Chicken With Coconut-Lime Sauce, Carrot Puree & Jasmine Rice

If you grow carrots, you know the exquisite, vaguely macabre feeling of pulling them up from the soil. Such was my recent experience when I was invited to take some carrots from my friend's garden. It's gross to say, but even though I enjoyed pulling out the carrots, holding them made me think of a painted Salome admiring John The Baptist's head brandished by a grasped hank of hair. It IS October, I guess this is apropos talk. Maybe it was because the tops were so grand and bushy...

Anyway!

I had a bunch of these knobby roots to use and decided to make a puree out of them, on which to lay some chicken, rice, and wee babe carrots. Lime-coconut sauce went over top and around. It was delish and branched the summer-fall divide really well! I took a lot of inspiration from this recipe I found online; I've made it with both chicken and fish and I ultimately prefer it with the chicken - but it is tasty either way.

I realize in retrospect I probably should have added something...not orange...to the plate!

Chicken With Carrots, Coconut-Lime Sauce, Carrot Puree & Jasmine Rice
Makes 2 servings

*EVOO
*2 boneless chicken breasts with skin
*1 bunch organic carrots, ideally with some teensy little carrots included
*1 knob of ginger, about the size of a thumbprint, chopped
*1 small onion, diced
*2 cloves garlic, chopped
*2 cups vegetable broth, divided
*2 tablespoons butter, divided
*Juice of 2 limes
*1/4 cup dry white wine
*1/2 cup coconut milk
*1/2 teaspoon of a citrus-flavored hot sauce (I use a fatalii sauce)
*S&P
*1 cup cooked jasmine rice (cook with some rice vinegar added to the water)

If the rice hasn't been cooked yet, start with that. I highly recommend adding some rice vinegar to the cooking water, gives a nice added dimension of flavor to the starch. Then, in a pot, saute the onion in some evoo until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and saute a few minutes more. Chop 5-6 carrots and add to the pot along with a cup of stock. Season with pinches of S&P and cover. Simmer until carrots are tender, about 20 minutes, then puree with an immersion blender or in a processor (carefully!). Melt a little bit of butter into the puree, check for seasoning and keep warm.

Meanwhile, pick the smallest carrots (or shave some down with the peeler) and put in a small pot with the other cup of stock, plus some excess coconut milk (maybe 1/4 cup), S&P, a tiny nub of ginger and a smashed garlic clove. Simmer until tender. This is an optional step, by the way, but I really like having some extra carrots on the plate!

Season the chicken breasts with S&P and in a skillet over medium high, heat some canola or olive oil, then pan-fry the breasts, starting skin-down and flipping after 5-6 minutes. If you have cutlets (or are using fish) you can fry them entirely on the stovetop; with larger breasts I prefer to pop them in a preheated oven to finish cooking for about 10-15 minutes after crisping the skin.

Make the sauce by reducing in a small saucepan the wine and lime juice by half over medium heat, then adding in the coconut milk and hot sauce. Simmer until sauce has thickened, then remove from heat and stir in the butter.

Assemble the dish by putting some puree on the plate, then heap some rice on top and arrange some carrots around. Top with the chicken and spoon over sauce. Finish with some fresh cracked pepper and some sea salt.