Food on Friday: Jay’s one dish

Behold: The thing Jay cooks.

By Julia Westhoff

Many of the men I know are great at cooking one or two things. I’ve mentioned that my dad makes a mean meatloaf. My father-in-law is a master of both BBQ and stir-fry. And my husband has one truly incredible dish that contains peanut butter, cream of coconut and chicken. In fact, this Thai-inspired meal is probably the tastiest thing that either of us makes. To which you might answer, “Obviously. It contains peanut butter and cream of coconut.” And that right there is the only reason we don’t cook it on a weekly basis. Now, most people don’t use cream of coconut for anything other than pina coladas (you’ll find it in the spirits section at the grocers), but it is a necessary component of this dish. We tried to substitute coconut milk once. Blah. I would never do that again. The cookbook from whence this recipe came is long gone, so for now, I’ll just call it Jay’s One Dish.

Jay’s One Dish

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon green onion
1/2 tablespoon chili pepper, sliced
1 lb chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup cream of coconut
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup cilantro, chopped
3 green onions, chopped (white and light great parts only)
Cooked white rice

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or large saute pan. Saute green onion and pepper until fragrant. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink, preferably until the outside begins to crisp and turn light brown. While the chicken is cooking, combine the peanut butter, coconut cream and chicken broth in a sauce pan and simmer, stirring occassionally until ingredients are well combined. When the chicken is browned, add the peanut butter and coconut cream mixture to the wok or saute pan. Cover and simmer for 10-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with cilantro and green onions. Serve over rice.