baked hawaiian chicken skillet

by tijuana, 08/11/2012

my hubby's favorite pizza is the hawaiian bbq chicken pizza. my hubby kinda stumbled across his love for that pizza, though. one day, my brother was over our house for a visit. we all decided to order some pizza and my brother wanted to order the hawaiian bbq chicken pizza. we looked at him like he was crazy. he swore it was amazing! so we decided to take his word for it and ordered one. he could not get me to try it. but my hubby, being the daredevil that he is, tried it. he almost passed out! from then on, it's been his favorite. i decided to use the 'hawaiian' theme on some chicken breasts i had thawed out, but i wanted to include asian ingredients. the sweet, salty and tangy flavors in this chicken had us dancing in our seats.

total Time: 01h 45min
prep time: 01h 20min
cook time: 25 minutes
yield: 4 servings

ingredients:

4 chicken breasts -
3/4 cup soy sauce -
3/4 cup brown sugar -
1 (8 ounce) can of pineapple tidbits -
2 tablespoon lemon juice - about 1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons grated ginger -
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch -
3 tablespoons water -
2 tablespoon canola oil -

instructions:

in a mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, can of pineapple tidbits (with the juice), lemon juice, ginger and garlic. whisk until brown sugar is dissolved. pour half of the marinade into a tupperware container. make sure all the pieces of pineapple go into that container with the marinade. cover with a lid and put in the refrigerator.
pour the other half of the marinade into a large ziploc bag. add the chicken breasts into the ziploc bag as well. seal and allow the chicken to marinate for at least an hour, preferably overnight.
preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. set aside.
remove the reserved tupperware container with the marinade from the refrigerator. pour into a saucepan and allow to come to a bubble. once the sauce starts to boil, whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. allow to thicken. remove from heat. set aside.
while the sauce is heating, preheat a large oven proof skillet. i used a 14 inch cast iron. like this one here.
add the oil. once hot, remove the chicken from the marinade, shake off excess and carefully lay into the skillet (discard the bag of marinade). allow to sear on that side for about 3 minutes, and flip. pour the reserved thickened sauce over the chicken breasts. immediately place the skillet in the oven and bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.