Sweet and Sour Chicken (Mu Shu Diane)

This was the main dish for our Iron Turkey 2010 Competition where the girls did a Chinese dinner. This chicken is super easy and really tasty.

Ingredients:
- 6 boneless chicken breasts
- 1 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
- 1 small bottle of Russian dressing
- 1 10-ounce jar of Apricot preserves

Directions:
- Place chicken in greased baking dish.
- Sprinkle onion soup mix over chicken.
- Mix dressing and preserves together and then pour over chicken.
- Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- We found the Russian dressing at Wal-Mart but I think French or Catalina would work the same. I actually had never heard of Russian dressing.
- We baked the dish covered but recommend baking it uncovered. The sauce was a little watery.

Fried Ice Cream

YUMMY!! I've never eaten fried ice cream but really enjoyed it, they weren't too hard either.

Ingredients:
1 quart vanilla ice cream
1 cup crushed frosted cornflakes
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, or 1 cup chopped walnuts, or 1 cup cookie crumbs
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
Vegetable oil, for frying
Hot chocolate sauce or caramel sauce, optional
Whipped cream, optional

Directions:
With an ice cream scoop, form 4 large balls of ice cream. Place on a waxed paper lined sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

In a bowl, combine the cornflake crumbs with either the coconut, walnuts or cookie crumbs (or any combination). Spread the mixture in a shallow dish.

Roll the ice cream balls in the crumb mixture and freeze for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar. Dip the coated ice cream balls into the eggs, then roll in the crumb mixture, coating completely. Freeze for 1 hour. (If necessary, or for a thicker crust, roll again in eggs and crumbs until the balls are completely coated.)

Heat the oil in a large pot or fryer to 400 degrees F. One at a time, lower the balls into the oil and fry until golden brown, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from the oil and place in a dessert bowl. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, as desired. Repeat with the remaining ice cream.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- Be sure to fry for only 30 seconds! The ice cream will start leaking out.
- We topped ours with caramel sauce. Very tasty.

Egg Drop Soup

I love egg drop soup and now know why it is so cheap to buy at the Chinese restaurant! This recipe worked great.

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Directions:
- Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan.
- Stir the salt and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil.
- In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth.
- Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork.
- Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture.
- Egg should cook immediately.
- Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- Be careful, you'll want to whisk or stir the soup when you drop in the eggs, DON'T! There is a reason it is called egg DROP soup.
- We added pepper to ours to enhance the flavor.