CHICKEN SATAY

I instructed the teen to hit the cookbooks and select two new recipes for us to try.  He pulled out an Alton Brown cookbook and an Emeril Lagasse cookbook.  First up is the Chick On a Stick, aka Chicken Satay, from Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here For the Food".

Chick on a Stick with Dipping Sauce

I told him to make sure that he liked all of the ingredients or that he would be willing to try the ingredients because I didn't want to buy a lot of stuff and then have him "sniff it" and go "uh oh, I don't think so".  He swore this would be okay so we made the list before running up to Wal-mart for things I didn't happen to have on hand like Coconut Milk, limes (usually a staple but I used them all last week), fresh ginger, and some chicken breast (we only had boneless thighs on hand).

So, here we are, ready to roll.  Fingers crossed!

CHICK ON A STICK (Chicken Satay)
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I bought thin sliced breast in hopes of not having to work hard on pounding them thin)
6 cloves garlic, minced (I used the Martha Stewart Garlic Press)
1/2 cup of peanut butter (creamy I assumed)
1/2 cup coconut milk (shake can before opening)
2 tablespoons sesame oil (**see note below)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger (peeled I assume - I find it easiest to peel by scraping with a spoon and then I grated it with my micro plane)
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Pound each chicken breast between two pieces of plastic wrap (I used a gallon Ziploc bag) until they are approximately 1/4 inch thick (really?  mine were tearing by then...1/2 inch was the best I could do).  Cut each breast into 1 inch strips and set aside.

pounding breasts to 1/4 inch thickness

Whisk together all of the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl.  Remove 1/2 cup of sauce to a gallon size Ziploc bag and add the chicken strips to the bag.  Smoosh out the air as best you can and seal tightly.  Gently squish the chicken around until totally coated with sauce.  Set bag inside a bowl and place in your refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Sauce Ingredients

Marinating Chicken Strips - use a bowl for protection against accidental leakage in the fridge!

Cover the remaining sauce and hold at room temperature (assuming you are using it same day).

Whisking the sauce until smooth

Remove the chicken from the marinade after two hours and discard the marinade as it is now contaminated.

Thread each piece of chicken onto a bamboo skewer.  Alton recommends laying the chicken on a cutting board and threading the skewer in and out of the piece of chicken about 3 or 4 times.  I must say I think it would have been easier with metal skewers...bamboo didn't slide through the chicken very easily!

Heat your griddle (I'm using a large grill pan because I don't have a griddle, nor do I have room to store one if I did own one) to 275 degrees.  Cook each skewer 1 1/2 to 3 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the piece.

Serve immediately with reserved dipping sauce.  Yield:  4 Servings

Yum!

We opted out of a sweet treat after this week's over-indulgences but paired it with fresh pineapple for dessert (leftover from making my Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake). 

I found the amount of Sesame Oil used way overbearing...and I only made half a recipe because it's just the two of us this week-end....but I "eye-balled" the ginger...and I'm thinking I got too much of that too.  It's a tad strong.  I would have used teaspoon measurements in the **Sesame Oil arena, and will do so next time...and I should have measured the ginger. Duh.  Strong ingredients are best NOT eye-balled!

Still, the teen, who tasted it first, said "that Alton Brown is a genius cook!" - so I am thinking he liked it indeed.  He told me to just put a little bit of sauce on - not to dunk it - and it would be "just right".  My oh my...young Jedi telling Momma how to do it :-)))  He was spot on...I'm usually a "dunker" but it just needed a tiny dip to accent the already awesome taste of the chicken.  Frankly, I bet that marinade would be good on an entire chicken breast cooked in the grill pan and served without the dipping sauce.  It gave a wonderful flavor to the chicken.  I also think it would be good with pork, shrimp, or tofu.

I bet my hubby would LOVE this with some tofu stir-fry.  Sorry hon - I'll make it for you soon!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #18