Peanut Crusted Chicken and Peanut Rice

I wonder why kids are crazy about chicken.  Wherever they grow up or however they are exposed to food, chicken will always be number one.  And I have two chicken lovers at home, always ready to pounce on them and smothered with its undying partner - ketchup!  I myself grew up with fried chicken thighs delightfully covered with, what else?  Ketchup!  Fortunately, you will never find fried chicken in Italy so my eating habit was put to a halt.  You will only find rotisserie chicken with roasted potatoes.  It's healthier of course and so good too!  But my childhood chicken eating habits nag me at times so I came up with different ways to make my chicken crunchy, and this one has an Asian twist to it being all covered up with peanuts coupled with rice sprinkled with peanuts too.  Yum! 

For this recipe, scroll down or click on this link to go to She Knows where I also create recipes .  I thought of sharing the sneak peek here then direct you to the recipe with a link. You can find a list of my other recipes in their site by clicking on this link.

Buon appetito!

Peanut Crusted Chicken and Peanut Rice

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 4 chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• Flour
• 1-1/2 cups peanuts, crushed
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup uncooked rice

Directions:

1. Over medium heat in a small dry saucepan, toast the sesame seeds for about 5 minutes. Set them aside.
2. Make 2-3 slashes on the chicken. Rub with salt and pepper.
3. Prepare 3 wide bowls containing the following: eggs, flour and peanuts.
4. Dip the first chicken thigh in the bowl with the flour then shake off the excess. Dip it next in the bowl of beaten eggs then to the peanuts. Do the same with the other 3 chicken thighs.
5. Place them on an oiled baking pan. Drizzle top with extra-virgin olive oil. Placing them in the middle rack, bake at a preheated oven of 375 degrees F for 1 hour.
6. In a medium saucepot, mix the rice with 2 cups of water let it boil over high heat. When it starts to boil, put down the fire to low, cover it partially and let it dry up and cook through, about 18 minutes, depending on the kind of rice used. Garnish rice with peanuts and sesame seeds. To serve the rice like in the picture, use a square food shaper to shape the rice, wrap the sides with nori and tie it with fresh chives.