I made a lot of food for Super Bowl Sunday, and it was all mighty good. For as nosh-worthy as my dishes were, though, my friend Hickory stole the show by wrapping something tasty in something even tastier. I’ve eaten all sorts of things wrapped in cured meat, but a simple chicken breast wrapped in bacon took the cake.
Lord knows it’s an American tradition to wrap already unhealthy foods in greasy, high-sodium casings (behold the deep fried peanut-butter-cookie-dough-corn-batter-dipped brownie), but it’s entirely possible to embrace high-fat flavor without stroking out after dinner. Sure, bacon is unhealthy in mass quantities. But if you eat it in moderation and supplement a good diet with a healthy lifestyle (read EXERCISE), a slice here and there certainly won’t kill you.
You can prepare this dish in about ten minutes, and with a quick side, you can have an impressive dinner on the table in just over half an hour, including cooking time. Once you’d got the hang of it, try wrapping other things in with your chicken, such as herbs or asparagus:
(Photo credit: varf)
Hickory’s Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe
3 large garlic cloves, pressed or finely chopped
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/4 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Ground cayenne pepper
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
1/2 pound bacon (I used uncured black forest bacon, but I’m geeky like that.)
Combine garlic, scallion, and jalapeño, mashing together with the back of a spoon to make a coarse paste. Rub both breasts (ha) with garlic/scallion mixture, then season both sides lightly with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Line a plate with half the bacon, and center one breast in the middle. Wrap the breast with bacon and trim off excess. Place breast in a glass or ceramic baking dish, and repeat with second breast. Use any extra bacon clippings to fill in the gaps.
Bake in 350 degree oven until chicken breasts reach 165F, about 25 minutes. Let rest for five minutes before cutting, then slices along bacon lines to serve.
*I actually prefer bone-in with skin-on, but it’s much easier to wrap boneless breasts!
Pre-cooking, your chicken breasts should look like this:
(Photo credit: stigeredoo)
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I adore bacon wrapped chicken. I’ve tried a similar version, only stuffed with sausage instead of veggies. You know, because I loathe my arteries…
I was thinking of an in-between version, stuffed with mushrooms. Not so anti-artery.
hi,
I like chicken , your recipes is looking too tasty , i will try this at my home, thanks for new taste
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