Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

You should probably make this - it's so delicious!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to have finally found a Thai Satay recipe that tastes like this!  I've tried a few before and they were mostly a lame marinade dipped in a glob of peanut butter.  Ugh.
You should not, however, make this with regular rice.  Just do sticky rice.  The sauce will be over-the-top if you just pour it over a plate of rice.  Instead, make some sticky rice and just ball up a little bit at a time and dip it in the sauce, along with the chicken.  And then keep dipping after the chicken is gone and you only have rice left. :)  Yum.
The sauce recipe makes quite a bit, so next time I'm going to half it and use the rest of the coconut milk for Sticky Rice with Mango.

One last thing... don't sub anything for the fresh ginger and garlic.  It just won't taste the same.

Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

24 wooden skewers

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to tenderize and cut into 1-inch cubes

MARINADE

¼ cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon curry powder

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

PEANUT COCONUT SAUCE (1/2 the recipe and use the rest of the coconut milk for Kaew Neow Ma Muang)

1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk, (not fat free or light)

¼ cup peanut butter

¼ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoons red curry paste

STICKY RICE

long grain glutinous rice (about 2-3 cups)

Soak rice in water for at least three hours (overnight is preferable).  Steam the rice on stove for about 20 minutes, or until tender.

Whisk marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the chicken and stir to coat the cubes well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight.

Thread 6 to 8 chicken cubes onto each skewer. When the grill is ready, cook the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the skewers over halfway through (cook the skewers on top of a sheet of aluminum foil to prevent drips).

Meanwhile, prepare the peanut coconut sauce: Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Dip chicken and sticky rice in peanut sauce.

** DO NOT SUB REGULAR RICE FOR THE STICKY RICE

Bel-Air Club Sandwich

I made these for dinner last week and they were very tasty! I wasn't sure about the egg but it really works well. I cut back the fat in the original recipe by reducing the amount of cheese, not frying the eggs in oil and I use olive oil mayo because it's much lower in fat and tastes great. I also used a lot less aioli per sandwich than the original recipe calls for and there's still plenty. And, rather than white bread we used Oat & Nut bread which was delish. So the recipe below is my version. And, I took a picture of these sandwiches and seriously cannot find it! Sad!

Heaping 1/3 C mayonnaise
2 tsp minced fresh chives
2 tsp mince fresh parsley
2 tsp mince fresh tarragon (I used a pinch of dried)
Scant 1/8 tsp onion powder
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste


4 eggs
12 slices white bread, crusts removed, lightly toasted
2 oz thinly sliced turkey (about 12 slices)
2 oz thinly sliced smoked ham (about 12 slices)
4 slices Swiss cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked crisp
Tomato, thinly sliced
Romaine lettuce leaves

Combine mayonnaise, chives, parsley, tarragon, onion powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl; set aioli aside. Fry eggs until cooked, seasoning with salt and pepper; set aside.

Assemble sandwiches: Lay three slices of bread and spread each with aioli.  On one slice arrange turkey, ham and Swiss; top with second slice of bread, aioli side up. Top with one egg, 2 slices of bacon, and tomato slices then season with salt and pepper. Top with lettuce and remaining bread slice, aioli side down. Cut in half or fourths using skewers to secure sandwich together. Repeat for other sandwiches.

Serve with french fries.


Makes 4 sandwiches.


Original recipe from Saveur has been tweaked.

Roman Bread Pudding

So, this is not your standard modern-day-over-the-top-delicious dessert.  However, it's still pretty tasty!  Actually, Ava and Jeremy didn't love it, but I reminded Jeremy that he surely wasn't "in the zone" and thinking like an ancient Roman.  He would have loved it if I played the part.

Anyway, we made this as part of our lesson on ancient Romans this week and I thought I would post it in case anyone is planning a culture night or an ancient Rome night.  You never know, right?

Also, I'm not putting amounts because you can really just eyeball everything.

Thick bread (we used French bread and cut it into about 1.5 inch thick slices and then in thirds lengthwise)
milk
olive oil
honey

Heat olive oil in a pan.  Dip the bread in the milk so it's completely covered (you don't have to soak it though) and then fry in olive oil.  Eat warm with honey drizzled on top.