Green Curry Chicken

I love green curry. Some think it is hard to make, but really is quite easy. The trick is in making the green chili paste. Making green chili paste really can't be made on the boat, but you can make it in advance at home and bring it to the boat or wherever you might be.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 green jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 t white vinegar
• 3-4 large chicken thighs with bone & skin
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 T freshly grated ginger
• 1 t ground coriander
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t ground tumeric
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 T fish sauce
• 1/2 C fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 C sliced bell pepper
• 1 t lime juice
• 2 cans coconut milk

Green chili paste:
Place jalapeno peppers and vinegar in food processor and process until peppers are a fine paste. Wear gloves and be very careful not to get any in your eyes.

Green curry:
Using a heavy pot, heat oil until almost smoking over high heat and add chicken thighs. Brown chicken thighs turning often for about 5 minutes. Don't worry if chicken skin or other parts stick to bottom of pot. Remove chicken from pot and set aside. Next add chopped onion and cook until onion is browned on edges about 5-7 minutes. Add 2 T green chili paste (more if you like it hotter), garlic, ginger, spices, and stir fry for 1 minute. Return chicken to pot and mix well with ingredients. Add chicken broth, reduce heat to low and let cook covered for 30-40 minutes. You may need to add some water if too mix gets too thick. Finally, add the fresh basil, fish sauce, sliced peppers, lime juice, coconut milk and mix well. Let this cook uncovered for another 20-30 minutes over low heat. This will reduce and thicken your chicken green curry. Pick out the chicken thighs, remove the meat from the bone, and put the chicken meat back into the curry.

Serve over fresh cooked basmati rice.

Serves 4. Preparation time: 15 minutes. Total time: 90 minutes.

Jalapeno-Sunflower Seed Pesto

This recipe is from my cookbook, "Independence Recipes."

This recipe sounds spicy, but by adding the cream it takes the spicy heat out of the jalapeno so you can enjoy the subtle flavors. It's a rich dish so cut the richness with a glass of red wine or some spirits.

It was invented during a stormy fall boat trip out to McMicken Island here in South Puget Sound. I wanted something spicy, hearty, and with plenty of flavor. When served it was greeted with rave reviews - a bunch of hungry guys who just finished scuba diving. I have made it many times again and always seem to get good reviews from it. It's definitely a different take on pesto.

Pesto:

• 1-2 fresh jalapeno chilis, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/3 C toasted sunflower seeds
• 1 1/4 C fresh parsley
• 1 1/2 C fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 C olive oil

Main dish:

• 1 C of jalapeno-sunflower seed pesto
• 3/4 lb. of mild or sweet Italian sausage
• 1 C heavy cream
• 2 C cheese totellini or tortelloni
• Olive oil
• 1/4 C red wine
• Parmesan cheese, grated for topping
• Sunflower seeds as garnish

Make pesto:
In food processor, chop above ingredients with half of quantity of olive oil. Then add remaining half of olive oil and blend until ingredients are finely mixed. Do not overblend.

Main dish:
Add small amount of olive oil (less than 1 tsp) to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add Italian sausages and cook sausages 10-15 minutes turning occasionally. Use tongs instead of a fork to turn sausages since a fork pricks the sausages letting out the juices. Deglaze sausages by adding red wine, turn heat down to simmer, and cover for 5 minutes. Remove sausages from pan and slice thinly. Reserve pan along with drippings.

Meanwhile boil salted water and add tortellini. Reduce heat and cook tortelli according to instructions or when tortellini is done. Drain water and drizzle olive oil over cooked tortellini to keep them from sticking.

Return sliced sausages to pan they were cooked in, increase heat to medium. Add pesto and mix well. Next add heavy cream and stir continuously until mixture is heated and reduced by one third or more. Do not burn!

To serve, arrange tortellini in bowls or plates, and pour heated sausage, pesto, cream sauce over tortellini. Top with parmesan cheese and some extra sunflower seeds.

Serves 4. Prep time: 15 minutes. Total time: about 1 hour.