Two Winners!

I cooked two dinners this week that my family really enjoyed.

The first, Sweet and Sour Chicken, got 12 thumbs up (2 thumbs from each of us). It takes a while to fry up all the chicken, so give yourself at least an hour.

The second, Pork and Mushroom Marengo, got 10 thumbs up (only one dissenter isn't too bad). It's a crockpot recipe, with just a little bit of prep. before hand.

Here are the recipes for both:

SWEET & SOUR CHICKEN

3 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

In a bowl, make the batter for the chicken:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 tsp salt

Whisk together to remove all lumps. Dump in your chicken chunks.

In a wok (or deep fryer), heat your oil to 375*. Make sure it's hot otherwise the batter will soak up too much oil. Place chunks into the hot oil, being careful not to splash yourself. Don't put too many in otherwise they'll all stick together, and it will also cool your oil down too much. Turn the pieces over to cook the other side. Fry until golden brown

Remove the cooked chicken from the oil and put on paper towels. Once all the chicken is fried up, put in a dish and hold in a 300* oven for 10-15 minutes.

SAUCE

1 T. butter or margarine
1 carrot, sliced
½ onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut in chunks

Melt butter over medium heat. Saute veggies until crisp-tender. Remove from heat and put veggies in a bowl.

In the same saucepan, combine:

1 1/2 cups sugar
4 Tbsp rice vinegar
6 Tbsp ketchup
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cup cold water

Put the saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly so it doesn't lump up. Once it gets really thick, remove from the heat, and return veggies, plus 1 can pineapple chunks, drained. (This makes a ton of sauce. I’m planning to ½ it when I do it again.)



PORK & MUSHROOM MARENGO

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into-1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon cooking oil
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash black pepper
1/3 cup cold water
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Hot cooked brown rice (optional)

1. In a large skillet brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. Drain off fat. In a 3-1/2-to 5-quart slow cooker place mushrooms and onion. Add meat. In a bowl combine undrained tomatoes, the 1 cup water, the Italian seasoning, bouillon granules, salt, and pepper. Pour over all.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

3. If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. In a bowl stir together the 1/3 cup water and the flour. Stir flour mixture into pork mixture in cooker. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 15 to 20 minutes or until thickened.

If desired, serve over hot cooked rice. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
(I skipped step 3 and it turned out great!)