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January 4, 2010

Hunters in the Night

Our black cat caught a mole in the house last night. This is slightly unsettling. What is a mole doing in the house? The upsetting thing is that this is not the first mole that's been taken captive by our felines. In the 3 years I've been here, we've probably seen 5, and we haven't seen any in probably close to a year. We have no clue where they're coming from. No evidence of anything inside or outside the house that would point us to where they're hanging out before one of them decides to venture (unsuccessfully) past one of our cats. Poor wittle moles :(

For tonight's dinner I cubed 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (enough for tonight, enough for tomorrow night) and made enough rice (in my wonderful rice cooker) for both nights. I also cut a red pepper in half, diced half for tonight, julienned the other half for tomorrow night. It's so beneficial to be able to plan meals in advance. I encourage trying to do this at least once a week. Tonight's dinner was a spicy peanut chicken; a make-your-own-take-out (myoto) recipe from Rachael Ray.

Spicy Peanut Chicken
1/2 cup brown or white rice
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs, diced into 1 in pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper
1 tsp ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 cup creamy peanut butter
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 -1 tbsp chili paste depending on how hot you like it
1 tsp sesame oil
1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
1 bunch of green onions, chopped into 1 in pieces
1/2 cup unsalted, dry roasted peanuts (optional, we left this out)

If you don't have a rice cooker, aim to start your stir fry 10 minutes before your rice is done. Heat oil over high heat in a large skillet. Wait until it's screaming hot. Add chicken and stir-fry for 3 minutes. You're going to get little oil poppies all over your stovetop, it's okay. Add bell peppers and stir-fry for 2 more minutes. Remove chicken and peppers to a plate. Turn heat to medium or medium-low. Add a tad more oil (if it look like you need to). Add the ginger and garlic at the same time and stir quickly (you do not want this to burn) for 15 seconds then immediately add the broth. It's going to start smoking when the cold broth hits the hot pan, it'll stop shortly though. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili paste. Let it cook for a few minutes until the sauce has the desired consistency. Keep an eye on the heat, because it will go from perfect to too thick very quickly. Lower heat will help keep that from happening. Taste the sauce. We ended up needing to add a spoonful more of peanut butter to balance the soy taste and to thicken it a little. Once it's where you like it, stir in the water chestnuts, green onions, chicken, and peppers. That's it!

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