I
Its that time of year again when we are all thinking about camping.
I know I have been getting pretty darn sick of this snow we have been
getting.
Last week I spent countless hours working on my tractor to get the yard
ready for the next big arctic blast.
In my spare time. ha ha, I took a long gander in the garage at the camper.
The big dutch oven sitting by the wall & those fry pans hanging on the hooks.
If you’re an outdoors person like me you are getting the itch too.
I know, I know as I am told countless times, cast iron lasts forever. But it’s
a camper thing and a real outdoor thing. I like to shop in the sporting goods
store & I like new stuff. I like my old stand by , but I want a new kettle
& new pan to fry to a crisp every year. Isn’t that how you feel. I want something
someone else doesn’t have. Also I want something I can just throw around
and not care about, something i can buy another next year.
Well all of you are here because you either bought something from me or
you signed up for this newsletter to hear from me.
It’s been really nice hearing from those of you that write telling me
what you want or like hearing in this newsletter or on our blog &
website. Thank you very much for all the comments.
One of you wrote me last week. Something that makes all of this worth
while. We are a store that cares and this was awful special.
She wrote saying .
Thank you so much for looking for a product you had out of stock.
This was an item my mother wanted so much and I wanted to locate
it for her. It was a birthday present for her and you made a special
effort to ship this to me on time for her birthday with no extra charge.
We tell all our friends about the great customer service you gave us
with the e mail and phone calls back.
Thank you so much
Kind of makes a grown man sit back and think when
someone sends something like that. I had to share her thanks
because that one was special.
To the main part of this newsletter.
We had great success with our free shipping at Christmas time
so we are bring it back as a part of spring time camping gear up.
This week we have added a couple items with free shipping. One is
our universal 3 piece skillet set.
In the next few weeks there will be several items added for
our camper friends to order from with free shipping.
Now what most of you wait for.
visit us on our blog or follow us on Digg or twitter for more recipes
Sweet and Sour Chicken With Lemon
Ingredients:
- Chicken Bits:
- 2 pounds skinned, de-boned chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- A little fresh ground black pepper, ground ginger and garlic powder to season flour (not a lot)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- Vegetable oil
- Vegetables:
- 1 green bell pepper, washed, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch square bits
- 1 red bell pepper, washed, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch square bits
- 1 large yellow onion, skinned, root end removed, cut into 1/2-inch bits
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and trimed, slice thinly on the diagonal
- 1 20-ounce can pineapple chunks in juice (no added sweeteners)
- Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 – 6 drops red food coloring
- 2 rounded tablespoons corn starch mixed in enough cold water to make a slurry
Preparation:
Directions for Making Chicken Bits
When cutting the chicken into bite-sized pieces, remove any fat, gristle or connective tissue.
If the chicken is soft-frozen or almost thawed it is easier to cut.
In small frying pan, add 1/2-inch vegetable oil. Heat to deep-frying temperature.
In a bowl mix eggs and milk. Beat until well combined.
Place flour and seasonings in a shallow bowl and mix.
Dunk pieces of chicken in the egg and milk mixture. Allow excess to drain.
Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour coating thoroughly.
Here is your chance to practice with
your chop sticks and keep the flour off from your fingers.
Drop pieces into the hot oil and fry until deep golden brown.
Turn as necessary to cook evenly on all sides. When golden brown,
remove to paper towel covered plate to drain.
Repeat until all chicken pieces are cooked. Set aside until assembly.
Directions for Making Sweet and Sour Sauce
Place pineapple and water in sauce pan. Heat over low flame. Slowly add sugar while stirring.
When sugar has dissolved, slowly add the vinegar and the lemon juice while stirring.
Add corn starch slurry and stir while heating. Bring to a boil.
Stir constantly until thickened. Add food coloring (a couple drops at first and then adjust until
you have the red color you like) and stir well to mix. Continue to heat and stir until almost a syrup.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Note: You will be judging the thickness of the sauce while it is hot. It will thicken considerably
when it is set aside and cools. Later, when added to the vegetables, the moisture from
vegetables will thin the sauce quite a bit.
Directions for Assembling Completed Dish
Add a little vegetable oil to a large frying pan or wok. Bring to frying temperature over medium heat.
Add vegetables (but not the pineapple) and cook, stirring frequently, until onions begin to caramelize.
Add sweet and sour sauce and continue cooking and stirring until vegetable
are bite tender and sauce has re-thickened and clings to the vegetables.
Add pineapple and chicken bits and fold into the vegetables and sauce.
Simmer until heated through. Serve.
Most home-made sweet and sour sauces are made with brown sugar and the sauce has a
distinctive coffee color of the molasses in the brown sugar.
This recipe produces a red sweet and sour sauce that looks just like a
Chinese restaurant take-out food but we think that it tastes a lot better.
Try it and see how easy it is to make tasty oriental-style food at home.
http://digg.com/ironcooker
Until next week. Thanks from all of us at Iron Cooker.
Once again, Thank you everyone , check us out at wilderness outdoors
or go to our web store at
Iron Cooker.com
To be removed from this mail list , send reply to Info@ironcooker.com
with remove from mail list in the subject line.
With the e mail address that this e mail goes out to in the body
All of us northern hunters have concerns & comments on the baiting ban, but is the no feeding in a bad winter fair to animals that are starving to death too ? What effect does this really have on the winter deer herd ?