Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce + GIVEAWAY

UPDATE:  GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

Congratulations to Janine A "I just love the Barefoot Contessa, she makes everything look easy!" on being the winner of Michael Symon's cookbook.  
Contact BillandImyskid@sbcglobal.net to claim your cookbook.

It's my 500th post, and my Blog is going on 3 years!

I wanted to say a BIG "Thank You!" to all that have supported me over these wonderful three years.  It could not be done without all of you.

What better to celebrate than a great recipe and a fun giveaway.

First, let's talk about today's recipe.  

I've been on a roll with Michael Symon this week and today's post is the third chicken dish that I've made from his book Michael Symon's 5 in 5: 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners.  (Lovin' the chicken!)

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce is from the section titled "on a stick".  I love a good kabob, and when it can be a meal or an appetizer it's even better.  The flavors of Thai are prominent but this dish is not blazing hot, which is good for most of us!


Again this was made very quickly as promised.  I used chicken breasts instead of thighs cause that's my preference. You could either cook these on an outdoor grill or use your indoor grill pan.  The results were they were fabulous.  The sauce is excellent, the perfect foil for the chicken.

We loved this dish! 

Now for the giveaway...
Since I was so impressed with Michael Symon's cookbook I wanted to share a copy with one lucky person.  Not sponsored, but just cause I appreciate you all so much!

So I will be giving away 1 copy of Michael's :
5 in 5: 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners.

To enter please leave me a comment below answering the following question.

"Who is your favorite celebrity chef and why?"

The winner will be picked randomly next Friday 11/22/13 and the results will be posted on the blog.

Good luck and thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

Other Michael Symon dishes:
Chicken Amandine
Breaded Chicken & Mozzarella with Basil


Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

slightly adapted from Michael Symon's 5 in 5: 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners

makes 8 skewers
serves 4 for dinner, 6-8 as appetizers

2 T peanut butter
grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
1 jalapeno, minced
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips (Michael used chicken thighs)
salt and pepper
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat your 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 the peanut sauce, mixing well to coat the meat.

Thread chicken onto 8 skewers.  Place skewers on the grill and cook for 3 minutes.  Flip the meat over and cook for another 2 minutes or until done.  

Remove skewers and place them on a platter.  Drizzle with remaining peanut sauce and top with Cilantro.  Serve with remaining sauce. 

Breaded Chicken & Mozzarella with Basil

It's Michael Symon week!

I just bought Michael Symon's cookbook, 5 in 5; 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners and posted my first recipe from the book the other day.  Chicken Amandine was a quick, easy, and a totally flavorful dish!  

So today I decided to make my second recipe.  Breaded Chicken & Mozzarella with Basil.  This one comes from the section titled Between Bread.  I love my sandwiches, and if it's a hot sandwich I'm in heaven!  This one is a take on chicken Parmesan.  How great is that?

Again the ingredients are minimal, and pack a flavor punch.  I'm in love with this book because for the second time I had all the ingredients on hand, with one exception.  So I stopped by the store for some fresh hoagie rolls. Done and ready to cook!

Michael doesn't disappoint with the recipe.  The dish is easy to make.  Again you will be done in about 15-20 minutes with prep and all.  The end result is a wonderfully tasty sandwich.  Perfect for a weeknight meal with a salad on the side.

I will say that Michael really likes chicken thighs for flavor.  Me, not so much.  So I have been substituting chicken breasts (always pounded thin as he recommends) and have found them to work perfectly!  Use what piece calls to you most. 

Hope you enjoy this, and stay tuned for another Michael Symon recipe coming up!

Breaded Chicken & Mozzarella with Basil

serves 4

1/2 c all purpose flour
Kosher salt and black pepper
3 large eggs
2 c plain dry bread crumbs
2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4" thickness (he used chicken thighs)
1/2 c olive oil
1 c fresh shredded mozzarella cheese
4 hoagie rolls, split and toasted
1/2 c torn fresh basil leaves

Put the flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Put the eggs in another shallow bowl and beat them lightly.  In a third shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan and season well with salt and pepper.  

Put a large skillet over medium high heat.

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, coating each side well.  Shake of the excess.  Dip the chicken into the beaten eggs, allowing excess to drip off.  Finally coat the chicken in the bread crumbs.

Pour the oil into the pan.  Add all 4 pieces of chicken and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes.  Flip and cook until the other side is browned and the chicken is almost cooked through, about 2 minutes.  Top each piece with mozzarella, cover, and cook until the cheese is melted, about 1 minute.

Put the chicken on the buns, top with basil and serve.

Chicken Amandine

 

I'm so excited to bring you this recipe today!

The reason being is that I got a new cookbook...woohoo!

On a whim I picked up a copy of Michael Symon's 5 in 5:  5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners.  Of course I'm familiar with his cooking from the Food Network however, I've really come to like his style watching him on The Chew.  I mean, who can resist that laugh?  He has such a great sense of humor, and breaks down cooking so that the home cook can easily prepare delicious fresh meals.

I was so excited to get his book and try out his dishes.  I eagerly thumbed through it picking my first dish, Chicken Amandine.  A quick yet scrumptious dish great during the week but elegant enough for company.  

Plus...I had every ingredient on hand.  Love that!

This dish blew me away...

I had no idea it was this easy to make something so elegant and that tastes so darn good.  It just goes to show you that you don't need a lot of fancy ingredients...you just need a few that pack a lot of flavor.  

One trick to this dish is that you need to pound the chicken to 1/4" thickness as he says in order to cook this quickly.  Otherwise you will add on quite a bit of cooking time in order to fully cook a thicker chicken breast.

Here's what Michael says about this dish in his book:  "This elegant and classic dish looks and tastes like it's more difficult and time-consuming to prepare than it really is.  What makes this so appealing are the buttery, crunchy, toasty almonds.  Browning the almonds in butter really gives the nuts and the entire dish incredible depth and richness".  

So true.  

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did.  Stay tuned for another Michael Symon's 5 in 5 dish coming this week.


Chicken Amandine

slightly adapted from Michael Symon's 5 in 5:  5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners

serves 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4' thickness (he uses skin on breasts)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T olive oil
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 c sliced almonds
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1/4 c roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Put a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Add the olive oil to the preheated pan.  Arrange all 4 pieces of chicken in the pan and cook until golden brown about 3 minutes.  Flip and cook 1 minute.  

Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter and almonds and cook until they begin to brown about 30 seconds.  Add 1/2 cup of water, the orange zest and juice and cook until slightly reduced about 30 seconds.  Taste and adjust the seasoning adding salt and pepper as needed.  

Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the parsley and serve.