It's a rare thing for me to buy skinless, boneless chicken breasts these days. For one thing, they're so darned expensive most of the time, I'd rather do all the work myself and pocket the extra eight some-odd dollars I would have spent. Ribs attached and skin on, to me, equals longer cooking time, but results in AWESOME flavor, texture and all-over aesthetic appeal. But low and behold, i found a good sale on boneless skinless chicken boobs at my local gigantic food storage house (known to Americans as "Suuuuupermarkets"). $1.09/lb, and that wasn't including the styrofoam plate or plastic wrap. Got four HUGE breasts for four dollars, a deal any cool would probably be quite proud of (or most men, for that matter).
Another problem is, because I know how to cook and I get bored doing the old humdrum meat, starch and two veg' deal, the prized meat has to sit in the fridge for a while until I figure out how to present them without annoying myself. Much to my husband's chagrin, although he usually enjoys what I come up with, I like to experiment with my food. Ah, yes, the bane of being married to a foody. Any how, this time around, the food court was what sprung to mind as I thumbed through my mental cooking Roladex: bourbon chicken! In came another problem: I'm eight months pregnant, my feet are useless stumps of soreness at the ends of my swollen legs. Going to the store could prove quite problematic, if not very painful, at this point in the game, plus even before I reached this current state, I never cared for bourbon or most of the other hard liquors out there. WHAT DO I DO??!!
A quick search on allrecipes.com produced several tutorials for our beloved food court staple, all insisting on the use of that darned nasty tasting brown hooch. Then it occurred to me: we were still in the possession of a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey from several moons ago when it seemed like a good idea on St Patty's day. The gamble of this swap seemed irresistible and worth it since my craving for poultry goodness was snowballing by the second. So here it is: Whiskey Chicken, my way. Take it or leave it!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes (thighs will be more succulent, but it's your shout)*
3 tbsp vegetable oil (about 5 fast turns from a squeeze bottle)
Another 1 tbsp oil (this will make sense if you read the directions)
1/4 c finely diced yellow onion**
1/4 c chicken broth (homemade preferable, or use Swanson's Low Sodium Chicken Broth)
1/4 c grape juice (or whatever juice you've got on hand)
1/4 c Jameson Irish Whiskey
1/4 c soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 HUGE cloves of garlic, grated (micro plane or a fine-toothed handheld grater works best for this job)
1/2 inch piece of ginger, grated (repeat above statement)
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1 tbsp corn starch
*If you opt to leave the skin on, you will find this to be a very greasy dish. Trust me, I've made this mistake, served it to my Mum and now I've lived to tell you NOT to do this.
** The instructions from the allrecipes.com recipe said to use 1 tbsp of dried onion flakes, but I don't keep those on hand. I think onion powder, about 1 tsp, would do the trick too if you're feeding people who have onion-detectors in their mouth/nose. I chopped my onion pretty fine and it melded nicely with the sauce, plus the long cooking time helps, too. If you choose to use powder, you'll whisk it into the liquid step of this here recipe. Because powder and hot oil burn together, donchaknaw?
Directions:
Browning the diced cluck cluck.
Frony, fron, frond! So tasty and... good!
Heat a medium non-stick pan over medium heat. Add oil and brown chicken in 2 batches, or until all is processed. Should take about 2 minutes per side for nicely tanned chicken. Chicken will still be quite pink on the inside. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Whisk together everything from broth to cracked pepper. Add an extra tablespoon of oil to that lovely frond-y goodness collected at the bottom of your pan (or the brown bits) followed by the diced onions. Stir to collect the flavorful brown bits. Boost heat to high and pour in most of the whiskey-broth mixture, save for about 1/4 cup or so. Allow liquid to come to a boil.
Whisk corn starch into remaining liquid then quickly whisk the slurry into the boiling liquid. Add browned chicken to the pan and continue to boil for about 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Reduce heat to low and cook for at least 15 minutes, or if you have time, up to 4 hours, simmering to tenderize chicken pieces*. Serve hot over Jasmine rice with your choice of steamed vegetables and a couple spoon-fulls of the cooking liquid. Liquid should be viscose but not gelatinous. If necessary, add extra corn starch mixed with water 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.
*This is a great dish for the crock pot, since you can allow it to stew for several hours throughout the course of the day. Just add the chicken to the boiling liquid, skip the slurry and simmer for as long as you can (up to 8 hours). When you're ready to serve, add slurry of corn starch and cold water and bring to a boil until thickened to desired consistency.
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