I mentioned earlier this year about a post on Yahoo! called Top Ten Foods People Love or Hate. I was looking back over that recently and realized that coconut was one of the foods mentioned. Having never met a coconut that I didn’t like, I find it hard to believe that some people don’t like it. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever met any food that I didn’t like (well, except for raccoon – I’ll never do that again!). My grandfather, Pa Allen, used to crack, shell and grate fresh coconuts every year at Christmas for my Nonnie when she was making her delicious fresh coconut cakes. He never seemed to mind doing that job for her. I’m sure it was because, like most of my family, he enjoyed Nonnie’s cooking. She was one of the best! Pa would always manage to sneak us bits and pieces of the coconut as he was grating it. I think it was his way of bribing us to help with the clean up. It worked. While I don’t make my grandmother’s coconut cake, I do make one that is really, really good. It comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Calico Cupboards. This picture is from the first edition. It has a new cover now. The one I use is actually falling apart because it has been used so often. This copy is one I’m saving for Perfect Girl, and it is autographed by the lady (Pauline Reed Bethel) on the cover. You may remember reading about her in Mystery Rolls that I published earlier.

Ethel Roberts Coconut Cake
(I have no idea who Ethel Roberts was.)
1 Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
12 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together; beat well. Bake in a 13x9x2-inch cake pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook according to package directions. When cake comes out of the oven and while it is still hot, punch “thousands” of holes in the top of it with a toothpick or fork (whatever you have that makes nice holes will do).

Icing:
1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk
1 can cream of coconut (Be sure to shake this up really well before opening.)
1 9-ounce tub of Cool Whip
2 packages of fresh frozen coconut (Be sure is is the frozen kind.)

While the cake is still hot, drizzle Eagle Brand milk and cream of coconut on the top. Let the cake cool. Spread Cool Whip on the top and sprinkle with the fresh frozen coconut. Refrigerate.
This is one of those cakes that gets better a day or two after it is made. It is great to make ahead and take to parties or pot luck dinners. It is definitely not low-cal!

. The next recipe comes from a cookbook by Melinda and Robert Blanchard. It is called at blanchard’s table: A Trip to the Beach Cookbook. I bought it after reading their book entitled A Trip to the Beach: Living on Island Time in the Caribbean. You can hear an interview with them at this Barnes and Noble web site. How could I resist it? It talked about two things absolutely dear to my heart: cooking and the beach! The book is about their escape from civilization to open a restaurant on Anguilla. It sounds heavenly, but I’m sure I wouldn’t think so after a hurricane or two. I’d certainly love to go for a visit however. We enjoy this Coconut Curried Chicken, and I hope you will as well.

Coconut Curried Chicken
Serves 4 -6
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (more if you prefer is spicier)
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 pounds bonelees, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (Try your specialty food stores for this.)
2 scallions (white and green parts), cut into 1-inch pieces
2 heads baby bok choy (white and green parts), cut into 1-inch pieces (I find this at our Farmer’s Market usually or at Fresh Market.)
1/2 cup shitake mushroom caps
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt
Jasmine rice, prepared
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the curry paste and cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the sweet potato and chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and coconut milk; reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until the chicken and sweet potato are cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Blanch the scallions and bok choy in the boiling water until bright green and crisp-tender, 1 -2 minutes, then drain. If the shitakes are bite size, keep them whole. If not, cut them into halves or quarters. Heat the oil in a small saute pan and cook the mushrooms quickly, just to sofen. Just before serving, add the scallions, bok choy and mushrooms to the chicken pot. Season with salt and serve immediately over jasmine rice and garnished with cilantro.