Maggie Monday: Thai Peanut Chicken

I love hot dishes and I frequent to say that I burned out my taste buds long ago. When I go into a Thai restaurant and they ask me how hot I like it on a scale from 1 to 10 and I tell them 8-9 they think I am delusional. I have not yet been kept from eating a dish because it was too hot. Here’s Maggie’s Thai…

My husband and son #1 love Thai food. I find that Thai dishes are often best left to the professionals. But this recipe reminded me of a lovely mild chicken curry I get at a little Thai place near the British Museum in London. What the heck- decided to give it a shot.

This recipe is from the Better Homes and Garden website. The one below is my altered version. I used the original version, and spent a lot of time and energy with raw, bone-in, skin-on chicken. This meant I ended up browning chicken in a skillet, transfer to a baking dish, waiting for mostly raw chick to bake, skimming fat from the lovely peanut sauce, and finally spent about 15 minutes removing the chicken from the bones for serving. As I was doing this it occurred to me that this is yet another perfect use for the magical Rotisserie chicken.  I will make this again, and I will use Rotisserie chicken. It will cut the prep time to about 20 minutes, and total time from counter to table to about 50 minutes.

Other changes I recommend, and accounted for below, are to decrease the peanut butter slightly- I might do a little more than 1/8 cup. ¼ cup was a bit too much. You could really taste the peanut butter, and I think it should be more subtle. And my husband almost fell over when I told him I thought it needed more red curry paste. I am not typically a fan, but this needed more.

This dish is not showstopper-pretty. However, it was delicious- creamy, mild, and yummy. I totally forgot to add the cilantro- which bummed me out, so don’t forget it when you try this! I think that with the cilantro, and plated individually, it could be great to serve for guests.

Leftovers were awesome!

Thai Peanut Chicken

What you need:

• 1-  13 1/2 – 14 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (maybe a little less… do not use more!)
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon  cayenne pepper (more if you want more kick)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 Rotisserie chicken- remove skin and bones
• 2 tablespoons  snipped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups  hot cooked rice

What you do:

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together coconut milk and peanut butter until nearly smooth. Whisk in broth, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, curry paste, ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Bring just to boiling over medium-high heat; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove chicken from bones and cut into bite size pieces. Transfer chicken to an ungreased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Pour peanut butter mixture over chicken. Cover loosely with foil. Bake for about 20 minutes- until chicken is warmed through.

4. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over hot cooked rice. Makes 6 servings.