My plan ahead meal was outstanding!!

Remember my chicken-plan-ahead-freeze-meal I put in plastic bags a few days ago? http://jenniferstec.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-planned-ahead-big-time.html

I used one of the bags last night, and it was really good!!! We have 2 bags left, which is great for future dinners! I roasted it according to the recipe, and it turned out crispy and very flavorful. We had corn on the cob with it.

I planned ahead big time!!!

I Love Real Simple magazine! Unfortunately my subscription just ran out. Paying off my enormous student loan debt comes before magazine subscription luxuries these days. But, when I did have a subscription I tore out recipes and saved them in probably the only organized file I have. I'm still getting around to making some, and I saw this one yesterday before heading to the supermarket and decided to plan ahead! So now i have 3 ziplock bags in my freezer, each filled with 3 chicken legs or drumsticks and this sauce. I havn't TASTED this yet..but one of these days I'll let you know! It took seriously less than 10 minutes!

Trini Stewed Chicken

Malanga
Malanga boiling
Plantain and stewed chicken



Because I am so far away from St.Croix, I try to make as many dishes from the Caribbean as possible. If Jason let me make plantain for dinner every night I would! Last night I made Trinidadian Stewed Chicken. After perusing various stewed chicken recipes online I settled on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.

I also made fried plantain(yay! My favorite..) and decided to try cooking Malanga for the first time. Malanga is a root, much like Taro. It's kind of intimidating looking raw. But i was inspired to do an easy boil, add salt and butter- recipe. I chopped it up into small cubes after getting rid of the rough exterior, then i boiled it for maybe 15 minutes. I drained it and added salt and butter. Final conclusion, egh....not so special. It was very similar to potato, only it was kind of purple which is fun. Probably won't bother making it again.

SO, back to the stewed chicken। It turned out great! Chicken is a meat that i rarely cook. It can taste so gross much of the time. I only eat it if it is saturated with flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 (4 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces (For 2 people i used only 2 chicken breasts)
  
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
  
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Place chicken on a plate. Sprinkle the green onion, cilantro, garlic, onion, salt and pepper over it. Cover, and marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, and cook until the sugar has melted into a nice golden brown syrup. Add the chicken pieces, and brown quickly while turning continuously. Cover the pot, and let it cook for 2 minutes.
3. Pour in 1 cup of water, coconut milk and pepper flakes. Replace the lid, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the ketchup and butter. Continue cooking until chicken is fork tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve chicken with the sauce in the pot as a gravy. Pour over rice.