A Rum Infused Life

Low Carb Coconut Chicken Curry (Back in the Atkins Saddle Again)

I’m back on the Atkins diet.  In 2000 I weighed in at 223 lbs, and a year later I was down to 170.  I managed to keep it off by sticking to the “Ongoing Maintenance” portion of the diet until 2006, when I went off the diet completely (it was a busy year for me career-wise, and proper eating just didn’t fit into the schedule of working on a gubernatorial campaign).  The weight slowly came back on, ounce by ounce, over the course of the last three years.  On New years Day I clocked back in at 193.5 lbs, and decided it was time to take action, so I went back on the Atkins Diet.  I’ve lost 4.5 lbs in five days thus far.

I found a recipe similar to the one below on another website and tried it out just to prove the diet isn’t all Meat-Eggs-n-Cheese.  A very tasty dinner indeed, despite my modifications.

Serving Size : 4

2 lbs of chicken legs, skin removed.
1 c coconut milk
3 tsp Thai red curry powder
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 c coconut oil or peanut oil
1/4 c green onion — chopped
salt and pepper — to taste

Saute chopped onion in coconut oil and saute until the white parts of the onions are nearly transparent.
Add curry and cook 30 seconds more.
Add chicken and cook until chicken is approximately half done; turning
chicken over.
Add coconut milk and lime juice and cook until chicken is cooked through.
Then leave it on for a while longer to thicken up the coconut milk.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Estimated 4.4 g carbohydrates

You could always serve this with riced cauliflower for a more “traditional” style Asian meal.

No Woman No Cry ’songwriter’ dies

Vincent Ford, the songwriter credited with composing the Bob Marley reggae classic No Woman, No Cry has died in Jamaica. He was 68.

Click here for the full story from the BBC.

Merry Christmas

On Christmas eve at New York’s Herald offices, Mencken found only two people sober.

“All the rest were full of what they called hand-set whiskey. This powerful drug was sold in a saloon next door to the Herald office, and was reputed to be made in the cellar by the proprietor in person–of wood alcohol, snuff, tabasco sauce, and coffin varnish.”

H.L. Mencken, Newspaper Days

Whatever Holiday You Celebrate around This Time of Year,
Please Try to Stay Clear of the Coffin Varnish.

Spicy Coconut Pork

This recipe, from Guadalope, is adapted from Angela Spenceley’s “A Taste of the Caribbean” cookbook. The original recipe called for 4 six ounce center cut loin pork chops, but I used 24 ounces of pork tenderloin medallions instead.

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 small serrano chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped (for sissies, substitute a milder chili such as poblano, or really wimp out by using a dash of ground red pepper.)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

freshly ground black pepper

24 ounces pork tenderloin medallions (1 1/2″ or so thick makes them nice and tender)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients except ground pepper, oil, and pork in a large zip top plastic bag. Seal bag and shake vigorously.

Coat the meat lightly with the olive oil and brush remainder on broiler pan. Place meat in the bag with coconut mixture and shake until meat is completely covered.

Bake for 15 minutes (my medallions took 18), turning once until done. Season with black pepper to taste.

It’s 5:00 pm Friday! Have a Cosmopolitician!

2 parts Svedka Clementine Vodka
1/2 part orange juice
1 tsp sour mix (or marmalade)

Pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously for five seconds. Strain and pour into a martini glass. Garnish and serve with an orange slice.

Jamaican Curry Chicken Recipe

Jamaican Curry Chicken Recipe
A popular Jamaican chicken recipe in Kingston blended with curry powder.

Ingredients
2 tbsps. vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp. curry powder
3/4 cup chicken breast cubed,
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup potato diced
1/2 cup water
2 tbsps. Chicken stock
1/4 cup grated ginger
1/4 cup coconut milk

Preparation
1. In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the garlic until golden brown.
2. Add the curry powder, stir to mix thoroughly, and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the chicken and stir well to coat the meat in the curry mixture.
4. Add the onion, potato and a quarter-cup stock, and stir-fry over medium heat
until the potato is just cooked.
5. Stir in the chicken stock, ginger and coconut milk, and simmer gently until the sauce thickens.
6. Turn into a bowl and serve.

The Gifted Rums Guide

Gifted Rums blogger Robert A. Burr has recently released his Fall 2008 Gifted Rums guide. It can be seen here (in Adobe PDF format) on his website at GiftedRums.com.

It’s 5:00 pm Friday! Have a Cosmojito!

2 oz vodka
1/2-ounce Cointreau

8 mint leaves

1 tsp. brown sugar

cranberry juice

lime

Mull 8 mint leaves with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and the juice of half a lime. Add 2 ounces vodka, 1/2 ounce Cointreau and a splash of cranberry juice. Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Virgin Islands radio stations that stream on the Intartubes.

Here is a small list of USVI based radio stations that stream their audio on the internet.

WDHP Christiansted, USVI with Island music
http://www.reefbroadcasting.com/

Caribbean gospel music WEVI-FM St. Thomas:
http://www.wevifm.org/

WIUJ St. Thomas
http://nyc01.egihosting.com/9876

WJKC Christiansted
http://www.isle95.com/

WMNG Christiansted classic rock
http://www.mongoose1049.com/

WVIQ Christiansted Adult Contemporary
http://www.sunny995.com/

WSTX Christiansted
http://www.wstxam.com/

Mix your way to St. Kitts: Brinley Gold Rum is giving away a free trip to St. Kitts

The fine folks at Brinley Gold Rum are giving away a trip to St. Kitts! To enter, all you have to do is submit your Brinley flavored rum cocktail. Click here to enter.

The trip for 2 to St. Kitts includes: 2 round trip airfares from domestic US to St. Kitts, accomodations for 5 days, 4 nights in St. Kitts, Golf for 2, Spa Day for 2, Catamaran Sailing Day Trip for 2, and $500 spending cash.