Mad-a-gas-car.

4 words in the game of Boggle!

Madagascar was founded by Indonesians over 2000 years ago. The influence of cuisine stems from not only Indonesian cooking but Africa, India and China as well. Which makes sense from the recipes I've stumbled upon. This recipe was simple to prepare. I was able to whip it up while girls were at church. They were able to eat and be on their way to swimming and gymnastics thereafter. Or so it seems. Apparently Elie ate Pizza at church, Katy ate mainly beef leftovers from Tuesdays meal and Hannah claimed she really wasn't hungry... interesting. I see a pattern. The girls have been so polite around me and the meals I prepare. I guess they don't want to see the "mad mama" come out of her shell again....

Any whiles, the dish was interesting. I could taste the sweet coconut flavor and then the tart lemon, followed by the hot spice from the cayenne. The problem I face in my palate was that I tasted all three ingredients separate from one another. Maybe it didn't have time to fuse. At any rate, it was delicious but yet missing some ingredient that would pull all the flavors together.

Crazy, it's almost like I'm wine tasting my meals all of a sudden.

Madagascar Chicken
Ingredients:
Package of boneless chicken breast halves, cut in bite size chunks
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper or tomato, sliced and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1/3 tsp (or to taste) cayenne powder
salt
pepper
lemon juice
oil

Directions:

Marinate chicken in lemon juice 30 min, drain and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Saute over medium heat until cooked on outside but slightly pink inside.
Drain oil and place chicken in a container and set aside.
Saute onions, stirring constantly, until slightly browned.
Add bell peppers and garlic and saute 3-4 min, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to simmer, add coconut milk, ginger, cayenne powder, and lemon rind. Add chicken back to stew.

Cover and simmer 30 min or until in thick stew consistency. If mixture is too thin simmer with lid removed until desired consistency is reached. Serve over a bed of steamed white rice.

NOTE: One pound shelled and deveined shrimp can be added to or substituted for the chicken.