Use at Least 1 Exotic Ingredient in Every Recipe

Thai Chicken Pizza

Here’s an idea to make dinnertime a little jazzier.  Add at least one exotic ingredient to whatever you’re cooking.  It could be a new spice you want to try or an unusual vegetable.  Maybe substitute peanut oil for canola oil. That will definitely change the favor of the dish.

If you don’t like the end result, add another exotic ingredient to counteract the first one.  Or add water or broth and turn the dish into a soup.  Throw in a handful of noodles or possibly a drained can of corn or beans.

Maybe this approach is how chocolate became a key ingredient in Mole.  Most people would never think of adding unsweetened chocolate to a main dish, but Chicken Mole has become a classic in many sophisticated Mexican restaurants.

In the 1950s fresh garlic was probably considered exotic in a lot of households.  Peanut butter was for sandwiches or cookies, not part of a pizza topping--as in California Pizza Kitchen’s Thai Chicken Pizza.  That dish also calls for hoisin sauce, a condiment common in Thai cooking but most unusual in an American recipe.  It's most welcome in Thai Chicken Pizza.  Hold the chicken if you want a vegetarian version.

Thai Chicken Pizza – inspired by California Pizza Kitchen – serves 3-4  

Spicy Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup hoisin sauce 

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons ginger

1/4 teaspoon chili flakes

Combine all these ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until fully mixed.  Set aside.

Chicken:

1 tablespoon olive oil

10 ounces boneless chicken, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

Begin heating olive oil in a medium pan.  Add chicken and stir-fry for about 5-6 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and there is no sign of pink when you cut 1 piece in half.  Coat the chicken with 1/4 cup Peanut Sauce.  Set aside in fridge until needed.

Pizza Topping:

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

4 scallions, green and white parts thinly sliced

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Pizza dough for 2 12-inch pizzas 

1/2 cup cornmeal

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Sprinkle a pizza paddle with cornmeal, and stretch out 1 pizza round and lay it on the cornmeal.  Spread the pizza with half the remaining peanut sauce.  Cover with 3/4 cup Mozzarella, half the chicken and half the carrots.

Unbaked Thai Chicken Pizza

Slide the pizza off the paddle onto the pizza stone and bake for about 8 minutes, or until the pizza crust is firm and has begun to brown on the edges.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle on half the cilantro and serve.

                              For easy recipes, order "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!"