Recipe: Chicken Peanut Stew

[nwhiker]

Lots of crockpot recipes 'round here, huh? I didn't grow up with one (pressure cookers) and never learned to use one until I got dh's aunt's castoff. I made one dish and it was grey and brown and icky, and that was that. Then I started making stuff in the regular way and using the crockpot to simmer it, like chili or stew.

Recently I've been trying some other recipes as well, and many of them have been ok. I still pre-brown everything, I can't just toss stuff in.

Anyhow. Recipe as written, credit to Jeanny.

Lamb Stew with Peanut Sauce
Cooker: 1 1/2 - 3 quart
Setting and cook time: LOW for 6-8 hours


2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 lb lamb shoulder, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 1/2” pieces
double-handful sliced mushrooms
double-handful sliced carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp sherry or Marsala wine
1 tbsp molasses
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black or white pepper to taste

1. Warm the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the lamb, in batches if necessary, adn brown quickly on all sides, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to the slow cooker.

2. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and sauté fro 1 minute, then add the peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, molasses, and cayenne pepper, scraping up the brown bits and stirring with a whisk. Add the water to the pan, stir, and pour the mixture over the lamb in the crock.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. (I just mixed up the sauce, including the water and sherry, in a small bowl while the lamb was browning and deglazed with the already-mixed sauce.)

4. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the peanuts and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, over rice.

My mods. I made it with boneless, skinless chicken thighs. No cilantro. I pre-browned the mushrooms too. I used a lot more garlic (four gloves) and will add more ginger next time. I may also reduce the brown sugar. I used plain peanut butter, but I still found the faint underlying sweetness a bit much, a common complaint of mine with crockpot recipes. I used chicken broth to deglaze between batches of browning chicken, and instead of water.

It was quite good. It isn't very spicy, so I found that lacking. I'll probably make it again, and add... something. More cayenne, certainly. More ginger. Maybe some lemongrass at the end, dunno. But it was delicious, and the kids (Perry and AC, Linnea was already asleep) ate without protest.

Comments

[camelsamba.livejournal.com]

sounds yummy!