In the Kitchen: "Coco Chicken with Green Beans" served with "Curried Rice with Sweet Peas"

The other day I bought a chef’s jacket. What was I thinking? I was hoping that with the jacket on, I will turn out better tasting meals…and I think it does! Last night, after a rainy afternoon, I was looking for comfort food. I came up with “Coco Chicken with Green String Beans” served with “Curried Rice with Sweet Peas.” These were so easy to make. Want to try something new?



COCO CHICKEN WITH GREEN STRING BEANS
1 whole chicken 1 1/2 kg. – (I removed the skin to lower cholesterol content) cut up into serving pieces
1 small piece of ginger, cut into julienne strips, equal to about a half tbsp.
1 onion, chopped
Throw in all these 3 ingredients into a medium-size pot and mixed them up. Add –
¼ c. of water
1 ½ tsp. of salt, pepper to taste
A dash of Pepperoncino ( a bit spicy) or you can use a fresh, spicy pepper
1 tbsp of curry powder (medium strength)
2 cans of coconut milk, 13.5 fl. oz each (400 ml. each)
Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer at low heat for about 45 – 50 minutes. keeping the pot covered at all times.
Then, add 2 handfuls of frozen, green beans ( I threw in the beans to make it a complete one-meal dish)
Cook for another 10 minutes, with pot covered.

I don’t normally measure my ingredients as I just throw in everything together and do a taste test. I also use my hand to measure, if ever, to approximate some proportions…but this time, I measured accurately so I could give you an idea. In the last 30 years, you can imagine that I never cooked the same dish the same way…it is fun to cook this way, because then, I can change this or that and make it look like it is another recipe – innovative - it does not get boring.



CURRIED RICE WITH SWEET PEAS
Using a rice cooker, put in the following ingredients:
2 cups of brown rice (use cup provided with the rice cooker) rinse. * When using brown rice, my ratio is ¾ brown rice to 1 cup measurement; with white rice it is 1 to 1.
1 tsp. dehydrated onion or 1 tbsp freshly chopped onion
1 tsp. salt, pepper to taste
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. cooking oil ( not olive oil – I learned in Turkey that you are never to subject olive oil to heat, as the change in its properties because of the heat makes it toxic)
Switch on the rice cooker. When the boiling water has almost subsided, throw in ½ c. (or more) of frozen sweet peas. Leave to cook for another 5 minutes once the cooker goes to the “Keep Warm” mode.

The vegetables and the brown rice make this a high-fiber meal. Let me know how it turns out. Happy cooking!