I was privileged to read Dan’s debut novel, Ninth Euclid’s Prince, in the beta stage, and it’s a fun romp into Space Opera – almost literally, with a setting that is as dramatic as any Italian stage. One of the things you will find in the book (along with Byzantine intrigue, high fashion, and a sly romance) is food. So I knew I’d get something interesting when I talked to his wife, Sarah Hoyt, about food. Dan doesn’t cook, and had a moment of what? and then sent me to Sarah when I asked for a recipe. Sarah informed me that if it has peanut butter in it, Dan will eat it. He loves that Thai peanut chicken, she told me.
Aha! so do I! And I have made Satay in the past, it’s a great meat-on-a-stick option for the grill in summer, and to give the kids a thrill at any time of the year. Put it on a stick, and they will eat it. Peanut satay can be very easy – buy a jar – or slightly more difficult to make from scratch. But it is always tasty. So pick up a copy of the book, you’ll have plenty of time to kick back in your lounger and read while you relax after this light summer meal.
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
- A jar of Thai peanut sauce
- Boneless skinless chicken breast cut into thin strips
- For the Peanut Dipping Sauce
- 3-4 tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1-2 tsp minced garlic
- red chili paste (to taste)
- 1/3 c water
- chopped toasted peanuts (for garnish)
Instructions
- The day before you plan to have this meal, put the chicken strips and jarred sauce into a ziploc to marinade. You can use the homemade sauce, but I find it a bit too thick for this purpose.
- To make the sauce, stir in a saucepan over medium heat all of the sauce ingredients. Keep stirring as you bring it to just about a boil, until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Start your grill, and then start threading the chicken onto skewers. You want to make sure the strips are securely on the skewers so you don’t lose any bits on the grill.
- Grill the chicken for about 3-4 minutes, with the lid closed. Turn, and finish for another 3-4 minutes. You can also do this on a broiling pan in the oven under the broiler, but keep a close eye on them – the sauce does have sugar and will burn in a heartbeat.
You can find the index page for ETWYRT here.
Comments
3 responses to “Eat This While You Read That: Dan Hoyt”
The thing I hate about this dish is the time it takes to drill all the holes in all the peanuts, so they’ll fit onto the sticks. Half of them start to crumble as soon as the drill begins to spin . . .
😉
start with raw peanuts and a really small drill bit… LOL
[…] my regular readers know, I love cooking Thai food, and have done a peanut sauce before in ETWYRT (Dan Hoyt) but this whole recipe is super simple, with very little cooking involved. I wound up using it as […]