How Sweet it is --> Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chinese take out is, undoubtedly, one of our family favorites.  Sweet and sour chicken,  "#31 w/chicken" is both of my daughters' standing order.  I ran across a recipe that sounded like it might fit the bill and we gave it a try.

I just want to say, for the record, that this is amazingly delicious and when you open the oven door to take it out you will swear you've got something right from a restaurant!

I've mentioned before I am a fan of the bags of frozen chicken tenders - here's another recipe using them.  I like them in part because I can use as many(or as few) as I need.  This was about 2/3 of a 2 pound bag.  It filled a 9" x 3" baking dish.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
1 cup corn starch
2 eggs
salt and pepper
olive oil

Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup orange juice
4 tbsp ketchup
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp corn starch

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Beat eggs and pour into shallow bowl.  
3. Pour 1 cup corn starch in a shallow bowl
4. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.
5. Add oil to skillet and heat to medium.
6. Dip chicken in corn starch and then egg.  Place in heated skillet.  Continue dipping each piece of chicken till skillet is filled.  Lightly brown one side and the flip and lightly brown the other side.  Do not cook all the way through.
7. Transfer to greased 9" x 13" baking dish.  Continue till all chicken is battered and cooked.
8. Add all sauce ingredients to a bowl.  Stir till well mixed.  Pour over the chicken and put in the oven to bake for about 50 minutes.  We finished it up at 450 for a few minutes to get it "crispy".
9. Serve with rice.  

NOTES:
We kept a wee bit of the sauce aside and poured it over the hot chicken before serving.  Incredible. 
Need a rice recipe?  I've got you covered in the next few days!  Just let me get it typed up!

Enjoy,
Carrie