Expiriments in Southeast Asian cuisine

A Food Journal

Acorn Squash & Pineapple Chicken Curry with Black Bean Pineapple Coconut Mint Rice

On Sunday nights, I usually try to make a big pot/pan of some dish to portion out and bring for lunch each day. This week, I decided to try something new: a quasi-Indian/tropical dish.

The rice:
I cooked the (brown) rice in coconut water, pineapple juice (unsweetened), and homemade chicken stock with black beans (canned, 'cuz it's easier, low sodium, washed and drained), pineapples, chopped fresh mint (from the Mikey Gee garden collection), a little garlic, and a habanero pepper.

Simple. Delicious. this would go with so many dishes.

The curry:

First, i sauteed a white onion and green bell pepper with EVOO, salt and pepper, until it was very soft. Then I mixed in the other ingredients: two habanero peppers (diced), minced garlic, chicken (pre-cooked and pulled apart), 1/2 acorn squash (pre-cooked), pineapple (canned, unsweeted, with juice), fresh mint (chopped, from the Mikey Gee garden collection), half & half, small part sour cream, chicken stock (homemade), and curry powder. All ingredients are eyeballed, so I have no idea how much. Mix thoroughly. Bring it all to a simmer, and then reduced to desired thickness.

Serve the curry over the rice with warm naan.

I was very happy with the result. Worth repeating, and tweaking in the future. Will add to future lunch rotations. Might try 86ing the squash and substituting mango or papaya. Maybe serve with some fried plantains on the side, if served for a dinner meal. Suppose you could go vegetarian, take out the chicken (replace with garbanzo beans?), and sub white wine (or boring vegetable stock) for the chicken stock.

Future cooking expiriments include (but are not limited to):
Madzoon Soup (Tutmaj) (that's yogurt soup to non-Armenians), from an authentic Armenian family recipe wonderfully shared with me by a certain violent pink Armenian bunny.

Southwest Lasagne (revisited), a recipe of my own design, lasagne--texas style: with chili for the sauce, cornbread for the noodles, sour cream for the ricotta cheese, and pepperjack for the mozzarella.

Pho

See you next time kids!