Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs

James made a run to the new Sprouts today and brought home tons of veggies, chocolate-toffee covered almonds, and other yummy goodies.  When I came in from work he had a smile on his face and told me he brought home my favorite part of the chicken....THIGHS!!

He prefers the breast because he says it's tastier, but I COMPLETELY disagree.  The thigh is the juiciest and tastiest part of the bird for sure!!  Tonight I wanted to make something tasty and easy and I think my concoction has won him over to the dark side...pun intended.

My husband loves food, and I'm a pretty decent cook, so when I ask him how dinner was he usually tells me, "Good," or "I liked it."  Occasionally I get an, "I liked it a lot," or, "Really good," but tonight he gave these chicken thighs an, "Awesome," rating....always makes my heart happy to get a good review from my favorite food critic.  ;)

The recipe is VERY easy, super simple, very little prep, and doesn't take long for total dinner time.  This is a very basic recipe and you could always amp it up by stuffing the thighs before rolling them up if you wanted something fancier.  Some suggestions for stuffing could include Cream cheese and jalapeño, stuffing mix and apples, spinach and feta cheese, or cooked wild rice and herbs.  Experiment and let me know how yours turn out!

Prep Time: 10 minutes 

Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

What you'll need:

4  Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

4  Strips of Bacon

½ C Worcestershire Sauce

¼ C Brown Sugar

2 T Brown Sugar (separate)

2 T Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Gallon Zip Lock Bag

Glass Baking Dish

To make:

You'll want to marinate your chicken thighs for the best flavor.  To do this you'll mix the worcestershire sauce and the ¼ C. of brown sugar together in a zip lock bag.  Add your chicken thighs to the bag, press out the air, and seal.  Massage the bag for a few minutes to make sure all the chicken is coated thoroughly.  Let them sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour.  I suggest a few hours for best flavor.

Preheat your oven to 400°F.  Add prepare your glass pan by coating a thin layer of olive oil in the bottom to keep the thighs from sticking. 

Take your chicken thighs out of the bag and season on both sides with salt and pepper.  If you're stuffing the thighs with something this is the point to add it.  Roll the thighs up as you would a cinnamon roll.  Wrap one strip of bacon around the thigh and if necessary secure with a toothpick.  I didn't need any tooth picks.  I just tucked the ends of the bacon under the bottom of the chicken thighs when I added them to the pan.  If you stuff them I would suggest using a tooth pick to keep the stuffing secure.  

Place the chicken thighs in the greased pan and sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top.  Cook in the oven, uncovered, for 45-50 minutes or until they reach 170°F on the inside.  

I really think this is a fool proof chicken recipe.  After trying it you can start experimenting.  Try marinating in Soy sauce and Pineapple juice for a teriyaki flair, lime juice and chopped cilantro for a Mexican craving, or a simple worcestershire and BBQ sauce.  I also think these would be great on the grill as long as you watch out for flair ups as they'll drip a lot of fat.  

Good luck with your cooking and I hope you get an "Awesome" rating from your Honeys!!!

Curry Chicken and Dumplings

Every now and then I like to experiment in the kitchen and sometimes I even come out of it with something especially tasty.  These dumplings are no exception.  They're tasty, comforting, and addictive!! Most importantly, if you make your own dumplings, they're actually pretty healthy.

Hope you like them!

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

12 oz chicken breast* 

1 med. sliced onion

2 cups sliced carrots

1 1/2 cups sliced celery

Chicken Broth

Dumplings**

Curry***

Garlic powder***

Salt ***

Pepper***

Rosemary***

Instructions:

In a large pot, cook onions on medium until translucent.  Add carrots and celery and cook for 10 minutes on medium.  Cut chicken into small chunks and add to the vegetables.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, rosemary, and curry and cook until chicken is cooked through.  When chicken is cooked through add water and bouillon cubes or chicken broth.  Leave room in the top of the pot for the dumplings.  Bring to a boil for 2 minutes.  Add biscuits (in pieces) or dumpling mix to boiling water, cover and let boil for 2 minutes, turn down and simmer for 10 minutes.  Biscuits will puff up and then shrink again.  Dumplings will puff up and stay big.  At this point the soup is basically done.  I usually taste and season some more at this point.  There's no real science to it, I just add til it tastes good.  I use quite a bit of curry and garlic powder.  The curry and garlic are what make this dish taste so good.  

*I have done the chicken in this recipe many different ways.  Legs and thighs boiled and then pulled apart, chicken breasts chopped up, tenders chopped up.  The best is either the tenders or breasts chopped up.  I have found that the boiled legs and thighs tend to get stringy...it's good but some people have texture issues.  The breast stays in pieces and makes for a better soup.

**I prefer the taste of the butter flavored biscuits to the plain ones.  And the dumplings I make are basic ones that I found on line.  They could have used some more flavor in the dough, so make sure you find a dough that has plenty of salt and seasoning.  

*** Don't stress over how much seasoning you use.  It's going to depend on a lot of factors, the most important of which is your own personal taste.  I like my dumplings with lots of curry and garlic powder and pretty spicy.  If you dont like it that warm then use more salt, pepper, rosemary, and other herbs.  Most of all, just keep tasting and add a little here and there til it's perfect.

A final thought:

Change the recipe up!!  I never go strictly off of a recipe.  I always make it my own, either because of what I have in my pantry or fridge, or because I just want it to taste a certain way.  Have fun with it though!!

Let me know if there are any questions.  I'll try to be more clear.