Hi guys. Been a long time. Due to the unexpected passing of my amazing, and sorely missed precious father-in-law, I not only haven't blogged, I haven't been really cooking, for any other reason than survival. Just this week, four of my 5 children (one my honorary foster) has started school. I find myself alone with just my toddler. I can keep the house clean, keep up on laundry, weed the gardens, and still feel like I an not getting much done. Then, a few days ago, I grabbed my favorite apron, and decided it was time for me to get my rear end back to the kitchen. Batches of breads, a blueberry pie, and baccon chicken rounds were the end result of that decision. After sharing a picture of the chicken, a few friends asked for the recipe. So, I'll share it here, as well.
Let's cook!
Ingredients
4-6 chicken breasts
16 slices of baccon
Minced garlic
6-10 Tbs greated parmesan
1/2 white onion or a large shallot
Fold plastic wrap over each chicken breast.
I like to use large pieces so as the chicken spreads out, it doesn't get uncovered.
My meat mallot mysteriously disappeared, so I used an old rolling pin to pound the chicken breasts as thin as possible.
In between thinning the chicken, cook the baccon until cooked, but don't crisp it up, it will need to bend later!
And of course, drain the baccon on a paper towel, so we can pretend we are removing enough grease to say its not as fattening. But be sure to save the baccon drippings in the pan. You'll need them two more times.
Slice onion/shallot and sautee in the reserved baccon grease. Open plastic and lay 2-2 1/2 slices of baccon on the widest side of chicken breast. Add a bit of minced garlic, some sauteed onion/shallot, and greated parmesan.
Using the plastic wrap to help, roll the chicken up around the baccon like a burrito.
Use a toothpick or two to secure the chicken roll, and seal and brown all sides in the baccon grease. Place in a 300 degree oven. Bake about 20 minutes, until chicken breasts are cooked through.
Boil up your favorite pasta, while the chicken bakes. I found a really wonderful multi-grain corkscrew pasta for this.
In the baccon pan, I warmed a spaghetti sauce and crumbled up remaining baccon to add to sauce.
When chicken is fully cooked remove from oven and allow to rest about 5 minutes.
Lay each chicken roll on a cutting board, and cut into 1" rounds.
Lay over pasta. Today, we used my 2year olds plastic plate for the pictures. No idea why...
Smother with sauce. Alfredo, marinara, spaghetti, or white wine sauce all work.
top with more greated parmesan, and serve with garlic bread, and something green and crisp!
Lastly, please enjoy. It feels good to be back in the kitchen. It's been about a month, and now I feel I'm slowly finding myself again, after the loss of my best friend. Next few post, one will have my father-in-laws famous bbq marinade. Look for it. I hope to see you soon. There is a comment box below, feel free to ask questions, give feedback, or just say hi!
