Easy Thai Chicken Thighs

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                            FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to Rosemary Zwick for this one:

On the last day of kindergarten, all the children brought presents
for their teacher. The candy store owner's daughter handed the
teacher a gift. She held it up, shook it and said. "I bet I know
what it is - it's a box of candy!"

"That's right!" shouted the little girl.

The next gift was from the liquor store owner's son. The teacher
held it up and saw that it was leaking. She touched a drop with
her finger and tasted it. "Is it wine?" she asked.

"No," the boy answered.

The teacher touched another drop to her tongue. "Is it champagne?" she
asked.

"No," the boy answered.

Finally, the teacher said, "I give up. What is it?"

The boy replied, "A puppy!"

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                            TODAY'S RECIPE
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This isn't a genuine Thai recipe, but it sure tastes like one.

Easy Thai Chicken Thighs

2 lbs (900 g) skinless chicken thighs
3/4 cup (180 ml) prepared hot salsa
1/4 cup (60 ml) peanut butter
2 Tbs (30 ml) lime juice
2 Tbs (30 ml) soy sauce
1 tsp (5 ml) freshly grated ginger
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped peanuts for garnish
Chopped fresh cilantro (coriander leaves) for garnish

Place the chicken thighs in a slow cooker. Mix the remaining
ingredients except the peanuts and cilantro and pour over the
chicken. Cook covered on low until the chicken is cooked
through, 7 to 9 hours. Serve garnished with chopped peanuts and cilantro.
Serves 4 to 6.

A Word About Slow Cooking

First, the good news: you don't need a slow cooker, Crock-Pot*,
or other fancy gadget to slow cook. All of the recipes this week
are easily cooked on the stove-top or in a conventional oven. Here's how:

Most slow cookers on the market have two settings: low and
high. The low setting cooks foods at approximately 200F (95C),
and this heat setting can be approximated in a conventional
oven or on a stove-top burner set on the lowest setting. Similarly,
the high setting (about 300F, 150C) can be reached on
conventional ovens and on stove-top burners set on very low.
All you need to cook any of these recipes is an oven (or stove-
top) and a casserole dish or oven-proof baking dish with a
tightly fitting lid.

When adapting slow cooker recipes for use with conventional
equipment, follow the directions in the recipe and set the
thermostat accordingly. Because slow cookers typically have
lids that fit very tightly and therefore retain much of the moisture
in the dish, you may need to monitor the dish during cooking
and add additional liquid if necessary. If you keep this in mind,
all of your slow cooker recipes will turn out great.

The benefits of using a slow cooker include reduced energy
consumption and ease of preparation (i.e. start it and forget it),
as well as its ability to produce exceptionally tender and
succulent dishes, especially when less expensive cuts of meat
are involved. These benefits (with the exception of reduced
energy consumption) extend to the home cook who uses
conventional equipment.

The bad news? There isn't any, so have fun.
Received on Fri Jan 28 01:49:24 2011