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06 April 2013

Crockpot Orange Chicken



I was attempting to have April become 30 days of recipes :/ That failed fast ;) Yesterday was actually quite eventful- I had my day planned well since we were going head off to San Antonio to see the Vipsho (that is what I call my sister and brother-in-law because their names fuses so well ;). I had to go to school in the morning to teach and get a few things done on campus but the plan was to head home, pack, get Ninja ready (because Justin and Luke said they could watch him) and hit the road BUT I "lost" my iPhone. I say "lost" because I truly thought I left my phone in the lecture hall I was teaching in, so I was in panic mode. But after 1 hour I discovered my phone was in an office I swore I never went into (but hey I found it).

By the time I got home, I was exhausted- I think having a week of very little sleep- just hit me. So I took a nap. When I woke up- I suddenly got it in my head to tidy up a bit--so I did that. Long story short: the hubby and I did not get to San Antonio till around 930pm. And once we got here, we ate dinner with the Vipsho right away and then went to Howl at the Moon. I really love dueling piano bars! And when we came back to the hotel- I may have fallen asleep again....



Today began our food crawl with the Vipsho. I really need to do more sight seeing ;) But I have already been to San Antonio twice before- when I walked the River Walk and went to the Alamo. First thing we went to was a restaurant called the County Line--for some Texas BBQ (I think sometimes people say Tejas BBQ ;). If you remember- the hubby and I tried KC BBQ when we went to visit for Thanksgiving this past year and were quite disappointed. I told the Vipsho that they had to try Texas BBQ and would easily see why its better. Well I think I easily won that battle because even my sister said how good the meat taste :)

I then wanted to visit some cupcakeries to kill some time, because in the afternoon-evening the Vipsho was heading off to a basketball game. My brother-in-law is a HUGE Spurs fan. Actually he is just a HUGE sports fan, but his favorite basketball team is the Spurs and it's funny because he looks like Tony Parker. Anywhoo we ended up going to three: Kate's Frosting, Cupcake Couture (not related to the one in College Station) and Bird Bakery (a very hipster cupcake spot). Sad story: we were in a rush to get back since they had to go to the game, so I told myself I would photograph the cupcakes when I got home. But I forgot I lent my camera to them for the game and did not realize I had no camera for my cupcakes until I got to the hotel room :/ #cupcakepicturefail.



Wow that was a long post! Let go to cooking- here is an Orange Chicken recipe that I saw on a lot of food blogs that I like to follow. I was really excited when I saw it. BUT here is my note: I thought the sauce tasted great and Justin ate it up, the hubby on the other hand did not like it! I was a bit in horror because this is the first time he told me he did not like something I made and did not eat it! And yet I was so proud because I think it turned out great! After some talking, reading comments on the blogs I found this recipe on and help from Justin this is what we came up with: the orange chicken has a very "zesty" taste- if you do not like the taste of orange zest then you probably will not like this recipe. OR if you have an aversion from orange juice concentrate (like the hubby)- you will not like the taste of this recipe. If you have no issues with either- you are going to love it! 






CROCKPOT ORANGE CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts cut into small chunks
1/2 c. flour
olive oil

FOR THE SAUCE
1/2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp. ketchup
6 oz. orange juice concentrate (1/2 can), thawed
4 tbsp. brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

For the Chicken:
Put chicken and flour in a large ziplock freezer bag and shake well to coat chicken with flour. Then, in a large skillet or wok, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once heated, brown the chicken on all sides. The chicken does not have to cook through- the goal is to just brown the chicken to create a "crunchy" exterior that orange chicken has-- so just sear it to get the flour to stick and create a nice coating. Once the chicken has browned and you have a nice coating- place the chicken in a large crockpot. 

For the Sauce:
In a medium bowl, whisk together salt, vinegar, ketchup, orange juice concentrate, and brown sugar until you have a thick sauce. 

Pour sauce over chicken and toss gingerly to make sure all chicken pieces are covered with sauce. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Serve over rice. 

Enjoy,
Chika

2 comments :

  1. I come to this place every now and then. The halls in Los Angeles are really nice, the crowd is full of regulars, and the food and drink specials are pretty good! The staff is great and really gets to know your name. Totally worth your time on any night for good food and drink.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is by far the easiest and tastiest orange chicken that I have ever made! Everyone who has tried it, loves it, even the fussiest of the fussy!!

    ReplyDelete

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