This pot roasted coconut chicken is stunning – but simple to make with so few ingredients. This is the kind of food I really love to make. And it just happens to be good for you!! It’s a recipe from the “Feel Good Food” cookbook by Valli Little, an icon in the Australian food industry, chef, cookbook author, and magazine editor.
It’s not every day that you get to meet a legend in the Australian cooking industry. Well, for me, it’s never. I live an ordinary life without sparkle and glamour. So when I was asked if I would be interested in checking out Valli Little’s new cookbook and not only that, if I would like to meet her….well! Let me tell you, it was like Christmas came early!!
I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. Valli graciously invited me to meet at her house and from the moment I stepped into her house, it was like meeting an old friend. You know how some people have the ability to put people at ease and make them feel welcome instantly? Valli Little has that. The thing that struck me so much about her was how humble and ordinary she is. With a streak of cheeky. She’s just like you and I, your neighbour, your friend, your mum, your work colleague.
Oh wait. She just happens to be one of the most well known professionals in the Australian food industry. Food Director of Delicious magazine, author of the Delicious series of cookbooks, professionally trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London, widely travelled. I see her recipes everywhere!
There’s something else that really struck me about Valli. Her passion for food. (Knowledge goes without saying). She really loves what she does. I mean really. You hear about how people’s eyes sparkle when they talk about something they are passionate about. And that’s what I saw when Valli and I chatted casually about her background, family, what it’s like to write cookbooks, her apparently not-so-schmancy life in the magazine world (she really burst my bubble there), and of course food.
When I am with my family, we are usually eating, cooking, planning our next meal, talking or arguing about food. Remove the arguing part, and my morning with Valli was like spending it with my family. It was that comfortable and I was right in my zone, chatting about what I love!
I was pretty intrigued to hear more about her latest cookbook, Feel Good Food. Firstly, Valli is most certainly not a trendy-health food chef. Just like me, she pooh-poohs food trends for the sake of it – think paleo, kale, chia seeds etc.
So I knew there was a backstory to this cookbook which – in all honesty – if you ignore the title you would not actually think is a “healthy” cookbook. Actually, it’s not – she is very quick to point that out. As she says in her words, it is just about being more aware of what you put into your body. For Valli, it was a health scare last year when she was diagnosed with bowel cancer. We didn’t chat about that – I forgot to ask her publisher if that was off bounds – but I did know about it.
She talked about her treatments and the scare it gave her and her family. It was the instigator for this cookbook which is just about being more careful about what you cook with to make it better for you, without running out to buy all sorts of fancy, expensive sugar substitutes and ingredients that I can’t even pronounce.
There are so many recipes from her cookbook that I wanted to share but I could only pick one. I’m going to ask Valli if I can share another one because there are a few more that I really, really love.
I think she’d be surprised to know how many of the recipes I’ve already made. But this pot roasted chicken is a stand out. About as far as it can be from the traditional pot roasted chicken, it’s modern, fresh tasting with an Asian spin with stellar flavours and it’s clean. That’s the part I keep forgetting – this is a clean recipe!
PS If you are already thinking that stuffing the herb mixture under the skin is too hard, don’t! I have a nifty tip to make it super easy – refer to the step by step photos in the recipe below. It will honestly take you 2 minutes. And you won’t tear the skin!! 😉
The broth is sensational, it really is. I made this chicken 4 times in 3 days just before I left for Mexico and I was drinking the broth out of a cup. The base is coconut milk which is lightened up with chicken broth/stock and it has the delicate earthy fragrance of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves (I’ve provided subs for this!), freshness from lime, a touch of sweet and salty. When I first read the recipe, I thought “the flavours won’t be punchy enough for me”, but boy was I wrong!
You know, I was actually going to interview Valli properly, and I’m sorry if that’s what you were hoping for. I had a list of the usual questions – how she got started, what it’s like to write a cookbook, etc etc.
But all that went out the window when we started chatting because a) I didn’t want to stick my iPhone between us to record our conversation (talk about a mood killer!) b) to me, it was so much more meaningful to just “get to know her” and be able to share my experience with you than typing out answers to interview questions.
I only asked her one (very important) question that I jotted down the answer to.
If you had to go to deserted island for the rest of your life, what 3 foods would you take?
Here’s Valli’s answer:
Raspberries, oysters and french champagne
Just in case you are curious, here is my answer:
Fresh homemade bread and butter*, cheese** and french champagne
* Every time I play this game, people try to tell me that bread and butter and 2 separate food items. However, I say it really fast and it’s my game so I deem that they are one food item.
** This is all the cheeses in the world. Every single type.
Who wants to come live on a deserted island with Valli and me? It will be a parteeeeee!!!! 😉 – Nagi x
PS Ugh. Seriously. This coconut broth. It is a ripper. Absolutely sensational. You will want to drink it out of a cup too.
If you love coconut milk sauces, you’ll love these!
-
An amazing easy Thai Coconut Noodle Soup
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Pot Roasted Coconut Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 long red chilies (Note 1)
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or substitute with olive oil)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1 cup finely chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
- 3 lb /1.6kg whole chicken , preferably organic/free range
- 2 cups / 500 ml chicken broth/stock (preferably reduced salt)
- 1 lemongrass , white part only, bruised (Note 2)
- 2 kaffir lime leaves (Note 3)
- 14 oz /400ml light coconut milk (1 can)
- 0.8 lb / 400g baby potatoes , scrubbed clean
- 1 lime
- 2 tsp coconut sugar (or substitute with brown sugar)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 390F/200C.
- Finely mince ONE red chili (~1 tbsp). Combine chili, ginger, garlic, oil, 1/2 cup cilantro/coriander, salt and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.
- Rinse and pat the chicken dry (inside and out) with paper towels. Starting from the neck end of the chicken, use a teaspoon upside down to loosen the skin from the meat across the surface of the chicken (i.e. not the legs or wings). Just go as far as you can.
- Spoon the cilantro/mixture between the meat and the skin near neck. Use the spoon to spread it a bit, then to finish it off, use your finger/hands ON the skin to spread the mixture as far and evenly as you can. Doesn't need to be perfect! 🙂
- Place the chicken stock/broth, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and the whole red chili into a dutch oven or baking tray. (Note 4)
- Place the chicken in the broth, cover with a lid and roast for 45 minutes. Remove the lid, add the coconut milk and potatoes then roast for a further 30 minutes, or until juices run clear when pierced.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and cover loosely with foil to rest for 5 minutes.
- Skim excess fat off the surface of the broth - I usually get about 5 tbsp of fat off.
- Add the juice from the lime, sugar and fish sauce. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add remaining cilantro/coriander.
- Serve the chicken with the broth in a pouring jug, or cut up the chicken and serve it in the broth.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings with 5 tbsp of fat scooped off the surface of the broth after cooking.
PS This is a post sponsored by Harper Collins, the publisher of Feel Good Food. I feel incredibly blessed that I get to work for and meet such talented people as my job!
PPS The book is available online from Angus & Robertson, Booktopia, Boomerang Books, in department stores and book shops. Christmas gift idea! 🙂
PPPS I mentioned that I made this 4 times in 3 days, and that’s because whenever I share a recipe on my blog that is not my own and/or I have not made before, I want to be sure it works and also so I can explain some of the trickier/”risk” areas better in the recipe.
The downside of rushing to make this so many times before I left to go overseas is that I made mounds and mounds of chicken that I couldn’t consume myself. So I was handing it out to everyone I saw! And do you know what the homeless guy said to me when I delivered my last lot of food to him? He said “It’s a good thing you’re away for a month because I need to lose some weight!”.
Hmph! Apparently I’m making him fat! 😉
I can’t believe how good the chicken looks. I love the combination of flavors. I could probably tie into that chicken and finish it!! We always like to put an herb mixture under the skin but never this combination. Wow!! This recipe is a keeper! I better go out and get some larger size stretchy pants 🙁
It’s interesting, isn’t it? It’s a really clever recipe, I think you’ll be amazed!! It’s almost like a really light curry / soup flavour. 🙂 Go the stretchy pants. I have many stretchy dresses in my wardrobe!! N x
Nagi
This is the reason you are the only blogger I follow! You make cooking so much fun and every recipe is special but easy to cook. Can’t wait to try this on my family.
By the way I have a kaffir lime growing in my garden in Adelaide. So easy to grow and fresh leaves always available. Love to just pick to smell!
Have a great day. Gill
NO!!! How did I never think to grow a kaffir lime tree? That is so cool, I would be picking the leaves every day!!! Thank you for your lovely comment, I’m really flattered! Love hearing from a fellow Aussie too. 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi! What a great experience! I’m with you, bread and butter is one item and I total agree with the cheese(s) and beverage choice! This recipe sound lovely! Big weekend coming up – I am so excited for you! 🙂
Well! It goes without saying that YOU must come on the deserted island with me Dorothy! Can you just imagine what trouble we would get in to? 😉 Yes big weekend! So looking forward to meeting everyone!! N x
Drooling again – my dinner’s now set for Saturday. Thanks to you. You ARE lucky!! I went to a web expert who told me to start interviewing clients for my blog. I was so worried about bothering them, but it has been so much fun getting to know even ordinary people. They have had fun seeing their names in print, and I have made some new friends. But forget that island with food, I’m going thru the middle aged get rid of the muffin top faze that you think will never happen to you!
Muffin top phase? OK, I have a weird thing about muffin tops. And you know, there is a bakery in australia that sells MUFFIN TOPS only!!! Ba ha ha!!
Looks fabulous. I am thinking of using this recipe for my Christmas turkey. I make a really yummy, moist turkey that “sits” in white wine, melted butter and herbs and is covered with heavy foil. I cook the turkey at very high heat and take the foil off towards the end to brown it. It’s always been super. This year, since I’m having turkey for both TG and Xmas, I thought it would be fun to vary the flavor slightly for Christmas. This might work just perfectly with the spices and herbs you list and the coconut milk to replace the white wine in my original recipe. What do you think?
Woah! What a sensational idea!!! You do that with a whole turkey? *ears perk up* I may have just gotten an idea for a thanksgiving recipe to share!!
To be honest, I think the flavours in this recipe (i.e. lemongrass, chili, ginger, kaffir lime leaves) are more suited to coconut milk because they are Asian flavours. If you want to do one with white wine, I’d stick with your flavours that you mentioned earlier!
How clever, I really will try this very soon! Thank you for the idea!!
Here’s my original turkey recipe. I use this EVERY time I make a turkey as it’s so delicious and easy. I’m thinking of modifing the recipe with your chicken recipe to serve at Christmas. One thing about the original recipe is that I always stuff the turkey – not sure how not stuffing it would effect the timing.
Place turkey in roaster. Melt 1 stick butter and add – 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp sage, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 cup white wine. (Instead of using these ingredients, I would use the spices and coconut milk as you have in the above recipe>) Pour over turkey. Cover turkey tightly with heavy duty foil. Roast at 450 as follows:
10-13 lbs – 2 3/4 – 3 hours
14-17 lbs – 3 – 3 1/4 hours
18-21 lbs – 3 1/4 – 3 1/2 hours
22-24 lbs – 3 1/2 – 3 3/4 hours
Remove the foil so that turkey can brown for the last 30 minutes of the time.
So what I’m thinking is I will use all of your ingredients, but cook the turkey in the same way as I usually do with the high heat and the foil.
If you do make this before Christmas, let me know how it turns out. Another recipe that I saw recently was an Asian spiced turkey. Here are the spices they used to rub on the turkey…
2 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup Sriracha chile sauce
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
They then stuffed the following into the turkey cavity…
1 bunch Thai basil
3-4 stalks lemongrass
1 bunch scallions
2 inch section of fresh ginger, sliced
Ooh, that’s so awesome! Thank you!!!
So generous of you Nagi! I would love to package my food the way you do and give to the homeless, but there are strict guidelines about doing it here, in Los Angeles. Oh well, will figure out a way.
Yes to Lemon Grass! The flavor is Amazing!!!
Hmm….I’m pretty sure there are rules here in Australia too. I think of it like delivering food to family and friends! 😉
Hahahaha! That homeless man’s answer was just too funny! Though I wouldn’t be complaining if you handed me loads of this – that coconut broth does sound fantastic – and so aromatic!
Valli sounds like such a dear – I love how you rave about people who come into your life – so sweet Nagi!
I know, right? He said he went up a belt notch and couldn’t afford new jeans! 😉
Can’t wait to try this. You see, I have SEVERE allergies – can’t have gluten, diary, soy, cane sugar, eggs and an assortment of other foods. You say you poo-poo food trends for the sake of it, like paleo and chia seeds. It breaks my heart if you feel paleo is a fad. For people like me recipes that are Paleo aware are a godsend ( and I use chia seeds in a recipe to substitute xanthan gum all the time when baking). That being said, this recipe I can eat! -I’ll just sub the white potatoes for sweet potatoes! Coconut milk is such a great thing! As soon as I was diagnosed, I had to figure out substitutes for things fast and now I have some form of coconut every day. Oh, and as always, beautiful pictures! See you this weekend!
Oh no! Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for diets for those with dietary requirements. I have some very good friends with various severe (scary) allergies to any nuts starting with “p” – including anything derived from them, and seafood. So I have the utmost respect of dietary requirements. But what I don’t get on board with are those who jump on the trendy diet train because of that reason – it’s a trend. I hope I didn’t offend! I didn’t mean to. What I pooh-pooh are trends. It would be insincere for me to express enthusiasm and expend energy and creativity making paleo recipes and sharing them as such. Because I was lucky enough to be born without any food allergies and it is not “me” to cook with kale, chia seeds etc.
Diets out of necessity and following diets because they are a trend – big difference! 🙂 And I do think it’s so wonderful that people who DO have allergies are able to benefit from the paleo food trend with the wider variety and refreshing new ideas for recipes!! 🙂
I’m so looking forward to meeting you this weekend too!!! And thank you so much for your comment, I really appreciate it. 🙂 N x
Yup, I’m coming to the desert island with you too, please. I’d bring bread and cheese, too (and chocolate – you can eat that with the bread, as well). But I think it would be more sensible if I brought some totally different foods along to the party, so I’ll bring tomatoes and eggs as well as my chocolate 🙂
Nagi, I can’t believe you got to meet the ‘Delicious’ mag lady! I LOVE that magazine – both the English and Australian versions. The photos are always SO stunning.
And as for this chicken … wow. Pretty much my idea of a perfect meal idea. Love it!
Oooh! YES you get to come on the deserted Island with us if you’re bringing chocolate!!! 🙂
What a great experience. Blogging truly opens up so many channels that we could not have imagined. I also love working with coconut milk. Makes any dish so rich.
Thank you Peter! It really was pretty amazing!! N x
Yet another recipe I really want to make. Wish I had enough meals to eat that I could make all of them. I’ll have to check my local Asian grocery again to see if they have Kaffir lime leaves. I’ve never seen them locally, but haven’t checked lately. I’m glad you just enjoyed your visit with Valli Little. I’ve read a few interviews with special people on food blogs, and they just don’t do that much for me. I think you probably got way more out of your visit as it was than you would have if you were doing a formal interview.
Thank you Susan, that means the world to me. I know what you mean about interviews with special people. I hope it goes without saying that I’m pretty selective about who I choose to work for and I am still disbelieving that this opportunity came my way!! 🙂
I am insanely jealous that you met Valli!! I LOVE Delicious Magazines and religiously bought it in Australia! Even have the collection now!
That chicken looks divine Nagi! I make a lemongrass coconut chicken noodle soup, but Im going to try it out with this now! I think it would taste phenomenally better! 😀
I’m still in awe that I met her…and yet that it was like catching up with an old friend!!! 🙂
Oh my this looks amazing! I swear I can almost smell it from here!! I have to make this!! 🙂
Thank you Cassandra! The smell really is amazing, it smells so exotic and gourmet!!