We're having...

the missionaries over for dinner tonight!

Here's the menu: Simmered Chinese Chicken, salad, rice, and either pie or Gooey Butter Cake.

I'm trying an experiment - making the chicken in the crock pot, instead of a dutch oven. Hopefully it will turn out ok!

My family got this recipe off the back of a chicken package probably 20 years ago. It's been a family favorite ever since. And, I almost always have everything in my kitchen to throw it together. Now, that's a recipe I can live with!

Simmered Chinese Chicken:
1 whole chicken (I've also used just legs/thighs or breasts)
1 Tablespoon oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1/4 cup apple juice
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 green onion, sliced

2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon water
2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Divide chicken into quarters. Heat oil in cast iron dutch oven. Brown chicken on all sides. Mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, 1 cup water, ketchup, apple juice, red pepper, garlic and green onion. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove chicken to platter, drain juices back into pan. Skim fat from sauce. Blend cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water, stir into juices in pan. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Spoon sauce over chicken, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.