Sweet and Sour Chicken

When my husband and I lived in South Carolina we ate out ALL the time.  Granted at the time we were much younger, both worked full-time, were non-military and had no children.  Now with two young children, my husband in the military and me being a stay-at-home mom I realized the importance of cooking.  Especially in the state of Washington.  I'm not sure if we are just use to the food we use to eat in the South but I tell you the food in our area is absolutely dreadful.  I'm not saying the food in Seattle is dreadful as with two small children we don't really have the time to go there and try it and we can't really take our monsters out to anything fancy in Seattle either.  I'm speaking about our area specifically.  We go out to eat probably once every few months and it leaves us disappointed.  So I've learned to make some of our favorites.  This is one of them.  We use to get Chinese take-out all the time and we haven't found any place around here that even compared to what we were use to.  I found that most sweet and sour sauces have ketchup added which to me made it taste like a bunch of stuff with ketchup in it.  I didn't like it.  This is my own version of what I think sweet and sour chicken and sauce should taste like.  

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

1/2 c. pineapple juice

1/4 c. rice vinegar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 carrot (rough chopped)

1/4 green bell pepper (rough chopped)

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and whisk together until cornstarch is dissolved.  Allow to come to a boil and turn down to a simmer for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to combine.  Remove carrot and bell pepper before serving.  I like to add some of the pineapple into the sauce while it cooks and serve it with it as well. 

Batter:

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 c. ice cold water
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat dutch oven or deep fryer to 375 degrees.  Combine the cornstarch, flour, baking soda and water.  Add diced chicken pieces and then drop directly into hot oil.  Cook until golden brown, roughly 8 minutes.  

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