Coconut 24/7

I’m not a big fan of cilantro. The truth is, I detest it. So I’m always making unique salsas that are devoid of the only herb I can’t stand. This is my new favourite, and it’s certainly unique: it’s cooked when most are raw; it contains apples and walnuts; and the sweet and sour essence of the coconut vinegar and sugar boost the flavours into a new stratosphere. I use it to garnish all sorts of dishes, including Bean and Nut Loaf (page 73) and One-Pot Pork and Vegetable Bake (page 84). You can add as much chopped fresh cilantro as you like!

1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion and bell pepper for 5 minutes. Add garlic, apples and curry spice blend. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar, sugar crystals and salt. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until apples and bell pepper are very soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.

2. Add chopped walnuts and stir to combine well. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

This satay is exceptionally tasty and easy to prepare. I often double or triple the recipe and serve them at room temperature for cocktail parties or with pre-dinner drinks. They’re always a hit.

2 cups Peanut Papaya Sauce (page 160) or Shiitake Peanut Sauce (page 159), divided

2. Using a meat pounder or rolling pin, pound chicken between 2 sheets of parchment paper until flattened to less than 1/2 inch. Cut each breast lengthwise into 4 strips and transfer to a shallow dish. Drizzle with 1 cup of peanut sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

3. Thread each strip of chicken onto an oiled skewer. Grill, basting with marinade, for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through and chicken reaches 165°F on a meat thermometer. Discard marinade. Serve with remaining 1 cup peanut sauce.

You can use wooden skewers, but metal cooks the chicken faster because it conducts heat. Soak wooden skewers for at least 30 minutes before using.

Coconut Caponata

Caponata is a traditional Italian dish featuring eggplant, garlic and tomatoes, often served with antipasti or as a relish. Toasted almonds and coconut give this version an Oceanic flair. Use it as an accompaniment for cooked meat, poultry and fish, as a sauce for cooked rice or pasta, or on toasted bread slices for a Polynesian bruschetta. Basil makes a great garnish.

1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion for 5 minutes. Add garlic and eggplant and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes or until eggplant begins to turn golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until eggplant is soft, the liquid from the tomatoes has been reduced and the mixture has thickened. Stir in gremolata and olives (if using) and heat through.

Coconut Shrimp

Because coconut shrimp is one of my favourite restaurant appetizers, I wanted to find an easy way to make these tasty morsels without a deep fryer. This recipe looks a bit more complicated than it actually is. Kids love an assembly-type dish because it gets them involved in the kitchen, so turn them loose! You can do this with 1/4-inch slices of carrot, squash, sweet potato or sweet bell peppers.

1 lb (500 g) large cooked peeled shrimp, tail on (about 16 to 20 shrimp, deveined)

1. Using a knife, make 2 or 3 small incisions on the inside of each shrimp to prevent them from curling once cooked. Rinse, drain and pat dry.

2. In a bowl, combine wine and aminos. Add shrimp, stir to coat well and set aside, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, set up an assembly line to coat and fry the shrimp: Place cornstarch in a resealable bag. In a small bowl, beat eggs. Spread coconut flakes over the bottom of a shallow plate.

5. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Toss 3 to 6 shrimp in cornstarch to coat well (number of shrimp you coat and cook at one time depends on how many you can fit in your skillet without touching). Working one at a time, holding shrimp by the tail, coat with egg first and then dredge in coconut flakes. Drop prepared shrimp into skillet, spacing well apart from each other, and fry for about 1 minute or until coating on the bottom turns golden. Turn shrimp over and fry for 30 seconds or until coating is golden.

6. Using tongs, transfer cooked shrimp to a shallow dish lined with paper towel. Using a mesh skimmer or slotted metal spoon, skim off and discard the browned bits from the oil. Repeat Step 5 until all of the shrimp have been cooked.

You can marinate the shrimp for up to 2 hours in the refrigerator before coating and cooking them, but do not marinate for longer or the texture will begin to break down.

It is easier to use fresh cooked shrimp, but you can purchase frozen cooked shrimp and thaw them overnight in the refrigerator. Be sure to rinse the thawed shrimp under cool running water, then drain and pat dry before marinating in Step 2.

If using uncooked shrimp, increase the amount of oil so that it covers the shrimp while they cook. Shrimp are done when they turn bright pink.

CAUTION: If the amount of cooking oil is increased, you must use a deep pot or deep fryer to cook the shrimp in order to avoid serious splattering and burns.

Coconut Mango Salsa

This salsa is big and bold and great with grilled fish or seafood, chicken or pork. The clear tastes of mango and coconut are enhanced by the shallot and cilantro (I added flat-leaf parsley as an option for cilantro-haters, like me).

1 cup freshly grated coconut or reconstituted dried unsweetened coconut flakes

1. In a bowl, combine mangoes, shallot, grated coconut, cilantro, lemon juice, nectar and oil and toss to mix well. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours.

Because it is raw, this healthy salsa is best served as soon as it’s made. The liquids do tend to separate upon standing. If this happens, strain using a fine-mesh sieve.

It’s best to use freshly grated coconut in this recipe, but if you don’t have fresh coconut on hand, soak dried shredded unsweetened coconut in 1/4 cup water while you prepare the vegetables. Drain (saving the soaking water for other recipes).

Toasted Coconut Chips

Kids love these tasty snacking chips. Moms and dads love them because they aren’t deep-fried and they don’t have all sorts of chemicals added. Everybody wins with these simple bites. You can mix them with toasted nuts for a twist.

2. Using a mandolin or vegetable peeler, slice coconut meat into wafer-thin, 2-inch-long strips. Arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with spice blend and season with salt (if using).

3. Bake in preheated oven, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes or until coconut is crisp and golden brown. Set aside to cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

This is one of those recipes that depend on your stove to determine the correct cooking time. I work with a convection oven that cooks much faster than a regular oven, so check the coconut often and write down the time that is optimal for you.

This recipe works best using fresh coconut meat—see page 12 for directions on extracting fresh coconut from the shell. If you have to use dried coconut, look for wide chips or flakes, but decrease the cooking time and watch carefully so that the coconut does not burn.

For a really healthy snack, toss 1 cup shredded kale with 1 tbsp melted coconut oil and the coconut strips before spreading on the baking sheet. Proceed with the rest of the instructions.

Vegetable Rice Stacks

Want a stunning opener for a special dinner? This is it! It’s delicious, healthy, easy to prepare, with no fussing over plating, yet it makes a fabulous visual statement. Add even more interest by garnishing with freshly grated flakes of coconut or sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano.

2. In a skillet or wok, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic and ginger for 1 to 2 minutes or until soft. Add green and red cabbage and bok choy and stir to coat well. Add 1/2 cup coconut water and bring to a boil. Add creamed coconut mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender-crisp and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in butter and raisins. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the wonton wrappers and cook according to package instructions. Using a colander, rinse with cool running water and drain well.

4. To serve, spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of the cabbage mixture onto each of 4 serving plates. Top with a wonton wrapper. Spoon 2 tablespoons of cabbage over each wrapper. Place 1 more wonton wrapper on each serving and top with a final layer of cabbage.

Creamed coconut is available in the baking ingredients section of well-stocked supermarkets (see page 14 for more information on this versatile product).

You can find fresh, pre-rolled sheets of pasta in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets. If you need to cut the sheets down to size, cook them first (in Step 3) and cut them after they cool.

Turkish Koftas with Peanut Sauce

Once you make these spicy morsels, you’ll see how easy they are. The skewers make them a great finger food for parties, but you can also roll them and bake them as meatballs. Serve with peanut sauce, as suggested here, or Banana Coconut Dip (page 132).

2. In a bowl, combine turkey, lamb, green onions, garlic, spice blend, cayenne, mint and salt. Using your hands, mix well. Divide mixture into 8 even portions and shape each into a small egg-shaped ball. Thread 2 balls onto each skewer and press each ball gently to form an elongated 1/2- to 3/4-inch flattened disc. Transfer to a platter, cover tightly and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 48 hours. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

3. Broil the koftas, turning once or twice, for 5 to 8 minutes or until cooked through and koftas reach 160°F on a meat thermometer. Serve with peanut sauce.

You can use wooden skewers or toothpicks for grilling, but I recommend that you invest in a set of stainless steel entrée- and cocktail-size skewers. Metal skewers do not require pre-soaking and transfer heat more uniformly than wood.

Ground meat tends to slip around on an oiled skewer, so for this recipe, do not oil the skewers.

Banana Coconut Dip

Coconut and banana combine to make this refreshing dip. Serve with nachos and crudités. It also doubles as a tropical accompaniment to grilled fish and chicken.

Shallots (Allium ascalonicum) are edible bulbs with a thin paper-like outer skin similar to onions. Shallots are smaller than onions and separate into cloves like garlic when peeled (in recipes, the sum of these “cloves” is considered a head or shallot). Shallots are sweeter and milder than most cooking onions and are often preferred over onions in sauce and dip recipes. If you don’t have shallots, you can substitute 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Spanish onion) or yellow cooking onion. Here are some of the shallot varieties I have found at farmers’ markets in the fall.

1. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté shallot and garlic for 3 minutes. Add spice blend and ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until onions are soft. Add orange juice, lemon juice and cream and bring to a boil. Add bananas, reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

Longer and usually without separate cloves, banana shallots (at left) are easy to slice using a mandolin or food processor. Yellow shallot (at right) is probably the most common. You will find it in grocery stores and supermarkets, but support local growers in the fall, when their crops are abundant. Almost as common as the yellow shallot are many different red varieties, including this one (in middle), which is called Prisma.

5
Appetizers & Snacks

Apple Walnut Salsa