"Ancient" Chinese Chicken with Green Beans and Caramelized Shallots

I use the term 'Ancient' loosely here.  It's not an authentic ancient Chinese recipe but the name given the recipe in an old cookbook of mine from 1986 called "Noteworthy - A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival"  It's still one of my all-time favorite cookbooks and I love pulling it off the bookshelf every now and then to see if there's anything I may have missed. My original copy was so worn that the pages were falling out but I was lucky enough to find an almost new copy at the local used book store. 

FYI, the Ravinia Festival in northern Illinois is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1936 and the cookbook was the project of the Women's Board of the Ravinia Festival Organization. 

I was in the mood for some Asian BBQ chicken, and found this recipe in my cookbook.  I thought I might have a hard time finding the currant jelly and plum jam but luckily, no problem thanks to the popular store brand. The original recipe calls for chicken legs and breasts but I substituted bone-in chicken thighs because they stay so tender and juicy, even after a long cooking time.

Since my husband and I are trying to watch our carb intake during the week, I served the chicken with some sauteed mushrooms (to which I added a little of the chicken spice mixture) and my favorite recipe for green beans with caramelized shallots which I'll also share.  It's a fool proof method for getting tender but not over-cooked green beans, just like you'd get in a restaurant.

Did you know that Chinese New Year is starting on February 19!  It will be the Year of the Goat!  Some interesting facts on the Chinese Zodiac. 

I also want to thank my friend, Maris, at In Good Taste Magazine and Wüsthof for the opportunity to win two beautiful Wüsthof knives in December.  Thank you, both very much!  I am thrilled with them and the boning knife is perfect for cutting up chicken parts.

"Ancient" Chinese Chicken with Green Beans and Caramelized Shallots

Adapted from "Noteworthy - A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival"

Printable Recipe

Serves 6

12 bone-in chicken thighs trimmed of excess skin (you may use other chicken parts if you prefer)
1/2 cup Canola oil
2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
2 teaspoons coarse salt (I like to use coarse sea salt)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Note: I ground the dry seasonings together in my spice grinder (which is a coffee grinder I use just for spices).  Save any leftover spice mixture to use on sauteed mushrooms or green beans.

For the Sauce:

1-1/3 cups ketchup
2/3 cup red currant jelly
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco (or Sriracha)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root (or 1/2 teaspoon dry ginger)
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice powder
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup plum jam (strained if it has large bits of plum)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Arrange the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet. Rub the chicken pieces with oil and then sprinkle the lemon juice, Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper over chicken and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.

While the chicken is baking, combine all of the sauce ingredients in a heavy saucepan and whisk together. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

When the chicken is done, remove from oven, uncover, and drain the juices.

Increase the oven temperature to 400. Baste the chicken generously with the sauce and bake, uncovered for 30 minutes, or until browned. Serve with remaining sauce.

You may also grill the chicken on a medium heat grill, basting frequently with the sauce until browned for about 10 minutes, turning frequently.

Serve with sauteed mushrooms, and,

Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots
Adapted from Epicurious

Serves 4

1 pounds slender green beans, stem ends trimmed
3-4 shallots
1 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves are even better)

Have a large bowl of ice water ready.

Bring a large saucepan of water to boil.  Add the green beans and return to a boil.  Cook until just tender, about 6 minutes. Drain and transfer immediately to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in several layers of paper towels. Seal in plastic bag and chill.)

Trim ends and peel shallots. Cut lengthwise in half, then slice thickly. Melt butter with oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sauté 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low; sauté until shallots are browned and tender, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Shallots can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover loosely with foil and let stand at room temperature).

Add pre-cooked and drained green beans to the shallots in skillet and stir over medium-high heat until heated through, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
 

General Tsao's Chicken

I prepared General Tsao's Chicken to honor the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year and found out later that it's not an authentic Chinese recipe at all! 

It was most likely developed in the United States by a Chinese chef and it became an instant success!

Maybe you have ordered this dish at a Chinese restaurant or ordered it to 'Take Out' at some time - I know we have. The fact that it isn't an authentic recipe direct from Asia doesn't diminish how delicious it tastes!

I will warn you that making this dish as written is a rather lengthy process but well worth the effort.  Please see my notes at the end to see how you can prepare this without deep-frying and also be sure to double the sauce in the recipe.  You won't be sorry :) This would also make a delicious appetizer and could be served as you would mini meatballs.

General Tsao's Chicken

Adapted from Allrecipes
Printable Recipe

Servings: 6

Orange zest and whole dried chiles give the sauce a delightful, restaurant quality flavor.

For the chicken - please see my note below if you wish to avoid the deep fry method*

4 cups vegetable oil for frying
1 egg
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (you may substitute chicken breast)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 pinch white pepper
1 cup cornstarch

For the sauce - please see my note below**

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or olive oil)
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
6 dried whole red chilies
1 strip orange zest
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Heat 4 cups vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Using olive oil for the deep frying would be a slightly healthier option.

Beat the egg in a mixing bowl. Add the chicken cubes; sprinkle with salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and white pepper; mix well. Mix in 1 cup of cornstarch a little bit at a time until the chicken cubes are well coated.

In batches, carefully drop the chicken cubes into the hot oil one by one, cooking until they turns golden brown and begin to float, about 3 minutes. Remove the chicken and allow to cool as you fry the next batch. Once all of the chicken has been fried, refry the chicken, starting with the batch that was cooked first. Cook until the chicken turns deep golden brown, about 2 minutes more. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Stir in the green onion, garlic, whole chiles, and orange zest. Cook and stir a minute or two until the garlic has turned golden and the chiles brighten. Add 1/2 cup sugar, the ginger, chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and peanut oil; bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes.

Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the water, and stir into the boiling sauce. Return to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens and is no longer cloudy from the cornstarch, about 1 minute. Stir the cooked chicken into the boiling sauce. Reduce heat to low and cook for a few minutes until the chicken absorbs some of the sauce.

Serve with rice or with steamed broccoli, as I did.  Or both!  Top with additional orange zest and thinly sliced green onions, if desired.

If you wish to avoid the deep-frying method, use chicken breast cubed and seasoned.  Saute in a little oil until cooked, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of the cubes. Simply add the sauteed cubes to the finished sauce as stated above.

**The sauce it so good, I advice doubling the sauce ingredients!

Glazed Asian Drumsticks

If you love chicken legs but don't like all of the fat contained in the skin, here is a wonderfully delicious recipe for low fat drumsticks with an Asian flair. Browsing through the list of ingredients in the recipe, I just knew that the sauce and glaze on these was going to be fabulous and oh my, it was! I first found this recipe on the blog, Six Sisters' Stuff, but the original recipe comes from Skinnytaste - a great source for low fat recipes.  I served the drumsticks with a quinoa pilaf and steamed broccoli, rounding out a great-tasting and healthy dinner.

I found the easiest way to pull off the skin from the drumsticks was to loosen the skin from the wide part of the drumstick and grab it with a piece of paper toweling over my fingers then pull down and over the small end of the drumstick.  Then, I used my kitchen scissors to cut the skin away.

Sticky, moist and delicious!

Glazed Asian Drumsticks

Adapted from Asian Glazed Drumsticks at Skinnytaste
Printable Recipe

8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
Non-stick cooking spray or 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce*
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated**

2 tablespoons chives or green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

*You can find Sriracha Sauce at most grocery stores and at Walmart.
** Tip - you can keep whole pieces of ginger frozen. Simple peel away the skin and grate. Place remaining ginger back in the freezer for next time!

Spray a large, heavy saucepan with non-stick spray or add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place over medium high heat. Brown chicken legs for about 10 minutes, turning to brown all sides.

Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes.

Remove cover and bring heat back to medium high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 10-15 minutes, or until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. Be careful that the glaze doesn't burn during this last step.

Transfer chicken to a platter and top with remaining glaze from pan. Sprinkle with chopped chives or green onions and sesame seeds.