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Thursday, August 11, 2016

Celebrating the Olympics with Brazilian Chicken in Coconut Milk



I am straight up addicted to the Olympics right now. My life pretty much consists of work, gym (while watching the Olympics), more Olympics and a little more Olympics and sleep...repeat. How is it that  this competition causes us all to watch sporting events we had never ever heard of? Seriously when was the last time you said to someone,"you know what I want to do tonight? Watch synchronized diving?" I am pretty sure I am not the only person on the planet who thought those were words that would never leave my mouth....until last Tuesday. Ack!!

Under normal circumstances I would NEVER watch archery let alone the bizarre events like solo synchronized swimming (who are they synchronized with?) or live pigeon shooting, however when you put “Olympics” in front of any sport ,it all of a sudden becomes more intriguing….well it does for me anyway. So Sunday night I watched Brazilian basketball as I cooked Brazilian Chicken with Coconut  It was so good! And I had a theme, which is a huge accomplishment for me. 



The recipe was incredible! It had a hint of heat to it, amazing flavors from the spice rub and the coconut milk and it just straight up made me happy and it also made me feel a little more tropical! Love it!

On a side note, I also have to say these Olympics are great for breaking up the long dog days of summer. Ya know the long wait between the end of NBA playoffs and the start of football season…also called baseball season. Don’t get me wrong I love going to baseball games and eating hot dogs and beer, but the American pastime is just a little boring to watch on TV, in my opinion. Therefore, I will gladly take the Summer Olympics distraction to help me while away the time.

 
to cooking. Slight word of caution, this recipe is spicy, and not just in the cayenne pepper way, but the mix of spices from the ginger to the cumin to the coriander just made it zesty….incredibly flavorful, but zesty! To begin with, create a spice rub for the chicken, consisting of cumin, cayenne, turmeric, coriander, salt and pepper. Rub it on the chicken and cook in olive oil for 6 minutes each side. Remove the chicken and put it on a plate and tent with foil.
 
Oh yeah about the spice rub. I love to cook with my hands and so I definitely got involved with this chicken. However, word of caution the spice rub dyed my hands and nails a yellowish orange tinge that lasted a few days. Just a word of caution...since I kind of looked like I had hands belonging to one of the Muppets.

Next make the sauce. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeno in olive oil. I used the same pan that I cooked the chicken in just to enhance the sauce with the leftover spice rub mixture in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Next add the tomatoes. And as a side note remove the seeds from the tomatoes and chop. Cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add the light coconut milk and cook for yet another 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Finally, add the chicken to the sauce mixture and cook for….want to guess how long? Yup 5 minutes! I served this dish over rice with some roasted asparagus and it was heaven. I also paired this with Kung Fu Girl Riesling which is a wine out of Washington state, that is crisp and citrusy and not the typical syrupy sweet we often thing of when we think of Riesling.
 
Here is the actual recipe:  
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
                                           
  1. In a medium bowl, mix the cumin, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and coriander. Place the chicken in the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and rub on all sides with the spice mixture.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook 10 to 15 minutes on each side, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet. Cook and stir the onion, ginger, jalapeno peppers, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Mix in the tomatoes and continue cooking 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk. Serve over the chicken. Garnish with the parsley.
 
 
This recipe made me happy and honestly it may be one of those few recipes that I would make again. I would love to write more, but I have more Olympics to watch...at least for a few more days. Cheers!
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