This weeks recipe comes from a family friend, we fondly call Neighbor Dorothy.  She and her family have been neighbors to my childhood home since I was about 8ish, I think.  Maybe even longer.  She kindly shared her Sweet and Sour Chicken stir-fry recipe.

     I love stir-frys, so I was really excited to sample this recipe.

     What I found to be different about this recipe was that it didn't call for a standard bottle sweet and sour sauce.  Premixed stir-fry sauces are what I'm familiar with using.  Instead this recipe called for brown sugar and rice vinegar to create the perfect balance of sweet & sour flavor desired.   I like this flexibility in the recipe.  Though I do think I'll have to give it a couple more tries to master my perfect sweet & sour flavor balance.  

Sweet & Sour Chicken by Neighbor Dorothy

Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients: 2 boneless chicken breast (pounded flat, cut into 1" strips), extra virgin olive oil, carrots, celery, red peppers, green peppers, 1 clove minced garlic, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp fresh ginger (or 1/2 tsp dried), 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 cup water, 1 can chunked pineapples, 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice, brown rice. 

Instructions:

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in wok over medium heat, stir fry chicken strips until no longer pink, then set aside.

2. Heat another 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat, add vegetables in order of "hardness" Carrots & Celery (about 2 minutes), then Red Peppers & Green Peppers (additional 2 minutes).  Stir fry til barely tender

3. Add 1 clove minced garlic to vegetables, stir fry for 1 minute

4. Add to vegetables- 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp ketchup, 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 tsp dried ginger, 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice. 

5. At this point you can adjust the sweet/sour flavor by adding brown sugar or vinegar to taste. 

6. In a separate covered container mix together 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water.  

7. Slowly pour cornstarch/water mixer into wok until sauce is thick. 

8. Return chicken and pineapple to wok, heat through.

9. Serve over brown or white rice.  

Enjoy!

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined." H.D. Thoreau