New Recipe

As I stated in a previous post, I have found through Pinterest a new Food Blog that has some neat recipes.  I decided to try this particular recipe this evening.  It was absolutely delicious and a HUGE hit with the kids (which is always a winning recipe in my book).  However, it does have some negatives that I wanted to share.  I began preparing the chicken at 5:30 this evening (because we were out running errands after the kids got out of school) and did not get it into the oven until about 6:15.  Now granted, I have a toddler clawing at my leg during this 45 minute prep/cook time as well as homework questions and I probably could have used a larger frying pan to cook more of the chicken at one time.  Which brings me to issue #2 - I used a ton of dishes to prep and cook the chicken.  I hate when recipes dirty up a bunch of dishes.  I used a bowl for the corn starch, a bowl for the egg, a plate to put the chicken on in between the cornstarch and egg (because neither the c.s. bowl nor the egg bowl was large enough to hold all of the chicken at one time),  plus the frying pan, the glass dish to bake it in, a couple of forks and serving spoons all the measuring cups/spoons necessary and this doesn't even include what we ate with. 

Anyway, I did a couple of things different.  The blog suggests serving it with fried rice, but I just made it with steamed white rice.  I also steamed some broccoli and tossed it into the chicken mix during the last 15 minutes of cooking.  Next time I make it (and there will be a next time) I might add a can of drained pineapples when I throw in the broccoli.  Overall I'd say this is a great change from the mundane dinners that I always cook, just a reminder to not make it on a day when we are gone into the early evening.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken


The chicken coating:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt + pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs. Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.