Michael Symon's Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

 

 I've been wanting to try my hand at making Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce for years, but I don't grill often and my son is allergic to nuts, so it makes things difficult.

Today, however, I had all the ingredients and my son was at work so I thought the timing was just right. I got my new cast iron grill pan out and whipped up the peanut sauce: peanut butter, orange zest, orange juice, soy sauce, olive oil, and a jalapeno. 

I cut up the chicken thighs into halves and marinaded them in the peanut sauce for a little while before threading them onto skewers. Grilled them on one side for 3 minutes, then the other side for about 3 minutes and it was done! Easy and peasy oh so delicious!

This is a perfect recipe for this time of year, whether you like to grill indoors or outdoors. It's light and flavorful and quite healthy!

This version uses only about 5 ingredients, but I can see spicing things up with some red pepper flakes or spicy peppers. I liked serving the chicken on some warm and fluffy naan bread, but you could also serve it with veggies and rice.

 

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Adapted from Michael Symon's 5 in 5

by Michael Symon

Serves 6-8

 2 tablespoons peanut butter

grated zest and juice of 2 oranges

1 jalapeno, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

8 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, halved*

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves, if desired

*Notes: I had a little over 2 pounds of chicken thighs and there was plenty of marinade to go around.

Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, orange zest and juice, jalapeno, soy sauce and olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with half of the peanut sauce, mixing well to coat the meat.

Thread 2 pieces of chicken onto each of 8 skewers. Put the skewers on the grill, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Flip the meat, cover, and cook until the meat is well caramelized, about 2 minutes.

Remove the skewers from the grill and put them on a platter. Drizzle with the remaining peanut sauce and top with the cilantro and jalapeno, if you wish. Serve immediately. 

Five Ingredients @ I Heart Cooking Clubs

Carne Asada Brava with Chipotle Steak Sauce

Tender juicy steak marinated in a bit of oil, lime juice, garlic, and jalapeno then grilled outdoors.  Succulent, spicy, and full of flavor.  Gorgeous steaks like this call for a little something special.  This Chipotle Steak Sauce is a fun way to spice things up and it's really good.  It may look a lot like tomato sauce, but I can assure you it tastes nothing like it.  It's spicy (from the three chipotles) and garlicky, almost reminiscent of Sriracha in a way.  I look forward to pairing this sauce with several other things.

"Brava" Steak

Carne Asada Brava

recipe found online here

Serves 6

 For the marinade:

6 large garlic cloves, unpeeled

4 fresh serrano or 2 fresh jalapeno chiles, stemmed

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus more for the steaks

Salt

6 ribeye steaks about 1-inch thick (they'll weigh about 10 to 12 ounces each)

    The marinade:  In a small ungreased skillet, roast the unpeeled garlic and the chiles over medium heat, turning occasionally, until both are soft  and blotchy black in places - 5 to 10 minutes for the chiles, 10 to 15 minutes for the garlic.  Cool, then peel the garlic.  Place both garlic and chiles in a food processor along with the lime juice and oil.  Run the machine until the mixture is as smoothly pureed as possible. Season highly with salt, usually about 1 1/2 teaspoons.
  
    Marinate the steaks:  Smear the mixture over both sides of the steaks, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

  Grill the steaks:  Light a charcoal fire and let the coals burn until they are covered with gray ash; position the grill grate and let it heat for a couple of minutes. Spray or brush the steaks on both sides with a little oil.  Lay on the grill grates and let cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until the grates have nicely seared beautiful grill marks into the meat - don't attempt to move the steaks until you can see nice grill marks.  Flip the steaks and cook until as done as you like (typically about 2 to 3 minutes longer for medium rare).  I like to let the steaks rest for a few minutes (on a cool part of the grill, a grate suspended over the back of the grill or a very low oven) before serving to allow the meat to reabsorb all the juices.  Serve with chipotle steak sauce, salsa, or hot sauce of your liking.

Chipotle Steak Sauce

recipe found online here

Makes 1-1/2 cups

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo
    1/2  teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican oregano
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Salt, to taste after cooking*

*Do not add the salt until after cooking.  If you add the salt prior it may become too salty once it cooks down

In a food processor or blender, combine, the tomatoes, garlic, chiles, oregano and vinegar.  Process until smooth.  Pour into a small (2-quart) saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Simmer 15 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in water, if necessary, to give the sauce the consistency of steak sauce.  Taste and season highly with salt, usually 1 1/2 teaspoons.  Cool, pour into a bottle and refrigerate until needed.

Theme: Turn on the Grill!