Tasteblazer

Oven-Fried Coconut Chicken

For Father's Day, I made my dad a dinner that encompassed two of his favorite flavors, namely coconut and fried things.

I got the recipe from Cooking Light, but my adaptation isn't very cholesterol friendly.  (It's a manly holiday! Who cares about fat?)  I used regular coconut milk because the supermarket was out of light, and kept the skin on most of them because, frankly, what's the point of eating fried chicken without the skin?  Of the two drumsticks I did skin (for mom's sake), I noticed that the panko and coconut flakes had a much harder time staying on. 

Anyway, on to the recipe.

Oven-Fried Coconut Chicken (makes 8 drumsticks)

1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco)
1 14-oz. can coconut milk
8 chicken drumsticks (you can also use wings, breasts, heads, whatever)
3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Cooking spray

1. Open the can of coconut milk and mix in lime juice and hot pepper sauce.  Pour into a large ziptop plastic bag (or 2 small bags).  Add chicken and seal.  Marinate in the fridge for half an hour to an hour, depending on how desperately hungry you are. 

2.  Go do something else.  Like dishes.

3.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4.  Combine panko, coconut flakes, salt, and black pepper in a shallow dish.  Mix with your hands.  Remove chicken from marinade and dredge in the mixture, 1 piece at a time. 

5.  Place chicken on a baking sheet  lined with parchment.  If you don't have parchment, use aluminum foil but add a light coat of cooking spray.  Lightly coat chicken with cooking spray also. 

6.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden bornw.  Carefully turn chicken over with tons and bake for another 30 minutes or until done.

I wasn't a big fan of the biscuits so I'm not going to give the recipe.  (But if they look too good in the picture and you really want the recipe, just go on Epicurious.com and do a search for biscuits.  It was in a 1999 issue of Gourmet.)  They were a bit too salty and crumbled way too easily.  Next time I'll try a buttermilk recipe and see how that goes.

Pairing:  For tropical flavored dishes I almost always go for beer over wine.  The Dogfish Head Raison d'Etre Ale had hints of green grapes and was good for getting my dad out of his Heineken rut.

Sushi-making 101

For special occasions dinners, my dad often brings out platters of speciality sushi rolls that makes our entire extended family break into oohs and ahhs.  And when he's not doing them as hor d'ouevres for the Ritz-Carlton dining room, he often makes them for me at home.  I once asked him how he learned to roll sushi, whether he studied books, TV shows, or just went to restaurants and studied chefs.

"I just kind of figured it out on my own," he said with a shrug.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"On one of my first days on the job, Chef came over and asked me whether I could roll sushi.  I had no idea, but I wanted to make a good impression.  I went over to garde manger and asked your mother for advice.  She wasn't much help.  So I went back to my station and thought about it until I came up with a process for the rice and rolling that sort of made sense.  A couple of hours later, I had platters of three different kinds.  The Chef said, 'Wow, I doubted you at first, but I guess you really did know.'"

"So the lesson here is if you don't know something, just lie and figure it out later?"

"Sure."

And that, my friends, is the Kuan family way.  Wisdom passed down through the generations. 

Enough digressions.

Since I'm not as adept as my dad in conjuring recipes out of thin air (he was a baker for ten years), I had him show me how to make my own sushi.  We were a little short on ingredients, but what's important is the rice preparation and rolling techniques.

Sushi (Unagi sushi and Crab rolls)

To make enough rice for roughly 3 dozen pieces and rolls, you'll need:
2 cups sushi rice
2 1/4 cups cold water
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

12 oz to 1 lb. package of cooked unagi
1 strip of imitation crab, cut into quarters (you'll have leftovers)
2 squares of dried seaweed, cut into 1/4 x 4 inch strips
4 squares of dried seaweed, left whole

Cook the rice with the water in a rice cooker until done.  Combine the vinegar, salt, and sugar into a small bowl and mix until dissolved.

After the rice is done, spread the rice out on a large plate so that the moisture escapes.  (Or better yet, spread it out on the bottom of a wooden salad bowl if you have one.  The reason is that wood will soak up moisture from the bottom of the rice also and make it better for rolling.)  Set rice aside for 10 minutes or until cooled.

For the sushi (not the rolls), we only had 12 oz of eel and a few sticks of crab, so we had to make do.   The eel we cut into 1x2 inch strips.

It's a little hard to describe in words how to make the beds of rice.  But first, fills a bowl with water and a couple tablespoons of rice vinegar.  You'll want to dip your hands in before and after every roll so that the rice doens't stick in your palms.

Gather a small scoop and squeeze it tight with one hand.  Then slowly form it along the sides of your thumb and indez fingers until it (more or less) resembles a rectangular block.   Repeat until you have enough beds for the strips of eel.

Place a strip of eel on top of a rice bed.  Wrap a seaweed strip around the width.  The strip should close around the bottom.  The rice will act as a natural adhesive.

And now comes the fun part.  (My dad is the hand model in these pictures, but don't worry, I rolled my own share.)

First, spread the rice out on the seaweed in one thin layer.  There should be a half inch to one inch border that is rice-less.  Place the crab meat about 3 inches from the side closest to you.

Now here comes the most important part.  Pull and roll the bottom of the sushi mat over so that the bottom is over the top, while holding the center (where the roll is) very tightly.  It is IMPERITIVE that you hold the center as tightly as possible.  There is no way to tighten the rest of the rolls if the center is loose.

Then, keep pulling the mat with your top hand while the bottom hand keeps the roll tight.

Keep pulling until you've gone through the entire length of the mat.

Voila.  Now all you have to do is chop off the ends and cut the rest into 1 inch tall rolls.  Be sure to cut with a sharp smooth edge knife, not serrated.

Mix a little wasabi with soy sauce (or not, since we didn't use raw fish), pop into your mouth, and enjoy.

Mac & Cheese with Chipotle

This is a great recipe when you want comfort food with a little kick.  If you're making it for the kiddies, just don't use the chipotle. 

I found the recipe on Epicurious but adapted it with help of the reader reviews, which nixed the heavy cream.  I used 2% instead of whole milk and it still came out very creamy.

If you follow the recipe on the site, it's going to yield huge proportions.  If you have a family of eight children or are bringing the dish to a potluck, by all means go for it.  I quartered the ingredients and had enough for three meals.

For garlic bread crumbs: (I halved the bread crumbs because I like a lot on my mac & cheese)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup chopped fresh bread crumbs

For pasta:
1 tbsp chopped chipotle chiles
1/8 stick of unsalted butter
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup low-fat milk
A bit of mustard (I used honey mustard since I didn't have dry on hand)
1/4 lb of macaroni
1/2 lb of extra sharp white Cheddar cheese

Bread crumbs:
Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet over moderate heat.  Once the foam is reduced, toss in the bread crumbs so they are all one layer.  Stir until the crumbs are golden, then transfer on to paper towels.

The rest:
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over moderate heat.  Add the flour and wisk for a minute or so.  Gradually add in the milk and mustard, still wisking.  Simmer over low to moderate heat and wisk every few minutes.  There will be lumps if the flour doesn't dissolve evenly, but it's fine.

Cook the macaroni in a pot of salted water until just tender.  Drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl.  Stir in white sauce, cheese, an extra bit of salt, and chipotles.  Spoon into a casserole dish and sprinkle the top generously with bread crumbs.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the dish starts to bubble. 

Serves 2-3 people, depending on their appetites.

Coconut-Cranberry Muffins

These are pretty simple to make, and should have taken me much less time than it did.  My problem is that when cooking or baking, I tend to halve the recipes since I'm usually cooking for one, unless it's a special occasion.  I do fine until about halfway through, when my absentmindedness starts bullying my mindedness, and takes over.  I forget that I'm halving the ingredients, and put in exactly what the recipe reads.  Then I realize my mistake and have to go back and double everything else.  (Did I mention I failed math a few times in high school?)

This is most likely some higher power telling me I shouldn't perform calculations while I'm in front of the oven, or perform calculations period.  Now I have a lot of muffins, and will most likely press them upon unassuming friends and relatives. 

So, a message to the aforementioned friends and relatives.  If you see knocking on your door bearing baked goods, be aware that the generosity and good-will is just a pretense.  I'm just really bad at simple math.

On to the recipe...

This I adapted from Cooking Light.  The coconut milk makes the muffins denser and less dry and cakey than if I had just used milk.  Any dry fruit would work in place of cranberries, but I think cranberries have the best sweet/sour combination to go with the coconut.

Coconut-Cranberry Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened dried cranberries (I used Craisins, although the ones you can get at markets like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's tend to be more plump and juicy.  But Whole Foods isn't a block away from me, like the regular supermarket is, and beggars can't be choosers.)
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg (or two small eggs)
2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine first four ingredients into a large bowl, stirring with whisk.  The recipe says to stir in the cranberries with the flour mixture, which I did, but now I think it's a better idea to mix them in when the dry and wet ingredients are combined.  Reason?  The flour gets stuck in the tiny ridges of the cranberries and refuse to budge.  You don't want loose flour on your cranberries.  Mix them in later.

Combine the coconut milk through eggs into another bowl and whisk.  Add wet ingredients to the flour bowl and mix well with a spatula.

Line the muffin tin with muffin cups.  Spoon the batter onto the cups and sprinkle the tops evenly with the 2 teaspoons of sugar. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until the centers of the muffins spring back when you touch them (lightly.)  Remove muffins from the pans immediately and place them on a wire rack to cook.

Eat the rest of the Craisins because you know you can't resist them.

Provençal Chicken with Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Nobody likes Mondays, the start of a long and boring work week.  Which makes it a great day to host a dinner, to make the fun of the weekend last one day more.  Not that I regularly host dinners, but I should, just to practice my cooking a bit more. 

I invited a couple of my cousins over for Season Six of Sex and the City (in my own defense, I have to say I have few other pop culture guilty pleasures.)  In honor of Carrie's flight to Paris with the ballerino Mikhail Baryshnikov (and yes, I looked up the spelling), I decided to make quelque chose française. 

The chicken recipe I adapted from Cooking Light, and the roasted potatoes from Barefoot Contessa Parties!  The best way to cook both is potatoes first, since they take longer to roast in the oven.

Provençal Chicken

Serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup low-fat chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (a little hard to find, but try Whole Foods)
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Flat breasts are a good thing.  At least in cooking.  Chicken breasts cook better and more evenly if they are flattened to about half an inch, so place some plastic wrap over the meat and pound them flat with something heavy, like a meat mallet or rolling pin.  Uncover, and sprinkle both sides evenly with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken and cook about 6 minutes on each side.  Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the garlic to the pan and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Pour in the broth and herbes de Provence.  Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.  Cook until the broth is reduce to about half the amount.  Remove from the heat and add lemon juice and butter, stirring until the butter is completely melted.  Spoon the sauce over the chicken. 

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds of small potatoes (I used Yukon because they were handy, but go with the small red ones.  I can't remember what their official name is.)
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl.  Chop the potatoes into halves or quarters and toss them in the bowl.  Mix them around until they're nice and coated. 

Spread the potatoes out onto a baking sheet.  Roast in the oven for an hour, turning them over every 10 to 15 minutes with tongs so they brown evenly on all sides.  Be careful not to have your oven racks set too low.  Mine were and the potatoes came out a bit more crisp than I would have liked.  Toss with minced parsley and serve with the chicken.

As for Carrie, she never made it to Paris.  Blockbuster neglected to inform me that I was only paying for the first DVD of the second half of the sixth season (confusing, I know), so we never got to the last few episodes.  Alors, c'est la vie.

Ensalada en Rojo

So you’ve just gotten back from a week of an all-out indulgent vacation and you start to notice that your pants don’t fit quite so nicely anymore.  You have just spent the day taste-testing endless amounts of chocolate as a part of your job training. (I know, it's a tough life).  You don’t want to skip supper, so what do you make? 

A salad!  But not just any salad.  One with a ham and beans and a nice thick red pepper dressing so rich in flavor and aroma that you won’t find yourself hungry again two hours later. 

Adapted from Food & Wine: Quick from Scratch Soup and Salads Cookbook.

Mixed Greens with Smoked Ham, Kidney Beans, and Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

Serves 4

1 red bell pepper (cut into thirds for easier heating)
½ garlic clove, smashed (recipe calls for a whole clove, which seemed excessive)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper (I used coarse ground)
½ pound mixed salad greens
4 slices of smoked ham, sliced into small pieces
1 cup drained and rinsed kidney beans

1.    I cheated a little here.  I didn’t have a gas flame or grill handy to roast the pepper, so I just sautéed it in a pan over high heat.  But doesn’t “roasted” sound so much better?  (If you have a gas flame or grill, by all means, roast away.  Keep the pepper whole and watch that baby burn.)  Keep the pieces on the skillet skin down, for about 10 minutes, until the skin is blackened.   

2.    When the pepper is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin.  Because of the natural sensuous curves in the bell pepper, some parts are not going to be charred and will be more difficult to pull off (if you roasted it, this should not be much of a problem.)  Remove the stem, seeds, and ribs.
3.    In a blender, combine the roasted pepper, garlic, vinegar, salt, and black pepper.  Puree until the texture is smooth.
4.    Mix together the greens, ham, and kidney beans.  Divide onto four plates and spoon the sauce on top.  Admire the wonderful tapestry of colors.

The book says that the salad needs “a crisp and frankly fruity red to contrast its smoky flavors,” and recommends a Beaujolais.  I didn’t have a Beaujolais handy, but I did have a sparkling apple cider. 

The verdict?  I could have used less dressing, or more greens, since the pepper and garlic flavors were so strong.   You get the smoky flavor right away, but it takes about a minute or two for the sweet flavor to kick in.  So I highly highly recommend a drink with a fruit taste, for those important in between moments. 

Oh, I almost forgot the last step.

5.    Pat yourself on the back for your healthy eating.  March back into the kitchen and get yourself a nice bowl of ice cream.  After all, we musn’t forget our dairy.