Cooking My Way

This is my first installment of Cooking My Way for 2012.  One of my 100 Things List is to cook something new every week. One of my 2012 Projects is to finish cooking thru my cook-scrapbook and the marked pages of my cookbooks.  Voila!  Combine the two.  The recipe below is what I cooked last week.

Cashew Chicken

I have had this recipe for about 20 years and have never made it till last week.  I thought it was pretty good but my kids did not.  My daughter doused it with barbeque sauce and my son refused to eat it.  More leftovers for me and I actually ate them.  I made rice as the side dish and mixed together.  Yum.

Watch your portions.  Recipe is only for 2 chicken breasts.  I tripled recipe.

Cooking Sauce (recipe follows)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 1 lb.), cut into bite-size pieces

3 tablespoons salad oil

1/2 cup salted roasted cashews

1 medium-size green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares (I didn't use)

1 medium-size onion, cut into 8 wedges, layers separated (I didn't have any so I used dried onions)

1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I used ground ginger)

Cooking Sauce

Stir together 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, a dash of liquid hot pepper seasoning (ONLY a dash unless you want it hot and spicy, I used too much), 3/4 teaspoon each sugar and white wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar), 1 teaspoon dry sherry or water, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

Prepare Cooking Sauce and set aside.  In a bowl, stir together soy and cornstarch; add chicken and stir to coat.  Set aside.

Place pan over medium-high heat; when hot add 2 tablespoons of the oil.  When oil is hot, add cashews and stir until browned (about 1 minute).  remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add chicken mixture and stir-fry until meat is no longer pink in center; cut to test (about 3 minutes).  Remove from pan and set aside.

Pour remaining 1 tablespoon oil into pan; when oil is hot, add bell pepper, onion, and ginger and stire-fry until pepper is tender-crisp to bite (about 4 minutes).  Return chicken to pan.  Stir Cooking Sauce and pour into pan; stir until sauce boils and thickens.  Stir in cashews.  Makes 2 servings.