cooking · Dinner

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Oven Baked Jasmine Rice

I recently came across the recipe that my mom had used for sweet and sour sauce years ago. The recipe was out of a Better Homes and Garden Plaid cookbook, from a 1960’s era version. She would take the base recipe and use it in the oven to bake boneless pork cubes smothered in it till they fell apart. Looking at the basic recipe for the sauce I realized it was a solid recipe – back in the late 60’s it would have been ‘exotic’…we have come far, no? The original recipe called for corn syrup which had me thinking…there was a time in America when corn syrup was found in most every home, but not honey. Ouch. With a few changes and additions it became a thick sauce ready in under 30 minutes! Yum!

I served the sauce over the baked rice with mini egg rolls on the side. Tasty and quick!

Oven Baked Jasmine Rice
Ingredients:
3 cups boiling water
1 1/2 cups Jasmine white rice
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt, if desired

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.
In a 2 quart oven proof baking dish combine all the ingredients. Tightly cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
Fluff with a fork as soon as it comes out.
~Serves 4.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
1 cup lower sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 seeded and chopped bell pepper (red or green)
2 Tbsp lower sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger, peeled first
1 clove garlic, minced
1 8-ounce can pineapple wedges packed in juice
1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 12.5-ounce can chicken breast, drained

Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in the chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, honey, pineapple juice from the can, ginger and garlic till smooth. Add in the bell pepper, water chestnuts, pineapple and chicken and bring to a gentle bubbling over medium heat, stirring often. Once it comes to the simmer, drop the heat to medium low and let cook covered for at least 20 minutes to cook the peppers. Check and stir often, lowering the heat as needed.
~Serves 4 over the rice above.

~Sarah

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