Next I found myself meandering through the organic area feeling like everyone shopping on those rows knew I did not belong. It was starting to feel stressful. These boxes say coconut milk but they also say beverage on them. It doesn't seem like this is what my recipe would be asking for but heck if I know what I'm looking for. Since when do I have instinctive feelings on coconut milk varieties? Who am I?
Then, lo and behold, I stumbled upon it. The Asian aisle. I had no. idea. we had an Asian food aisle. And looky there. Cans of coconut milk lining the shelf just waiting to find their way into my soup pot.
This soup right here is a big time keeper. It was so packed with flavor. It almost had the feel of a good, homemade chicken noodle soup. I made this with the full intention that I'd be the only one in my house to eat it. It turned out that the other two that tried it really enjoyed it.
My advice for this recipe? Use the fresh ginger and freshly pressed garlic. And season with salt until it starts tasting really flavorful. I think those are the reasons that this simple stew packed such a tasty punch. Oh, and in case you don't know like we didn't know, fresh ginger is spicy. Ouchy Mama! I took the Mr.'s word for it. He saw me grating it and took a tiny bite to try and meeee-maw meeee-maw it set his mouth on fire. I kept asking if he was messing with me and he insisted he was serious. I took his word for it.
Coconut Chicken Curry Stew
3 chicken breast, cubed (I used 4)
1 T ghee, butter or coconut oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 T grated ginger
2 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 T curry powder
6 garlic cloves, minced (I used 4)
1/4 cup cilantro.
salt to taste
Saute' chicken in butter in a large saucepan. When the outside of the chicken has turned white, add in the coconut milk and broth and mix well. Add in carrot, celery, tomato, ginger and curry powder.
Cook on medium heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in garlic, cilantro and salt. Cook 5 more minutes.
* I did not use cilantro, just because I didn't have any. I used an entire 13.5 oz can of coconut milk and the entire can of chicken broth. I just have problems 'saving' that last bit because it always gets thrown away. My stew turned out delish!
** This was my first rodeo with buying fresh ginger. Talk about stressful. The label at the grocery store said ginger root. Is that what I need? After much angst, I settled on a yes on the ginger root. I got the cutest little piece since I only needed one tablespoon. Then I was so darn excited to check out because I wanted to see if the checker knew what in the heck it was. She had no idea. I was all, "Um, that is fresh ginger." I think she could tell I love Jesus since I was buying stuff like fresh ginger, you know that I'm sayin?
*** I feel like I added my garlic at the beginning of the simmering process when I added the veggies and spices. Man. I can't imagine using 6 cloves. I only used 4 and mine was really garlicky.
