crispy orange chicken

I am still smiling 4 days after my engagement to Michael. It was the most perfect night of my whole life. I am still sorting through the pictures and figuring out the way I want to share our story. I will write that blog post soon, I promise!

By the way married ladies, does this whole 'staring at my ring all the time and smiling' thing ever stop? I hope not.

As for this Crispy Orange Chicken - oh my goodness. It is so delicious.

I love Chinese food, I really do. I love sweet and sour chicken, general tso's chicken, lemon chicken, etc. Bring it on.

However, one thing I try to avoid when eating Chinese take out is cutting into one of the chicken pieces. It is this swirly, white/brown, slimy mess and I start to wonder what it actually is. Then I can't continue eating and swear I will never eat Chinese take out again... but the cycle continues.
 

The beautiful thing about this dish is that it tastes like Chinese take out. Except you know that it's real, white meat chicken. Can I get an amen to that one?

It has beautiful things in it too, like orange zest.

The delicious orange sauce doubles as a marinade for the chicken pieces. Pour it into a gallon baggie and pop that sucker in the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes.

The frying station consists of one pie plate with egg whites and one pie plate with cornstarch, baking soda and chili powder. The cornstarch/baking soda mixture is the secret to getting that golden, puffed up crust on the outside of the chicken - just like real Chinese takeout.

Also, make sure you pat the chicken dry with paper towels to get some of the marinade off.

The chicken goes into the egg whites, cornstarch and then into hot oil to fry up. They will get slightly puffy and golden. Beautiful things.

Just don't crowd the pan! In the recipe, I suggest doing this process in thirds.

Put all the chicken pieces into the sauce and stir carefully. The thick, caramelized orange sauce covers the chicken. Then pour it over plain white rice and you have a delicious meal.

Chinese takeout. No slimy brown meat. Score.

Here's the recipe!

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Crispy Orange Chicken

print this recipe

4-5 cups cooked white rice
1 pound chicken breasts or tenders, cut into bite size pieces

For the marinade and sauce:
1/2 cup water
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons warm water

For the coating:
3 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil

To make the marinade and sauce: combine water, orange juice, orange zest, vinegars, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in a large saucepan. Whisk together. Measure out about 3/4 cup of the sauce and transfer it to a gallon baggie. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce, pressing out the excess air and mixing with your hands. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes, but no longer. Place the saucepan with the remaining mixture on the stove over medium high heat. Bring to a simmer, whisking occasionally. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Whisk to combine and pour into the sauce. Continue simmering and stirring for 2-3 minutes while the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make the coating: put egg whites in a pie plate and whisk until frothy. In a second pie plate, combine cornstarch, baking soda and chili powder, mix together. Heat up a large skillet over medium high heat with vegetable oil. Take the chicken out of the baggie using tongs and place on paper towels. Pat to dry. Place 1/3 of the chicken pieces in the egg whites, toss to coat. Then place them in the cornstarch mixture and coat thoroughly, shaking off excess. Place in the hot oil and fry for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Continue with remaining chicken pieces.

Reheat the sauce if necessary. Place all the chicken pieces in the sauce and stir carefully. Serve over rice.

Serves: 4 - 5

chicken 2 ways: chicken salad and pineapple chicken over rice

When it comes to packing my lunch for work, I start to get bored with turkey sandwiches on wheat bread and salads. I like to mix it up a little, to keep me from spending money going out for lunch all the time.

One thing I have found that helps me, is to do some prep work when I get home from the grocery store. This week, I bought a big value pack of 8 chicken breasts. I turned it into chicken salad for my lunch for the week, and dinner on Tuesday night of pineapple chicken over rice.

There is nothing I hate more than raw chicken. I disinfect my whole kitchen with bleach every time I have to cut it up on a cutting board. My favorite thing to do with raw chicken: take the breasts right from the pack and onto a baking sheet. I line it with aluminum foil to help with easy clean up, sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper, then stick the whole thing in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 155 -160 degrees.

When the chicken is cooled, you can then put it on a large cutting board to cut off the fat and other nasty parts. Dice up the chicken and split it in half. Put the first half of diced chicken in a plastic bag in the fridge for later in the week. Set the second half aside for chicken salad.

In a mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise and honey mustard.

Cut up red grapes into small pieces. They add such a bright sweetness.

Now, I realize everyone is funny about their chicken salad. I like mine with grapes, walnuts and celery. Don't run screaming into the woods before you try it. It's so delicious, I even convinced my very skeptical boyfriend who doesn't like anything in his chicken salad but chicken and mayonnaise.

Chop up celery into small pieces, and throw them into the mayonnaise mixture with chopped walnuts and grapes. Mix it all together, then add the diced chicken.

This will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in a sealed container. Take it to work with some rolls and you have lunch for 4 days!

The other half of the chicken comes into use later in the week, on a particularly busy night you can still make a delicious home cooked meal.

Start by chopping carrots, celery, onion, garlic and fresh ginger. Throw them into a large non-stick skillet over medium heat with oil.

After about 10 minutes, open your bag of cooked chicken and throw it right in the pan. It's wonderful to plan ahead.

While the chicken is warming through, it's time to make rice. Here is another tip: 10 minute boil-in-a-bag rice. It saves me every time. Who wants to wait 45 minutes for rice? I always have one box of white and one box of brown in my pantry. Win/win situation.

Back to the chicken - open up a can of crushed pineapple in juice and pour the whole thing into the chicken mixture.

Also add in soy sauce, honey, chili powder, frozen sugar snap peas, salt and pepper. Stir it around as the sauce thickens and the beans warm through.

Once it's done, serve a heaping spoonful over warm white rice.

It's so delicious - sweet from the pineapple juice and a little spicy from the chili powder.

I hope this gives you a good idea to save time during the week!

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Chicken Salad

4 cooked chicken breasts, diced
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey mustard
1/2 cup chopped red grapes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped celery
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine mayonnaise, honey mustard, grapes, walnuts, celery and seasonings in a mixing bowl. Combine. Add chicken and stir. This will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days in a sealed container.

Pineapple Chicken Over Rice

4 cooked chicken breasts, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 celery stalk, minced
1 large carrot, minced
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice
1 cup frozen sugar snap peas
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 boil-in-bags white rice

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add all vegetables and stir. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add cooked chicken and combine. While the chicken is warming, boil rice for 10 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, add one can of crushed pineapple to the chicken mixture. Add sugar snap peas. Then add soy sauce, honey, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir and let cook for 5-7 minutes. Serve over rice.

braised short ribs with parmesan risotto

This meal is the best thing I've put in my belly in a long time. Well... since Christmas dinner. That wasn't too long ago actually.

Anyway, it's really good. It's everything a homemade meal should be - slow cooked meat that is super tender and flavorful sitting atop rich, creamy risotto. You have to make this one. This week. I mean it.

Guess what I got for Christmas from my parents? This sweet dutch oven cast iron pot. Be still my heart.

It was another snowy weekend in Delaware. Instead of craving fudgy brownies or soft chocolate chip cookies, I wanted something warm and savory. I also wanted to test the waters with this new kitchen tool, so I bought some short ribs and decided to go all out.

Okay I was still craving brownies and cookies but I made this meal anyway.

Short ribs have a lot of fat on them, but some of it is cooked away during the braising process. Start by sprinkling the short ribs with salt, pepper and flour. Heat up some oil in an oven-safe pot and put the short ribs in.

This will help get a nice crust on the outside of the meat, so only cook each side for about a minute. Once all sides are browned, take them out and set aside for later.

Lower the heat and add whatever kind of vegetables you want. I used onion, celery, carrot, peas, corn and garlic. The scent is out of control.

Let those cook for 7 to 10 minutes, then add beef broth. Let that reduce for another couple of minutes, then nestle those beautiful short ribs into the vegetables.

Cover the whole thing with more beef broth (make sure all the meat is covered), cover the pot, then stick that heavy thing in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. We are talking fall-off-the-bone tender here, people.

While that's cooking, it's time to get some exercise! And by exercise, I mean standing over a hot stove stirring rice for 30 minutes. It's worth it, I promise.

Risotto is a challenging, elusive creature. I have tried (and failed) several times to make it right, but this time was finally a winner. A serious winner. Like, so good I wanted to eat this risotto every day for the rest of my life.

Start with white arborio rice. Heat up a large saucepan over medium-low heat, then add butter, minced shallot and garlic. Let that cook for just a few minutes, then add the rice.

By the way, have another saucepan filled with beef broth warming up on the stove. Every time you add broth to the rice, you want it to be warm.

Let the rice toast for a few minutes before adding any liquid. This gets everything heated up and ready to go.

Start adding your warm broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly. Let all the liquid absorb into the rice each time before adding more. Keep working with it - adding broth, stirring, waiting, sweating, wondering why you are doing this and then remembering what risotto tastes like...

Then you magically have this!

Once the risotto is cooked perfectly - creamy, delicious, etc. Add 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese and some pepper. Stir until the cheese melts and then go ice your arm for 15 minutes.

Just kidding. Then you can EAT it. Best reward ever.

Plop a big spoonful, or a couple big spoonfuls, of risotto onto a plate. Put 2 short ribs on top, and pour the delicious sauce and vegetables over it. (Just remember to skim some of the fat off the top of pot the short ribs are in!)

It's so good. It really is. Enjoy this one guys!

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Braised Short Ribs

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of beef short ribs, bone in
3 to 4 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 whole carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup corn kernals
4 cups beef stock
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat up a large oven-safe pot over high heat. Add oil.

Dredge the short ribs in flour, salt and pepper. Shake off excess, then add to pan. Brown each side on the ribs for 1 minute each, until all sides are brown. Put on a plate and set aside.

Reduce heat to low and add in all vegetables. Stir and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Add 1 cup of beef stock and cook 5 minutes or until reduced. Remove pot from heat. Nestle the short ribs back into the pot, and cover with remaining beef broth. Cover pot and bake at 325 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. When it comes out of the oven, let it sit for 10 minutes, then skim the fat off the top before serving.


Parmesan Risotto

3 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups white arborio rice
8 to 10 cups beef broth
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Pour all the beef broth into a saucepan over medium heat. Keep the broth warm throughout the whole process.

Add butter to large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add shallot and garlic, cook for 4 to 5 minutes until tender. Add rice and stir constantly, letting the rice heat through about 5 minutes.

Add broth, 1/2 cup at a time, allowing the broth to be completely absorbed into the rice before adding more. Keep stirring, adding broth, stirring, adding broth for about 25 or 30 minutes. Check the rice to make sure it's done. You may need to add more broth and let that cook out if the rice still has a strong bite to it.

Once it's done, remove from heat and add parmesan cheese and pepper. Stir until melted. Serve immediately.