Tag Archives: Bacon

Show-Stopper Roast Chicken

There is nothing more impressive to guests, or your stomach, than a perfectly roasted chicken. What seems like a complicated feat is actually one of the easiest and best recipes to have in your repertoire. This particular recipe is great to serve to your special guy (can you say new *engagement chicken!?) because it is wrapped in BACON! Who doesn’t love bacon? Ok, my roommate doesn’t like bacon, but I don’t need to make this for her. But any single, hungry guys out there are welcome to come over for dinner!
But seriously, how amazing does that look? Lets get into making it. You will need the following ingredients:
1 roasting chicken, about 6 lbs
Kosher salt and pepper
1 bunch of fresh thyme
4 lemons
3 heads of garlic cut in half
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 lbs of sliced bacon
1 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of chicken stock
First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove chicken giblets (anything inside of the chicken) and rinse the entire chicken both inside and out. Pat the outside dry and place the chicken in a large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken and stuff the cavity with the thyme (saving enough to garnish the dish later), 1 halved lemon, and 2 halves of garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string (or, if you are like me and forget to buy kitchen string every time you go to the store, don’t tie them) and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Quarter 2 of the remaining lemons and place around the chicken with the rest of the garlic. Lastly, lay slices of bacon over chicken until it is covered (this is obviously the best part!).

Put chicken in the oven and roast for 1 hour. After this time, remove the bacon from the chicken and set aside. Finishing roasting the chicken for another 1/2 hour, or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. When the chicken is done, set aside and cover to keep warm so you can make the gravy.

Using the fat drippings at the bottom of the roasting pan, add the wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until reduced by half.

Everything is now ready to come together! Place the chicken on a nice serving dish and garnish with the bacon, roasted garlic, reserved fresh thyme, and the remaining lemon sliced. Serve the gravy on the side and enjoy!

As you can see above, I served the chicken with sides of sautéed zucchini and small roasted potatoes. The zucchini is one of my go-to vegetable sides that is easy to make and very delicious. The cute little potatoes are also great with the chicken because not only are the tasty (and of course every good chicken meal needs a potato side) but they are fun to eat because they are so small! When making small potatoes like this, the key is to buy them all in similar size so they cook evenly.

Slice up the chicken, load up the plates, and enjoy! I lucked out and the chicken breasts were perfectly juicy and moist. Ladle some gravy on your plate for a little extra flavor (I found it to be dominantly wine flavored, which I enjoyed). This simple but delicious meal will wow guests and provide ample leftovers for you to enjoy later! Enjoy your Show-Stopper Roast Chicken!

*For those of you who don’t know what engagement chicken is, it basically is a simple but amazing recipe for roast chicken. The story goes that a girl who makes this roast chicken for her significant other will soon after be proposed to because it is just that good. Hence, engagement chicken!
**This recipe is my version of Ina Garten’s Lemon & Garlic Roast Chicken
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Balsamic Chicken Cutlet over Spinach Salad with Mushrooms, Bacon, and Warm Shallot Dressing

Found this on the Food Network website. It sounded promising so I tried it. I would suggest trying it but with a few tweaks. When I made it I found the salad to be very heavy. I suggest you make less dressing and only toss the salad RIGHT before serving, so the spinach won’t wilt as much.

Ingredients For 4 servings:

• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast cutlets (sometimes marked “thin cut”)

• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, enough to just coat the breast slices

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, just eyeball it

• Grill seasoning blend, or coarse salt and pepper

• 4 stems fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped, about 2 tablespoons

Spinach Salad :

• 1 pound center cut bacon , chopped into 1-inch pieces

• 1 pound fresh spinach leaves, trimmed and cleaned

• 8 gourmet white stuffing mushrooms , thinly sliced

• 8 radishes, thinly sliced

• 4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle Dressing :

• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball the amount, plus 1 tablespoons

• 1 large shallot, minced

• 3 rounded spoonfuls Dijon mustard

• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Individual portion:

• 1/2 pound boneless chicken breast cutlets

• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, 2 splashes • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, eyeball the amount

• Grill seasoning, such as Montreal Seasoning by McCormick, or, coarse salt and black pepper

• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves stripped from stem and finely chopped

• 4 slices center cut bacon

• 1/4 pound fresh spinach, trimmed and cleaned

• 2 gourmet white stuffing mushrooms, thinly sliced

• 2 red radishes, thinly sliced

• 1 scallion, thinly sliced on an angle

• 1/2 shallot, chopped

• 1 /4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, just eyeball it

• 1 rounded spoonful Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions Coat chicken with balsamic, oil, seasoning and rosemary and set aside. In a skillet, add chopped bacon, work in 2 batches if preparing salad for 4. Brown bacon over medium high heat, then transfer the bits to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Using center cut bacon will cut down on the pan drippings that spatter. Coarsely chop spinach leaves and add to salad bowl. Top with mushrooms, radishes, scallions. Season salad with salt and pepper. Wipe out the bacon pan and return to stove turning heat back to medium low. Add 1 tablespoon oil for your dressing and shallots and reduce heat to medium. Saute shallots for 3 minutes. Remove oil and shallots from heat. In a bowl, combine mustard and balsamic vinegar. Stream in 2/3 cup oil slowly while whisking the dressing to emulsify it. Add warm shallots and toss with spinach salad to coat evenly. Add cooked bacon and toss again. Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken cutlets, 4 minutes on each side, in a single layer. Slice breasts on an angle on your cutting board once they are all out of the pan. Pile spinach salad on to dinner plate/plates. Top each salad with 2 sliced chicken cutlet pieces. For individual portion follow the above method. Found at:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/balsamic-chicken-cutlet-spinach-salad-mushrooms-bacon-warm-shallot-dressing-recipe/index.html

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