Sweet & Sour Chicken

I came home from work the other night, itching to cook. Something new, something yummy. I was at a loss. I started surfing many of the food blogs I have bookmarked and viola! Sweet & sour chicken. (But I don't eat Chinese food. I don't even like it in the house. Would I be making a sandwich later?)

O.M.G. This was so.good. Very fast, very easy, had all the ingredients in my pantry already--nothing out of the ordinary.



Sweet and Sour Chicken (from The Cooking Nurse)
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1 c. cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. canola oil [1]

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt & pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through.[2] Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
3/4 c. sugar
4 T. ketchup
1/2 c. vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
1 t. garlic salt [3]

Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes.[4] if you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium head until thickened and reduced, about 6-8 minutes.[5] Goes well with rice.

Notes:
[1] I used olive oil, mostly because I grabbed the wrong bottle and didn't realize it until the oil was in the pan. It came out fine.
[2] Be sure the oil is hot enough. I thought mine was, but I was wrong and the chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan and made a mess.
[3] I used garlic powder instead to control the salt content.
[4] I covered with foil for the first half hour and found the sauce to be getting quite watery. Keeping the foil off the second half hour made a nice coating on the chicken, without it burning.
[5]I found it took closer to 15-20 minutes to reduce and thicken, and you do have to stir--if not constantly, frequently. I used a whisk and had a nice, smooth/drippy/oozy sauce.