Peanut Butter Chicken

The other night Josh and I were having dinner and he asked me a question. 'Now that you're about 2/3s of the way through this thing, do you feel like you have any more appreciation for simple recipes?' To which my answer was a surprised, but unqualified, 'Yes.'

Josh's theory is that an easy recipe potentially represents more work and thought -- to get the biggest result from the least effort -- than complicated ones. For me -- and the reason why I was surprised -- is that this is a complete reversal of my pre-Recipe Book self. I used to think that a recipe had to be complicated to make it worthwhile. Where's the skill in it if it's easy? How is in impressive without all the slaving?

But after all these months of cooking a lot more, I feel completely different. The more time you spend in the kitchen, the more you value something that takes less time/effort to produce a tasty result. And frankly, it's all about the tasty result.

One such easy recipe is Peanut Butter Chicken, given by my friends Jeff & Brigid, former coworkers from my advertising days. It's another 'great cold weather dish' as Brigid puts it, which maybe isn't so divine for yet another 100-degree Santa Ana-induced heatwave. But that's the perils of a Recipe Book put together for a winter wedding for you.

Peanut Butter Chicken obviously sounds terrible and odd - so much so that Brigid put the note 'don't knock it 'till you tried it' along with the recipe. On second thought, then, it sounds like chicken satay, doesn't it? Too bad I don't much like chicken satay.

Are you honestly surprised?

Regardless, this was delightfully simple to make. Not much time, not much ingredients. You get to kick back for 45 minutes while it simmers. And Josh loved it, awarding it the gleefully delivered 'I hated it' proclamation saved for meals he loves so much he cleans his plate in record time. He learned this declaration from my family, and, being the good Unitarian that he is, was originally very alarmed by it. But after years of us harassing him, he now absolutely loves telling anyone who will listen how much he hated something that he cleared adored. You should see him beaming at waiters who come to clear his empty plates. 'Hated it! It was terrible!' Grin, grin, grin. 'Could I get seconds?'

I think if you're a chicken satay sort of person, this is going to make you very, very happy, possibly inducing the potentially not-so-charming, 'Mine's better!' remark with which I often burst forth at sushi restaurants after eating their sunomono. Too bad my sunomono recipe (from Josh's coworker Emma) wasn't in my recipe book. To die for. And sooooo easy.....

House-guest Olie, thinking he should get a plate

Jeff & Brigid's Better-Than-It-Sounds-and-Oh-so-Simple Peanut Butter Chicken (aka Chicken Satay)

2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
enough water to increase sauce (!!??)
1 lb chicken
white onion (1 lg)*

Broil cut up chicken for about 10 minutes on each side. Think to self, 'Self? How have I lived here this long without a proper broiling pan?' Make do with baking sheet lined with tin foil. Also think to self, 'Self? Your mother was making things up when she told you the house would explode if you left the oven door shut when it was on broil, wasn't she?' Respond, 'Yes, self, she was.'

In a pan, chop and brown the onion in olive oil. In a pot, mix together rest of ingredients. Try not to panic about the unspecific 'as much water as you need to increase sauce' direction, which is enough to make your head explode.

Add in onion and chicken. Let stew for about 45 minutes on low heat. Return to check on it after about 20 minutes and discover the sauce is drying up and things are starting to stick to the pot. Put in random amount more water to remedy this. Ooooh, this is what she meant.

Brigid note: I usually double sauce recipe for extra gravy, and serve this with rice and peas for a great cold weather meal.

Heather note: Point taken. Rice & peas. Yes m'am.

*Chopping method: Mike Milch + Squeakykitty combo, which I swear is getting better the more confidence it builds. I didn't even think about tearing up. Marvelous.