Slow Cooked Satay Chicken

Satay chicken is a very classic kind of dish. Its one of those things that you can get from a million different places in a million different varieties.

You can buy it in a jar, in a can, in a sachet or you can make it yourself.

The secret is finding the right fit for you and your tastes.

This particular recipe for chicken satay I adapted for my mum, who just so happens to be gluten and dairy intolerant. She is a huge fan of the spicy stuff and absolutely loves satay. I'm not 100% certain if it is her favourite, but it is definitely up there.

It is for this reason that I always ensure that I make this recipe gluten and dairy free. If you're doing so as well, be sure that you are checking your labels of the peanut butter and Worcestershire Sauce. 

As with almost all slow cooked meals, this is just a matter of throwing it in the pot and letting the cooker do its thing. It does well to be stirred a couple of times if you are there to do so, but nothing is harmed if this can't be done. Also, with this recipe, it is so ridiculously easy that I would almost let my son make it.. If he had the dexterity to handle a can opener, that is.

This recipe, like most of mine, can be adapted to suit your tastes. I know my mum likes things to get a bit hot and steamy so when I make this for her I am sure to add in more chilli paste than if I were to make it for just myself and the hubble. The same can apply to the peanut butter. We all like it super peanutty (which is ironic because we don't actually like peanut butter, but it has an entirely different flavour in this), however if you aren't so inclined, then feel free to use less.

There has been much debate as to whether or not browning meat is necessary when it comes to using the slow cooker. I am honestly on the fence with this matter. Some things I brown first, others I don't bother with. In this particular case I do like to throw the chicken in the fry pan along with the diced onion and crushed garlic. This allows some of the onion and garlic flavour to infuse with the chicken, It also helps the chicken keep its shape and enhances its flavour in the slow cooker.

One of the most important things to do when making this satay chicken is to give it a good stir once you have tossed (not literally, although if you DO toss them in, make sure you take a resulting photo for me to see) all of the ingredients in, is to give it a really good stir. It may be hard to get the peanut butter to combine as it is a bit solid and chunky, but keep at it. This is especially important if you plan on leaving it for the day.

At this stage it will look like a bit of a hot mess.

That's perfectly alright, just remember that the ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan once it was finished cooking!

After a few hours it will have a glorious golden ring around the edges. It looks and smells absurdly delicious and, by this stage, I know that you will be counting the minutes until you can eat it.

Give it a few more hours, serve it up with rice and now you're cooking with gas!

Metaphorically..

Err..

Well you know what I mean.

It tastes good!

I would love to hear feed back and see photos of your results from trying this recipe!

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Satay Chicken

Ingredients: 
2 chicken breast diced up
1 capsicum diced

1 onion diced

1 tbs crushed garlic

3/4 jar peanut butter (I use a 500gm jar)

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Chilli paste
1 tbs Coriander

1 tsp Cumin

2 tbs Lime juice

1 can coconut cream

Rice to serve

Brown off the onion, garlic and chicken in a fry pan.

Chuck into the SC pot with everything else and give it a good stir to combine.

Cook on low for 8 hours, stirring occasionally if you can (however this isn’t strictly necessary.)

Serve with cooked rice and let your taste buds party!!

Slow Cooked Fudge with Maltesers

There has been much debate in the food and slow cooker circles as the whether or not this particular delectable treat can be considered a true 'Fudge'. I could do something pretentious such as quoting the definition of the term fudge as stated by Dictionary.com, but honestly, I don't really care.

This not-fudge is absolutely delicious and that is all that matters in this household!

It has fast become a staple in our house for the Hubble to take to work in his lunch box. I will make a batch at the start of the week and he will take a couple of pieces every day. He is a huge fan.

Since it is such a poplar thing in our household, I figured what better thing to write my very first post about? Chocolatey, gooey, sticky, awesomeness!!

The beauty of cooking your fudge this way, as opposed to over the stove top, is that while you cant just walk away and forget it, you still don't find yourself standing at the stove for 15-20 minutes stirring a pot constantly. For people who are time starved, or excessively lazy like myself, this is brilliant as it allows you to multitask.

I guess the first thing to do would be to gather up all of your ingredients. For this particular treat, I just used the basic fudge recipe and added in the Maltesers later. I thought about crushing some up and adding them in, but I didn't feel that it would work out to nicely because the heat of the mixture would make the gorgeous, crunchiness of the malt go all soggy.

Contrary to what the picture shows, I use two blocks of Cadbury Chocolate as my base. This helps the fudge to set and become nice and hard.

 One of the hardest things about making fudge in the slow cooker is that you have to have iron willpower. I know you will WANT to sneak a piece of chocolate when you are breaking it up to throw in the pot. It's just one, right? It wont hurt. In fact it will probably improve the dish because it will make you put that much more love into it, right?

Wrong! One piece inevitably leads to two, which lead to five and before you know it, the entire block is gone.

You're only cheating yourself by having a sneaky piece of the chocolate that is destined for the pot.

I'm not talking from experience either.

Nope.

Not at all.

One of the absolute MOST important things to remember when cooking fudge in the slow cooker, is that it has to be stirred at least every 15 minutes. Even though it is cooked slowly, burning is still a real possibility. Trust me when I say that burnt fudge is not delicious in any way. 

I always set a timer on my phone. Between my infant and my toddler, also the constant urge to be napping, I have a tendency to forget stuff (aka fudge cooking in the slow cooker).

Now for anyone who knows anything about me, they will know that I have the worst memory ever. I can forget where I have put my phone about five seconds after I have put it down. It's really quite ridiculous and since having kids it has only gotten worse. It's for this reason that I put our whiteboard to good use. Cooking for an hour and a half means you have to stir it six times (although technically its five because you remove it on number six).

Note: Please ignore the to do lists for my two small humans, you gotta keep on your toes with those things, ensuring that they have something to do during the day.

 

It can be a bit hard to discern when your fudge is cooked. I mean once it all melts down it hardly changes consistency at all. Its a bowl full of melted, chocolatey (and super hot, trust me, don't lick the spoon straight from the pot) awesomeness.

The best way to test if it is cooked or if it needs a little bit longer, is to take a small amount out with a spoon, let it cool for a minute or so (to avoid burning fingers.. is it obvious that I am talking from experience here?) and then try to roll it into a ball with your finger tips.

 If it looks somewhat like the picture then it is good to go.

Now, all of the above is good for a basic fudge. It can be done with dark, milk or white chocolate and will turn out tasting delicious! It is simple and classic.

At this point I, being the absolutely glorious and wonderful wife that I am, let Hubble have his way for a change and add in the flavourings of his choice.

This week he wanted Maltesers.

They could have been broken up (I do love beating stuff with the meat tenderiser to smash it up) but I was concerned that they would melt or go all soggy with the heat of the fudge. 

 Instead I opted to put a layer of them on the bottom of the pan and simply pour the fudge over the top, smooshing it in with a spatula once it was in the pan.

  The final stage is just so smoosh some of the remaining Maltesers (kept aside for this very purpose) onto the top of the fudge to make it look all artistic and pretty.

Throw it into the fridge for a few hours and cut it up into mouth sized pieces so you can see how many you can fit in there at once.

And voila!

You have yourself some thigh chunkening fudgey goodness!

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Recipe

Basic fudge ingredients:

1 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
2 220gm blocks of chocolate
Dollop of butter
Splash of vanilla

Additional:
One 280g Jumbo Pack Maltesers

Combine condensed milk, chocolate (broken up into pieces) butter and vanilla in SC pot.
Cook on high for 1.5 hours, stirring every 15 minutes, rotating the pot when you do to avoid hot spots.
(I set a timer on my phone so i remember. Also, even if it looks cooked before the 1.5 hours is up I still let it keep cooking, continuing to stir it.)

Meanwhile, empty all of the maltesers into a lined tin (mine is 20x20cm), removing 25 to put aside and plop on the top for decoration. 

Once the fudge is cooked, pour it into the tin over the top of the maltesers and press down with a spatula to make sure that all of the maltesers are wedged in there good and proper.
Smoosh the pretty toppers into the fudge and chuck in the fridge to cool and set.

Remove after a few hours to cut up into the desired size (25 pieces for me).
Proceed to use as bribery to gain power and rule the world due to it's deliciousness.