There’s a sushi restaurant a few towns over where we go to dinner with friends once a year or so. I’m not a big sushi fan, but I am consistently wowed by their coconut chicken and broccoli. A few weeks ago when cleaning out the pantry, I noticed what I thought was a can of coconut milk left over from my birthday party in April, and decided to try my hand at a similar dish. When I got around to it earlier this week, I discovered that what I thought was coconut milk was actually sweetened cream of coconut — but I decided to use our classic “throw stuff together and see what happens” method of meal preparation. Good gracious, I’m glad I did.

Coconut Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 15-ounce can cream of coconut, mixed well
  
• 6-8 whole cloves
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• Fried chow mein noodles (optional)
• Cooked medium-grain rice (optional)

Place the chicken in a large baking dish and roast at 350° F until chicken is fully cooked. Set aside to cool.

When chicken is cool, remove meat from bones and roughly chop. In a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil and add the chicken. Cook until chicken is lightly brown and slightly crispy on the edges. Stir in coconut, cloves, soy, ginger, and Worcestershire sauce.Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch. Add to pan and stir until mixture is evenly distributed. Add lime juice. Increase heat slightly and simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until sauce has reduced considerably and become glossy. Stir in walnuts. Serve immediately, over rice and topped with chow mein noodles* if desired.

Serves 4-6

*As you can see from the image at top, I like mine with a lot of chow mein noodles…

Whether you slather it with maple at Thanksgiving or bathe it in raspberry at Easter, glazed ham is a holiday tradition. But why save your ham for the holidays? Inspired by leftover baked ham in our freezer (not left from a holiday, I promise…) and a few random additions from our pantry, a “what on earth are we having for dinner?” night turned into a very delicious, quiet (because we were too busy eating to talk) meal. Since cous cous is not only a favorite but a pantry staple for us, that’s what we served our ham over this time around; next time, I think I’ll try it with some sage stuffing and possible a citrus sparkle.

Pan-Glazed Ham and Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds baked ham
• 1/3 cup orange juice concentrate
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened strawberry jelly (we prefer Smucker’s Simply Fruit or Polaner All Fruit)
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup walnut pieces

Cut ham into bite-sized cubes; set aside. In a large skillet, heat orange juice, jelly, and spices over low heat. Stir constantly until mixture is homogenous and starts to bubble. Add ham and stir to coat. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes or until glaze has thickened considerably. Add walnuts and toss. Continue to cook 1-2 minutes or until ham and walnuts are thoroughly coated and no glaze remains in pan bottom. Serve immediately.

A practice that has fallen by the wayside in our house is making large batches of muffins and freezing them for later breakfasts — this recipe was in constant rotation. The finished muffins are moist even after the freeze/thaw cycle, but are best warm from the oven. If you’re not a fan of walnuts, mini chocolate chips work well here too!

If you regularly bake with bananas, try buying the bruised ones on sale and freezing them – they mash easier when thawed and there’s no difference in taste.

Banana-Walnut Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup mashed banana
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, banana, milk, egg, sugar, and vanilla until well-combined.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Pour wet ingredients onto dry and mix until just combined – dry spots and clumping are OK, and the batter will be very thick. Fold in nuts.

Pour into muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until skewer inserted in center is mostly clean but still damp.

Makes 12 regular muffins, 8 jumbo muffins, or 3 dozen mini muffins.