A while back while checking in on some of my favorite blogs, I stopped by the Mmm Cafe Blog and found a recipe for Hawaiian Haystacks. Her recipe reminded me of a conversation I'd had with the Blond Bombshell...the one where she was trying to convince me that eating a pile of mis-matched foods was out-of-this-world good...rice, chicken, gravy, cheese, pineapple, tomatoes, coconut, blah, blah, blah...my gag-reflex was on high alert through that entire conversation and it was then and there that I decided NEVER to make, let alone eat, Hawaiian Haystacks. But...after reading Chelsea's recipe, especially the part where she said it was her favorite meal growing up, I wondered if I'd been too hasty in my haystack judgment...so I emailed the Blond Bombshell and asked her to tell me again what was in her recipe...and along with the above mentioned items she added green peas, Chinese noodles, celery and maraschino cherries!!! The Blond Bombshell and Chelsea are not the only people who eat this stuff...apparently there are scads of others who routinely ate this while in college - which begs the question...WHY? And the only OBVIOUS answer is - so they could clean out their pantry and eat dinner at the same time.
After a quick trip to Uwajimaya, our local Asian market, I had everything I needed - but I could have found everything at the grocery store - it's just fun to go to Uwajimaya. I picked up a bottle of Sweet Chili Sauce - my latest addiction...I could eat this with a straw straight from the bottle - it's that good. It's not spicy, but sweet with just a bit of bite...it's great on pork, chicken, turkey, veggies - just about anything that needs a little zip - and I LOVED it with this recipe! So back to the haystacks...I was ready to give them a try...but I just couldn't get past the ...gravy and pineapple/cheese...gravy and coconut/cheese...gravy and maraschino cherries/cheese...so...I made sweet and sour chicken instead. In my next life I shall make and eat Hawaiian Haystacks but until then, this is as far as I'm willing to go towards anything that resembles a pantry-cleaning-haystack. (Please forgive me Chelsea and Blond Bombshell...it's nothing personal! I assure you!)
Sweet and Sour Chicken is a favorite around here...by adding more Rice Wine Vinegar you get more tang - by adding more brown sugar you bump up the sweetness...so you get just the right amount of sweet and sour every time!
Sweet and Sour Chicken - Pots and Pins
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, chopped and rinsed
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, juice reserved
1 can (5 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
salt and pepper to taste
crunchy Chinese noodles for topping
chopped green onion for topping
red pepper flakes or Sweet Chili Sauce to serve, optional
4 cups cooked rice
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken and leek, stirring to combine. Cook chicken until slightly browned on each side, about 8 minutes. Add in red and green peppers and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in pineapple chunks, reserving juice, and water chestnuts. In small bowl combine reserved pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar and corn starch. Pour pineapple juice mixture over chicken and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over hot, cooked rice with crunchy Chinese noodles, green onion and red pepper flakes, if desired. (If I was making this dish for anyone other than the mister I would have added 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to the chicken mixture...but since I value my life, I did not. I like this dish with a bit more heat and usually do add the red pepper flakes to my own plate, but this time I added some of the Sweet Chili Sauce ...it really made this dish SING! Serves 4 to 6.
"They may become harder to achieve but your dreams can't stop because you've hit a certain age..." ~ Dara Torres
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One year ago: Pear Tart Tatin
Two years ago:Oscar Gumbo