snow peas Archives

Just did a quick check and discovered that coconut has been featured 15 times on my blog. To the coconut haters out there, “I’m sorry”, and to the rest of you lovely folks I say, “you’re welcome”.

When I saw this dish on serious eats last month I bookmarked it immediately. This recipe checked all the boxes for me; one pot complete dinner, flavourful moist chicken thighs, coconut milk and jasmine rice. Since we are trying to limit our intake of white carbs, white rice has been scarce around here lately. But every so often, I get a craving for Basmati or Jasmine rice. The nutty, popcorny aroma that envelopes my kitchen makes me believe that all is right with the world and that I am very loved.

Yasmin Fahr, creator of this recipe asked “Why I don’t cook everything in coconut milk is beyond me.” Well Yasmin, in answer to your question, I would bathe in coconut milk if I could, but if I cooked everything in it, I would surely weigh 200 pounds. The sweet luxurious coconut milk in this recipe is saved from a cloying fate by the addition of cumin and a strong hint of cayenne. The finishing touches of lime and cilantro produces a dinner that packs a wallop of flavour.

You must exercise great patience when browning the chicken thighs. Put the pan on high, add the thighs, skin down and leave them alone for a good 8-10 minutes. The brown caramelized bits and pieces of chicken that get stuck to the pan, known in French as “fond” should not be thrown out. The chicken stock and coconut milk will help you to to scrape up all those flavourful dark bits. They will dissolve and become the foundation for the luxurious sauce that the chicken and rice are cooked in.

The original recipe called for adding snow peas during the last few minutes of cooking for some crunch and gorgeous colour. I went with a triple pea crunch and added snow peas, sugar snaps and some frozen green peas, because that’s how I was raised. I come from a home where more is better. When my mom made banana bread, if the recipe called for 3 bananas, my mom added 5. It produced a loaf with the heft of a brick, but heck, that’s just how mom rolled.

Click here to print recipe for Three Pea Coconut Rice and Chicken.

They say if you hold a conch shell up to your ear you can hear the sound of the ocean. I brought one home from our recent trip to the Caribbean not so much as a souvenir, but as a way of continuing the peace and bliss of my vacation. You see, at our hotel, if you put your conch shell outside your hotel room door, you would not be disturbed. It was wonderful. The phone didn’t ring, no one knocked at our door and no one demanded anything from me.

When we got home, I placed my conch shell outside my bedroom and closed the door. Despite this “do not disturb” symbol, clearly left outside the door for anyone to see (or trip over) the phone rang, my blackberry dinged and my son called me for help with some inane i-tunes request. Clearly the shell’s magical powers only work in the Caribbean! The post holiday bliss balloon bubble has burst! Everyone disturbing me and no one bringing me my morning toast in a silver toast holder with 3 jam choices. As my husband would say, “Get over it!”

So back to reality and cooking dinner. I was so inspired by all the fresh fruits and vegetables I ate when I was away. However, although the calendar says April, spring vegetables have not quite arrived here in Ottawa. The pickings were pretty slim at the market. I had recently watched Jamie Oliver prepare “The Best Winter Veg Coleslaw” and adapted it to work for me. I found some beautiful radishes, still attached to their leaves, fennel, red and green cabbage, snow peas, carrots, purple onion and shallots. I picked up some Italian parsley, mint and dill and set to work creating.