Cooking for my beloveds

[redbird]

Tonight, I made a curry with leftover cooked turkey, leftover roast vegetables (small amounts each of carrot, sweet potato, and rutabaga), and coconut milk instead of cow's milk or cream. I multiplied my usual curry recipe by 1.5 (onion, apple, spices, broth, coconut milk, and lemon juice), sort of eyeballing the turkey and roasted vegetables.

The rutabaga seemed underdone on Thursday, so I cut it smaller and simmered the pieces in the broth for 20 minutes with the apple, onion, and spices. The carrot, sweet potato, and turkey went in near the end, with the lemon juice. I didn't use raisins (or dried cranberries), which may be why the curry came out a bit more liquid than usual.

I was pleased and not really surprised that this recipe works quite well with coconut milk. The flavor isn't markedly better than milk or cream, so I probably won't buy coconut milk if I'm cooking just for me and cattitude, but adrian_turtle can't eat dairy, and she knew that using coconut milk would be a straight substitution. (It didn't curdle, but I took the same care to temper it as I do with cream, and when I do that the dairy milk or cream usually doesn't either.)

The roast carrots were really nice in this, maybe enough so that it's worth roasting some to use in this and other recipes; so did the sweet potato, but the carrots were a nice contrast with the softness of the cooked apple and turkey. (The rutabaga was okay but nothing special.)

Eight (volume) ounces of raw rice wasn't quite enough for the three of us; use nine next time I do curry for three.

Part of why I will probably use dairy milk most of the time is that making this as dinner for three people (without side dishes, though there will be dessert in a bit) used 4.5 tablespoons of coconut milk, or 2.25 fluid ounces; a can of coconut milk contains six times that much. I saved some coconut milk in the refrigerator, but don't know if I will use it; we have a similar container of tomato puree, which was an ingredient in today's lunch. That's in addition to the things that feel like leftovers: some roast turkey; a good supply of the cranberry-orange relish; some roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts; and the dumplings we didn't have room for last night.

Comments

[forestofglory]

Not sure what to do about the open can of coconut milk, but I have found that tomato puree freezes well.

[asia27.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you had a wonderful feast! I'd have to avoid the coconut milk because of allergies. I also use manoomin rice (wild Native rice from Wisconsin) instead of the usual rices. But I hope it was a wonderful time for all of you :D

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

To use up the coconut milk, cook rice in it. Replace 1/3 of the rice cooking water with the milk, or 1/2 for a richer dish, and toss in a bay leaf and an allspice berry or two; add sugar and fruit if you like for a dessert, or eat as a rich side dish to a well spiced main course.

It can also be frozen for a long time.

(I grew up eating a lot of rice cooked with coconut milk, often with kidney beans cooked in as well.)

[quility.livejournal.com]

I freeze my extra coconut milk like browngirl mentioned. I fill an ice cube tray and have cubes for later. The trick for me is remembering they are in the freezer. ..