Coconut Lemon Custard Chicken

Do you like coconut and lemon but don’t want to make a dessert dish? This recipe is inspired by Paleo Parents Organ Meat Pie recipe and Civilized Caveman Lemon Bars recipe.

Coconut Lemon Custard Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground chicken (or any meat of your choice)- I manually minced the chicken breast meat that I got
3 stalks of green onions
2 lemons
3-4 large eggs
1″ knob of ginger
2 shallots
1/2 garlic bulb
2 tsp curry powder
2-3 Tbsp Red Boat Fish Sauce
1 tsp cumin powder
2-3 tsp coriander powder
1-2 tsp black pepper powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup – 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
For the chicken:
1. Separate the green and white part of the green onions. Mince the white part-set aside. Slice the green part lengthwise (see picture above)
2. Puree garlic, shallots and ginger in your food processor (I used Magic Bullet)
3. Season the ground meat with coriander powder, black pepper, curry powder, coconut oil, fish sauce, minced green onion (white part), 1 egg white (set the yolk aside)

4. Grease an oven proof baking dish with 1 Tbsp coconut oil and spread the mince meat evenly

5. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes at 350°F

For the custard:
1. While the chicken is cooking in the oven, beat the eggs (including the reserved egg yolk from earlier) in high speed with a hand mixer until the mixture looks pale yellow

2. Lower the mixer speed and add in the 1/4 cup coconut milk and 1/4 cup lemon juice little by little (reserve the rest of the lemon juice for other use). Mix until everything incorporates

3. Lastly, add in the shredded coconut and the green onions (the green part)

4. By this time, the chicken should be cooked already. Take it out from the oven then pour the egg mixture on top

5. Return it to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes in 350°F

6. Change the setting to broil for another 5-10 minutes

7. Remove from the oven and let it cool a bit before slicing it

Who said sour and savory can’t get along? Believe it or not, by the end of the meal, I only had 1/4 of this left!!

 

Roast Masala Lemon Date Chicken

I made this chicken dish yesterday and turned out very yummy so I thought I’d share the recipe to you all. As usual, when I’m going to bake bone-in chicken, I prefer to steam them first for about 15 minutes to make sure the inside will be at least half cooked before baking it in the oven. Besides it cut down the baking time, plus the meat will stay moist.

Ingredients:
About 2 lbs chicken/beef – I used a whole chicken, cut up in to 4 pieces -skins removed
Juice from a whole lemon
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tsp roast masala seasoning

(or you can make it your own: chili, garlic, ginger, cloves, black pepper, coriander & vinegar)

3 shallots
3 soaked pitted medjool dates
1 tsp anatto powder
1/2 tsp (or more if you like spicy) chili powder

Directions:
1. Puree shallots & soaked dates in your food processor (I used my Magic Bullet) and mix in with the rest of the ingredients

2. Place the meat in a gallon size zip lock bag, coat evenly with the marinate. Let it sit for about 2 hour or overnight for best taste.

3. Steam the meat for about 15 minutes (If you use boneless meat, you can skip this part and head on to the next one). If you want to skip steaming, make sure to put longer time when baking in the oven.

4. Broil the meat in 400°F for about 20 minutes (turn over once halfway through). If you didn’t steam the meat, bake it for 350°F then change the setting to broil. Time depends on the size of the meat that you use.

Remove from heat and enjoy with your favorite veggie dish.

 

Citrus and Spice Chicken

A couple days ago, I was experimenting with different spice mixtures to jazz up my marinate for the whole chicken that I had in the fridge. Pairing them with citrus juices resulting this yummy baked chicken. As usual, when I’m going to bake bone-in chicken, I prefer to steam them first for about 15 minutes to make sure the inside will be at least half cooked before baking it in the oven. Besides it cut down the baking time, plus the meat will stay moist.

Ingredients:
About 2 lbs chicken/beef – I used a whole chicken, cut up in to 4 pieces -skins & visible fat removed
2 lemons (zest & juice)
Fresh squeezed orange juice (1 orange)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp whole cloves
1 garlic bulb
2-3 shallots
1″ ginger knob
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coriander powder

Directions:
1. Mash the garlic, shallots, ginger and whole cloves with mortar pestle or your mini food processor (I used my Magic Bullet)
2. Mix the puree garlic/shallot/cloves mixture with the lemon juice, orange juice, lemon zest, and the rest of the spices and salt

3. Place the meat in a gallon size zip lock bag, coat evenly with the marinate. Let it sit for about 2 hour or overnight for best taste.

3. Line up your steamer with a piece of paper towel and steam the meat for about 15 minutes (If you use boneless meat, you can skip this part and head on to the next one). If you want to skip steaming, make sure to bake it longer.

4. Broil the meat in 400°F for about 20 minutes. If you didn’t steam the meat, bake it for 350°F then change the setting to broil. Time depends on the size of the meat that you use.

Remove from heat and enjoy with your favorite veggie dish.

I’d suggest to cut down the broiling time if you don’t want the chicken meat become too dry. I particularly enjoyed it since it tasted like chicken jerky 😀

 

Reorganizing

Hi everyone, how’s your Monday going?

Not much going on today, except I finally updated my recipe page. Go take a look when you got a chance 🙂 I added and organize the recipes by categories and subcategories. Hopefully it will make it easier for people to search some specific recipes. I realized I actually have tons of chicken recipes…LOL.

Anyway, my morning was started off with a pre workout snack – one small purple yam before I started my morning workout. Usually I exercise in empty stomach because: I didn’t have time to have pre workout snack unless I got up extra early. But since circumstances had changed, I could take this chance to experiment a bit. I got used to exercise in empty stomach but sometimes I think I got wiped out very quickly. Having a pre workout snack in some form of starch (sweet potaotes) actually helped my performance a bit.

Post workout snack – another purple yam – gosh can’t have enough of this!

Lunch: Easy Tandoori Chicken, pan fried sliced zucchini, sliced of a whole avocado on the bed of spring mix, sprinkled with a lemon wedge- -YUM!

Afternoon snack – big bowl of fruity goodness –cherries and strawberries

That kept me full for the entire day, so my dinner was pretty small.
Bok Choy soup (made from homemade chicken broth)

and a small plate of pan fried sliced zucchini and slices of Cheater’s Shish Kabob Chicken

Let me know how you like the recipe page. 🙂 Have a great evening/day – wherever your time zone is

 

Cheater’s Shish Kabob Chicken

I’ve never had the actual Shish Kabob before but that didn’t stop me to try this seasonings when I saw it at my local supermarket. It was super simple and yummy. I didn’t have a grill and I was too lazy to fire up my oven to bake it (it takes longer and I was too starving to wait another 30 minutes) so I opted pan frying this (or should I say pan grilled?)

Cheater’s Shish Kabob Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (or any protein of your choice) – slice lengthwise to speed up the cooking time
1 oz of Shish Kabob seasonings (granulated onions, salt, garlic, sumac, citric acid, black pepper, saffron)

Directions:
1. Place the meat in a gallon size zip lock bag and coat evenly with the shish kabob marinate. Let it sit for about 1-2 hour at least.

2. Heat the skillet in medium heat with 1 Tbsp coconut oil. Pan fry the chicken until cooked

3. Squeeze some lemon on top, then enjoy with any veggie dish of your choice!

 

Easy Tandoori Chicken

When I’m going to bake bone-in chicken, I prefer to steam them first for about 15 minutes to make sure the inside will be at least half cooked before baking it in the oven. Besides it cut down the baking time, plus the meat will stay moist. This tandoori recipe is no exception and it turned out yummy!

Ingredients:
About 2 lbs chicken/beef – I used a whole chicken, cut up in to 4 pieces -skins removed
Juice from a whole lemon
1/3 cup yogurt (I used coconut milk)
Salt and pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp tandoori seasonings

Directions:
1. Mix all the marinate

2. Place the meat in a gallon size zip lock bag, coat evenly with the marinate. Let it sit for about 2 hour or overnight for best taste.

3. Steam the meat for about 15 minutes (If you use boneless meat, you can skip this part and head on to the next one). If you want to skip steaming, make sure to put longer time when baking in the oven.

4. Broil the meat in 400°F for about 20 minutes. If you didn’t steam the meat, bake it for 350°F then change the setting to broil. Time depends on the size of the meat that you use.

Remove from heat and enjoy with your favorite veggie dish. I ate mine with a side of Baked Cabbage.

I submitted this recipe to Primal Cave#3

 

Braised Coconut Shredded Chicken

This recipe was inspired by Indonesian “lemper ayam” recipe (sticky rice with shredded chicken filling wrapped in banana leaves). Since sticky rice is totally not Paleo (grain, high starch, sugar etc) I decided to only make the shredded chicken filling.

Braised Coconut Shredded Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 shallots
1/2 garlic cloves
2 stalks of lemon grass
1″ of galangal root
Handful of lime leaves
Salt
1/2 Tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3/4 cup of water

Directions:
1. Bring 3/4 cup water to boil.

2. Cook the chicken breasts for about 5 minutes (or until cooked). Reserve the water for future use (you just made your own chicken stock!) Let it cool.

3. After the meat has cooled down, shred the chicken with a fork. Set aside.

4. Chop the garlic and shallots (I used my Magic Bullet and pulsed them to get them minced). Cut and bruise the lemon grass. Slice the galangal root.

5. Heat 2 Tbsp coconut oil on medium heat. Saute the chopped garlic/shallot mixture with lemon grass, lime leaves and galangal until fragrant.

6. Mix in the shredded chicken breasts, pour in the coconut milk. Season with salt, pepper and coriander accordingly.

7. Turn up the heat to high and cook until all the water evaporated.

Discard the lemon grass, lime leaves and galangal. Serve with your favorite veggies side dish. This chicken will also be good in soup. Enjoy!

 

Lemon Date Chicken

I have LOTS of lemons from my sister in law’s parent’s backyard (organic no doubt!) and a container of Medjool dates that’s been sitting in my fridge for a while. So how about combining lemon juice with pitted dates as a marinate instead?

Lemon Date Chicken
Ingredients:
6-8 chicken drumsticks or leg quarters -skins removed
2 shallots – chopped
1/2 clove of garlic -chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
About 1 cup of fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
5-6 pitted medjool dates -soaked in hot water

The leg quarters I got were so small so after the picture taken, I had to add 6 drumsticks to use up all the marinate I made.

Optional: Handful of lemon basil
Substitution: you can use green onions, parsley or other fresh herbs of your choice.

Directions:
1. Soak the pitted medjool dates in hot water
2. Grate the lemon zest using your grater before juicing it.

A giant lemon - almost like an orange size!

3. Blend the soaked dates and lemon juice in your food processor (I love my Magic Bullet for this! Small and easy clean up afterward)

4. Place the chicken in a gallon size (big) zip lock bag, rub in salt and pepper and pour in the marinate. Make sure the chicken are all covered. Marinate for about 1 hour or overnight for better taste.

5. Place the chicken in the non reactive baking dish. Pre heat oven in 350°F.
6. Topped with chopped lemon basil leaves

7. Bake for about 1 hour in 350°F or until the chicken are cooked (juice should run clear when pierced with fork). Flip the chicken halfway through.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool for a bit.

As usual, enjoy!

 

So Ready for the Weekend

Hmm..not much going on today, except I actually made an effort to prepare hot breakfast for me and Hubby K after I finished my morning workout. (I munched on sweet potato prior cooking)

Fried egg, Costco Chicken Sausage and Trader Joe’s Uncured bacon.

Lunch was whatever left over from yesterday: Oven Fried Curried Chicken Fingers, Braised-to-Oven Fried Chicken Drumsticks and steamed broccoli.

Today’s weather was a bit cooler than yesterday, but that didn’t stop me getting my hands on these!

Aah Full Fat Fage Plain Greek Yogurt…I miss you so much! None of the stores around my neighborhood area carry this (only non fat and 2% fat -BLEH!), so when my co-worker C said she was gonna get her lunch at Albertson’s I instantly tagged along with her. That’s the only grocery store in the area which I usually go (in this case my workplace) carries this product!

Got back home, I cooked the lamb shoulder that I marinated the night before for our dinner. Plus steamed broccoli and lotus root from yesterday. Topped with Trader Joe’s Jose’s Hot Chipotle Salsa (can you believe I almost finished that entire jar???)

I’m soo ready for the weekend!

Speaking of which, I’ve been planning to write a post about what exactly is Paleo/Primal lifestyle/diet in depth rather than mentioning it here and there. I know some people would already familiar with it but I can’t always assume readers know about it, right? Also a post about saturated fat being bad is a myth should be a good one as well. Geez, I gotta research more. Writing a research essay is not really my strong point so that explains a lot why I’ve been procrastinating on it. Wish me luck!

 

Braised-to-Oven Fried Chicken

Braised-to-Oven Fried chicken
Ingredients:
6 drumsticks
Handful lime leaves
2 stalks lemon grass-bruised
Garlic
Shallots
1/4 cup coconut milk
Onions
6 candlenuts (or raw macadamia nuts)
1 inch fresh turmeric root or 1 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp coriander powder
1-2 cup shredded coconut flakes

Directions:
Blend garlic, onions, shallots, candlenuts, turmeric root, coriander pwdr to make a paste

Heat a pot in medium heat with coconut oil

Sauté the herb paste with lime leaves, and lemon grass until fragrant

Pour in the coconut milk & chicken drumsticks – let it simmer for 30 minutes
Season with salt accordingly

Cook until the sauce reduced to paste

Remove and let cool

Pre heat oven to 400°F in broil setting

Roll the cooked drumsticks on the shredded coconut flakes until evenly coated.
Place on a lined baking sheet and broil for about 20 minutes – turn over once

Set aside and let it cool on wire racks

Braised-to-Oven Fried chicken
Enjoy!