Sweet And Sour Baked Chicken - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1 medium chopped onion
1 medium green bell pepper, coarsley chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (optional)
1 cup carrot, coarsley chopped
3/4 - 1 cup ketchup
1 cup pineapple juice (reserve this juice from the tidbits)
2 -3 tablespoons white vinegar (or to taste)
1/4 - 1/3 cup light brown sugar (or to taste)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (or to taste)
salt and pepper
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger powder (or to tase)
1 (16 ounce) can pineapple tidbits (reserving the juice)
3 -4 lbs chicken pieces

Preparation

Set oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish (or a larger baking dish or roaster if using more chicken and doubling sauce).
In a medium saucepan, saute the onions, green pepper and carrots for about 3 minutes; add in the fresh garlic (if using), and saute for another 3 minutes.
Stir in the ketchup, pineapple juice, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, salt, pepper and the ginger powder; stir with a spoon until all the ingredients are well mixed; bring to a light to a boil (at this point adjust all of the ingredients, adding in more to suit taste, and bring to a boil again for a couple of minutes).
If you prefer a thicker sauce, mix cornstarch with cold water to make a thin paste, add to sauce and boil another minute.
Add in the pineapple chunks/tidbits: set the sauce aside.
In a large frypan, sprinkle the chicken with black pepper, and brown on both sides in oil until lightly browned (do not burn the skin!).
Set the browned chicken pieces into the baking dish/roaster.
Pour the sauce over the chicken; mix lightly to make sure the chicken is evenly coated with sauce.
Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked.
Serve with or over rice -- delicious!