St Louis Power Outage Dinner

As I was baking the egg tarts last Wednesday, the city was hit by the worst thunderstorm in the history of Greater St Louis. I am shocked when I learned that the thunderstorm that lasted for less than an hour has caused power outage that affected 550,000 people.

We count ourselves lucky as the thunderstorm doesn't affect us in the slightest way. However, 3 of our friends were not so fortunate. They have no power supply at home since last Wednesday night. With the heat wave in St Louis last week, you can imagine how hot it is with no air-conditioner at home.

To commemorate the event, we invited our friends who were affected by the power outage over for dinner last Thursday. When we looked out from the window, we saw one stretch of street with light, and the opposite stretch was in complete darkness. Quite a contrast to the usual bursting scene in the area we stay.

Coming back to the food, our friend M has taken some really nice shots.


Upper left: Indonesia Chicken Upper right: Curry powder chicken
Lower left: tomyam eggplant Lower right: Stirfry brocolli with carrot and prawn

The Indonesian Chicken is a new recipe from allrecipes.com. The peanut butter used in the sauce reminds me of satay, which is another South East Asia delicacy. You must really like peanut butter to appreciate the dish, for the peanut butter taste is quite distinct here. However, if you are looking for something different from your usual chinese style chicken (with oyster sauce/wine) , give this dish a try. Personally, I think this recipe is a keeper.

Indonesian Chicken


2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon red chile paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (optional)

Heat the oil in a skillet, and cook the chicken 5 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear. Remove and put the chicken on a warm plate.

Mix the chicken broth, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, chile paste, lemon juice in the same skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Add the chicken back to the skillet, to simmer with sauce, until the sauce become thickened. Serve over rice. Garnish with green onions and peanuts.