Peanut butter and satay sauce – recipe

My children - like many - are fanatical about peanut butter. This weekend we made our own. I had thought there might be some knack to amalgamating the oil with the peanuts, or preventing the butter from splitting. There isn't. And it's very easy to make. Roasting the nuts aside, the peanut butter took under 10 minutes to make - buy the nuts already roasted to make it even faster.

I used my blender to blitz the nuts to a smooth paste, adding a final two tablespoons of peanuts in the last 10 seconds of blending to achieve a suitably chunky peanut butter. Spooned into a jar, the peanut butter will keep well in the fridge for a month. The method is fairly foolproof so experiment; hazelnut butter is particularly delicious.

Peanut butter

(Makes 1 jar)
500g unsalted unroasted peanuts
1 teaspoon of honey
1 ½-2 tsp groundnut oil
Pinch of salt (to taste)

Roast the nuts on a tray in the oven at 180º for 10 or so minutes until lightly toasted.

Add half the nuts to the blender and blitz to a powder for 10 seconds on maximum speed.

Add the remaining nuts (reserving 2 tbsp peanuts to add at the very end if you want a chunkier texture) to the blender, add ½ teaspoon of oil and continue to blitz for another 10 seconds.

Add another teaspoon of oil and blitz for 3-4 minutes until you have a smooth peanut paste. You may need to add a bit more oil if the texture is a bit dry.

Add honey and salt to taste and blitz to combine, adding the final peanuts for a short burst of blending.

Quick satay sauce

This sauce is easy-peasy; my seven-year-old made it under my instruction.

(Serves 4)
150g peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 tsp Thai fish sauce
½ tbsp peanut oil
150ml coconut milk
1 lime, juiced

Put all the ingredients, bar the coconut milk and lime juice into a blender and puree till smooth.

Add the coconut milk then the lime juice to taste.

Check seasoning, adding any one of soy sauce, honey, chilli and fish sauce to suit your taste.

Pour into serving dishes.

Chicken satay skewers

We opted for chicken satay but it would work equally well with fish or squash/pumpkin; serve with the satay sauce at the table as a dipping sauce.

1 tbsp coriander seeds
3 garlic cloves,
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
500g skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Soak eight wooden skewers in cold water until ready to use.

Cut the chicken into small thumb-sized pieces.

Toast the coriander seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, and then grind to a powder in a pestle and mortar.

Add the coriander seeds along with the rest of the marinade ingredients to a blender and puree till smooth. Pour over the chicken, stir to combine and marinate for at least 30 minutes, but a couple of hours is best.

Thread the chicken on to the skewers and cook over a high heat in a frying pan until cooked through, turning often (about 10-15 minutes).

Serve with the sauce.