Thai Marinated Chicken Skewers with Peanut Coconut Sauce

Cookbook Recipe #9

I heard about this cookbook on Ree Drummond's blog "The Pioneer Women." I figured if Ree likes Alice Currah's recipes then they ought to be good!. After I saw Ree's post about Alice's new cookbook I went and looked at her website and printed out several recipes that I thought looked awesome, so I ended up getting the cookbook. I love when cookbook authors write a little story about why they make certain recipes. I think it makes the cookbook seem so warm and personal and I want to make the recipes from it so much more. Savory Sweet Life is a great cookbook in that Alice explains when and why she made each recipe for different holidays and occasions.

This recipe was way outside the box for me. I have always been a simple flavors cook, but recently I am trying to branch out and try new things. I have seen so many recipes that call for using curry powder and I always pass them up because in my head, I definitely would not like curry powder. I saw this recipe and I figured that curry powder used in a marinade may be a great way for me to test out the flavor. I found I liked curry powder!

This was a very flavorful dish. I especially loved the peanut coconut sauce, which is also something I did not think I would ever make myself. It was nice to have something completely different in our dinner mix. It says that you can marinate the chicken for at least an hour or overnight. I like to marinate as long as possible to get the best flavor, so I marinated it overnight.

Thai Marinated Chicken Skewers
Recipe from Alice Currah's Savory Sweet Life



3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger



Mix together all ingredients besides chicken in a medium  bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and marinade overnight.

Preheat grill to high heat.

Place chicken cubes on skewers.

Grill indirectly for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Serve with Peanut Coconut Sauce.


Peanut Coconut Sauce

1 13.5oz can coconut milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon red curry paste

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook on medium for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with Thai Marinated Chicken Skewers.

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Grilled Chicken with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Cookbook Recipe #5



When you were a kid did you ever go into the kitchen and make a disgusting concoction of random ingredients and then tell your friends you would give them some amount of money to drink the whole thing? We would do that at my house all the time and I would always put the liquid smoke in it because as a kid I always thought it smelled sooo gross. When I was getting the ingredients together to make this barbeque sauce it reminded me of those days as a kid, as the recipe calls for liquid smoke. I actually thought it smelled pretty good when I took a whiff before adding it to the sauce!


Isn't it so gratifying when you make something homemade and you try the first bite it actually tastes like something you bought in a store? Its the best feeling when you can make it from scratch on your own. There are not a lot of things that I like to make from scratch, but I do like to make my own sauces and marinades once in a while. So, I thought I would try my hand at making homemade barbeque sauce.

When I am making things for the first time I like to make the recipe pretty close to the original, have a taste, and then make it more my own. The original recipe for this barbeque sauce was really good, but I still wanted to manipulate it a little bit, so I added some garlic. I would probably add garlic to most things if I thought it would go well because I love it so much. I thought garlic would be a good twist to straight barbeque sauce, and it was.....the sauce came out great. All the ingredients in this recipe are things I have on hand all the time, so I am going to try to make it a point to make my own sauce more often.

This was a tag team dinner again with my husband as I made the sauce and he grilled the chicken. We are really getting some good use out of the new grill!

Grilled Chicken with Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Adapted from the Deen Brothers Cookbook: Recipes from the Road



1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon mustard
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon onion salt
Mix of chicken pieces (thighs, drums, wings, breasts)


Preheat grill to 350 degrees. 


Mix everything but chicken together in a bowl. Brush chicken pieces with sauce. 


Grill indirect for 40-50 minutes until chicken is cooked through. If you like your chicken crispier, after it is fully cooked, grill direct for 5 minutes each side.  Brush chicken with barbeque  sauce every 10-15 minutes while grilling. 



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