New BBQ Chicken Breast

[ROX]

I was at a Chinese buffet recently and was really enjoying large shrimp wrapped in bacon when it dawned on me.  There are already bacon wrapped burgers and steak...but how about chicken?  So that lent itself to some experimenting.  I put this together and got big thumbs up from the wife.

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Garlic Chicken Breasts

4   LARGE Chicken Breasts
4   LARGE Garlic cloves
2   Packages of THICK sliced smoked bacon

Your favorite BBQ Sauce
2   T  Olive Oil


Using a large skillet or crockware, at least large enough to hold 4 chicken breasts without stacking, drizzle the olive oil over the bottom to lightly coat.

Using a long thin knife like a pearing knife or fillet knife, cut the garlic cloves lengthwise in long strips resembling small stakes.  You should get 6 to 8 of these small garlic stakes per clove.  Carefully poke each chicken breasts in locations all over the chicken 6 to 8 times slightly deeper than the garlic stake and insert the garlic fully into each hole.

Take the thickly sliced bacon (you must use the thick sliced, not the wimpy thin sliced) and wrap each piece of chicken until covered, usually 2 slices per piece and place in the skillet or crockware. 

Bake on 350F for 1 hour, uncovered.  At the 1 hour point, carefully drizzle your favorite BBQ sauce and using a brush to coat the top of the meat.  Then broil at 500F for 10 minutes...keep a close eye on the meat to prevent burning.

Serves 4

Recommended sides:  Sour cream  & onion baked potatoes, macaroni salad, or stir fried broccoli and mushrooms.

Variation:  You could slice onion at about 1/4" slices and place them on the greased skillet first, sprinkled with brown sugar before placing the bacon wrapped chicken on top of it and serve the chicken pieces with the caramelized onion on top.


Enjoy

ROX

[gpwurzel]

Added to my must try list - this week post a week of nights.



 

Wurzel

[guncrasher]

anything wrapped in bacon tastes good 

semp

[rpm]

Sounds great but the bacon wrap rules it out for me. Bacon despite it's deliciousness is bad for my ticker. So is sour cream. I started using fat free ranch, Mrs Dash and Promise as substitutes.

[ROX]

Variations For Mr. RPM

You could omit the bacon entirely or use thinly sliced ham, such as Buddig.  Cooking it on a charcoal grill would help as far as fat/cholesterol is concerned, with care not to overcook the chicken.  Internal temp on chicken is 175/180F and pull it off, it's done.

I would also brush on BBQ sauce before wrapping it in ham and then again at the 1 hour point.

If you wanted full healthy, omit the ham and use a ring of pineapple on each piece of prepared chicken.  BBQ sauce as above.




Here's another good one for folks who live in climates where grilling outdoors now is not possible...


"Indoor Grilled BBQ Chicken"

1  Frying Chicken    (Cut in half, lengthwise)
4  Cloves Garlic       (Sliced into stakes as in the original post)
2  Cubes Chicken Boullion   (each dissolved in 1 cup of water, use seperate cups)
4  T  Liquid Smoke
1  T  Oregano      (heaping)
1  t   Sage
5-7  Ribs of celerry, leaves included.
Your favorite BBQ Sauce          


In two large freezer bags, place each half of chicken in the bag.  To each bag, add one cup of the chicken broth and two Tablespoons of the liquid smoke.  Seal the bags and shake.  Let the chicken sit in the marinade at least overnight, going back to shake the bag a few times to make sure the marinade gets all over the chicken.

Next Day:

In a large skillet or large crockware dish (rim not much higher than the chicken).  Place the ribs of celery on the bottom evenly.  Place the chicken leg and wing side UP.  With a sharp, thin knife, make slits in both chicken's skin and evenly distribute the garlic stakes into the meat and push them in so none of the garlic shows.  Pour the left over marinade from the bags over the chicken.  Dust both chicken halves with the sage and oregano.

Bake the chicken for 2 hours at 275, use the marinade and juices to baste the bird about every half hour.  This will slow-roast the meat.  It should be a deep breast core temp of about 160 or so.  Then, I am going to introduce you to a method called "Broasting", made famous by a eatery in Zion, Illinois in the 1950's.  At the two hour point, baste again and turn on the broiler to 500F.  Broil for at least 10 minutes, checking often.  At the 10 minute point brush on the BBQ sauce (if you don't already have an 1 1/2" paintbrush for this purpose, buy one) and return to the broiler for an additional 2 minutes.  At this point do another deep breast temp check and confirm that it is at least 175F.  If it is, pull it off the heat, you are done!  If not, return to the oven and continue baking at 400F until core temp reaches 175F.

Let skillet/crockware cool on a safe surface before removing.  You could cut the halves into quarters at this point for serving.

Serves 4.

Side recommendations:  bacon potato salad, baked beans, mustard cole slaw, green bean casarole, turnip greens with hot spicy vinegar.



ROX

[avionix]

I am going over to ROX's place for dinner.   

[AKHog]

Sounds great but the bacon wrap rules it out for me. Bacon despite it's deliciousness is bad for my ticker. So is sour cream. I started using fat free ranch, Mrs Dash and Promise as substitutes.

Careful, some of the substitute ingredients in the fat-free and diet foods are worse for you than the sugars and fats they replace.

[saantana]

Woaa just read this and my tummy started to rumble