Chicken Bites

1# chicken breast meat

1c corn flour

black pepper, cayenne, garlic salt

3T coconut oil

Preheat your oven to 375° Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan, over medium heat.

Cut the chicken into strips, then crosswise into bite size pieces. Combine corn flour (wheat or oat flour) and seasonings in a gallon size plastic bag. Shake to blend. Add 5-6 little chicken pieces at a time, shaking to coat them well. Continue until all the pieces are covered in the seasoned flour. Quick fry on both sides to lightly brown.

Transfer the pieces from frying pan to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes, turning halfway through the baking time. Cool on the baking sheet.

I'm making these for a special little boy, so I made some orange sauce for dipping that I think he might like. Equal parts mayonnaise and Orange Asian Style Sauce.

Today I had a few of these (with leftover vegetables and a cucumber-tomato-onion salad, with some sheep's milk cheese) they turned out well. . .Lin

Coconut Curry Vegetable Cod-Shrimp Chowder

Oh my goodness!  This turned out so well. . .I'll eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

13-14oz. thick cod loins
None of those skinny little filets!
Carefully, rinse and pat dry. Season the cod generously with fresh ground black pepper, and lots of dry dill.

Vegetables: Carrots, Celery, Onion, Potatoes, Garlic - amounts as shown, AND 12-16oz. frozen, cut green beans.

First off, trust your instincts and get a feel for your vegetables, your mood, and the recipe for this particular, singular day, in your cooking life. Sometimes vegetables want to be cubed, julienned, chopped, or diced. . .Today it was all about slicing and chunking. Start with the ones that take longer to cook. 

Melt 2-3T pure, organic coconut oil in a 4 quart pot. Add the carrots and celery with a little of the onion to impart some nice oniony flavors (and wonderful aroma to your kitchen!) I cooked these, covered, on low heat for about 15 minutes, then added the rest of the cut vegetables. I got this sizzling, then added 2c of water. Once it was bubbling, I reduced the heat to low, covered the pot, and took my dogs for their walks.

2-1/4 miles and an hour+ later, I added the whole, seasoned chunks of cod, and the following:

2T Better Than Bouillon - lobster flavor
~ good luck finding this -or- use chicken or vegetable
1-1/2T± powdered cumin
1T± curry powder
1 14oz can coconut milk or cream

At this point I thought I was done. However, there was so much wonderfully flavored broth, it just needed more vegetables, so I added 2c frozen corn AND 2c frozen baby peas. Realizing I had used less than a pound of cod, I tossed in the remainder of a package of frozen Argentinean Red Shrimp, which was 8oz after thawing and draining. I covered this, let it come to a low bubble over very low heat, and cook it for about 20 minutes longer, before serving.

Hey. . .It's SEPTEMBER!!!

~!!~ Happy Soup Season ~!!~

(for those of you who need the justification of a 'season'. . .

put away your white shoes and pull out your soup pot!)

For me it's ALWAYS 'Soup Season'!

Be Bold! — Be Adventurous!

Happy Cooking! . .😁. . .Lin

Roasted Beet Soup

1# sm. beets
2T coconut oil
salt and pepper
6 unpeeled garlic cloves (not shown)

20-24oz. coconut milk from a carton
1T organic local honey
1t-1T pumpkin pie spice

Scrub the beets well. Cut off the tops, tails and any bad spots, but don't peel them. Chop-slice them into 1" pieces into a glass loaf pan. Roast at 375° for 45-60 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the garlic cloves, flip everything around in the pan with a wooden spoon, to coat with the oil and seasonings.

After roasting, when cool enough to touch, peel the garlic and put it back in the pan with the beets. Pour the next group of ingredients over everything. Stir to combine everything then pour it all into a blender. Blend until smooth. -OR- scoop out all the solids into a food processor. Add all the liquid, a little at a time, and process only until the texture is the way you like it. Blending creates a very smooth soup. The food processor would leave more texture.

For toppings, I added a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dry dill.  Sunflower seeds, pine nuts, or pumpkin seeds and croutons would also be good. . . 😉 Lin

(to avoid a real scare in the bathroom, be advised - this color will go right through you within the next day or two 😳 when it happens, remember, it's due to a colorful beta carotene type substance in beets called betanin, NOT blood and it's healthy, not harmful)

Coconut Curry Chicken and Vegetables

    I . . . . . . . LOVE . . . . . . . CURRY ! !

Vegetable curry, lamb curry, chicken curry, beef curry, pork curry. . .the only type I haven't made yet is fish curry!  Mmmm, I'll tackle that soon, when I find just the right piece of firm, flavorful fish.

My first experience with curry was at a tiny Middle Eastern or  Ethiopian restaurant on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin.  I ordered Lamb Curry, which was very similar to the Beef Stew my mom made all during my growing up years.  Big chunks of carrot, potato and meat.  That, however, is where the similarity ended.  The beef stew had undertones of onion and lots of tomato in the sauce.  The Lamb Curry sauce was more mustard brown colored, from the turmeric, with lots of onion and garlic.  The flavor of the curry sauce, vegetables and lamb was totally exquisite.  That may have been my first time experiencing lamb as well.  I could have happily eaten that amazing Lamb Curry for weeks!  I've duplicated it many times since and also changed it.  I've loosened it up quite a bit, chopping the vegetables and meat chunks smaller, varied the sauce from thicker to thinner.  Used coconut milk and omitted it, depending on the flavor I wanted to achieve.

I've added cashews, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, and also sweet elements such as chopped prunes, dark and golden raisins, dried apricots, mango. . .

Ohhh, Curry!!  Today it's a nice big pot of very mild Chicken Curry. . .

1# bite size chunks of chicken thigh meat

part of a medium onion - chopped small

1T of your favorite curry seasoning

2T coconut oil

Sauté this together for about 15 minutes over medium heat in a 4 quart pot.  The chicken should start to snap a little.  Cover, turn off the heat and set aside.  In a 5-6 quart, larger diameter pot, sauté the following sliced-chopped vegetables in the first group for 15 minutes on low-med. heat:

3-4 carrots

3-4 ribs of celery

Older Garlic - beginning to 'pearl' but still SO good

½ yellow or red bell pepper

the rest of the onion - cut in chunks

2T Penzeys California Seasoned Pepper*

2T more curry powder*

2T coconut oil

1 med. zucchini 

3 med. peeled Yukon Gold potatoes

1" chunk of fresh ginger - peeled and minced

10-12 garlic cloves - peeled and sliced in quarters

½ chopped mango 'leather'

½-1 13.5oz. can coconut milk

*This particular curry powder and pepper blend are both extremely mild and sweet. Adjust these amounts according to the strength of yours, and your heat and flavor preferences.

Add the zucchini, potatoes and garlic and sauté another 5-10 minutes. When needed, add 1c water to keep everything from sticking. Cover and simmer 5 minutes, then add this back to the chicken pot. Heat and simmer another 10-15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk - I only used half the can and froze the rest for another recipe. Check the flavors of the sauce, and make any needed additions or corrections. Serve and savor! . . . Lin