Sticky Chicky

This recipe comes from a recipe book that I got at a 75% off book store. I collect recipe books, and this one really caught my eye. Just the title alone is wonderful, “BEAT THAT!” If you don’t have it, you should get it. From the forward, I learned that it is her SECOND cookbook, and there may even be more than two of them… and they are ALL on my Christmas list (Ahem! Hint, hint!). It is the only cookbook I have that actually has me laughing out loud as I read her notes on each recipe, and reads almost as good as any humor book out there. I’m going to give you an excerpt of her writing style on this recipe. Just promise me that when YOU buy her book, you buy it from MY Amazon link here: Beat That! Cookbook by Ann Hodgman

Enjoy!

STICKY CHICKY (recipe from “Beat That!” by Ann Hodgman)

I’m getting bolder about giving people embarrassing recipes, especially if I’m sure that children will like them. As many of us knows, it’s not easy to find a recipe that kids love and grownups like – and as my sister-in-law Anne said when she was little, “This is also vice versa.” Sticky Chicky crosses the generations. You wouldn’t serve it to company, but your children will love it, and you will find it perfectly acceptable, sort of like sweet-and-sour chicken without those embarrassing pineapple chunks. Also, it’s easy and low in fat. Don’t I sound like a woman’s magazine?

The chicken needs to marinate for 24 hours or longer before it’s cooked. Rice is mandatory with Sticky Chicky.

• 1/2 cup vinegar (I use balsamic, but cider or distilled work too)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tblsp grated fresh ginger
• 3-4 pounds chicken pieces, preferably with skin removed, quartered (chicken breasts are my favorite here)

Combine the vinegar, soy, sugar, garlic and ginger in a shallow baking dish big enough to hold the chicken in a single layer. Stir marinade until the sugar dissolves. Put chicken into dish and turn each piece over a few times to coat well. Cover baking dish and chill 24 hours.

Next day, bring chicken to room temperature. Transfer chicken and marinade to large heavy skillet. Over medium heat, bring marinade to boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer chicken 15 minutes turning occasionally. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Check chicken for doneness (keep checking as you uncover skillet and cook chicken for 15 minutes longer or until meat is tender and juices run clear when you prick with fork). Put chicken on platter and cover with foil to keep warm in oven.

Turn heat up on skillet burner to cook sauce until syrupy and caramelized, stirring frequently. This takes up to 15 minutes. After ten minutes, turn heat back down to prevent sauce from suddenly overcooking. Return chicken to skillet and coat with sauce. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

This is by far not her funniest entry, but she is great, and I love her recipes that I have tried. She started cooking in her young years and by age 14, she won Seventeen magazine’s Teen Gourmet of the Year. She is the author of 40 books for children, humor books for adults, and was the original food columnist for Spy magazine. And even more interesting, she has a Australian flying squirrel and a prairie dog as a pet (amoung the rest of her pet zoo). She dedicates her cook books to Keanu Reeves. Wonder why?