28 January 2013

Thai Green Curry and Pineapple Rice

The dish originally on the menu for tonight called for olive oil, and we are out. What to do? Walnut oil is not supposed to be cooked at a high temp. But I had coconut oil, so I decided to try something new. It was pretty good for winging it, but would have been better with bamboo shoots and fresh basil.

Here is my little secret. It's okay, I've seen Thai food blogs that use curry paste in a jar, so it is authentic-ish.
 

Thai Green Curry
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp coconut oil\
4 chicken thighs, boneless
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 can coconut milk
2 T green curry paste
1 cup sweet potatoes, cooked and cubed
1 small can pineapple chunks, drain and reserve juice
1 small can bamboo shoots, drained
1/4 cup peas Basil, several leaves fresh or 1 tsp dried.

Melt butter and coconut oil over medium high heat. Sear chicken for 2 minutes on each side, then remove and add red bell pepper. Cook 4 minutes and remove. Add chicken broth and deglaze, then pour over chicken and red bell peppers. Pour the top half of the coconut milk in, being careful to only get the solid white part. Boil like crazy for 2 minutes (This is called "cracking the coconut") and then add the curry paste. Stir until paste is completely incorporated, then turn the heat down to medium low. Stir in the rest of the can of coconut milk. Return the chicken and peppers, and all the lovely juices. Add sweet potato, (if you're in a bind, canned sweet potatoes will work, but rinse off that syrup and drain well), pineapple, bamboo shoots, and peas. If you don't have fresh basil, add the dried stuff now. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes. If you're using fresh basil, chop roughly and add just before serving.
*The following recipe is not paleo, but white rice is occasionally okay.

Pineapple Rice
Add juice from pineapple can plus enough water to reach the 1-cup mark on your rice cooker. Add 1 scoop of rice. Cook.

Please don't fight over who gets the chewy crust that forms on the bottom. So that's that. Dinner was made, eaten, and cleaned up, and I still had time to do a load of laundry before bed. 'Night, folks!