CHICKEN SATAY

Best Ever Recipe 

I can stop eating this!  Outrageously awesome creamy peanut butter, coconut cream, soy, tamarind satay sauce, I need to calm down it’s just a recipe!  Drenched over chicken tenders marinated in fresh turmeric, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots, ground cumin and coriander seeds, chilli flakes and nut oil gives this chicken satay multiple levels of flavour, combine that with charred flavour from cooking on a cast iron skillet this is a winner dinner.  Serve this family style with skewers piled high, a large bowl of satay dipping sauce, flat breads and ginger lime rice for a wonderful sharing family or friends dinner.

There seems a lot of ingredients don’t be put off, most of the ingredients double up so it’s a one time preparation then divide and conquer!  I make my own flatbreads but store brought will cut the cooking time, I and my family like their food hot and spicy, lower or leave out the chilli for a equally gorgeous chicken satay.

Marinating time 12-24hrs / Cooking time 15 minutes / 30 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4-6)

Marinade

12 chicken tenders

1 small shallot finely diced

1 clove garlic finely grated

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp fresh grated turmeric root

1/2 stick lemongrass chopped

1/2 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt 

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tbsp dried chilli flakes

50ml ground nut oil

12 bamboo skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes

Satay Sauce

1/2 small shallot finely diced

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp grated ginger

1 grated garlic clove

1 tbsp tamarind paste

4 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp soy sauce

200ml coconut cream

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

This is a recipe that works brilliantly if you prepare all the ingredients first.  If you can marinate the chicken for at least 12 hours or more ahead of time, this I find easy as I prep while cooking the evening before dinner, so I know the next nights family dinner is already done!  

For the marinade mix the shallot, ginger, garlic, turmeric, lemongrass, ground cumin and coriander seeds, salt, black pepper, fish sauce and chilli flakes with the oil, massage over the chicken and leave to marinate over night.  Thread on to bamboo skewers and drizzle with more ground nut oil.  Heat a cast iron skillet hot and place the chicken skewers on to the skillet to sear and charr for around three minutes each side, remove and place on a platter piled high ready to serve family style.

Meanwhile make the satay sauce, heat a skillet pan with a dash of oil, add the shallots, garlic and ginger and gently soften for a couple of minutes, take off the heat or the coconut and peanut butter sauce may splitadd the coconut cream, tamarind and peanut butter, mix well to combine, add the soy sauce and mix well, taste and assess if your sauce needs a hint of salt and lime juice, this is personal to your own taste buds, I only needed a hint of salt, but felt that lime would have also been great.  Serve in a large or several small bowls around the family table.

Garlic & Lime Rice

2 cups soaked rice

1 lime zested and juiced

4 cloves garlic sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 knob butter

Place 2 cups soaked rice in 4 cups of water, bring to a low simmer with the lid on, do not stir at any point, cook for eight minutes, take off the heat add the lime juice, zest and knob of butter, place the lid back on and leave to steam on the side for ten minutes, meanwhile place the garlic in a pan and add a drizzle of olive oil and pan roast the garlic until nutty brown, stir in to the rice and serve.

Flat Breads 1-48 hrs in Advance

500g 00 flour (blue caputo)

15g yeast (optional)

10g Himalayan sea salt 

50g olive oil}

320g water

Flatbreads

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and either by hand or by machine with a dough hook mix for seven minutes, then dust a little flour over the dough mix and gently form into a ball, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm area to prove for 1-2 hours until doubled in size if you want to use immediately, then other options are leave to prove slowly in the fridge for 24hrs, this is what I do as it gives me much more control over time and usage, this will keep for 48hrs in the fridge ready to go when you are, you can also freeze any left over dough at this stage, then when ready to use remove from the freezer defrost and once up to room temperature use as you would fresh.

 Take a oversized golf ball piece of dough, dust your work top with a little 00 flour, roll into a ball and roll out a large disk no bigger than your skillet if your not cooking in a wood fired oven, heat to a hot heat, place the flat bread in the pan and cook for one and a half minutes on each side, keep warm by wrapping in a tea towel until serving, these flatbreads are best served warm but are almost as good used later the same day, to use the following day dip the flat breads in water and pop in a pre heated oven for 3-5 minutes and Ta-Da almost as good as fresh.

Ready To Cook

Pre heat your oven 180 C, if using a clay pot or flowerpot soak in water for 15 minutes.  Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle really hot.  Skewer the marinated chicken and place on the griddle, leave for around 4-5 minutes to char, turn over and char the other side.  Remove from the griddle and place the skewers in your clay pot along with 50ml of water, pop on the lid and place in the oven to finish cooking for a further 10 minutes, leave to rest in the clay pot for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve family style with a stack of warm flatbreads, all the fixings and enjoy.