Lemon Chicken

Total Time: 51 mins Preparation Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 6 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 cups herbed croutons or 3 cups garlic-flavored croutons
• 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 12 -14 chicken tenders or 2 large chicken breasts
• cooking spray
• 1/4 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, sliced diagonally
• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup chicken stock (or 1/3 cup water mixed with 1/3 tsp. chicken base)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry or 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon finely mined fresh gingerroot
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemons, rind of
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Recipe

• 1 place croutons in food processor with butter seasoning, salt and pepper and process until fine.
• 2 place crumbs in a wide bowl or on a large plate and set aside.
• 3 in small bowl beat egg whites with 1 tablespoon water and set aside.
• 4 if using chicken breasts, slice lengthwise into 1/2 to 1/3 inch wide strips.
• 5 if using tenders, remove tendons.
• 6 place on a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap on courter or work surface.
• 7 cover chicken strips with another sheet of paper or plastic wrap.
• 8 gently pound strips with a meat mallet until 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.
• 9 dip chicken strips into egg and cover both sides in breadcrumbs.
• 10 place breaded strips on a plate and chill for 30 minutes.
• 11 while chicken is chilling, combine lemon juice, sugar, sherry or sake, soy sauce, chicken base, water, ginger, lemon peel and salt in a small saucepan.
• 12 mix cornstarch with an equal amount of water and set aside.
• 13 bring lemon sauce to a low boil over medium-high, dissolving sugar.
• 14 stirring quickly add cornstarch mixture to sauce to thicken.
• 15 reduce heat to low to keep warm, stirring ocasionally.
• 16 preheat oven to 250 deg.
• 17 lightly spray a large stick-resistant skillet with cooking spray and preheat on medim-high for 2-3 minutes.
• 18 lightly spray a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray and place in warm oven.
• 19 fry 3-4 chicken strips at a time for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned and transfer to baking dish in oven.
• 20 lightly glaze the bottom of serving platter or individual plates with 2-3 tablespoons sauce, more for platter.
• 21 if desired, cut across chicken strips to make 2" diamond cubes or leave in strips.
• 22 transfer chicken to serving plate (s).
• 23 drizzle some fo the remaining sauce over chicken.
• 24 you may not need all of the sauce.
• 25 each piece should be partially glazed and partially crispy.
• 26 garnish with lemon slices, shredded red pepper and greed onions.
• 27 serve at once.
• 28 lemon chicken is also wonderful over rice with extra sauce served on the side.