Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ranch-Style Chicken

This is not Ranch Chicken.  There is no ranch dressing, nor any ranch seasoning included in this dish.  It is simply chicken as styled by those who live on a ranch.  Confused enough?
It's got bacon and cheese and a yummy marinade, so stop complaining.

It is a really simple recipe to prepare.  The hardest parts are:
1.  horizontally slicing the chicken (which you don't have to do if you use chicken tenderloins, which I did).
2.  remembering to put the chicken in the marinade more than 5 minutes before you want to prepare dinner (which I didn't).

I give the directions for how to do this in the skillet, but the original directions were for the grill.  I'll include the grill directions too.

Ranch-Style Chicken
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1 lb. bacon (thick sliced)
2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

1.  Cook bacon until chewy/crispy.  (I cook it in the oven on a rimmed baking ban at 400 degrees for about 15-18 minutes depending on the oven and how crispy we want it.)  Reserve bacon grease.
2.  Slice chicken breasts in half horizontally, to create to thin chicken breast cutlets.
3.  In a bowl, combine honey, dijon, lemon, paprika, salt and crushed red pepper flakes.
4.  Add chicken to marinade, tossing to coat all the chicken.  Cover and set in fridge for 2-4 hours.
5.  Pour bacon grease into large skillet to coat the bottom of the pan (about 2 Tbsp.)  Cook the chicken cutlets in the skillet over med-high heat, about 3 minutes per side.
(For the grill, brush the chicken on both sides with the bacon grease and grill over med-high heat for 3-4 minutes per side.)
6.  Just before the chicken is finished, place a couple of slices of bacon on top of the chicken.  Remove from heat.  Top with cheddar cheese.  Cover for a minute or so to allow the cheese to melt.
Serve with something healthy like salad, because this is not exactly a light recipe.  But it is tasty!

source:  Pioneer Woman Cooks