Spicy Peanut Sauce

November is National Peanut Butter Month, so I thought I'd share this easy Thai-inspired recipe. You determine how spicy to make the sauce by controlling the amount of crushed red pepper flakes. I love sauces with texture so I prefer to use crunchy peanut butter, but if you want a smoother, silkier sauce then use a dash or two of cayenne pepper powder instead of crushed red pepper and creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy. And I certainly recommend using natural peanut butter for best flavor - just make sure to stir it well if the oil has separated, as sometimes happens with natural peanut butter. Serve this spicy peanut sauce over cooked chicken, shrimp, vegetables, tofu, rice or noodles. You can also use it as a dipping sauce for raw veggies, steamed or fried shrimp, chicken fingers, or fried tempeh. Finally, this recipe easily doubles.

Ingredients
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup chicken stock or broth (use vegetable stock or broth for a vegetarian version)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp (or to taste) crushed red pepper flakes (or use a dash/to taste cayenne pepper)
1 tsp minced garlic

Heat the stock or broth and garlic in a small saucepan until hot but not boiling. Stir in the remaining ingredients and thoroughly combine. Remove from heat and serve, or allow to cool and store in a tightly covered jar in your refrigerator (stir well before serving if you refrigerate it).

Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company