In fulfilling my New Years Resolution, I grabbed a cookbook off the shelf in the search of a new chicken soup recipe.  As I was turning the pages PB&J Chicken caught my eye.  Did that just say what I think it did?  When I flipped back I was surprised and intrigued.  Peanut Butter and Jam Chicken?  Well, I like peanut butter, I like jam and I like chicken, so I had to see how this was going to turn out!

That night Jamie and I were at a house party, and I mentioned in passing to our friends, Laurel & Jeff, that I was cooking PB&J chicken for dinner the next night.  The response was mixed, however, both were willing to jump in with both feet to see what the end result would be.

As I started to prep together the ingredients, I noticed that the recipe only called for 1 tbsp of jam.  That’s how they did it!  In a meal that has 6 large pieces of chicken, stock, vegetables, and peanut butter, you wouldn’t even taste that the jam was there (and we didn’t).  But, this would be a really cool way to get your kids to eat something different 😉

As the flavours started to simmer away on our stove-top, it started to smell delicious and similar to numerous Asian dishes that I have tried.

I would definitely make this again, however, I think I would increase the amount of jam that was used.  I think it would taste pretty good with a stronger strawberry or raspberry flavour.  I would also recommend serving this on a bed of rice or rice noodles.

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Adapted from The Big Book of Soups & Stews                                                                                   Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 8 ounces large mushrooms, quartered
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp strawberry jam
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm oil.  Add chicken and brown in batches, about 5 minutes on each side.  Remove chicken to a plate as it browns.  Add onion, red pepper and mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes.  Return chicken to Dutch oven.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until chicken is no longer pink in the centre (about 1 hour).
3. Serve and Enjoy!