Thai Chicken Sliders

So last week I showed you how to make fabulous slider buns.  This week, a filling that’s worthy of them.  Thai chicken with peanut sauce.  If you’ve ever had chicken satay in a Thai restaurant, the flavor will be very familiar to you.  Not only is it absolutely delicious, but it’s made in the slow cooker, which is becoming my best friend in the summertime.  My a/c has a hard enough time keeping up without my oven adding to the heat. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 onion
• Juice of a lime
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce*
• 1 teaspoon molasses
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoons curry powder
• ¼ - ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Tablespoon chopped, fresh cilantro 

*Traditionally satay uses fish sauce as well, but hubby is allergic to fish.  If you want to use it, simply replace one of the tablespoons of soy sauce with fish sauce. 

Squeeze your lime juice into a bowl. 

Add the soy sauce

Molasses (no I didn't measure it, but if you don't trust your eyeballing skills, go ahead and do so)

Sesame oil

Sugar

Curry powder (just use whatever your favorite is)

And red pepper flakes.  ¼ teaspoon is pretty mild, so adjust for how spicy you like things. 

Whisk that together. 

Peel your ginger. 

Grate that into your sauce.  I used about half of this piece which gave me probably 2 teaspoons.

Because I was already dirtying my microplane, I used that for my garlic, as well. 

Just grate in 2 cloves, then whisk again and set the sauce aside. 

Into your crock pot go two chicken breasts and a chopped onion.  As you can see, I diced the chicken, but I actually recommend leaving them whole or perhaps cutting them into quarters.  I’ll explain later. 

Pour the sauce over the top and stir until everything is evenly coated. 

Put the lid on and turn on the crock pot.  I cooked mine on high for an hour and low for another 3 ½.  Basically, you want the chicken to be tender enough to do this. 

Here’s what you’ll need for the peanut sauce: 

• ¼ cup peanut butter (use something natural)
• ¼ cup unsweetened coconut milk (I used light)
• 1 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder 

Put the peanut butter and coconut milk into a bowl. 

Stir them together until they’re nice and smooth.

Add the remaining ingredients

And stir them in.

It will probably be a bit thick, so add coconut milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you get something drizzle-able.   

Now remove your chicken and shred it with forks, adding sauce from the crock pot as needed.  This is the reason for leaving the chicken breasts in larger pieces.  My small pieces meant tiny shreds.  Longer shreds would give it a bit more chew.   

Chop your cilantro

And add it to the chicken. 

Pile the chicken onto one of your fabulous homemade buns.

Drizzle on the peanut sauce, and don’t skimp.  It really is the perfect accompaniment. 

Who says sliders have to be regular old hamburgers?

What’s your favorite slider?

Pudding For Breakfast?

Seeley made a dessert pudding last week, but puddings don’t always have to be sweet.  With Easter coming up next weekend, many of us will have lots of leftover ham to find uses for, so I thought I’d put it in a savory bread pudding.  Eggs benedict bread pudding is just the thing.  You can even put it all together before bed and just pop the pan into the oven in the morning for an easy and delicious breakfast for the whole family. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 6 English muffins
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 cup milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

The first thing you need to do is butter a 9x13 pan.  This is probably a good place for me to say, do as I say, not as I do.  Yes I know that is a square pan in the picture, but trust me, you want a 9x13. 

Tear up half of your English muffins and scatter them in the pan. 

Sprinkle on half of the ham. 

Then half of the cheese. 

Repeat.  Muffins, ham, cheese. 

And now you see why I told you to use a 9x13 pan.  Then you don’t have to dirty two of them when you figure out the square one is too small. 

There we go.  Much better. 

Now for the custard part.  I like to mix it in a large measuring cup so that it’s easy to pour.  Crack in your 4 eggs.  (yeah, ignore the picture again.)

Whisk them together, and then pour in the half and half and the milk. 

Add the salt and pepper and whisk some more. 

Pour that over the bread mixture. 

Press everything down so that every piece is soaked with the custard, then cover the pan and refrigerate it for at least a few hours, or overnight. 

When you’re ready, preheat your oven to 350°.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.  It should be starting to brown on top, and a knife inserted in the center will come out clean. 

That needs to cool for 20 minutes before you cut into it, so while you’re waiting, go ahead and whip up some hollandaise sauce to drizzle over the top.  Now how’s that for pudding? 

How do you like your pudding?  Sweet or savory? 

Update on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 8:55AM by Taneasha

So after eating both the fresh out of the oven version, and the reheated leftovers version, I've decided this dish is much better after being chilled.  I would recommend making and baking it before bed, then refrigerating it overnight and reheating it in the morning.  Don't get me wrong, it's really tasty either way, but the texture of the reheated version is better.