Chicken Satay

Satay is one of those gold standard dishes that I tend to judge a restaurant by. I've had some realy horrible Chicken Satay that more closely resembled leather on a stick than actual food (usually found at chinese buffets), and I've had some that still makes my mouth water just thinking about it (such as Sakura's Satay- which I had in Paris last year- shown below).

For me, this recipe falls closer on the scale to Sakura's and a bit more even towards the authentic than even Sakura's, which is not a bad thing at all. I must mention that I gleaned this recipe from yet another cookbook find this past weekend. It's called Street Food, by Clare Ferguson. It's a collection of street food recipes from every corner of the world. I was thoroughly impressed by the gorgeous pictures and rich, varied recipes I found... and I got the book for only three bucks!

I didn't really have any issues with ingredients for the recipe thanks to a trip to the Asian market in OKC this past weekend (other than not having fresh lemongrass stalk or tamarind paste), so I think my dish came out pretty close to the book's. I did lack tamarind paste, so I just left it out of the peanut sauce and added a little bit of peanut butter for some consistency, then when my mixture was still too thin, I brought the sauce to a boil, added about a teaspoon of corn starch, and the problem was solved.

Chicken Satays
1 lb. boneless chicken breast
2 T peanut oil
2 T distilled white malt vinegar (I substituted apple cider vinegar for GF purposes)

-Spice paste-
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 shallots or 1/2 small onion, chopped
1 T coriander sees, crushed
1/2 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped (I didn't have this, but I did have a Thai spice mix with some in it, so I added 1 t. of that mix)
1 t. ground turmeric
2 small, fresh hot red chilies, finely chopped (optional in my opinion)

-Satay sauce-
1 t. fish sauce, toasted on a piece of foil for 1 minute
1 t. tamarind paste (sold in jars- but I didn't have any, so I added some natural peanut butter instead mainly for consistency)
1 oz. macadamia nuts or peanuts, chopped,
1 T brown sugar
1/2 stalk lemongrass, finely sliced (again, same substitution of spice mix here)
4 shallots or 1/2 small onion, chopped
2 small, fresh hot red chilies, finely chopped (optional in my opinion)
1/2 c canned coconut milk

Cut the chicken breasts into thin ribbons about 1 inch wide, then put pieces into a medium bowl. Chop the spice paste ingredients, mixing them all together in a food processor until it becomes a paste-like consistency (if you need to, add 1 T of water to help the consistency). Heat the oil in a skillet, add the spice paste, and saute until aromatic. Let it cool, stir in the vinegar, then add to the chicken. Marinate for about 20 minutes or up to 2 hours. Meanwhile, soak 8 wooden satay sticks in water.

To make the satay sauce, put the fish sauces in a food processor, add the tamarind paste (or peanut butter in my case), nuts, sugar, lemongrass, shallots or onions, and chilies. Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan to near boiling point, then add to the processor and puree briefly to form a sauce. Preheat your broiler or light your grill until very hot.

Push the meat onto the sticks, threading it on in waves- then grill or broil or cook for about 3 minutes each side until done. Serve with the satay sauce.

Ratings from the Experts*: Hubby gave this (even lacking some ingredients) a solid 10. Better than 95% of the other chicken satay I've had, I gave it a 9, simply for the fact that it was a tiny bit dry for what I prefer, compared to the satay in Paris which is the best experience I've had.

Day 5: Easy Peanut Butter Chicken

Thanks to a hectic day of a whiny toddler and a lab draw appointment, I was not much in the mood for spending a bunch of time in the kitchen. We tried something very similar to this dish before, but I found this recipe via Stephanie O'Dea's Blog, "A Year of Slow Cooking" and I couldn't be happier with how simple it is to throw into a CrockPot and leave it be, and yet it still tastes like you slaved in the kitchen for hours to make it!

(Easy) Peanut Butter Chicken

What you'll need:

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, cut in chunks 

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (creamy or chunky, your choice)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 lime, juiced

1/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten free--La Choy or Tamari wheat-free)

1/2 cup chicken broth

It's suggested to use a 4-quart slow cooker, but you can use larger. Put the chicken into the bottom of your pot and add the peanut butter. Toss in the vegetables and cumin. Squeeze in lime, and add soy sauce and chicken broth. Stir as well as you can to combine (the peanut butter will be clumpy, and that's just fine). Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for about 4 hours. (Or if you have a larger cooker like I do, expect it to be done quicker! I have a 7 qt. crockpot. I set mine on High and it was done in just under 3 hours.)

Rating from the Experts*: 10/10 from Hubby! He loved it and actually found it delicious with no complaints. I give it 10/10 as well. Easy to make and awesomely good! Paired wonderfully with rice/vermicelli mixture.