Chicken with candied cashews

This week's menu
Tuesday: Chicken with candied cashews, Chinese broccoli with black bean sauce and brown rice
Wednesday: Panko crusted pork loin with a ginger soy sauce and corn fritters with roasted tomatoes and lime aioli on the side
Thursday: Shrimp and scallop ceviche with avocado and tostadas

I recently discovered two new cook books hiding on the shelves, both by Food and Wine, with plenty of interesting recipes. This chicken and candied cashew recipe is one of the many that I wanted to try. The recipe is based on a Chinese appetizer available at a restaurant in New York City, with minor changes here and there. I took one step further and made several notes following the recipe to help you recreate the dish.

Chicken with Candied Cashews

Recipe from Food and Wine

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup unsalted roasted cashews

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 scallion, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp light brown sugar

3/4 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp of water

1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

kosher salt

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

4 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 inch pieces

freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp celery seeds

1/4 cup thinly sliced tender celery ribs

1/4 cup celery leaves

steamed white rice, for serving

Directions

1. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small saucepan, combine the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Boil over moderately high heat, swirling the pan, until a rich brown caramel forms, 4 minutes. Stir in the cashews until coated. Quickly spread the nuts on the baking sheet, keeping them separate. Let cool. Break off any large pieces of caramel and reserve for a snack. 
2. In a small saucepan, combine the vegetable oil, garlic, scallion and gigner. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Strain the oil through a coarse strainer into a medium skillet, pressing on the solids. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar and 1/4 cup of water and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and simmer over low heat, whisking, until thickened, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, add 1 tbsp of the lemon juice and lightly season the sauce with salt.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter in the 1/4 cup of olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, turning, until white throughout, about 5 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine the onion and garlic powders, celery seeds, and 1/2 tsp of salt. In another small bowl, toss the sliced celery and leaves with the remaining 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and a small drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 
5. Transfer the chicken to shallow bowls, spooning the sauce over the chicken. Top with the candied cashews and season with the celery salt. Scatter the celery salad on top and serve with rice. Alternatively, arrange the chicken on cocktail forks and season with the celery salt. Serve with the sauce, candied cashews and celery salad.

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving: 976.5 calories, 74.5g fat (20.4g saturated, 17.05g polyunsaturated, 30.6g monounsaturated), 28g carbohydrates, 2.6g fiber, 52.3g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

The caramel and cashews should be the first thing to prepare for this dish since the nuts have to cool before it can be added to the dish. 

Caramel can be very difficult to make especially because it is temperamental; however, with the right tips you can make the perfect caramel right at home. Add your granulated sugar and water in a sturdy pot that won't overflow and turn on the heat to moderately high. You want to use granulated sugar since brown sugar has moisture that can affect the outcome. It is also harder to detect when the caramel is ready since the sugar is already brown, even though I have to admit that I used brown sugar today. Now the important factor in making caramel is to not stir it (there's a real reason for this, trust me)! Instead, gently tilt the pan from side to side to ensure even cooking.

Using a candy thermometer can help you determine when the caramel is ready, but if you don't have one, rely on your other senses. As it reaches the proper stage, you should be able to smell the caramel. The color should be similar to old copper with a reddish-brown tint. 

As tasty as the caramel looks, please do not be tempted to stick your finger in and give it a taste! Caramel is extremely hot and will give you the worst burns if you do touch it. Keep an ice bath nearby, just in case you do happen to get splattered by the caramel. 

Once the cashews are in the caramel, you just wait for it to cool. You can also make these the day before and store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

Next is the sauce for the dish. The whole point of cooking the ginger, garlic and scallions in the oil is to infuse the oil with the flavors of those aromatics. I had to make x12 of the recipe which is why I have such a large yield of the oil.

I omitted the salt from the sauce because the soy sauce already provides you with salt. Taste the sauce before you season and decide if you really need more salt or not.

This dish originally used chicken oysters for the appetizer version; I used chicken breast for the healthier version. You are poaching the chicken in a butter and oil combination so don't be shocked at the calorie count, but chicken breast can save you some calories as opposed to chicken thigh.

You may think, "why not poach the chicken in another liquid instead?" but the butter and oil allows the chicken to become incredibly soft and moist. 

The celery salad is very basic but I added at least 3x the amount of lemon juice just to give it more of that tang.

This dish came out wonderfully! The chicken was moist and nicely coated in a salty sauce that is countered by the fresh crispy celery and sweet cashews. Some of my cashews had a considerable amount of caramel coating it, but after it was mixed in with the chicken, the liquid that comes out of the dish "melts away" the chunks of caramel, leaving slightly coated cashews that were the perfect amount of sweetness. I was actually surprised to see that this dish really tasted like a Chinese dish. Now I'm just hoping that there are some leftovers!