Kung Pao Chicken and a bunch of worthless shoes

Monday was a fairly productive day for me.  I unloaded a couple of boxes which I have been avoiding.  More shoes!  When did I get all of these darn shoes!  My lifestyle has gone through a renovation and I don't think I'll wear most of these shoes again.  Island life just doesn't seem to relate to these shoes.  These closets are small and as you can tell, I just dumped the shoes on the floor in there.  Maybe one day I'll take some time to organize them.  

You can tell here that Marc's closet is not better and he has a bunch of shoes too.  Well, maybe not as many as I have.  

I stopped by the dive shop on Torii Beach.  I've been hauling my dive tanks around for a couple weeks with the intention of having them filled with air.  So, I dropped them off at the outdoor air fill station.  I should have snapped a photo.  It's a pretty cool set up.  I went inside and the guy that works there began to talk my ear off.  They had no business on a Monday afternoon and the poor thing was bored out of his mind.  Before I knew it a hour and half had gone by.  


So, on the way back home I decided that I wanted Kung Pao Chicken.  Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks 2 tablespoons white wine 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided 2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

1 ounce hot chile paste 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar 2 teaspoons brown sugar 4 green onions, chopped 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts 4 ounces chopped peanuts

DIRECTIONS:

1.	To Make Marinade: Combine 1 tablespoon wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon cornstarch/water mixture and mix together. Place chicken pieces in a glass dish or bowl and add marinade. Toss to coat. Cover dish and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
2.	To Make Sauce: In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon cornstarch/water mixture, chili paste, vinegar and sugar. Mix together and add green onion, garlic, water chestnuts and peanuts. In a medium skillet, heat sauce slowly until aromatic.
3.	Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and saute in a large skillet until meat is white and juices run clear. When sauce is aromatic, add sauteed chicken to it and let simmer together until sauce thickens. I was sure I had some white wine here.  But, I was wrong. So, I had to run up to the shopette and get some.  I wound up with some cheap Gallo stuff that was in a small bottle.  They sell it in four packs. Also, I want you to know that I tripled the sauce because all the reviews on this recipe in All Recipes.com indicated that it was better if there was more sauce. I also added a bag of frozen stir fry veggies. All in all, it was pretty good and I'll probably make it again.