Food & Cooking on Culebra part dos

So with the intro, we continue. I get a subscription to a food magazine that when I'm done, I try to pass along. The comment I usually get is something like, "Yeah...no thanks, great recipes but we can't get the ingredients...." trailing off into the unspoken *you know what I mean* zone.

But once in awhile something shows up here and you want to get a little creative! Usually on Fridays, the day the veggie guy comes, a couple of people will come by the cart and ask me if I want them to pick me up something or another. I usually request something I know won't be there, because I'll head by later on and check myself (unless it's something I know will be gone by the time I get there...like..oh, say, cauliflower).

Buying veg and fruit is a personal thing...bananas that may look awful to one person I might buy because my Dad told me those brown spots were where the fairies kissed them, and that made them extra sweet. How do you differentiate that to someone from brown spots that the fairies absolutely ignored because they were gross? No can do.

But last Friday someone came by and to my, what's different question, let me know there were leeks. I didn't become a leeks fan until adulthood, when for some reason I got some leeks and braised them and fell in love! Soy, garlic, leeks...oh my!

I get the leeks and come home all excited. Blessing the internet once again, I put in
'chicken leeks recipes' on google (I had some leftover chicken). After three recipes calling for things I not only didn't have, but couldn't buy, I finally found one. Oh, and it was about 7 p.m. so even if I could get something, nothing was open to buy it.

Here is the recipe, about as simple as it gets, off of cooks. com.

CHICKEN WITH LEEKS & CREAM

1 (3 to 4 lb.) chicken, cooked, skinned & deboned 3 to 4 leeks 1 tbsp. olive oil 1 clove garlic, chopped Salt & pepper to taste Pinch of nutmeg 1/2 c. whipping cream Fresh parsley for garnish Tear chicken into bite-size pieces. Cut the leeks into 2 inch pieces up to the point where the leek begins to turn green. Slice the piece once lengthwise, and divide the leaves. Rinse if dirty. Saute the leek leaves in the oil along with the garlic if desired. Do not allow leaves to discolor; cook until barely tender. Add the chicken to the pan, cook until hot. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix well and add the cream. Heat and serve. Decorate with parsley. Serve with plain white rice on the side. Serves 6.

Hey, I had olive oil! I had garlic! Oops, the garlic was icky...but I had ajo mash in the fridge, ok, still good to go. Bizarrely enough, I actually had nutmeg. And not the ground kind, I had the actual real nutmeg, thanks to Ann passing it over to me from a long ago time, WITH the grater (we share a lot here, a lovely thing). Fresh parsley, nope. Dried parsley, si. Forget decorating with it, it was going in the mix. Cream...um, how about UHT milk? Rice? I have LOTS of rice, but I had some leftover yellow rice (I made it with tumeric not saffron, that I bought to sell at the cart and stole a bottle of it for myself because you can't get it here). This was going to work! And the chicken would work...I hoped. I had leg quarters that I'd grilled...yeah sure, that would work. And I had this odd chili lime salt that Monika had given me...I'd been wondering what to do with it but it just leaped off the spice shelf to be included...yep, that would be perky! (Now you know, Monika...)

When we have parties here, almost always it's 'just bring something' with the host and/or hostess providing the main event part. These exquisite appetizers and side dishes show up and we all ohhh and ahhh while chowing down. Using, for the most part, what is available, inspires the creative cook to heights most would not imagine in the lands of plenty. But it happens over and over, year after year.

Some of my favorite times at these parties are when I eat a local dish I've never tasted, didn't know existed, can't figure out what's in it and get to learn the how of it all. Something not fried, something delicious, something you'd eat in someone's home that you'll never get out in a restaurant. Yeah, give me more!

But...I don't think grilled leftover chicken, leeks and yellow rice meet that high standard. It didn't matter...the milk blended into the saucy bits from the saute of chicken, leeks and olive oil, the spices melded, the yellow rice seemed more rich than in its first incarnation and wa la! Chicken and Leeks with UHT Milk, Culebra style! Yumolicious and leftovers...life is good.