This recipe was originally a crockpot recipe but I wanted to try it and forgot to put it in the crockpot this morning.  So as with most crockpot recipes, you can tweek it and cook it on the stovetop or in the oven.  It was delicious.  It will be made again.  My husband said that okra sauteed in the oil  with the garlic would be a great addition – we will try that once the okra is ready to harvest.  I doubled the sauce and am glad I did because it thickened up really well to coat the chicken but there wasn’t much left to flavor the rice.  For the alcohol content (which cooks off) we used Wild Turkey 81, but any bourbon will be fine.

Updated to add:  I recently tried this with orange juice in place of apple juice and it was great!

Ingredients:

• 3lb chicken, diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• A couple tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3c apple juice
• 1/4c bourbon
• 1/4c brown sugar
• 1/4 c ketchup
• 1/4c water
• 1/2ts ground ginger
• 1/4c soy sauce
• 3tb cornstarch
• 2tb water

Method (stovetop):

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Heat sesame oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken and brown.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant – about 30 seconds.  Remove chicken and garlic from skillet.
3. Set the skillet over high heat.  Add the apple juice and bourbon and whisk to unstick the brown bits from browning the chicken.  When the bourbon has stopped sizzling add the ground ginger, brown sugar, ketchup, water and soy sauce.
4. Bring the sauce ingredients up nearly to a boil then in a separate small bowl combine the cornstarch and 2tb water.  Whisk it together then add it to the sauce to thicken it.
5. Add the chicken back to the garlic and cook until heated through.
6. Serve over rice,

Crockpot Method:

1. Combine all ingredients minus the final cornstarch and water.
2. Cook on low 6-7 hours or high for 3 hours.
3. Remove chicken, turn crockpot to hot, combine cornstarch and water and add to sauce.  Stir until thickened.  Add chicken back to crockpot and continue cooking until heated through, if necessary, then serve over hot cooked rice.