Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

I just love good food that is easy to fix.  This is a great dish that is both.  The hardest part is to get all of the chicken fried up, which really isn't that hard.  This paired up with the Baked Wontons and Chow Mein are better than take out!  Hope you enjoy it!  Thanks Carlsbad Cravings for the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken Breading
• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 ½ pounds), cut in bite-size pieces)**
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 
  Sweet and Sour Sauce
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice (from 20 oz. pineapple tidbits can below)
• 1 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons ketchup (6 tablespoons)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 
  Vegetables/Pineapple
• 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, sliced as THIN as possible (2-3 carrots)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add "Sweet and Sour Sauce" ingredients to a medium/large saucepan, stir and bring to a boil then reduce to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer while you prepare the chicken and dice the vegetables, stirring occasionally (turn off if longer than 20 minutes). Note, the sauce will notthicken, simmering is to soften the onions and blend flavors.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Whisk eggs together in a large bowl, set aside. Add ½ cup flour to a large freezer bag; set aside next to eggs. Whisk cornstarch, garlic powder, salt, pepper, ginger powder and onion powder in medium bowl; set aside next to flour.
4. Add chicken to eggs and coat, then remove, allowing excess to drip off, then add to freezer bag with flour. Toss until evenly coated then discard any extra flour. Add cornstarch/spices to the chicken in the freezer bag and shake until evenly coated.
5. Over high heat, heat enough oil (any kind) to generously cover the bottom of a large skillet until hot and rippling. Add chicken and cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until browned but not cooked through. (You may need to cook in 2 batches depending on size of your skillet). Transfer chicken to prepared 9x13 baking dish.
6. Add carrots pineapple and peppers to the sweet and sauce and mix until well combined. Pour sauce over chicken and stir until sauce/chicken/vegetables are evenly combined. Cook, uncovered for 50 minutes or until sauce, stirring occasionally.
7. Serve over rice. 

Chicken and Dumplings

Being from Eastern Kentucky, it is almost essential to be able to cook a good pot of chicken and dumplings.  Last year when I took the Jr Chef Cooking Team to the state championship in Louisville, I was lucky enough to experience Bourbon Barrel Foods first hand.  They make a wonderful Soy Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce and Teriyaki Sauce!!  I have tried many recipes over the years, and this is the best one.  Hope you like it too!! When I am making these for my whole family, I make a triple batch, but for just the immediate family, I usually make a double batch, and it does give me plenty for leftovers.


Ingredients:


Chicken (whole or parts - be sure to use at least some parts that are dark meat because it gives it a good flavor.  To me, whole chicken is the best taste and cheapest way to go.)
2 c flour + 2-3 TBS
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 c lard
1 c buttermilk


Directions:


Cover chicken with water and cook chicken until done.  Remove chicken to bowl and allow to cool so the chicken can be removed from the bone.  Save the broth for the dumplings.  I use a large, tall stockpot, and I make sure that that it is more than half full of broth.  If it is not, I add water to bring it up to that level.  Begin to bring the stock up to a boil.


In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and pepper. Use your hands, to work in the lard to the flour mixture until it is all worked in but not smooth and powdery. Gradually stir in buttermilk. Form a dough ball, and cut it into fourths. Roll each fourth out onto a floured surface to about 1/8 of an inch thick. You may need to sprinkle the top of the rolled out dumplings with flour. With a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 2×2 inch squares. Place the cut dumplings onto parchment paper or wax paper. Set the dumplings aside until all of the dumplings are cut. 


Once all dumplings are cut and the broth is boiling, start adding each dumpling one by one.  Take a spoon and carefully push them down so they are submerged.  They will float but that is okay.  Be sure to stir all the way down to the bottom to make sure they are not sticking on the bottom of the pot.  Once all dumplings are added, continue to lightly boil for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, place a lid on the pot halfway and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.  Be sure to stir so the dumplings do not stick.  Take a dumpling out and taste it, making sure it is not doughy in the middle.


These dumplings are best when made ahead a few hours or even a day before.  The taste makes them well worth all of the effort.

Chicken Pot Pie

I try to save money every chance I get, and I try to cook from scratch as much as I can.  I use leg quarters because they are cheaper, and they produce a very good broth that can be used for making the cream of chicken soup to put in this recipe.  This recipe can be made in a large casserole dish, a couple of smaller casseroles or even individual pies.


Ingredients:


4 - Chicken leg quarters (cooked, pulled from the bone and cubed).  I think it is about 4 cups of cubed chicken.
1 - recipe of Cream of Chicken soup found on this blog
1 1/2 - 2 cups of cubed carrots (you can use frozen but I like to start from raw)
2 cups of cubed potatoes
2 cups of frozen peas
2 cups of corn (can be frozen or cut fresh)
1 - recipe of pie crust found on this blog


Directions:


Prep all veggies.  Measure the ingredients for the crust and place in the refrigerator.  Place the carrots in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Boil until partially tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the potatoes and boil another 3 - 4 minutes.  Then add the peas and corn and turn off the heat and leave the veggies in the pot.  Begin making the cream of chicken soup.  As the broth and milk are coming to a boil, drain the veggies.  Once the soup is complete, mix the chicken, veggies and soup together in a large bowl.  Prepare the pie dough.  Put your mix into a casserole dish or whatever you are baking it in, top with pie dough.  Bake at 350 for 40 - 45 minutes for the larger casserole, 30 - 35 for the smaller casserole or 20 - 25 minutes for the individual servings.  You can adjust the time to match the color you desire on the crust.

Cream of Chicken Soup

On my continuing quest to get away from processed foods, I have finally found a wonderful, easy and delicious recipe for cream of chicken soup.  This soup is such a staple for so many recipes.  With this recipe you can control the amount of salt and the seasonings.  This is made from a cold roux, which is an easy way to make a thicken solution.  For the broth starter, whenever possible, I use the broth from boiling chicken.  When I have extra broth, I bag it in quart freezer bags in 2 1/2 cup amounts.  I took this recipe from Pinch of Yum.


This recipe makes about 3 cups which is equivalent to two cans of prepared soup.

Ingredients:

• 2½ cups chicken broth (I used 2 cans)
• 1½ cups milk
• ¾ cup flour
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. parsley

Directions:

1. Combine the chicken broth and ½ cup of the milk in a large saucepan. Bring to a low boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the flour and seasonings into the remaining 1 cup milk until a smooth, thick mixture forms.
3. Pour the flour and milk mixture into the saucepan with the broth mixture over low heat and stir continuously, whisking as the mixture simmers. Continue to simmer and stir/whisk until the mixture is smooth and thick, 5-10 minutes. The mixture will thicken a bit as it cools.

Orange Chicken

This recipe was a lot of work, and I learned a lot while cooking it.  This is a wonderful way to prepare the chicken to be light and crispy but I felt the sauce was too sweet.  I think I would have enjoyed it more with some heat added. So next time, I will add some more hot pepper flakes.  The chicken can easily be used in many other recipes or adaptations.  Thanks to Blog Chef for the recipe.

Ingredients:Chicken-
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce-
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Directions
Step 1: Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.
Step 2: Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.
Step 3: Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions.