Love of Cookbooks

I tell you Goodcook.com is the BEST website! I have scored something like 7-10 cookbooks on this site for 50% off the sale price when all is said and done. My most recent purchase was Crescent City Cooking by Susan Spicer. This is a fun Cajun cookbook by a chef from New Orleans. I found a pretty sweet recipe for Caribbean Crab Pilaf with Coconut Milk.

The flavors in this dish sounded awesome together. I'd like to say it was everything I thought it would be, but the flavors weren't as strong as I would have liked them to be and it was DEFINITELY better the next day after the flavors had an opportunity to meld together.

Caribbean Crab Pilaf with Coconut Milk:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups medium- or long-grain rice

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and diced - we didn't peel it...that's too much work

1 pound lump crab meat, picked free of shells

1 1/2 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 teaspoon Angostura bitters

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon salt

Hot sauce

1 /4 cup finely sliced scallions

1/4 cup each chopped fresh basil and/or cilantro, optional

Heat the oil and butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then add the curry powder and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Add the rice and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato, crabmeat, coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups water, bitters, lime juice, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand covered for an additional 10 minutes. Stir the rice and season it with the salt and hot sauce. Serve garnished with scallions and herbs.

O.K. here are the pointers you REALLY should not miss out on. 1 teaspoon of salt is no where near enough to make this flavorful. I took leftovers to work the day after we made this and I had to steal salt from the nasty restaurant downstairs. :) Also, the recipe says the basil or cilantro garnish is optional...it is NOT optional. Next time I am going to use chicken stock instead of water for some added flavor.

I definitely think you should try this out. It has a great mesh of flavors.