Tropical Sun takes me to the Caribbean in Winter!

Recently I was browsing on Facebook and someone had shared Tropical Sun's virtual vending machine. The video showed a tropical beach scene with a vending machine filled with Tropical Sun products. You clicked on a button and the product fell into the bottom of the machine, a man came along (wearing a bright yellow apron - see above) and put your product into a box to send to you.  I thought it was a gimmick but clicked on Tropical Sun Coconut Milk.  How surprised was I when about a week later a small box arrived with a tin of Tropical Sun Coconut Milk (and a brightly coloured friendship bracelet) inside!! How funny!!

Why don't you try the virtual vending machine and see what you can receive.

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http://www.tropicalsunfoods-vendingmachine.com/

Tropical Sun subsequently sent me a few more of their products and a recipe book.

And as I am particularly fond of the Caribbean (especially Barbados) I wanted to try some of the recipes in the book.

You can find loads of recipes on Tropical Sun's web site.

The first thing I tried recently for supper was roasting a small chicken, rubbing the outside with rapeseed oil and sprinkling Tropical Sun Rub Rub for Meat over the top. Into a roasting dish and around the outside I added chopped celery, a couple of tomatoes, onion and half a red pepper.  I roasted this all in a hot oven for about 1 hour 30 mins.

Whilst the chicken rested I put all the veggies, oils and juices into a sauce pan and added a tin of Italian plum tomatoes, some tomato puree and 1/2 teaspoon of Gran Luchito Mexican chili and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

This made a meal of roast chicken, pasta shells and sauce for myself and Mr R. There was enough for Mr R's sandwiches to take to work, some morsels for the dog and a carcass for me to make my soup broth.

We do eat a lot of chicken and it is a nice to do different things with it so we don't get bored.  I wanted to use the Coconut Milk and using the recipe booklet I had received from Tropical Sun Foods I decided to make Coconut Chicken.

This is a quick and easy recipe and makes a lovely mid-week chicken dinner.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups double cream
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp Tropical Sun Hot (or mild) Curry Powder
1 400 ml tin Tropical Sun Premium Coconut Milk
1 tsp brown sugar
 a dash of cooking oil

Method:
Rub the curry powder onto the chicken. Heat some oil in a frying pan and lightly cook the chicken for about 10 minutes or until evenly brown, alternating sides occasionally.  In a sauce pan, gently heat the remaining ingredients. simmer the mixture until it dissolves. Add the chicken to the mixture, cover and simmer gently for a further 3-5 minutes.  Serve with plain or coconut rice.  I served ours with noodles and broccoli