Sweet and Sour Chicken

One of my favorite times of entertaining is having friends over for a comfortable, not formal, dinner. For such times I like to serve something a little nicer than I would serve to my family on a normal weeknight, but something that is still simple. Part of the enjoyment would be taken away if I prepared a meal that would stress me out too much. This recipe is one of those that is delicious but is a little different than something I would normally do.

The recipe came from my mother-in-law--I asked her where she got the recipe and she thinks she clipped it from a newspaper or magazine a few years ago. It is delicious served with rice, just be sure to put some of the sauce on the rice--yummy! I served it Easter weekend on Saturday night when my entire family was in town, and everyone loved it. I also did a simple salad with strawberries, bacon and pecans and grilled asparagus. Fantastic!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

8 boneless chicken breasts, pounded to be about 1/2" thick
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
20 oz. can sliced pineapple
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 chicken bouillon cube

Salt and pepper chicken, then coat chicken lightly with flour. Brown chicken in oil over medium heat. Place in baking dish. Drain the pineapple. Put syrup in 2 cup measuring cup. Add water to make 1 1/4 cup; pour in medium saucepan. Add sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and bouillon; whisk together over medium high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let boil two minutes, continuing to stir. Pour over chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then add one pineapple slice to the top of each chicken breast. Bake an additional 30 minutes.
Serve with lots of white rice; sauce is good over rice. Sometimes I double the sauce recipe to make sure we have plenty!

Hope you have friends over soon--let me know if you enjoy it!