Warm Winter Wonder & Thai Chicken-Coconut Curry

 

It's was a cool, cloudy morning.  I woke up and lit some new candles to make things cozy as I got my first cup of coffee.

 

 

 After I put my Christmas away, I decided to leave out some snowmen and winter greenery at least for the next few weeks!  While I really like for there to be less clutter and to reorganize things at the beginning of the year, I think it's fun to have out some cute cold weather decor to brighten the house on these dark days.

 

 

 I really love this picture that my hubby and I took of us 3 years ago on a very snowy day!  I keep it in this frame my parents gave us a couple of years ago and put it out every winter!

 

 

 I decorated my large shelves that I usually have trouble knowing what to fill with.  They're so tall and deep and, well, awkward!  I kept things fun and simple here, and I like how it's turned out.  I just need a little candle to bring life to my old lantern!

 

 

 This is one of my favorite pillows!  With red and cream plaid and homemade looking snowmen, it's just so country cozy!   It's like the sweet snowmen are giving a winter greeting to those in the room!

 

This pillow a Christmas gift from Mom a couple years ago. 

 

 

You know, I welcome every change of season and each new holiday as they come.  Like I've shared before, I look for and find the joy in them all!  I know that January in my part of the country isn't a time to be outside to garden, grill, or relax on the patio, so I think it's that much more important to keep inside my home a place where we love being.  Just with the help of a few simple things like having yummy candles lit, the fireplace cracklin, new books on hand to read and a well stocked pantry for new recipes or a batch of cookies on the fly, it's easy to be inside!!!

 

One of my favorite things about winter is that it's quite okay to have sparkly lights here and there to give a warm glow inside the house.  I decided to keep out this sparkly sprig that's so pretty, especially at night!

 

 

 

Another favorite photo of us with our best friends in front of the Louvre in Paris!  I think it's appropriate to keep in this Parisian frame by the Eiffel Tower.

 

Oh!  How I wish to go back some day....

 

 

 

Underneath the shelving I keep a big basket --I love this basket!--with snugly throws and blankets in year round.  We love curling up around here under soft throws, and we have them everywhere!  I have my favorite one kept on the couch.  This new grey one is Mr. Cozy's and it's incredibly soft!!  (Haha, we "claim" certain ones as our own, although I did give him this one!) As you may remember, the quilt here is a family heirloom. :)

 

 

Last night for supper I made some delicious chicken & coconut curry filled with tender chicken breasts, sweet basil, red and orange bell pepper and broccoli.  We LOVE Thai food, and this is one of our favorites.  I thought I'd surprised my husband by making it since I rarely cook Thai at home.  This recipe is extra simple because it uses ready made red curry paste that you can find any almost any grocery in the Asian food.  This mixed with succulent (light) coconut milk makes a creamy base for this recipe.

 

Last night on Facebook I mentioned that I was cooking it and posted a picture and there was quite a response for the recipe.  Because this picture was a quick one taken with my phone, it's not "styled" the way I like to present my food on the blog, but I want to share with recipe with you all anyways! This is a wonderfully easy recipe for anyone who loves Chinese or Thai food!   

( I have another Thai recipe, Thai Chicken & Mango Curry, that I posted a while back that you should check out, too!) 

 

Perfect on a winter night, we ate a bowl of this over some whole grain Jasmine rice to satisfy our body and give a little comfort to the soul. :)

 

 

 

Chicken Coconut Curry or Kai Kang Dang

Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com

 

1 can coconut milk

1 heaping Tbsp. red curry paste

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in 1 in. pieces

2-3 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1/3 c. Red Onion, sliced thinly

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

1/2 Orange or Yellow Bell Pepper, chopped

1 1/2 c. ( or 1 medium head) Broccoli

3/4 c. Fresh Basil Leaves, torn

1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

Squeeze of 1/2 Lime

 

Before I proceed with the recipe, note a few things:

  You can add more coconut milk if you want more soup to your curry.  If you do this, you'll probably want to add more curry paste.  Also, I added a few dashes of reduced sodium soy sauce and didn't put in quite as much brown sugar.   Add whatever vegetable you love in this kind of food, like carrots, snow peas or bamboo shoots.  Feel free to play around with the recipe like I do.

 

 

Bring 1/4 can of the coconut milk to a simmer and whisk in the red curry paste in a heavy bottomed pot.  Cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. 

 

Add the chopped chicken and cook until slightly golden or at least cooked just on the outside, about 5 minutes. 

 

Stir in the rest of the coconut milk,vegetables, fish sauce, sugar, cayenne pepper and basil leaves.  Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

 

Pour lime juice over the dish and remove from heat.  Serve warm over rice.  Deliciousness!

 

 

I'm linking up with friends at:

 

Delicious Honey & Garlic Pineapple Chicken with Coconut-Basil Rice

Here's an incredibly delicious meal I actually kind of threw together last week.  I didn't follow a recipe for this one guys.  It's a "Leslie original"!  (If you follow me you probably know that also means a non-structured recipe. haha)   My husband and I really loved this one!  Mr. Cozy appreciates Chinese/Thai food even more than I do and with Asian inspired flavors in this dish, he really loved it!  He's been working so hard, and I want him to be able to come home to some of his favorite meals after a long day.  This is quickly becoming one of those meals!

I decided to marinade some chicken breasts in a garlic and lemon marinade and thought I'd just pan sear the chicken for dinner. Simple, but good.  After sorting through my little pantry, I found some ingredients that I thought would elevate this recipe!  Crushed pineapple, raw honey, Jasmine rice, coconut milk....

My mind was reeling, and I decided to just wing it and bring all of these flavors together with garlic and a little crushed red pepper to make a new delicious Caribbean meets Polynesian meets Asian dish!  (haha, Does that make sense??)  The next time, I will probably tweak it a little more towards the Asian influence because we like that so much.  I think that the sauce would be good to have a little soy sauce and ginger added to it.  Yum!  I like for those flavor to be used as undertones and not be overpowering.  Also, I think I added a dash of balsamic vinegar to the sauce....once again...I didn't write down the whole recipe as I was cooking. (I need to be better at that!)  The recipe I'm sharing with you serves as a good outline of what I did.  Feel free to use your creative liberties when cooking this! :)

These particular flavors marry together to make this chicken moist and incredibly flavorful.  A little savory and a little more sweet come together in this new favorite meal of ours.  I served the chicken over a bed of fluffy coconut-basil rice and poured lots of the honey pineapple sauce over the top!  We also ate a summer favorite, sauteed squash and zucchini on the side.  As I'm typing out this post, I'm thinking about when I can make this recipe again!  We love it so much and I hope you do, too!!!

Garlic Pineapple Chicken with Coconut-Basil Rice

Marinade

(Makes approx. 1/2 c. marinade)

1 1/2 cloves Minced Garlic

1/2 tsp. Chili paste (found in the Asian isle)

or red pepper flake

Juice of 1 large lemon

1 1/2 Tbsp. Raw Honey

1 1/2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Honey & Garlic Pineapple Chicken

2 large Chicken breasts, pounded evenly

E.V. Olive Oil

Minced Garlic

1 cup Canned Crushed Pineapple

Raw Honey 

or whatever kind you have 

Crushed Red Pepper Flake

Balsamic Vinegar

 Brown Sugar

Salt & Pepper

Coconut Basil Rice

Jasmine Rice

E.V. Olive oil

Lite Coconut Milk

not cream of coconut!

Fresh Basil

Salt and Pepper

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Combine all the ingredients of the marinade and whisk together very well. 

Salt and pepper the chicken and place in a large plastic bag. 

Pour the marinade over the chicken and seal the bag well. 

Smoosh together and allow to marinade in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take the chicken out of the marinade and dry off with a paper towel.  The flavors should be soaked through, and a dry piece of meat will crust much better than a wet one! 

In a large oven-proof skillet, swirl a couple of turns of olive oil around the pan. Over medium heat, sear the chicken on both sides until brown and crisp on the outside.  (About 3 minutes on each side without touching.)

Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.

Using the same skillet, add a little more olive oil.

Add about 1 clove of minced garlic to the pan and cook for just a minute.

Add the crushed pineapple with juice.  Use the juice and a wooden spoon to scrape up the good bits on the bottom.  (I did have to discard some of the black bits that had burned a smidgen.)

Add about a couple tablespoons of honey, couple of dashes of balsamic vinegar, teaspoon of brown sugar, pinch of red pepper flake and salt and pepper.  (Here's where the next time I may omit the salt and add the soy sauce and a bit of ginger.)

Allow this to cook on medium heat for the flavors to meld and the juice thicken up. 

To ensure thickening, I added a slurry of cornstarch and cold water. I don't want a gelatinous consistency, but just a sauce that will sick to the chicken a little more.  It will bubble and look delicious!

Add the chicken back to the pan and top it with some of the bubbling pineapple sauce.

Put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or so. 

Here is when you should cook your rice!  

When the timer goes off, check in the thickest part to makes sure the chicken is done.

For the rice:  In a medium sized pan, heat some olive oil over medium heat and pour in your rice.  I always cook 1 cup of rice for us two.  That way we have a little for leftovers. 

As your rice toasts for a few minutes, you're giving it a delicious nuttiness and enhancing the flavor.  After about 5 minutes, or when you start smelling the toasty goodness, add the normal amount of your liquid.  The liquid in this case, is the coconut milk!  Add some salt and cook the rice as normal.

When finished cooking and has sat for about 10 minutes, fluff with a fork and add chopped basil and salt and pepper.  Stir together.

This dish comes together beautifully!  Serve the chicken sliced over the rice and top with lots of extra sauce.  Like I said, it's really good with sauteed fresh vegetables on the side!  Enjoy!

I'm linking up with friends at:

 



Thai Mango & Chicken Curry

  

     Thai food is something that my husband and I really enjoy eating whenever we go out. My hometown has an amazing authentic Thai restaurant where we fell in love with the cuisine! It's called Jasmine's, and it's one of the most popular places in the small college town.  Everything from the pineapple fried rice to the drunken noodles to the curry dishes...we love it all!  Thai food is kind of like Chinese food with a spicy kick! My favorite things about Thai dishes are the vividly colored fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, pineapple or mango...like this mango curry!

     This dish is a myriad of colors and flavors.  The color is kind of like a beautiful sunset with flecks of red from the pepper. The base of the curry is basically onion and red peppers (I added some orange pepper, too). Then I add more flavor punches like garlic and ginger, with the spices curry powder and cumin.  I love all of those things combined with the sweeter things like juicy mango, plump golden raisins and coconut milk that all make a delicious Thai dinner!  I serve it over a scoop of nutty brown basmati rice, but it's a meal in itself!

     I'd like to thank my friend April, who gave me this recipe, who is also a big fan of Thai food! She said she needed to find a recipe to her (Jasmine's favorite) mango curry, to make at home.  When I saw this one of hers, I knew I had to try it!  Especially right now, since I am living in a town without a Thai restaurants to be seen.  (Hardly a decent Chinese place either...)  So, I've decided to learn how to make it at home.  This was my first attempt and I'm pretty excited about the way it turned out!

  

     The only changes I will make the next time is: cut down the curry powder to about 1 1/2 Tbsp. instead of 2 (so that is how I have written the recipe), and I would do a few dashes of Sriracha (hot chili sauce) for some spice.  Other than that, YUM!  You could most definitely substitute pineapple for mango and it would be just as good!  The original recipe called for cream or coconut milk, and I went for Lite coconut milk for a healthier and naturally sweeter taste.

     This was a fun dish to make, and it got me out of my traditional Western culture comfort zone into a more exotic and exciting style of cooking!  This will not be my last Thai dish to cook...until then, you all should really try this recipe!  I'd like to know what you think about it and if you have any other Thai suggestions? :)

Mango Chicken Curry


3 Tbsp. (or more) of canola or olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger (I used ground ginger in a jar)

2 Tbsp. yellow curry powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

2 mango peeled and diced (I used frozen)

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1 1/4 c. water

1 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 in. pieces

1/3 c. golden raisins

1/2 c. coconut milk or heavy cream

Salt and Pepper

Cilantro for garnish

1. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and pepper until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.  Add more oil if needed.  Add curry powder and cumin, cook for a few more minutes. Add more oil if anything begins to stick, b/c the veggies will absorb the spices.  Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

2. Add vinegar, water and half chopped mango into the pan.  Increase heat to boil, then lower to simmer about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove pan fro heat.  Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce until smooth.

3. Add chicken pieces and raisins to the pan.  Return to a low simmer, cover the pan, and cook for about 8-10 minutes.  Chicken should be just cooked through.  Cut into a couple pieces to make sure it's done.

4. Add remaining mango pieces to the pan and stir in coconut milk. Let it cook low and uncovered for a couple of minutes. Do not let boil!  Adjust seasonings and add Siriacha here, if using.  A little goes a long way.  I also needed to add a little more salt and pepper.  Add a little more vinegar if too sweet.  Serve over rice and enjoy!
Serves 4.