Recipes

[Carol1229]

We eat a lot of chicken at this house-I love how versatile it is. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes using it.

I'm sticking to my 2013 goal and using cookbooks I have here to find new ideas for meals. We LOVE Szechwan chicken on the rare occasion we order out Chinese food. When I ran across this recipe and saw how quick and easy it was, I knew I had to give it a try.

Since we're cutting down on portion size, and the chicken breasts I had were pretty large, I chose to cut each one in half vertically, then pound down the thicker part. That made them almost like chicken cutlets.

I love Mongolian Fire Oil to stir fry in-it saves me adding dried hot peppers to the oil to give heat. Any chile oil would do fine. Since we love ginger, I used a generously rounded teaspoon of grated fresh ginger....plus I chose lite soy sauce rather than regular soy sauce-the regular one is too salty for us.

This dish went together in minutes. I did slide the browned chicken onto a baking pan that I lined with foil then sprayed the foil with nonstick cooking spray and popped the chicken into a 250 degree oven to hold it since Bob hadn't gotten home yet. That worked out great.

I chose to make more of the sauce than the original recipe called for since Bob likes sauce drizzled not only on the chicken but on whatever is being served with it. Feel free to add as much or as little chile oil to the sauce-we like a "sweet-heat" so I added 1 1/2 tsp. It worked out to be the perfect amount for us. I also added the juice of half an orange to the sauce to add a little citrus flavor.

If you like Chinese food with a little heat-then I think you'll like this dish-we sure did. I served the chicken over brown rice, sprinkling the orange zest and sliced green onions over both the chicken and rice. It is delicious. The chicken is moist and tender and flavor of the soy sauce mixture isn't overpowering-it's just enough to add a nice mix with the sauce. We enjoyed it for 3 meals-the leftover pieces were just as good, if not better, than the first night's meal.

When we're looking for Chinese flavor, and I want dinner on the table in a short amount of time-this is the recipe I'll be turning to.


Carol


SZECHWAN-FRIED CHICKEN BREASTS
(Source: adapted from Favorite Family Dinners from Sam's Club cookbook)

1 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1 rounded tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 1/2 tsp. Mongolian Fire Oil OR chile oil, divided
1/2 tsp. granulated sugar
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/4 lb.)
3/4 c. no sugar added apricot preserves
3/4 c. fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
Juice of half an orange
Shredded orange peel
Thinly sliced green onions
Hot cooked rice

Whisk together soy sauce, ginger, 1 tsp. fire (or chile) oil and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Place the flour in a shallow bowl.

Brush both sides of the chicken breast halves with the soy sauce mixture. Dip each piece of chicken in flour to lightly coat, tapping off any excess flour.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through the cooking time, until golden brown, the juices run clear and the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from skillet; cover with foil to keep warm. Depending on the thickness of the chicken breast halves, you can also finish cooking them in the oven. To do this, brown the chicken on both sides, then transfer the pieces to a shallow baking pan lined with foil which has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake @ 350 degrees until chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.

Add the apricot preserves, chicken broth, the juice of half an orange and remaining 1 1/2 tsp. fire (or chile) oil to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until preserves are melted and the mixture is heated through.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with shredded orange peel and sliced green onions. Serve with hot cooked rice. 4 servings.