Sweet and Sour Chicken

One of my children’s favorite dishes—all those years ago—was sweet and sour chicken. My children have always been “good-eaters” but what kid doesn’t like a sweet meal, from time-to-time? To save money, buying leg and thigh quarters, is a good a deal as they are much-less expensive. Skinning the pieces, while still whole, will cut down the amount of chicken fat/grease in the pan, and marinating 2 to 3 hours prior to cooking will help saturate the meat with soy sauce.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp margarine or butter

1 medium yellow onion (diced)

1 medium green, red, or yellow bell pepper (diced)

1-small pckg chopped broccoli

3 tbsp flour

 6 to 8 thigh and leg quarters (cut at leg joint)

1-14.05 oz can diced pineapple with juice reserved

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp brown sugar or honey

1 & ½ tspPaprika

1 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Garlic

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350-degrees

In 3-oz sauté pan/fry pan, over medium-heat, add oil and margarine/butter, allow to come up to heat. Add onion and pepper, allowing onion to become transparent; add broccoli. Remove vegetables, place chicken in pan and brown both sides.  Add vegetables back to pan and sprinkle with flour coating meat and vegetables, cook, over medium heat, approximately 10 minutes. Place vegetables and chicken in large flat baking pan, add pineapple pieces distributing evenly. Mix together; soy sauce, brown sugar or honey, and spices; pour evenly over pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, checking chicken for clear juices.

Serve over rice or with mash potatoes.

Note: For those not fond of sweet entrees, omit the pineapple juice and pieces and brown sugar or honey. Add approximately ½ cup water and 2 to 3 chicken bouillon and sweet and sour chicken becomes chicken and broccoli bake.