"What's for dinner?" Wednesdays

So this is my attempt to capture what I served for dinner on Wednesday nights. I will try to feature recipes I do not get from a cookbook or online (my favorite thing to do!). These will be meals I make up and hope for the best. Granted, the recipe might bring to mind something you've seen before, but since the attempt will be from the top of my head, I won't follow the typical recipe pattern. More loosey-goosey than the standard format. No measuring here, just like my mom. Although she has like 60+ years of cooking experience on me, I gotta start somewhere, right?

Today's "What's for dinner?" is a play on Chinese takeout, something hubby and I do about once a month. Most of the restaurants in my immediate area aren't always the most authentic but they'll do in a pinch. Maybe, if hubby likes this dish, we can skip the take out and eat this instead. I'll have to figure out how to make egg rolls, too! I call this Orange Chicken but it's not the typical orange chicken dish available at most Chinese restaurants because I think they're way to heavy on the orange. I put a hint of orange in my rice instead. But I'll still call it Orange Chicken because I don't have any other name for it.


Orange Chicken - makes 4 servings

Starring: Chicken stock, chicken tenderloins, soy sauce, olive oil, orange juice, butter, flour, Chinese 5 spice powder, bell peppers, ginger, garlic and rice.

Cook 1 cup of rice using chicken stock in place of water. I like to use jasmine rice and I always flavor my rice with a citric acid; since this is Orange Chicken, I squeeze the juice of a small orange in the rice after it's done cooking.
While the rice is cooking, I season 2 pounds of chicken breast tenderloins with Chinese 5 spice powder. This seasoning is so fragrant and I use it whenever I make any Chinese dish. I don't know all of the spices, but one of them is cinnamon. I love this. After seasoning (or before, doesn't really matter), cut the chicken into strips and cook in olive oil. When the chicken is cooked all the way through, I take it out of the pan. I cook about 5 slivers of ginger, 2 cloves of garlic (smashed) and some rough chopped bell peppers in a bit more olive oil until the peppers are crunchy because that's the way we like them.
In the meantime, I make a roux (hey, that's not Chinese!). In a small saucepan I melt a half a stick of butter and dump 2 tablespoons of flour and stir until there are no lumps. Then I add another 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a few shakes of the 5-spice powder....just for giggles.
Here's where the magic happens: I bring the chicken back into the skillet with the veggies and pour the roux into the skillet and mix it all together. The chicken will have a loverly golden caramel color and your house will smell awesome.
Put the now spicy chicken over the rice (don't forget to squeeze the orange juice in the rice) and you've got your own Chinese take out meal.

Orange Chicken