WHAT?!
Is that even humanly possible?
He proceeds to inform me that, yep, he is on the 'paleo diet'...which according to him meant, "I only eat meat" diet. He asked me if he knew what it was, and while i wasn't 100% clear on the rules or regulations of said diet plan, i knew it didn't mean meat only. He wished it did.
At one point in the conversation, he actually said "yopo" as in, you only paleo once.
And by george wouldn't you know it but he indeed only paleo'd once.
For that one night.
To consume about three palm sized portions of steak.
Ya, that's my man.
Although I should be very grateful for his voracious appetite, [since he was the main 'guinea pig'--his words not mine-- for all of my recipe-wins and recipe-fails] it is just slightly concerning to think that this seems like an acceptable meal while we are forced into a long distance relationship. Can i just say long distance relationships suck. Like, big time. And even more so when you are worried about your boyfriend dying of a meat-induced-heart attack in his twenties.
In light of all that meat-talk, i was inspired to post a meaty-but-definitely-not-paleo-recipe. This Sweet and Sour chicken is awesome. It has a wonderful sauce that is sweet and tangy, and is best served on a bed of rice. It may seem slightly labour-intensive since it's deep fried but honestly, it is no different than any other meal you'll cook. And by that i mean you'll wanna set aside 1.5 hours to make this. Relax, the deep frying takes 30 mins max and the oven does the rest of the work.
What you need:
Chicken:
3-5 regular sized chicken breasts, thawed/fresh and diced into one inch cubes (I had six pretty small ones to feed a family of five adults...)
salt and pepper, divided.
2 cups cornstarch (you may need more)
2 large eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper.
canola oil for deep frying
for the Sauce:
1.5 C granulated sugar
1/2 C ketchup
3/4 C white vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
What you need to do:
Step one: Preheat the oven to 325. AND over medium heat, begin heating a deep skillet with about 1-2 inches deep of canola oil
Step two:
Prepare the sauce, by combining and stirring all ingredients together. The consistency will be pretty liquidy, but it thickens up while baking. Go ahead and taste-test that sh*t; it's gooood.
Step three:
Season the diced chicken with salt and pepper. Toss the chunks of chicken into either a large ziploc bag OR plate/bowl of cornstarch. Coat all pieces evenly.
Step four:
Take those two eggs, beat 'em together if you haven't already (which you really should've since i stipulated to do so above) and dunk the coated chicken into the egg mixture. You can do it individually or a bunch at once. Just a light egg wash is fine, try not to lose all the cornstarch while you're doing so.
But before i go on, i'd like to dedicate a song* to the eggs...
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| Come a little bit closer baby, get it on, get it on... |
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| ...'Cause tonight is the night when two become oneee |
*song credit: spice girls, "2 become 1" since i know you'll wanna sing it when u beat your meat eggs ;)
Step five:
Immediately after the egg coating, cover the pieces again with more cornstarch (it's best to use a plate of cornstarch at this point). Then using either tongs or chopsticks, plop those babies into the skillet of heated canola oil. Turn the chicken once during cooking, about 1-2 mins a side. Remove when it has become very lightly browned-->please note, the chicken is NOT fully cooked at this point. Place the fried chicken directly into deep baking pans.
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| The deep frying process is often mesmerizing. |
Step Six:
When all the chicken is fried and placed in a pan, coat the chicken with the sauce.
Bake in preheated oven for about 40-50 mins. Or until the chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. Stir once halfway through cooking time to evenly re-distribute the sauce
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| finished product: hot and bubbly, sticky and yummy. |
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| come to mama! |
Don't forget to TRY and REPLY!!!
^.^ Recipe adapted from mel's kitchen cafe sweet and sour chicken
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