Coconut Stewed Chicken

The other night, it was pretty darn cold outside, and I was looking to make a warm, comforting batch of stewed chicken. I had a couple of thighs, legs and breasts that I cut up into chunks for this recipe, but you could use whatever cuts you have. I modified a recipe for Trinidad Stewed Chicken that I found on allrecipes.com to fit my needs. This dish really hit the spot, and there were very little leftovers. My oldest son just gobbled it up and went back for seconds and thirds! I liked the simplicity of the recipe - it was very straight forward.

Coconut Stewed Chicken
Ingredients:
1 (4 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
4 tablespoons finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup canned lite coconut milk
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon butter
Cornstarch or flour (for thickening) - optional

1. Place chicken on a plate. Sprinkle the cilantro, garlic, onion, salt and pepper over it. Cover, and marinate for 30 minutes.

2. Heat the coconut oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Stir in the sugar, and cook until the sugar has melted into a nice golden brown syrup. Add the chicken pieces, and brown quickly while turning continuously. Cover the pot, and let it cook for 2 minutes.

3. Pour in 1 cup of water, lite coconut milk and pepper flakes. Replace the lid, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the ketchup and butter. Continue cooking until chicken is fork tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Add a little cornstarch or make a slurry of 2 tbs warm water and 1 tbs of flour, and add to the pan to thicken the gravy. Serve chicken with the sauce in the pot as a gravy.