Bourbon Street Chicken

Another dinner recipe today - things have been pretty boring lately - nothing to bake or craft for! I decided to try this Bourbon Street Chicken from Big Oven since I loooove Chinese Food and it seemed similar. Making it at home meant I could cut back on the salt and hopefully some calories.

Source: Big Oven

I ran into a couple problems. I started cooking and realized I forgot to buy apple juice. No biggie - I would just add a touch more cider vinegar and supplement the rest with chicken broth. Well as I was adding the sauce ingredients, I misread 1 tbsp of vinegar and added the whole 1/4c (the amount of apple juice). Awful mistake. It burned my nostrils and the taste was in  my mouth as soon as I poured it in the pan. Joe said from across the room "Is it supposed to smell like that?" A double check of the amounts and I realized my mistake. Thankfully it was before we tried to eat it. So I started the sauce all over again. Here are my pics:

Sauteing the chicken

Making the sauce - without all the vinegar this time (but still no apple juice)!

Saucing up the chicken

Finished product!

The Verdict: Honestly, I wasn't expecting much. I don't really like spice of any kind, Joe isn't a fan of Chinese Food, and I thought I messed up the sauce royally without the apple juice. In the end, it didn't turn out bad. It was a little too spicy for me (I know its only a couple red pepper flakes, but still too much for me - I am a wimp), but Joe loved it.

Things to consider: Do not use a 1/4 cup of vinegar! But seriously - I am not sure how different it would be with the juice, but I would like to try it again to see if it's any better. I think Joe would like it if I made it more often.

Bourbon Chicken:

Source: Big Oven

Ingredients: 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts; cut into bite-size pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil; (1-2)

1 garlic clove; crushed

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch; (if thick sauce desired)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet.
Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
Remove chicken.
Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well blended and dissolved.
Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.
Serve over hot rice.