Orange Chicken with Broccoli

Truth is . . . I love Chinese Food.  But, I've never been able to make it.  Sure, I've tried many times using countless recipes, but none of them ever turned out to be nearly as good or look as appetizing as restaurant dishes.  A couple of weeks ago I ran across a recipe for Orange Chicken and I thought it looked pretty simple.  I made it for the second time last night, and with a few little tweaks, we had a winner.  This was really good!

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1" chunks
1 lb broccoli crowns cut into florets
8 cloves fresh garlic
4 Tbsp salted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup dry coating mix for chicken or fish

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cut your chicken into 1" chunks and place in a bowl with a lid.  Add your salt and pepper and shake well to season the chicken.  Add the coating mix and shake again to evenly coat all of the chicken chunks.  Set aside

Cut your broccoli crowns into florets and place them in a 9" x 9" baking dish and salt lightly.  Finely dice all 8 garlic cloves and divide evenly.  Place 1/2 of the garlic in a small dish with 4 Tbsp of butter.  Cover the dish and melt butter in the microwave.  Evenly spoon the butter and garlic over the broccoli.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

While your broccoli bakes, prepare your sauce.

Zest of 1 orange
Juice of 1 orange
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 Tbsp white cooking wine
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp water
3 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch mixed with 1 Tbsp water

Place oil in small saute pan with the remainder of the garlic.  Cook over medium heat until garlic begins to brown.  Add the ginger, red pepper flakes, orange zest, orange juice, cooking wine, soy sauce, water and sugar.  Let this simmer slowly for about five minutes.

When broccoli is ready, remove from the oven and let it sit while you fry your chicken chunks.

Heat about 4" of cooking oil in a frying pan or wok.  Personally, I like the wok because I can use less oil.  Drop your chicken chunks in small batches into hot oil.  Don't overcrowd your pan and your chunks will not stick together.  Remove them from the oil when they are a nice golden brown and place them on top of the broccoli.  When finished, return to your sauce.  Mix your 1 Tbsp of corn starch with 1 Tbsp of water and then add to the sauce.  Stir well until sauce thickens.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli.  Stir gently and return to the oven for five minutes.