Thai Peanut Sauce

This recipe shout out goes to Katie Smith :)  Cooking asian food has always intimidated me a bit.  I think it was because I didn't have the ingredients I needed on hand and to go to the local grocery store to purchase them was always so pricey.  But Katie invited me down to Denver to a large Asian market and we stocked up on a bunch of goodies.  I have made about 4 "Asian" inspired meals since then and am becoming a lot more confident with my wok :)  Here is a great sauce that I use on chicken skewers or as a dipping sauce for Vietnamese Spring Rolls (similar to that link, I don't use the shrimp and add carrots, cucumber and avocado).


Ingredients:
3 small dried red chiles, stemmed and seeded or cayenne or hot red pepper flakes to taste

3 garlic cloves

2 shallots peeled (I've always used onion)

1 lemon grass stalk (white part only) thinly sliced (only if you have them on hand, I haven't used them)

2 tsp ground turmeric (or curry powder)

1 Tbs peanut or neutral oil, like corn or grapeseed

1 Can coconut milk (I think this is about 2 cups)

1 Tbs brown sugar

2 Tbs fish sauce (i usually alway half the fish sauce b/c it is so pewwwy)

2 Tbs lime juice

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup roasted peanuts (approx.)
1 Tbs of peanut butter (approx.)
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro (approx.)

Directions:
Combine first five ingredients in  a food processor and grind until fairly smooth.

Heat oil in sauce pan over med heat and saute the chile, garlic mixture until fragrant, about 1 min. add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 min. This may be stored covered in fridge for up to a week, gently rewarm over low heat or in microwave.