I have been wanting to try creating my own crockpot recipe for awhile. I have had different ideas running through my head for a month or so, and I have researched different recipes online, but I couldn't really find what I was looking for. I decided that I enjoy my food when I create my own recipes from time to time. So, I decided to try my hand at an Orange Chicken Recipe. I ended up with a lot of the juice/sauce I poured over my chicken by the time the taste was balanced out the way I was expecting, so if it is good, I may cut the recipe in half next time... but this is my first attempt at this particular creation of mine.
There may be a recipe exactly like this out there somewhere, so I am not trying to take credit away from anyone, but I sat down at my table with my dry and wet ingredients and just started mixing stuff together until I created what I was looking for. When I was done creating this mixture, I opened 2 packages of thin boneless skinless chicken breasts which each had 3 breasts in them.. well the second one may have had 4, but it came apart into two smaller pieces I didn't really count. I rinsed off the chicken in the sink to get some of the slimy feel off of the outside of them and then I spread them out in the bottom of the crock pot. Then I poured my mixture over them. Later I added 2 other toppings on top by sprinkling them in. Later I came back and sprinkled in 1 tablespoon of corn starch too.
What is in my mixture you have probably asked by now. Well, I started with a can of crushed pineapple. It turned out to be a 20 ounce or 1 pound can of pineapple. I wasn't expecting it to be so much when I opened and poured in, so that is why I felt I had to go heavy on the rest of the ingredients. Then I poured in 3 cups of Orange juice with the pineapple. Then I poured in 1 ounce of soy sauce and 1 ounce of Worecestershire sauce.
In my dry ingredeints bowl, I added either 3 to 4 teaspoons of sea salt, 2 to 3 teaspoons of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of cayenne, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon of flour.
I mixed the dry ingredients together and then stirred them into the wet ingredients. At first I had less of some of the stuff and had to add a little more until I got the flavor balanced out to where I wanted it to be.
Once, I got the ingredients all mixed together I poured them overtop of the chicken breasts in the crockpot. Then I sprinkled in 1/2 a cup of shredded pineapple and 1/2 a cup of chopped walnuts into the top of the crock pot and stirred lightly to get these ingredients covered too.
I then added two serrano peppers into the ends of the mixture. Then later I went back and added 1 tablesppon of corn starch for a little bit of thickening and stirred this in lightly too.
I am not sure how this will turn out. It is probably not going to turn out the healthiest, but before pouring the juice/sauce over the chicken it really reminded me of Chinese Orange Chicken. I am so excited to see how my attempt turns out when my family has it for dinner tomorrow with Green Beans, Corn, and Rice.
To recap, what I used for this mixture was:
6 or 7 thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can (20 oz or 1 lb) of Crushed pineapple
3 cups of Orange Juice
1 oz of Soy Sauce
1 oz of Worecestershire Sauce
3-4 tsp of sea salt
2-3 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of cayenne
1 tsp of garlic
1 tsp of cinnamon sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1 tbsp of flour
1 tbsp of corn starch
2 Serrano Peppers
I mixed the dry ingredients in a small bowl and the wet ingredients in larger mixing bowl and then combined them. Then I poured them over the chicken in the crockpot. Since I am about to go to bed, I turned it on 200 degrees for now, but when my mom wakes up in the morning and checks and stirs it for me, she will probably turn it up to somewhere between 250 and 350 I think. She said she will turn it up some, but I forgot to ask how high she will turn it up.
I did sprinkle some of the ingredients after I added the mixture to the crockpot, but if it turns out well, I will mix all the ingredients in the mixing bowl before pouring it on next time. I may halve the ingredients next time too because I didn't intend to make so much to begin with. However, I had to add in more of a few items to balance out the flavors.
I will post a comment on here after we try it and see how it turns out.