Pineapple Chicken

When he was little, my son Samuel was one of those kids who would only eat lemon chicken with the sauce on the side. As he got older he would tolerate it, but never really liked it. It came as a surprise to me when he asked if I could make him lemon chicken for dinner one evening. I looked through my cabinets and didn't have any lemon curd, not one can of frozen lemon aid in the freezer and only one lemon in the refrigerator. The one time he asked me to make it, I didn't have enough main ingredient for the sauce.

I did however, have a jar of his favorite pineapple jelly. I simply substituted the pineapple jelly for the curd and came up with this recipe. The result, at least to my son, was better than any lemon chicken he had eaten before. Just what a mom loves to hear!

 3 boneless chicken breasts, bite sized chunks

1/4 cup rice vinegar, plus a splash

1/4 cup cooking Sherry

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

salt to taste

oil for frying

1 cup water

1 cup pineapple jelly

20 sprigs fresh chives, chopped or chopped green onion

6-8 maraschino cherries, halved

1 tbs cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

Mix vinegar, Sherry and ginger in a bowl. Add chicken and marinade for 15 minutes. In a separate bowl mix flour and cornstarch. Take each piece of chicken, shake off excess liquid and coat in flour mixture, set aside. Heat about a 1/4 cup of oil in pan. When hot, add chicken and cook on all sides til cooked thoroughly. Remove chicken from pan and set on paper towel lined plate, lightly salt and keep warm. 

Remove excess oil from pan. Add a splash of vinegar will evaporate quickly. Add water and bring to a simmer, scraping cooked bits off the bottom of the pan. Add jelly and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add chives and cherries and simmer until sauce begins to thicken. Add cornstarch to cold water and add to sauce until desired thickness is achieved. Serve chicken over steamed rice with pineapple sauce on top.