African Peanut Chicken

February 24, 2011 · by ·
This chicken was so good that I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of it. Well actually it tasted good, but looked pretty awful. It was also shabbat. So really no chance to get a good shot of it.


I love trying new ideas. The weekend is really my canvas to play with flavor. What I love most of all though, is experimenting with my dinner guests.

I love Asian style peanut sauces on foods, but had never ventured into the African peanut realm in food making. I often come upon recipes for African peanut soups and chicken dishes, but have held back on messing with them. The dear hubster has never been a fan of the asian peanut sauce – so I always assumed that an African peanut dish was off limits.

I decided to ignore his opinions and work out a recipe for me. I was really in the mood for a chicken dish that popped with flavor. I was in the mood for something different. A colleague has often mentioned a traditional African peanut sauce that she makes for her husband. I thought I would try my hand at something.

In searching through cookbooks and various blogs, I came up with a recipe that worked with what I had on hand. It came out amazing. Even the hubster loved it. To prove it, he devoured all the leftovers.

African Peanut Chicken with Vegetables

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of creamy peanut butter (not the sugary kind)
3 cups of vegetable broth
1 chicken – cut up
1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
salt
pepper
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 can diced tomatoes
2 large turnips, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
1 potato, cubed
1 sweet potato, cubed
cilantro, chopped (about a handful)

Preheat your oven to 325°F.


In a small bowl, whisk the peanut butter with 1.5 cups of the vegetable broth.


Wash and dry your chicken. Season it with salt and pepper.


In a large dutch oven, brown the chicken in the vegetable oil. Transfer the chicken to a plate.


Add the onion, garlic, and peppers to the pot. S

auté a few minutes. Add in the cayenne and coriander.

Once the onion mixture has softened, add in the chopped root veggies.

Stir in the peanut butter mixture as well as the tomatoes and the remaining broth.

Add the chicken to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cover the pot. Transfer the chicken to the oven and cook for another hour.

After an hour – take the chicken out of the oven and place on the stove on medium heat. Transfer the chicken and veggies to a serving dish. Simmer, and reduce the sauce on the stove. Should take about 15 minutes. Mix in the cilantro.


Pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve over rice.


Enjoy!

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