash them too much.

I also threw together a little mango salad for something sweet:

Mango Salad: 
1 mango, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
cilantro
sugar
saracha
fish sauce

Toss these together in a bowl, adding the last 4 ingredients incrementally to taste. That simple.

Serve the chicken and the salads with a little steamed rice and enjoy.

Now, for my own reference for the future, and perhaps little helpful hints for you:

1. Chicken is not blow fish, it's not as dangerous as all the bird-flu hype has it out to be, and doesn't need to be charred inside and out for it to be safe to eat. I cooked mine 15 min at 220C and then flipped it to give it a nice bronze on both sides before I turned the heat down, resulting in a slightly dry bird. I will TRUST the chicken roasting instructions AND the meat thermometer next time.

2. Fresh cilantro beats the hell out of the jarred preserved kind (that I used, because I didn't have time to go to the store on Sunday). For guests, I will get my butt into the store for the fresh herbs. (my potted cilantro died while I was in Kenya.)

Chicken Chorizon Paella

Any time I've ever made paella in the past, I've felt slightly lacking in authenticity due to the lack of chorizo in the recipe. Though I was not eating meat back then, and I have made paella with soy 'chorizo', the taste was obviously lacking something. I keep comparing my paella to that of the well known paella at Taberna del Alabardero, where I worked one summer in 2006. Well finally A and I took a holiday to Barcelona. I can't believe it took me so long after living in Europe to make it to the country of my second language! We had a great time and ate out and enjoyed parks and seaside views and I didn't leave without buying some chorizo to take home with me.

What's great about chorizo, and much like all of the different types of cured ham you can find in Spain, the curing process allows the meat to stay good for quite a long time, even at room temperature. So taking it home was entirely possible and safe. Paella is such an easy recipe to make. Especially since it's really a one dish recipe. You can cook everything in the same deep pan.

This large stick of chorizo 'picante' cost only 3,45e.

Start with onion and bell peppers and fry them in some olive oil. 

 Add the chicken and diced chorizo and cook for a few minutes. Add a cup of porridge rice to two cups of water, or as much rice and water as you can fit in your pan, with a 1:2 ratio. It depends a lot on how many servings you want. You can also use normal long grain rice or brown rice, but keep in mind that it takes longer to cook. Add peas and stir in salt or other flavorings. I used one cube of chicken stock and some chilli pepper. Saffron would also make this dish even more authentic. Alas, I didn't have any.

Cover and don't lift the lid for about 20 minutes, or as long as the rice package indicates. 

The result is a colorful, nutritious and filling dish that everyone will like. I enjoyed my paella out on our balcony on the picnic table :)  Now I'll have to come up with something new to make to use up the rest of the chorizo.

Chicken Chiliquiles

Did you know that I eat meat now? No not much, but enough to supplement myself once more with healthy animal fats that allow my body to more easily absorb healthy nutrients to my brain. Without embarking on a long an unnecessary justification of my personal dietary decisions, I will go ahead and show you what I cooked up this time!

This started with some onion, garlic and jarred jalapenos.

Then I added some corn, black and kidney beans, and tomato sauce. Amounts can be modified.

Then I crunched some tortilla chips in my hands and tossed them into the pan with the veggies and sauce. Try not to over crunch the tortilla chips, but don't leave them whole either.

Add some chicken on top, either breasts or legs, or whatever you have. 

Oops, we were so hungry I forgot to take pictures of the finished product until it was almost gone!