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Good People, Good Food, and Movies

This was another interesting food and friend weekend. I began the week with a cauliflower pizza, which lasted for two evenings. I also finished up the beef stew topped with some quinoa I’d cooked and refrigerated. I like playing with quinoa.

Then I made a sheet pan dinner that also lasted for two nights. This time I placed parchment paper on the sheet before I added salt, pepper, and truffle oil to the potatoes, salted and peppered the broccoli, and topped the chicken thighs with butter, curry powder, and a little honey.

The latter (the curry, butter, and honey) is the first combination I made with chicken maybe 50 years ago. The combination was and is delicious.

I used frozen broccoli I’d bought at Trader Joe’s and wasn’t sure it would go straight from the freezer to the oven, but it worked out very well.

On Saturday, Sue and Karen came over to watch the Connecticut women’s basketball game at noon. Yes, we won by lots. We ate Cheez-Its, trail mix from Costco, and peanut butter cups from Aldi.

After we won, I put tiny potatoes into the oven, created an enormous salad, and Karen headed over to the Weber to grill a ribeye they’d bought from their own house. Dinner was delicious. Then we watched two movies in a row: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (meh) and Judah and the Black Messiah (both Daniel Kaluuya and the movie were memorable).

All together, eight hours of three things I like the most: good people, good food, and movies.

Hope we do this more often.

Now I am back to routine: Write a column or two, thaw some chicken for dinner, prepare for a 6 p.m. board of meeting, finish book for book club. The recipe here is a very good and very easy. Use any fairly spicy chili pepper you have. I always have cans of unsweetened coconut milk. I also buy big packages of sweetened coconut chips for my salads, but if you don’t have chips, a little toasted coconut works fine.

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.

Chicken Adobo with Coconut Rice

From Fine Cooking, February-March, 2021

Serves 6

For the chicken

Ingredients:

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1 serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3 to 3 ½ pounds)

For the rice

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain white rice

1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup toasted unsweetened coconut chips; more for garnish

3 scallions, sliced

Directions

In a Dutch oven, combine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, serrano, bay leaves, and black pepper. Add chicken, skin-side down, Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Turn chicken and simmer 15 minutes more. Place chicken, skin-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet.

Bring cooking liquid to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil gently uncovered until thickened and reduce to about 1 cup, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat. Discard bay leave. Skim the fat.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Broil chicken, 5 inches from heat, until skin is browned and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes.

Make the rice: Place rice in a fine-mesh sieve. rinse with cold water, then place in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir in coconut milk, ½ cup water, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let stand 10 minutes.

Fluff the rice with fork. Stir in toasted coconut and half the scallions. Serve the chicken with the rice. Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with remaining scallions. Garnish with additional toasted coconut.