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Recipes

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

You may have had chicken satay at a Thai, as in Thailand, restaurant. Dipping the chicken into the peanut sauce is the fun part while taking a bite of a pickled cucumber. A taste sensation…

What You’ll Need: Serves 4

o    1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
o    1/2 cup lime juice (2 limes)
o    A mild oil, salt

What You’ll Do:

1. Prepare the sauce and cucumber salad first. Wash the chicken under cold water and dry with paper towels. (If the chicken was frozen, cut it up while it’s still partially frozen – it’s easier.) Lay the chicken on a cutting board. Slice the breast lengthwise into one-inch wide strips; the strips will be about 5-inches long.

2. Place the strips in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the lime juice over the chicken; stir. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, not longer than two hours. IMPORTANT: Wash all surfaces and utensils after handling raw chicken with hot, soapy water before preparing other foods.

3. Preheat oven to 450. Cover a large baking sheet with foil. Smear some oil onto the foil with your fingers. Thread the chicken onto the sticks by weaving the sharp end of the stick through the middle of the chick strip. (You should have approximately 10 chicken satay.) Lay the chicken sticks onto the foil so they’re not touching or overlapping.

4. Bake for about 15 minutes until the center of the chicken is no longer pink. Serve hot on a platter with peanut sauce and cucumber salad. (If you don’t have time to make Peanut Sauce, you can use a bottled peanut sauce.)

Tools:
 
o    Cutting board
o    Chef’s knife
o    Measuring cups
o    Medium mixing bowl
o    Wooden shish kebob sticks, preferably the 6-inch but 12-inch are fine
o    Large baking sheet, aluminum foil

Peanut Sauce

What You’ll Need:

o    1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
o    2 large cloves garlic
o    1 tablespoon peeled and chopped ginger root
o    1 tablespoon honey
o    2 teaspoons each: rice vinegar, tamari or soy sauce
o    Dash of cayenne pepper
o    1/4 cup hot or boiling water

What You’ll Do:

1. This sauce/dressing will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week so it can be made ahead of time. Peel the garlic and chop a few times. Using a paring knife, peel the brown skin off of a piece of ginger root; chop.

2. Put all of the ingredients into a blender; blend until smooth. Check the sauce to see if it’s the consistency of ketchup. If it’s too thick, add a spoonful of water at a time until it’s corrected. If the sauce is too thin, refrigerate for at least an hour to thicken.

Tools:

o    Blender
o    Measuring cups, spoons
o    Cutting board, paring knife

Cucumber Salad, for Garnish

What You’ll Need:

o    1 thin cucumber (1/2 lb.)
o    1/4 cup rice vinegar
o    2 teaspoons sugar
o    A dash or so of salt
o    Optional: grated carrot, a few sprigs of cilantro for garnish

What You’ll Do:

1. Peel the cucumber with a carrot peeler. Slice the cucumber into very thin circles/slices with a paring knife. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the vinegar, sugar, and salt.

2. Toss the cucumbers with the vinegar mixture. The salad is better if it sits in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes so the cucumbers can soften.

To Serve: Place a spoonful of cucumber salad on a plate with a stick or two of chicken satay. Top the salad with a pinch of grated carrot and a sprig of cilantro.

Tools:

o    Medium mixing bowl
o    Carrot peeler
o    Cutting board, paring knife

By: Anne Vassal 
by GL | 2/1/2016
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