Coconut Vegetable Basmati Rice

I have not been posting, but I have been cooking up a storm, mostly for Buddha Kitty, who has been diagnosed with chronic renal failure. Well, that's what the blood tests say, of course, I always said starting a year ago, that by the time they get around to diagnosing his liver/kidney issues using blood tests my cat will be near death.

That, of course, is EXACTLY what happened, *fork* over a few thou anyways.

Interestingly, in this journey, Buddha Kitty has taught me a lot about homeopathics, holistic approaches, integrative medicine, asshole vs. sainted vets, and how owners must stick to their Cat's instincts, always.

He was losing weight dramatically; this meant getting and keeping food in him was a life-and-death challenge. His digestive system finally did get jump-started, *that's* a whole 'nother blog especially considering how many thousands of pet owners have furry loved ones with CRF after that bloody, terroristic pet food attack last year - and when it did, my beautiful cat began to eat.... and how! and what? What did he eat? eye-talian food!

Yep, that'd be prosciutto, bologna, chicken cooked with garlic, oregano, bit of cheese and tomato, more prosicutto, does he not like the dish? - put some tomato paste over it - for that matter, pour tomato soup with corn, fresh corn on the cob, aparagus, screw the rice, how about orzo instead. Fish? Cod? Okaaay but I prefer fillet of sole please... baked with a smidge of olive oil, garlic and basil... and frigging kale, which the sainted vet-author Carol Schwartz who wrote "Four Paws, Five Directions" about TCM for pets, has a recipe for CRF cats that includes kale, and asparagus, so dear folks, we ignore my sainted CAT's internal food taste machine at our own peril!

My beautiful, soulful Buddha cat, coming back from a CRF death ... on Italian food... yeah, yeah, he's got the science diet k/d out, also the modified diet kibble, he eats those too, plus about a tray of 20 different feline nutritional and herbal and other supplements, some prescription, others not, plus three difference kinds of cat vitamins and minerals... that he gets delivered through a feeding syringe twice a day, plus his sub-q fluids etc. etc. etc. But, make no mistake, he puts up with all of that ONLY if he gets fed pure Italian.

I kid you not. Sainted vet says (when I asked about the salty prosciutto) as long as he's eating we'll worry fine-tuning the "what" later, right now he's got to put on weight so whatever he's eating within reason, fine. Just watch the garlic and no onions and make sure he gets the canned and the kibble also.

Cat is now back to demanding food every two hours, demanding I get off the phone and pet him, demanding fresh-laundered, warm white towels for him to recline over, and looking at me with those magical aqua blue eyes from 10 thousand times 10 thousand years ago.

Back in action he is, a 6-7 on a scale of 1 to 10, better than the 1-2 he was mere weeks ago, proving for once and for all the kitchen is the medicine cabinet of first resort. You want to know what worked, it'll cost ya, not giving any of that away for free anymore.

I go back to where I left off, predictably with Mr. Coconut. I'll fix the vinegar and other sections in a bit, I am a busy, traveling person in a HURRY!

Coconut Vegetable Basmati Rice

SERVES 4

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Coconut etc.

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup coconut cream/milk
• ½ cup shredded coconut (optional)

Vegetables

• ½ cup green peas (fresh, froze, whatever)
  
• ½ cup carrots - cut in strips, bit pieces
  

Spices

• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 4-6 cardamom pods
• 4-6 cloves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)

METHOD

• Clean wash soak rice in water for 15 minutes, drain, set aside
• Heat oil in pan
• Add all spices stir for about 1 minute - don't let it smoke esp. if you're using cinnamon powder instead of a stick
  
• Add vegetables (green peas and carrots), and optional shredded coconut; stir fry for 4 minutes, keep the heat to stir-fry level.
  
• Add rice, salt, chicken broth with coconut milk
• Bring to a boil, cover the pan and turn down to low
• Simmer for 12-15 minutes

Serve with curry or yogurt. The picture does not do it justice, when I removed the cover to take the snap, the aroma was intoxicating. So the most accurate way to look at the picture is to imagine being suddenly intoxicated.

Sourcream Coconut Cornbread

Oops I did it again. Another insult to the South. I put flour in a cornbread recipe. Not only that, I used baking powder and baking soda. Good god, I can see the Dixie Mafia foodies on corporate food blogs burning a cross for me as I write this. I confess, I did think "cream-style corn" in a can they like so much, but thank god it was fleeting.

Instead, I turned to fresh corn and creamed it myself. Creaming corn according to XYZ taste wheel methods goes like this:

Coconut Creamed Corn
8 oz petite sweet corn niblets, fresh or frozen
1 cup evap milk
1 - 2 Tb Molasses
Coriander, Cumin, Chili Powder, Coffee
[1/2 tsp of the spices and 1/5 cup strong black coffee]
2 Tb Coconut Cream
1/3 cup Coconut flakes unsweetened

If you want, add 1/3 cup raisins drowned in cognac. This will change the straight-up savory earthy flavor which counterpoints well with an apple-carrot-celery winter soup or an Irish stew. Or else, add 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, or a few cones of piloncillo/jaggery melted in hot water.

Put it all in a pot, stir well, and put on real low heat for a while. Do NOT slime it up with corn syrup and corn starch please.

Here's the recipe for what is actually known as 6-C cornbread in my kitchen - Coriander, Cumin, Chili Powder, Coffee, Corn, Coconut.


Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking POWDER
1 tsp baking SODA
(Note there is no added sugar in this recipe because the corn has that)

Wet Ingredients:
1 Cup Sour Cream
3 eggs
1 stick butter, melted.
1 can's (14-16oz) worth coconut cream style corn as above

Method:
The usual cornbread drill: Mix dry well, make a well, mix wet well, add to the well, mix the mix well. Pour in an 8 by 8 buttered pan.

Bake at 380 for 35 minutes, and 400 for 5 minutes. Or 385 for 40 minutes. Depends on whether you have added the raisins or not. Without the coconut its 375 for 40. A stick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Results:
The coconut flakes add a subtle crunch and satisfying texture. It looks like cake, but tastes like rich savory bread, pure corn bread. It has deep, earthy tones; it is moist with a good solid crumb around the corn niblets.

The molasses provides a springboard for the other spices. You can also serve this with those very spicy chili recipes you do for chili contests. It has not a whit of sweet, and you don't want to sugar it up, instead you might just want to do the raisin version.