Appetite for Destruction #1: General Parker's Chicken

I love to cook and I would have to say that it is my favorite hobby. This is the first in a series of recipes that I would like to share with readers.

Not everything I create in the kitchen is a masterpiece; far from it. I tend to overcook eggs and I actually like my toast on the dark side. I rarely make anything that requires cheese since I don't like it, and often when I try to make a recipe that I find online or in print I am always missing some key ingredient or something tends to go wrong. This recipe that I cobbled together, however, turned out to be a happy accident.

It started out in a book as a recipe for General Tso Chicken. I knew from the ingredient list that was given that it would have been more like an orange chicken, but whatever. Over the course of making this dish twice I realized there was no way in hell this was like any chicken created by any General prior. The first time I made it, only the type of oil used was different from the recipe and it still was just some barely orange flavoured chicken. So from that point I made some modifications and made it again. This time I think I have something. So I figured that now that I have modified it enough I can post it here and call myself a general. Hey, if the guy who managed Elvis could call himself a Colonel, I can sure as shit be a general.

The dish turned out to be quite spicy and the heat level can be changed to your liking. It has a bit of a Thai kick to it.

Ingredients

3-4 large chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 cups broccoli florets
1 red or green bell pepper, sliced and seeded
2 cups orange-tangerine juice (usually found in the frozen food section)

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. orange marmalade
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp vegetable or sesame oil
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. chili flakes
1 tsp. cayenne pepper (this is where all the heat comes from; to make it milder use less)
3 garlic cloves, diced and finely minced
1/8 tsp. oregano
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tbsp. flour

White or brown rice prepared to directions on package

Directions

-In a large pot, mix all the sauce ingredients together except for the vinegar and flour. It wont fill the pot, but make sure you have plenty of room in it because you will need it later. Whisk the ingredients together over medium low-heat for 15 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in flour and vinegar until flour is dissolved. Allow sauce to cool and thicken slightly while you prepare the chicken.
-Prepare the chicken in a large frying pan or wok, always making sure that (1) there is just enough oil in the pan at all times to lightly coat the bottom of the pan and (2) that you keep moving the chicken. Once the chicken is fully cooked, move the chicken from the pan to the pot with the sauce. The recipe makes a lot of food, so you might have to make the chicken in several batches.
-Once all the chicken is prepared and in the pot, mix the chicken in the sauce and cover and return the pot to heat over medium heat for five to ten minutes since range settings are often very different.
-Steam the broccoli and pepper slices together, or if using frozen broccoli, cook the vegetables together according to the broccoli instructions.
-Once the vegetables and chicken are finished, mix the vegetables in with the chicken and sauce.
-Serve over rice.

Also, if you don't have rice, I am sure it would taste great over pasta as well. In another variation on the recipe, if you don't have fresh chicken, this can be made with frozen chicken fingers that you can prepare in the oven. Just follow the directions on the box for the chicken fingers and then add it to the sauce and continue the recipe the same way.