Has it been that long....? You'll forgive me after you read THIS!

The answer is yes... My dedication to this blog and my other one has been pathetic- but no worries I have multiple recipes to share with you today. Life just seems to get in the way sometimes- and with report cards, re doing our kitchen, and trying to stay sane I haven't had time to share my recipes in a while...

Today is another day of parent teachers which means I won't get home until late. Luckily enough I have a fully capable husband who will be home to make supper as long as I give him strict instructions- he unlike myself is a recipe kind of guy- and I thought if I'm already emailing him- I may as well put it up here. Many people have probably been to Joey's - they have an appetizer there called sweet chili chicken- they serve this on some kind of wonton but if you ask for rice- its no extra charge and can double as a meal. I adapted it at home and came up with something very very close, so here it is:

Sweet Chili Chicken (Dom's homemade version)

Make 1 1/2 c of your favourite rice in the rice cooker or on the stove. (For me its the rice cooker- put it in and forget it!)

Depending on how many people you are serving that will tell you how many chicken breasts to cut up per person- its safe to assume one chicken breast per. Cube up your chicken breast into just a bit bigger than bite size chunks.
Set out three plates for your breading station:

1. Your first plate with have 1/2 c of flour (to two chicken breasts- meaning if you have 4 people and 4 chicken breasts use 1 c of flour!), add salt and pepper to taste so your flavoring goes into the first layer
2. Your second plate will have 2 eggs and 1 tbsp milk to 2 chicken breasts (If four double- you get the picture)
3. Your third plate will have panko bread crumbs- you can use regular but panko makes everything better- salt and pepper again to taste. I usually do about 1 c to 2 chicken breasts.

Remember nothing has to be exact- if you like more or less of anything adapt as you please! Take your cubed chicken and go through the breading stations 1-2-3 starting with flour, then egg, then panko. Yes you need the flour in order for the egg to stick, and you need the egg for the panko to stick. I suppose you could just do panko but it wouldn't have that crunch that is really nice in such a fresh dish.

After all of your pieces of chicken are breaded- add them to a shallow pan heated with vegetable oil- if you don't know if your oil is ready for frying try this trick- put the end of a wooden spoon on the middle of your pan- if bubbles immediately start to form around it- you are ready to go- if they take a while just wait until you get there. Fry a few pieces at a time careful not to over crowd the pan- this drops the temperature of the oil and your chicken will soak it all up like a sponge instead of browning quickly like you want. After its browned- transfer it to a baking sheet and put the chicken into the oven at 300 to keep warm until you are done frying. Because its such a low temperature and with frying you sealed in all the juices- you do not have to worry about your chicken drying out.

When all the frying is done- take 1 large or 2 medium cucumbers. Cut your cucumber in half and seed it- I like to do this because the middle of cucumbers just add water to dishes- and salad and no flavor- barefoot contessa trick- take a small spoon and run it down the middle of your cucumber- and done! Then with your de-seeded cucumber cut each half in half again so you have 4 long quarters. Cut these into small cubes and part 2 done.

Then take your cold chopped cucumber and some of your cooked chicken cubes and put them in a large bowl. Add sweet chili sauce- found in the Asian isle at the grocery store. Add however much you want- but you want both the chicken and cucumber to be coated. Toss-Serve over rice and done! Really good mix- cool and hot, spicy and mild. Perfect dish! Tell me how it goes!