Baked Sweet and Sour or Orange Chicken

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

INGREDIENTS

Chicken:
• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (about 2 pounds)
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup canola, vegetable or coconut oil
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you want the sauce)
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

Orange Sauce:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (can add a bit more, depending on how sweet you want the sauce)
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Put the chicken into the bag with the cornstarch and seal, tossing to coat the chicken. 
3. Whisk the eggs together in a shallow pie plate. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until very hot and rippling. Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg and place them carefully in a single layer in the hot skillet. 
4. Cook for 20-30 seconds on each side until the crust is golden but the chicken is not all the way cooked through (this is where it's really important to have a hot skillet/oil). Place the chicken pieces in a single layer in a 9X13-inch baking dish and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
5. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken. Bake for one hour, turning the chicken once or twice while cooking to coat evenly with sauce. Serve over hot, steamed rice.

*If you need more sauce, make a second batch and thicken it on the stove while the chicken is cooking.

Notes from Jill's Kitchen: This recipe is the first time I tried using my brand new jar of coconut oil! The oil that apparently can be used for anything- cooking! Lotion! Getting rid of cradle cap! Greasing squeaky hinges! Okay, I don't know about that last one, but I have had people tell me to use coconut oil for all the other things. Anyway, it worked really well, but you could definitely taste a slight hint of coconut in the finished chicken product, so don't use it for anything that wouldn't taste good with coconut. Other than that, note that this recipe takes forever to make. Tonight it was a whopping 2 1/2 hours. Duncan ate two meals while I was simply cooking this one!