Crunchy Peanut Butter Chicken - Chinese Buffet Style

This is my absolute favorite dish from Chinese buffets, although not ever buffet has it. So it can be hard to find. You will notice that I have borrowed the marinade and peanut sauce from my Chicken Satay recipe, because those have the closest flavor to the chicken dish from the buffets. But instead of grilling the chicken on wooden skewers and dipping it in the sauce, we are breading/frying the chicken and drizzling the sauce over it-- the way they do at the buffets.

Ingredients:

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

2 cups panco breadcrumbs

¼ cup unsalted peanuts

Cooking oil of your choice (enough to keep the bottom of your pan in ¼ inch coating)

Marinade from my Chicken Satay recipe

Peanut Sauce from my Chicken Satay recipe  

Chicken marinade:

¼ cup sweetened condensed milk

½ cup finely chopped lemon grass

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon curry powder

Fresh ground pepper

Satay Sauce (makes about 2 cups of sauce):

13.5oz can coconut milk (save ¼ for basting meat)

3 tsp curry paste (3 tsp curry powder mixed with a tiny amount of water to form a paste)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

4 to 6 tablespoons peanut butter (I like crunchy/chunky peanut butter for a more authentic touch)

Directions:

1. Flatten the chicken breasts with a mallet until they are about ½ inch thick. Combine the marinade ingredients together in a bowl (chicken included). Blend well and let marinade in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

2. Remove chicken from marinade bowl, leaving any extra marinade behind. Keep the panko bread crumbs in a bowl. If using peanuts, place them in a plastic zip bag and crush them with a rolling pin (or whatever you have), or pulse them in a food processor until they look like bread crumbs. Add the peanuts to the bread crumbs and blend well.

3. Turn the chicken over in the bread crumbs until well coated.

4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium to mendium-high heat. Fry the coated chicken in the oil until both sides are golden. Remove from oil and let chicken drain on a rack, or paper towel.

5. Prepare the Satay sauce by first warming a skillet over medium heat. Pour in the ¾ can of coconut and simmer for about 30 seconds. Add the curry paste, blend well. Add the soy sauce, sugar and peanut butter, blend very well, making sure all the peanut butter is evenly incorporated. Simmer an additional 30 seconds. You can use more or less peanut butter or coconut milk, depending how thick or thin you like your sauce. Remove from heat and pour sauce into a bowl.

6. Slice chicken into ½ inch strips. Transfer to a plate. Drizzle sauce over the top of the chicken and serve.

TIP: You can serve the chicken on its own, or with your favorite side, or over rice. Some people even serve it over a salad. 

Easy Carne Asada Tacos

 I got this recipe from a friend named Kristy. I spent a few dinners at her house and she taught me first hand how to make it. I absolutely LOVE Carne Asada tacos, so when she said she was making them, I decided to write everything down as we went along. She didn't mind. Since then, I have made it myself several times, and its fairly fool proof. A fun and great recipe for a BBQ outside, on those lazy summer days. If you're going "low carb" you can always eat this as a salad, or use low carb substitutes for tortillas. 

Easy Carne Asada Tacos

3 lbs Carne Asada beef (or boneless, skinless chicken pounded flat)

3 cups vegetables sliced (any you like-- we prefer green onion, bell pepper, and squash)

1 bag of your favorite corn tortillas

Marinade:

¼ cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp Chef Merito (or Melissa’s) Carne Asada seasoning, recipe down below

1 tsp Callieri (or Melissa’s) “Cimichurri” seasoning, recipe down below

½ tablespoon water

1 tablespoon lime juice

½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl.  Blend the vegetables into the  mixture, and then the meat, until everything is thoroughly coated in the marinade.  Cover and marinade in the refrigerator a minimum of 15 minutes or longer, but preferably overnight (the longer it marinades, the better the flavor will be and the more the meat will become tender).

2. Take the meat out, leaving the vegetables behind.  Be sure your grill is properly heated and ready to cook. You can use an indoor grill, or an outdoor grill.  Grill the meat on both sides, until done (no more blood or pink meat is visible, inside or on the surface). Be careful not to burn the meat.  Remove the meat from the grill, transfer to a plate and cut into strips. 

3. Set an oven-safe skillet over the grill to contain the vegetables (if using an outdoor grill), and cook vegetables until tender.

4. Serve meat and vegetables hot, with warm (or grill toasted) corn or flour tortillas, and your favorite condiment  (such as sour cream, guacamole, salsa, etc.).  

TIP:  You can also serve this dish with sides of Spanish / Mexican rice or re-fried beans.

Melissa’s carne asada seasoning mix:

3 tsp mild chili powder (McCormick is best)

1 tsp meat tenderizer

1 tsp dried minced garlic

½ tsp dried rosemary, crumbled

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano, crumbled

2 tsp ground paprika

Melissa’s chimichurri seasoning mix:

4 tsp Parsley

2 tsp Basil

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp crushed dried red peppers

1 tsp minced dried garlic

Melissa's Chicken Paprikash (Chicken Paprika)

I LOVE chicken paprikash/paprika. I found a recipe online that I really enjoy, I often make it when I have a craving.  However, most recipes involve adding flour or corn starch at the end, to thicken the sauce. Since I started my weight loss journey, I decided to skip that part.  Instead, I boil the sauce down to thicken it. It seems to work quite well!  So here is my favorite recipe, without the carby thickener.  Enjoy!

Melissa's Chicken Paprikash (Chicken Paprika) 

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs chicken ( about 3 whole chicken thigh/drumstick joints, cut apart)

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Black pepper

1 tablespoon Butter – cultured unsalted (or olive oil)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 large Anaheim pepper, cut in have and thinly sliced (in a pinch, you can use a bell pepper)

¼ cup Paprika

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped (optional)

1 cup Chicken stock

1/2 cup Sour cream 

Directions:

1.       With a paper towel, dab the chicken as dry as possible. Meat browns better when its dry.

2.      Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over the chicken.

3.      Heat a large skillet (heavy bottom is best) over medium-high heat. Add the butter (or olive oil), and swirl to coat the pan.  Add the chicken, be careful not to crowd the pan.  If they don’t all fit in your pan with plenty of room, fry the chicken in smaller batches. 

4.      Let the chicken cook in the pan until it gets golden brown on one side. Flip them over and let them brown on the other side.  Remove chicken from pan, place in a bowl and set aside. 

5.      Place the peppers and onions in the same pan you cooked the chicken in. Reduce heat to medium, cover with a lid and let the vegetables steam for about 10 minutes.  This will help them caramelize better.  Remove the lid and saute vegetables until the onions are golden brown. 

6.      Add the paprika and garlic (if garlic is desired).  Mix well into the vegetables.  Fry and stir constantly, until the paprika releases its flavors (about 30 seconds).  Be careful not to let the paprika burn or scorch, because it will turn bitter. 

7.      Now add the chicken broth and return the chicken pieces back to the pan, along with any accumulated juices.  Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and turn the heat down to medium, or medium low, to maintain a gentle simmer.  Cook the chicken until it is fall-off-the-bone tender (about 1 hour). Add a little more broth or water, if the sauce starts to dry up.  But as the chicken gets closer to being done, let some liquid boil out, to thicken the sauce.

8.      When the chicken is done, temper the sour cream by placing it in a bowl and adding some of the chicken liquid to it (about 4 tablespoons full, one spoon full at a time), and stirring well after each addition. 

9.      Turn off the heat and remove chicken from the burner.  Add the sour cream mixture to the chicken and stir to combine well. Do not allow the chicken to boil or continue cooking on the burner after adding the sour cream.  This will curdle the sour cream.

10.  Let chicken stand for 5 minutes, then serve.  Normally, it it served with pasta or rice. But for low carb dieters, it can be served with vegetables.

Melissa's Greek Spanakopita Triangles

I first heard of this dish when I saw the first "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" movie.   Spanakopita is a Greek delight, which literally translates to "spinach pie".   It is phyllo pastry brushed with butter and filled with a spinach and feta cheese mixture.   Dill is the essential ingredient for this dish, so be sure not to leave that out.   This dish is simple in flavor, but delicious!

Melissa's Greek Spanakopita Triangles

 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup diced green onion (or regular onion)

¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped

1 tsp. minced garlic

8 oz. bag fresh washed spinach (or equal amount of frozen spinach)

12oz. container crumbled feta cheese

2 eggs

¼ cup sour cream (optional)

1 stick melted butter

¼ cup olive oil

1lb package of phyllo dough, fully thawed

Tool you will need:   Pastry brush

 

 Directions: 

1.        In a large pan, heat the olive oil to medium heat.  Add the onions, dill and garlic.  Sautee until the onions become clear, stirring frequently. 

2.       Add spinach to the pan (if using an equal amount of frozen spinach, make sure it is thawed and all the liquid has been squeezed out).  Allow the fresh spinach to cook down in the pan, turning it over every 30 seconds or so, until all the leaves have wilted.  This should take about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat. 

3.       In a mixing bowl, combine the feta cheese, sour cream and eggs.  Blend very well.   Add to the spinach pan, and mix until well incorporated.  This will be your filing. 

4.       In a smaller bowl mix together the melted butter and olive oil.  Set aside. 

5.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.    Unroll the phyllo sheets.  Peel up one Phyllo sheet, fold it in half lengthwise and lay it down.  It should now look like a long strip, about 3 or 4 inches wide.  Brush with butter/olive oil mixture, until the whole surface is lightly dampened.   Do the same with a second sheet of phyllo, laying over the top of the first one.  

6.       Using a kitchen spoon, take a walnut-sized portion of the spinach filing and place filling on one of the buttery phyllo strip.   Begin folding the spinach filing into the philo strip, in a triangular fold like a flag.  Keep folding until the filling is no longer visible and the entire strip of phyllo is now a puffy triangle. 

7.       Brush a baking sheet with some of the butter/olive oil mixture and place the folded phyllo triangle on the baking sheet.   Repeat with more phyllo sheets until all your spinach filling is used up. 

8.       Bake spanakopita triangles in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden.  Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.  Serve.