Coconut Baked Chicken

This has to be one of my favourite ways to cook chicken breasts.  I often buy whole chickens when they are on offer and then cut them up to freeze.  That way I always have a nice selection of chicken pieces on hand to use in recipes just such as this.



This is a handy video which can talk you through the whole process.  It's not nearly as hard as you think.  If you have a good set of kitchen shears and sharp knives, it's somewhat of a doddle.



Why do I like this recipe so much?  It's easy.  First of all because it always turns out and is easy to make.   It isn't fiddly, or time consuming.   Secondly because it results in delicious, tender and moist chicken EVERY time!  Seriously.  If you follow the instructions properly you WILL be rewarded in the most fabulous way!



It uses fairly simple every day ingredients, that you most probably have in your cupboard right now.  I think the most exotic might be the coconut cream.   We get that over here in little tetra packs, each one holding about 1 cup of this gloriously rich thick coconut product.   It has a thick consistency of mayonnaise, but if you cannot get that you can use regular coconut milk without too much difference in taste.

 

Just look at that moist chicken meat!  Most people overcook their chicken, and I have to say there is nothing more tasteless or desireable as an overcooked dried out chicken breast.  When you remove the skin and the bone from a chicken breast you take away most of what protects the integrity and flavor of that piece of chicken. Leaving it intact helps to keep it moist.  You could do this with boneless skinless chicken breasts, but make sure to reduce the time by about a third at the very least.  I might even start checking it at half time, and of course  you won't have that gloriously sticky skin to indulge in.

*Coconut Baked Chicken*

Serves 4

Printable Recipe

Quick, easy and delicious! 

6 TBS coconut cream

2 TBS fresh lime juice

2 TBS soft light brown sugar

3/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried basil flakes

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 bone in, skin on, chicken breasts  

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ Gas mark 7.  Whisk together all of the ingredients, except for the chicken.   Butter a shallow baking dish.   Spoon a small portion of the sauce in the bottom.  Lay the chicken breasts on top, skin side up.   Take approximately half of the sauce mixture and spread it between the chicken skin and the chicken flesh.    Spoon the remainder over top.   Bake, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with the pan juices, until the chicken tests done and the juices run clear.   Serve hot.

Note - If desired you can marinate the chicken in the sauce in a plastic bag in the refrigerator over night.  When you are ready to cook, just dump the whole lot into a buttered baking dish, skin side up and cook as above.