Chicken Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice

Tried this Rachael Ray recipe with R. the other day. It's one of Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals," but don't believe it for a second unless you are Rachael Ray and have a kitchen-full of minions doing all the chopping and zesting and mincing for you. Hmph. For us lowly earthlings, the preparation alone took about 45 minutes (and there were two of us, too!). But the end result was absolutely delicious, and I now see why the recipe garnered a five-star rating. It is easily the best dish I've made so far - R. called it "restaurant quality" - though I don't think I can personally claim credit for that! I think there's just something about the combination of orange and ginger, and cooking the orange zest with the rice was a nice touch as well. On top of that, the dish is extremely easy to make, even if a little bit high maintenance (IMHO) with the massive list of ingredients! I've also discovered that this dish strangely tastes better as a leftover, after you've let the chicken absorb the sauce a bit. Anyhoo, here's how our dinner turned out:

Excellent dish for a special occasion. (I skipped the snow peas because I'm not a fan, but the dish was still great.)

CHICKEN SATAY STIR-FRY WITH ORANGE SCENTED JASMINE RICE

Ingredients:

• 3 3/4 cups water (Clara's note: 2 cups if using rice cooker)
  
• 2 oranges, zested
• 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons canola or safflower oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds chicken breast tenders, 2 packages, sliced on an angle into bite-size pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced
• 1 cup shredded carrots, store bought, or 2 medium carrots cut into matchsticks
• 6 scallions, cut on an angle into 2 inch pieces
• 1 cup snow peas, a couple of handfuls

Satay sauce:

• 4 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons dark soy, Tamari
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 orange, juiced

Garnish:

• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) chopped peanuts or nut topping, available on the baking aisle
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions:

1. Heat water with orange zest to boiling. Add rice, return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, 18 minutes. Fluff with fork. (Clara's note: If using rice cooker, combine 2 cups of rice, 2 cups of water, and orange zest and cook according to manufacturer's directions.)
2. For stir-fry, heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes.
3. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more.
   
4. Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined.
   
5. Transfer stir-fry to a large platter and pour sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle the platter with chopped nuts, cilantro, and basil.
   
6. Serve jasmine rice in a separate dish with an ice cream scoop to serve the rice with - it makes perfect, pretty, round portions of rice on the dinner plates.
   

Yields: 4-6 servings

And now, it's time for a little gadget-talk...

Instead of following Rachael Ray's directions for cooking rice, I used a rice cooker. I love this little gadget. My dad bought it for me at a little Asian store in Toronto (so you know it's good stuff). It is computerized so it detects when the rice is done, and it is also programmable so you can set the rice cooker in the a.m. and come home in the evening to warm, freshly cooked rice! The rice comes out perfectly every time and NEVER sticks to the bottom of the inner bowl. And I must say, the retractable cord is pretty sweet, too! If you happen to be in the market for a rice cooker, this is one I give high marks to!

Links:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/chicken-satay-stir-fry-with-orange-scented-jasmine-rice-recipe/index.html