general tso’s chicken recipe
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under food, recipe
Ingredients
* 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
* 2 cups green onions, sliced Note: I did not use these since I don’t really care for them.
* 8 small dried chilies, seeds removed (bird pepper or thai chilies are good) Note: I didn’t use these because I forgot to pick them up from the store. But I will try them next time.
Cornstarch slurry
* 1/4 cup soy sauce
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup cornstarch
Sauce
I used a General Tso’s Sauce I found in Schnuck’s, but on this recipe they tell you how to make your own. The link to the recipe I edited is at the bottom.
1. Mix cornstarch slurry in a large bowl- the mixture will be strange but trust me it works. Add chicken pieces to coat. Using a fork remove ONE chicken piece at a time and let the excess mixture drip off. Add it to the hot (350 degree) oil and fry until crispy. Only cook 7 or 8 chicken pieces at a time. You do not want to raise the temp of the oil by cooking too many at a time. I cooked as many as would fit in my skillet at once.
2. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm- I just put them in the oven with the oven off. Repeating until all chicken is fried.
3. In a separate wok or large skillet add a small amount of oil and heat to 400 degrees. I skipped this step since I didn’t have these.
4. Add green onions and hot peppers and stir fry about 30 seconds. I skipped this step.
5. Stir sauce mixture, and then add to pan with onions and peppers, cook until thick. If it gets too thick, add a little water. I skipped this step.
6. Add chicken to sauce in wok, and cook until all is hot and bubbly. The quicker this is done the crispier the chicken stays. I really skipped this step too. I just poured the sauce over the chicken and rice.
7. I steamed some broccoli to go with the meal as well.
Another thing to note is that some recipes call for thigh meat, which we did not use because we have an aversion to it after a few kitchen mishaps. That’s why we liked this recipe with chicken breasts.
I edited this recipe: General Tso’s Chicken Recipe : Recipezaar.
Tags: general tso's chicken, recipe
Jessica Alba’s Chicken Enchiladas
Posted by Peter Owen | Filed under food, recipe
I know what you’re thinking.. Jessica Alba?! WTF? But really these are pretty good and of course you can make some tweaks. I followed the directions pretty closely and they turned out really well. I’ve made them at least three times now. Below is the recipe from Epicurious.com.
Yield: 4 Servings
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 oz each), cut into strips
1 jalapeño pepper (we have used both jalapeno and serano)
1 clove garlic (We used more like 3 cloves)
1 jar (12 oz) salsa
1 cup shredded lowfat cheddar
1/2 cup shredded lowfat Monterey Jack
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives, drained
1 can (16 oz) traditional enchilada sauce
1 can (16 oz) green chile enchilada sauce
Mexican hot sauce
Cayenne pepper
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
8 corn tortillas (6 inches across)
Directions:
Heat oven to 425°. In a medium pot, boil stock, chicken, jalapeño and garlic 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Strain chicken, run cold water over it and shred into a bowl. Mix in salsa and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine cheddar, 1/4 cup Monterey Jack, cilantro and olives; set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, combine enchilada sauces and add Mexican hot sauce and cayenne to taste. Stir until simmering. Set aside. Coat an 11″ x 13″ casserole pan with nonstick spray. Microwave tortillas 20 seconds. Place small handfuls of cheese mixture and chicken in center of each tortilla, roll up and place in pan, seam side down. Sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture. Ladle on sauce, then add remaining 1/4 cup Monterey Jack. Bake 20 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce on the side.
Tags: chicken enchiladas, food, jessica alba, recipe
