Greetings food adventurers! We are back to eating our way through the World Dungeon today, and digging into Carl’s favorite book, the Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook. The intro of the book says it is full of chicken and goblin recipes. This might not be what Carl uses the book for, but if anyone else picks it up, it will absolutely be full of recipes. In my mind, all the chicken recipes are spicy. Goblin recipes are going to be at least a little bit dangerous. You know it’s going to be good if you need gloves to prepare it, right?

Speaking of gloves, seriously, get yourself a box of latex gloves from a drugstore or a grocery store pharmacy section. They are amazing during spicy pepper season. Goggles are not a terrible idea either if you don’t wear glasses. Occasionally a pepper will squirt juice out while slicing or de-seeding. If you do end up getting this in your eyes, treat it like a chemical burn and get your face under slow running warm water immediately with your injured eye OPEN. Tilt your head to one side, so the oils can all wash in one direction and get out. Preferably not in the direction of your other eye. It will still burn like heck for a while (and the water doesn’t feel great either) but this will help. You may also get flashbacks of high school chemistry class.

Another safety tip! If you are saving the seeds for planting, let them dry completely before storing them in baggies. After they are dry, STILL only handle them with gloves on even when planting them. Learned that the hard way. They are still tiny dangerous packets of spicy pain. Ahh, pepper season!

Anyway, this dish is amazing fresh and is also delicious as leftovers. I love it served over white rice. You may also want to keep a glass of cold milk nearby.

This West African style recipe is adapted from Gregory Gourdet and inspired by Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Peanut Butter & Kale Chicken Stew

This extra-spicy chicken dish is inspired by West African food and (might be) featured in Carl's "Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook" (Dungeon Crawler Carl).

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Course Main Course

Makes 6 servings

Special Equipment

• Large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with an oven-safe lid
• Latex gloves or ziplock baggies to protect hands
• Meat thermometer

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 large bunch fresh kale large ribs removed, leaves chopped (6 to 8 cups or about 10 oz after chopping)*
• 3 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs cut into 2″ pieces (5 lbs if deboning them yourself)
• 3 Tbsp oil
• 2 medium sweet onions thinly sliced into half-moons
• 15 large garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 habañero pepper finely chopped (wear gloves!)
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• 14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes OR 2 lbs fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 ½ tsp table salt plus an extra few pinches for the chicken
• ½ cup creamy peanut butter** (see note!)
• 1 Tbsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk shaken
• Steamed white rice and lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

 

• Gather and prepare all ingredients first. 15 garlic cloves take a lot longer to peel than you think.

Prepare chicken:

• Heat a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium to medium-high. (use the widest one you have to give the chicken plenty of space – and use one that you have an oven-safe lid for) Make sure the pot is properly heated before adding the chicken, to help prevent sticking.
• Add 3 Tbsp oil to the pot.
• Cook the chicken pieces in batches so they are not crowded. Put the first batch of chicken into the pot and sprinkle a pinch of salt over it.
• Cook for about 5 minutes then flip to the other side and cook for another 5 minutes. The chicken should release from the pan pretty easily and will be lightly browned but not cooked through.
• Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a plate and set aside.
• Repeat with the rest of the chicken, sprinkling a pinch of salt over each batch.

Make sauce:

• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Reduce heat to medium.
• Add onions to pot. Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add garlic to pot. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add 1/2 cup tomato sauce and 2 1/2 tsp salt to the pot. Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add chopped hot pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. (be careful not to put your face over this or breath the fumes too deeply)
• Add the can of diced tomatoes, ½ cup peanut butter, 1 Tbsp. chipotle powder, and 1 Tbsp. dried thyme. Mix well.
• Pour in the coconut milk.
• Mix well; bring to a simmer.
• Add the chopped kale and the chicken to the pot. Stir gently just enough to get a bit of sauce on most of it. (the kale will look gigantic; this is okay, it will reduce!)
• COVER the pot and transfer it to the oven.

Braise in the oven:

• Braise until greens are tender and chicken is cooked through, 30–35 minutes. (meat thermometer in the fattest piece of chicken should read at least 180 F).
• MEANWHILE, cook the rice.
• Serve the spicy stew over rice.

Notes

West African inspired recipe adapted from Chef Gregory Gourdet – Peanut Butter Braised Chicken and Greens.
* Kale ribs are great in broth; stash these in your stock bags in the freezer.
** Use peanut butter that is only peanuts and salt. The kind with added sugars will throw off the flavor.

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