Spicy Gingery Chicken
Spicy Gingery Chicken with White Rice
One of the things I enjoy doing is cooking and experimenting with new recipes. Since Andy’s stroke, I’ve kind of let this joy go by the wayside as there has been so much to do and manage around the farm. Now that the garden is starting to wane with the changing of the seasons, I thought I better reengage and start cooking again using our lovely produce, while I still have access to it! The following recipe is one I experimented with this week, and it was tasty! It comes from a new cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Every Day, that I picked up on one of my commutes to Denver when Andy was in Craig Hospital. I’ve included the details at the end of the post.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Serves four
Ingredients
· 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or sesame oil, plus more for greasing (I used olive oil for cooking and Crisco for greasing, the later because I didn’t see this note on the greasing until now)
· 1 large egg (I used two as one didn’t coat all the chicken)
· 1/1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
· 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts cut into 1-inch pieces (I used chicken tenders and cut them into 1-inch pieces)
· ¼ cup arrowroot powder (I couldn’t find this, so I substituted cornstarch)
· 1 teaspoon ground ginger
· 2 bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (I used red peppers as I thought the color would look nice plus they are sweeter)
· Fine pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper (I used pink sea salt)
· 3 shallots, thinly sliced (fresh from my garden)
· 1/3 cup raw peanuts
· 2/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce (I discovered I was out of soy sauce, so I used coconut aminos instead)
· 1/3 cup pomegranate juice
· 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
· ¼ cup raw honey (I used Andy’s honey)
· 1 (1-inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced or grated
· 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated (also from my garden)
· 2 to 3 teaspoons crushed Sichuan peppercorns or crushed red pepper flakes (I dialed this back to 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes as the last time I used hot pepper for a recipe from this cookbook it was WAY too spicey)
· Steamed rice for serving
· 2 green onions, sliced for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet (this is where I used the Crisco but the actual recipe used olive oil).
Beat the egg in a shallow bowl. Place the breadcrumbs in a separate shallow bowl. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, arrowroot powder (or cornstarch), and ground ginger, tossing to coat well. Remove the chicken from the bowl and drop it into the egg, turning to coat. Working in batches, remove the chicken from the egg, allowing any excess to drip off. Dredge the chicken through the breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere. Place the chicken on one side of the prepared baking sheet; repeat with the remaining chicken. Drizzle the chicken with 2 tablespoons of the oil.
Arrange the bell peppers on the other side of the baking sheet and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, adding a pinch each of salt and pepper. Roast for 12 minutes, then flip the chicken, toss the peppers and add the shallots and peanuts to the backing sheet (I added them to the pepper side.) Return the sheet to the oven and roast until the chicken is cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, whisk together the soy sauce, pomegranate juice, vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns (or red pepper flakes) and ¼ cup of water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce thickens and reduces by a third, 5 to 8 minutes (my sauce never did get thick but that’s okay as the chicken in breadcrumbs absorbed the sauce beautifully.)
Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Pour the sauce over the chicken and pepper mix and toss to coat. To serve, divide the steamed rice among bowls and add the chicken and peppers. Top with thinly sliced green onions.
Bon Appetit!
Half Baked Harvest Every Day: recipes for balanced, flexible, feel good meals
By Tieghan Gerard
ISBN 978-0-593-23255-2
