So, my dear Mother, I have a confession to make, actually two confessions. The first is the very reason we've started this blog, and I know you are aware of this as you suffer from a similar dilemma: I can't stop thinking about food! I think technically I may just be obsessed... with food. Not like, stalker obsessed, I'm not going to the local farmer's market and becoming insanely jealous when a perfect pint of blackberries is picked up by another customer... Well, not too insane, but I just might complain about the nerve of that person when clearly I was giving those blackberries "the eye." I do believe that I might just think about food a lot more than your average person, however I'm sure I'm not the only one. In fact I know I'm not, as you yourself think about food with a high degree of frequency. Is it something in our genes? Anyway, what ever this problem is, I like it. And I know you like it too. This is why 90% of our conversations are about food, and this of course is why we've decided to write this blog! To clear our thoughts, musings, dreams of, and even sometimes grievances about food, in all of its tasty and wonderful glory.
So, my second confession, is that although I have gladly accepted the moniker "Cosmo" and I am extremely flattered by "cosmopolitan culinairian daughter," it's not a perfect description of myself. I'm just a humble home cook with no culinary training, just like you, but I try to make new, fun, interesting, tasty and sometimes daring things in the kitchen. Along that note, I don't really like cosmos either. I'm more of a beer/wine girl. Although sometimes John and I will go out to some trendy new bar with very fancy drinks hand mixed by a mixologist and then, of course, I just have to order a cocktail. But when it comes to the typical run of the mill cocktail, I'll pass. So when we were planning to put together the image for this blog's title I was more excited to photograph the cosmo than to actually have to drink it. But, I figured I'd make the most of the situation and I bought cranberry juice and some beautiful oranges and limes, and proceeded to make a cosmo. I even did a little cocktail shaking dance hoping it would add to the overall flavor of the drink. It didn't. But the drink looked really pretty when I was done, and it wasn't the worse drink ever, although I didn't want another.
So what, exactly, was I supposed to do with a bottle of cranberry juice and all of this citrus laying around my kitchen? I'm not much of a juice drinker either, so perhaps use the ingredients in an entree? An entree that I would enjoy much more than the cosmo. How about cosmo chicken? Use the flavors in the cosmo for a sauce for chicken. A cosmo's main flavors, as many Sex In the City watchers are aware, is mainly cranberry and orange, which made me think Orange Chicken like the kind you get from really good Chinese takeout. So, I tweaked an Orange Chicken recipe I found from the wonderful blog Local Kitchen, and created Cosmo Chicken (Orange-Cranberry Chicken). And low and behold, it was fabulous! I think I've made a "cosmo" I can be proud to be associated with.
cosmo chicken
For the Chicken:
1-1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2"x3" pieces
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne
1/4 tsp. ginger
vegetable oil
For the Sauce:
1 cup water
1/2 cup 100% cranberry juice (not cranberry juice cocktail)
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
juice from 1/2 large orange
juice from 1/2 lime
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup vodka, optional (it is "cosmo" chicken after all!)
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar, w/ 1 tbsp.separated
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
3 tbsp. corn starch
crushed red pepper
rice
lime zest
orange zest
Combine water, cranberry juice, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, vodka and all citrus juices in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, stir to combine 3 tbsp. cornstarch and separated 1 tbsp. brown sugar, set aside.
Heat oil for frying to 350-375 degrees in a dutch oven or wok, oil should be about 2"-3" deep. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, cayenne and ground ginger. Dip chicken pieces in egg, then dredge in flour mixture shaking off excess, fry in hot oil in batches. Drain on paper towels.
Add the 3/4 cup brown sugar, garlic and fresh ginger to the sauce, stirring to combine. Bring to boil. Add 2 tbsp. water to the cornstarch/brown sugar mixture and stir to dissolve. Add cornstarch mixture to the sauce and stir, the sauce will thicken almost immediately. When the sauce is thick and bubbly, remove from heat.
To sauce the chicken, toss chicken pieces and sauce in a clean bowl to combine. Add as much crushed red pepper flakes as you dare to the chicken (definitely put a little in, the spice adds a nice kick to the sweet sauce). Serve over rice, garnish with lime and orange zest.
cosmo's cooking notes:
The sauce is the boss on this dish. I would go so far to say, and this is a very unusual statement coming from me, but the chicken doesn't need to be fried. Whoa, whoa, whoa, but doesn't frying something in oil make everything better? Yeah, sometimes, but honestly this sauce is so good you could just bake or grill the chicken, serve with rice, and it would still be really yummy. So its up to you how you'd like to treat the chicken (or shrimp would be awesome too).
Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Kristin (a.k.a. Cosmo)
P.S. I really need to work on my food photography skills! Bear with me, I'm new to this!
Well Hello There! Here we go, we've officially extended our kitchen conversations to all of you foodies out there on the web! I hope you stuck around to read our inaugural post, but if not, hopefully you will at least try some Cosmo Chicken. Come back soon to see the conversation continue, or join the conversation and leave us a comment below.
