Fun with coconut milk

Sometimes we have coconut rice--which is just jelof rice (I've told you about that one before) with a little coconut milk added. But Uchenna likes only a subtle coconut taste, meaning we use only about 3 or 4 tablespoons of said milk. That leaves me with most of a can to use before it goes bad. So I've been experimenting, and here are a couple of results.

Chocolate coconut cookies

Basically, I just make chocolate cookies and replaced the oil with coconut milk, rolling them in shredded coconut rather than in powdered sugar. Also I cut the recipe in half, since it originally made 6 dozen--too much for me.

I was concerned that the coconut milk would add too much fat, but it actually has a lot fewer grams of fat than the oil it replaces. There's that whole saturated vs unsaturated thing, but I just don't think about that.

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup shredded coconut

Mix cocoa powder and sugar. Add coconut milk, eggs--one at a time--and vanilla and mix well. Stir in flour, salt, and baking powder. Chill several hours or overnight (I tend to skip chilling in other cookies, but in this case the dough is pretty thin so it's necessary).

Heat oven to 350 deg. Pour shredded coconut into a small bowl. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the shredded coconut and roll them around until they form a coconut-covered ball. Place about 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Makes about 3 doz cookies.



Coconut-Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches

One time I made coconut-curry chicken, but the cooked chicken I used shredded as it mixed into the sauce and looked completely unappealing. Unwilling to waste it all, I strained the chicken back out of the sauce and sauteed new chicken that obediently stayed in docile little chunks. But what to do with the curry-flavored shredded chicken? It made lovely sandwiches! So here's the recipe in a less roundabout way.

1/4 onion, diced

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1 - 3 tsp yellow curry (depending on your taste)

1/2 Tbsp lime juice

1/3 c coconut milk

1/4 tsp chicken base or bullion granules

salt and pepper to taste

2 lb cooked chicken, shredded

lettuce

wheat toast or toasted croisant

mayonnaise, if desired

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add curry, lime, coconut milk, chicken bullion, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in shredded chicken. Chicken should be moistened enough to hold together without being overly saucy.

Use as chicken salad on toast or toasted croissants with crisp lettuce and maynnaise, if desired. Makes 4 sandwiches (I think).