Teriyaki Chicken

I'm not a big fan of brown meat...but I couldn't resist the 50 cent a pound leg quarters at Winco, so I set out to find a way that I would like them.  I remembered when I was a kid that my mom made teriyaki chicken legs that I liked, so I called her and here is what I ended up doing...

I had about 5 lbs of them.  I brined them in salt water for about 5 hours and then rubbed garlic powder on them under the skin.  I wanted them to have a grilled taste so I put them out on the grill solely to brown the outside.  I am not so good at grilling and they kept flaming up.  So it didn't take long for them to look grilled.  Then I crammed them into a pan and poured the sauce over them and baked them for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  They ended up tasting amazing!!  Very tender, and delicious.

The sauce was simply 1 1/2 cups of soy sauce and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar.  You are supposed to baste them but I used so much sauce and they were so crammed in that it pretty much covered them.  I only basted it once.  I was really glad I had grilled them, because for me it was a necessary flavor.  Hope you enjoy!

General Tso’s Chicken

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks
5 tablespoons dry sherry 
1 tablespoon+2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Asian(dark) sesame oil
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
3 scallions chopped
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 celery stalks chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1. Combine the chicken 2 tablespoons of the sherry, 1 tbsp of the cornstarch, and the oyster sauce in a medium bowl; set aside to marinate for five minutes.

2. Combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of the sherry, the water, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and the remaining 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Heat a nonstick wok or large deep skillet over medium high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in the oil, and then add the chicken mixture. Stir fry until lightly brown 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, scallions, and crushed red pepper; stir fry until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add the celery and bell pepper; stir fry until crisp tender, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the sherry mixture and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture boils and thickens, and the chicken is just cooked through 1-2 minutes.
Just an fyi: I used grape juice as a substitute for the sherry and left out the water and oyster sauce to compensate for the liquid in the grape juice.  SO YUMMY :)
Makes 4 servings
Per serving: 207 cal, 6 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 63 mg chol, 413 mg sod, 13 g carb, 1 g fiber, 24 g protein, 34 mg calc Points 4

Chinese Hamburger Casserole

My mom made this when I was a kid.  I made it again today and it was a hit with the whole family!

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 cup rice
1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cans mushroom soup
1/4 tsp pepper
chow mein noodles

Brown and rinse hamburger then saute onions in same pan.  Add all remaining ingredients except chow mein noodles and mix together.  Pour into 9 by 13 pan and cover with foil.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes then remove cover and bake an additional 30 minutes.  The original recipe says to top with chow mein noodles at this point and bake an additional 10 minutes.  I just pull it out after the hour and serve it over chow mein noodles.  This prevents soggy noodles in leftovers...if there ever were any :)
Another thing I do to conserve expensive meat is use less hamburger than called for.  ( I buy five pound chubs when on sale, cut them into 8 sections, bag and freeze, then I use the sections like I would a pound...)