Coconut and ginger squash and rice

This coconut and ginger squash and rice recipe was born out of my rather desperate need to find new ways of incorporating spaghetti squash into dishes, after growing a glut of them. It is a really yummy dish, and goes well with curries. It is also delicious as a dish in its own right.

Ingredients

1 shallot, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 little finger sized nob of ginger finely chopped
2 cups jasmine rice, cooked
2 cups spaghetti squash, cooked

1 tin of coconut milk
1/2 cup of zucchini, cubed

Method

saute shallot, garlic, and ginger until translucent
add in zucchini and saute till golden
add in rice, squash, coconut milk.
combine and toss until warm.

Haupia - Christmas style :)

 Am just about to head out the door to a Christmas dinner with some of the neighbours. It's a pot-luck affair & I elected to bring dessert. Of course - what else would I bring lol? I racked my brains about what to bring and then decided to do a test run of the haupia for another friends Christmas party next week which has a Hawaiian theme. Haupia is a sort of set-custard made of coconut milk and is really quite delicious. I paired this with some tropical fruits, and some red-coloured dessicated coconut and came up with this fruit platter. I think I could have done a much better job with the presentation, but given this is the first time I have made haupia I think I did OK.

Haupia

4 cups of coconut milk (which is about 2 cans)
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup cornflour

Combine the coconut milk and water. Stir till smooth, add in the sugar and cornflour. Cook over a low heat, stirring until it turns thick and shiny. (A bit like making a white sauce!) Pour into a clean baking tray and cool to room temperature, before chilling in the fridge. The haupia will set - it will be wobbly like a gelatin-based pudding but quite soft.

I then used cookie cutters to cut one of my haupia slices into christmas stars, and coated them with dessicated coconut and arranged some tropical fruits around it on the platter.

 

I even cut my kiwi fruit into little stars :)