My Favorite Section of Bon Appetit’ Magazine

Have you ever read Bon Appetit’ Magazine’s RSVP section?  It’s a monthly feature in their magazine where readers write to the magazine asking them to get a recipe from a restaurant that had an amazing dish and they wanted to re-create it at home.

It’s my favorite section in their magazine and I have saved those 3-4 pages from every magazine in a binder.  (ok, truth be told, some may be in stacks on my coffee table, desk or bedside).  They are usually more elaborate recipes and I often say they are “dinner party” recipes but I need the time to make them for my family first as a test run.  Perhaps in my retirement?

Anyway, I came across a restaurant meal worthy of writing to Bon Appetite but never got around to it.  And then the unthinkable happened  . . . the restaurant closed!  Our friends that introduced us to the restaurant, Chuck and Karen, were equally devastated.  It was our favorite dish!

Months passed but my craving for Avesta’s coconut curry chicken didn’t.  One night while I had insomnia, I decided to Google Avesta’s Curry Chicken thinking maybe someone else had requested the recipe or maybe I could find it on a blog.  Surely someone else had to have written about it  . . . we couldn’t be the only four people who loved it so much.

To my delight, I not only found the recipe but a blog from the restaurateur herself called Check it out Avesta.  I was so excited, I almost woke my husband up to share the good news but came to my senses and decided I should just make it for him the next day.  It was so ironic to read the following introduction to the recipe which was if she was talking to me directly:

“If you ever ate at my restaurant Avesta Eclectic Cuisine then you may have tried one of our most popular dishes, Curry Chicken. My Curry Chicken was a little different than traditional Indian Curry Chicken but ended up being one of our biggest hits. I have been missing the restaurant a lot lately and decided to make a simpler & quicker version of that Curry Chicken. So if you are one of those loyal customers and have been dreaming of Avesta’s Curry Chicken…try this recipe while sipping on a Pomegranate Martini and reminisce about those fun nights in Delaware, Ohio.”

Enough on the background of this great recipe.  Here it is for you to enjoy as well.

Avesta’s Baked Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds chicken (I use skinless chicken thighs, bone-in) 

1 can coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

2-3 teaspoons cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like your food)

2 tablespoons curry powder (again depending on how much you like curry)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon sugar

salt & pepper to taste

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash the chicken and pat dry with a paper towel.  Pour the chicken broth and coconut milk into a baking dish and whisk together to mix well.  Add spices and blend into broth mixture.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and place in baking pan.  Spoon some broth over each piece.

Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, carefully remove the foil and turn chicken and mix up the broth mixture so the coconut milk breaks up. Put the baking dish back in the oven uncovered for another 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and very tender.

Once you remove the baking dish from the oven, carefully pour the sauce into a saucepan and add 1 tablespoon butter. Mix using a whisk, bring the sauce to a boil and whisk till smooth and reduced.  Keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t overflow.

Taste the sauce to make sure it is spicy enough for your liking.  If not, add more cayenne pepper and curry powder. Serve chicken over rice with extra sauce.

 Enjoy!  I would love to hear how you like this delicious ethnic dish!