Chicken Strips with Sweet and Sour Sauce

A fantastic chicken recipe with a delightful Sweet and Sour Sauce. I developed this Sauce recipe over 25 years ago and it has had big approval from everyone. This sauce is also excellent for cooking spare ribs or other chicken in the oven. This recipe can be doubled.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 2 1/2 cups of sauce

Ingredients

• CHICKEN

• 2  lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2  large eggs
• 6  tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 1⁄2 cups  fine dry breadcrumbs or 1 1⁄2 cups  saltine crackers
• 1⁄3 cup  grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 1  teaspoon  granulated garlic powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried dill weed
• 1⁄2 cup margarine or 1⁄2 cup butter, melted

• SAUCE

• 1  cup white vinegar
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup  frozen  pineapple juice concentrate
• 2  teaspoons Accent seasoning, or substitute and use 2 teaspoons of seasoning salt (optional)
• 1⁄2 cup ketchup
• 4  teaspoons soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1  teaspoon  granulated garlic powder
• 4  drops  red food coloring
• 1⁄4 cup  cold water
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons tapioca starch or 2 1⁄2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions

1. Remove all fat from chicken breasts and discard.
2. Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of wax paper and pound with a rolling pin or flat hammer to about 1/2 inch thickness.
3. Cut chicken into 1 inch strips.
4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and buttermilk.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, granulated garlic powder, salt, pepper and dill weed.
6. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
7. Dip each piece of chicken in buttermilk mixture and then into crumb mixture until coated on all surfaces.
8. Place chicken strips in a single layer on a baking sheet or cookie sheet.
9. Drizzle with melted margarine or butter.
10. Bake in preheated 400 F oven for 10 minutes.
11. Turn chicken strips over and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until chicken is golden in color or until cooked through.
12. Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce as a dip.
13. SAUCE-----------------.
14. In a medium size saucepan, add white vinegar, granulated sugar and bring to boil, stirring frequently to dissolve, about 3 minutes.
15. Add pineapple juice, Accent, ketchup, soy sauce, seasoning salt, granulated garlic powder and bring to boil; stir until blended.
16. Add red food coloring and stir to blend.
17. In a small bowl, mix together cold water and tapioca starch until smooth.
18. While sugar mixture is boiling, slowly add tapioca starch mixture, stirring continuoulsy until sauce thickens slightly.
19. If desired, you can add about 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple or chunky pineapple to sauce mixture near the end of cooking for a pineapple taste.