Becoming a Cook: Orange Chicken

Landon Paul has ulcers.  They are NOT fun, and I do NOT recommend them.  For years the doctors couldn't figure out what the pain was coming from.   They thought he had a parasite (from his 2-year mission in South America) for a while, but a month after we were married, he had another endoscopy and found his stomach covered in them.  The nurse joked, “Stressful marriage?”  I wanted to hit her.  We had been married a month!  We were still in the honeymoon stage!  (I guess hitting her wouldn’t have helped my case :))   Anyway, the doctor showed me a picture where Landon Paul’s stomach was covered in red dots.  I asked how many ulcers he had, and the doctor said, “You see all those red dots?  Each of those is an ulcer, so there are too many to count.”  Landon’s biology teacher was so impressed by it that he put it on the projector for the whole class to see.

That’s a long way of telling you that he can’t eat my favorite food: Sweet and Sour Chicken on rice or ANY Asian food for that matter which is just sad, because I love it!  Well, this weekend Landon Paul had an ulcer flare-up.  He rarely has flare-ups anymore and does SO MUCH BETTER than he used to, but sometimes they still happen. 

I’ve learned to make ulcer-friendly food to avoid such flare-ups, but when he does have a situation, the only thing he can have is Rice Krispies.  Guess what that means?  The only silver lining to very uncool flare-ups is that I GET TO EAT ORANGE CHICKEN TILL I’M BLUE IN THE FACE!  Of course I could eat it whenever I wanted, but who wants to make his and hers dinners?  (Sometimes I get desperate and do it anyway!)  I LOVE this recipe, and I hope you do, too!  

(I eat large portions...don't judge.)

Orange Chicken

Ingredients: 

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
½ cups flour
½ teaspoon garlic powder

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons orange juice

1/3 cup vinegar

2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce

 1 cup brown sugar 

 
½ teaspoon finely minced ginger

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)-optional

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Heat oven to 350.  In a shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, and pepper.  Dip each piece of chicken in flour mixture and coat evenly.

Pour oil in a shallow baking dish, large enough to accommodate chicken in a single layer.  Arrange chicken in pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine water, fresh orange juice, vinegar, and soy sauce and whisk over medium heat for a few minutes.  Then stir in brown sugar, ginger, green onion, and garlic and let it come to a boil.  Combine cornstarch with water and let it dissolve and add it to the sauce until thickened.

After chicken has baked the 30 minutes, turn each piece over and pour 1/2 sauce mixture evenly over chicken.  Bake another 30-40 minutes basting frequently.  Result: A little piece of heaven