If you are like me and love experimenting in the kitchen you might enjoy the freedom of what’s called “dump” cooking. This is typically how our grandmothers would put together a meal, a little of this a pinch of that, measuring with their eyes, seasoning with their intuition and tasting along the way.
I do enjoy looking at recipes and have quite a collection of cookbooks in my library. However, when it comes time to get busy in the kitchen I rarely go off a recipe and don’t write things down. I knew that starting this blog and holding myself accountable for giving you all good measurements and instructions to would be challenging, but It’s been fun though and I hope you are finding success and reward in these recipes so far.
One thing that I do practice and absolutely advocate for is learning new techniques and cooking theory from fellow foodies and professionals. If you have never done it, or its been a long time since you have, get your but into a cooking class, it’s a blast and you will learn some practical skills to improve your repertoire. Do it with a partner and it will be even more fun. You can find short 1 day or hourly classes at places like Sur La Table, your local parks and rec department, community centers, grocery stores, and community colleges.
This weeks recipe was inspired by a Thai cooking class my wife and I took at Sur La Table years ago. It was taught by a talented and funny professional Thai chef. I remember him repeatedly telling us to “brown the garlic not burn it”, “we are not cooking Italian food here” he would say. By no means is this dish intended to be classic Thai, I would refer to a recipe for that, this is Thai inspired and as always open to interpretation. Have fun and make it your own. Let’s cook
Thai Inspired Coconut Chicken
- 10 pasture-raised or organic chicken legs
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 4 green onions sliced
- 5 garlic cloves diced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil sliced thin (julienned)
- 1 cup 1/8″ sliced carrots
- Fish sauce or coconut amino acids
- Juice of 1 lemon or lime
- Large frying pan with lid
Method
- Salt chicken legs then cook in avocado oil until brown on all sides about 30 minutes. Begin on medium heat and turn down as you go so you don’t burn the meat.
- Remove chicken and cook green onions in the same pan for 3 minutes
- Add carrots and cook for another 3 minutes
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant and browned, not burned
- Add coconut milk and basil then stir to mix the flavors
- Add the fish sauce or coconut aminos a few splashes at a time until you reach the desired taste to your liking
- Fish sauce is very strong an salty, add slowly
- Add the lemon or lime juice
- Taste again for seasoning
- Add the chicken back to the pan and cover with the lid. Simmer for 10 minutes turning the chicken once halfway through
- Serve over cauliflower rice or regular rice
