Sweet & Spicy Asian Chicken Petites

This recipe comes from the Taste of Home cookbook Simple and Delicious. These petites have been designed to be appetizers, however, since I want them to be paired in a meal with another appetizer (Look for the post: Pomegranate and Pistachio Crostini) I decided to double the recipe to make these chicken petites the main course.

Doubling a recipe is always tricky, especially when dealing with strong oils, such as sesame seed oil. In my case, when I was adding in twice the dosage of sesame seed oil, I realized I didn't have enough for two full tablespoons. It was actually a good thing that I ran out since I discovered after adding the 1 1/2 tbsp of oil, it was already very strong. You could smell it.

Usually, smelling an oil while cooking isn't a good thing, so naturally I was worried. I took a small taste of my chicken mixture to make sure it didn't have too strong of a taste. The oil was recognizable, however, it may not be prominent while actually eating my petites. Oil tends to be stronger when hot. Unlike soups and stews that get stronger with age, oils tend to dull out with age.

I haven't tried my food yet, but I will tell you how it tastes at the end of this post. Whether it tastes okay or not, I think a valuable lesson was learned: sometimes doubling a strong ingredient is not the same as doubling a mild one. Anyway, back to the recipe.

During the distribution of my mixture to the dough I had cut into large squares, I noticed that the dough was a little thin over the meat. I got nervous that it wouldn't hold up in the oven and would break, allowing the chicken, sauce, and vegetables to spill out. So I had a decision to make: Either risk the cracking, or make bigger petites and just double up on the dough. It was a good thing I had bought 4 containers of the crescent dough. Honestly, it was a mistake. If I hadn't thought the recipe called for two containers, I wouldn't have had enough dough to keep the chicken mixture contained.

The next thing I noticed was that I had to bake the petites in the oven for over twice the amount the original recipe called for. It wasn't much over, just a few minutes, but it was enough to make me nervous about burning the dough. I also didn't want to under-cook the dough, but I had another choice to make.

I decided to take the dish out of the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before sticking it back in there for an extra few. After all, just because it's out of the oven doesn't mean it's not still cooking from the heat still inside. The method is a bit unorthodox. Honestly, I don't know if I should've done it that way or not. But it's already done, so I can't go back and un-bake it.

In any case, it turned out delicious. It definitely needs some presentation work, but the taste made up for the amateur look. But then again, I'm just an ordinary cook.

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