Sesame Chicken

Every weekend I like to take the time to try out new recipes. I’ve got plenty of time on my hands and lots of local places around to get fresh produce and interesting ingredients. But this weekend, I decided to keep it relatively simple. I’ve been absolutely craving some Chinese food, but am not a big fan of the take-out options in the area. I figured I would try out a recipe of my own and put a little spin on it.

BAKED SESAME CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• ½ cup corn starch

SAUCE

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1½ tablespoons sugar
• ½ tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon cold water + 1 tablespoon corn starch
• Sesame seeds, for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375º and spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, whisk together all sauce ingredients, set aside.
3. Add chicken and ½ cup corn starch to a large ziplock bag. Seal and shake to coat chicken. Transfer chicken to a large pan or skillet drizzled with oil. Saute chicken over medium high heat until browned (2-4 minutes).
4. Toss chicken in the prepared sauce. Transfer to baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Serve with sesame seeds, crisp broccoli, and rice to get that true take-out feel (without all the MSG!)

The Beginning of Blogging

By day, I spend my time at UNC Memorial Hospital beginning my journey to becoming a certified orthotist. After being born and raised in Marietta, GA and spending the past 6 years in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, I figured it was time for a change of scenery. I moved to Chapel Hill, NC about 2 months ago to start my residency in orthotics. While I don’t know anyone that lives in NC and really had no idea about the area, my first impressions have been pretty pleased so far.

But there are evenings when I find myself wanting a bit more out of my time here than just a residency. It’s difficult transitioning from busy evenings and weekends filled with homework and school events. Now I find myself coming home at the end of the day wondering what I can do to fill my time. While I’m starting to meet some new people at work, these first couple of months have definitely been pretty quiet.

In an attempt to fill some time, my mom suggested I find a hobby. I’ve had a DSLR camera for years that I originally bought for my study abroad adventure. But I never really took the time to learn how to use it. So I’ve made it my mission over the next year to “study up” on some photography techniques and hopefully become a bit more skillful in the art. In turn, this will hopefully lead me to some new adventures in the Triangle area, meeting new people, trying new foods, and experiencing what life has to offer in NC.

To start this journey off right…it’s probably appropriate to share my first #blogfail trying to setup my mini photoshoot area. Hopefully things will be a bit smoother from here. And yes…I did make myself another cup of coffee after that one 😉

Coffee spill fail