SWEET BACON-CHICKEN BUNDLES

We discovered these delicious little bundles over the holidays. They are quick to fix and are absolutely perfect for potlucks, buffets, or a quick supper. They are totally addicting, so make lots of them!!

SWEET BACON-CHICKEN BUNDLES
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (we like thighs better)
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
bacon (regular, not thick)

 Preheat oven to 375° and bake the bacon for 10 minutes only. After 10 minutes, drain the bacon and set aside. You will need one half slice of bacon for each chicken bundle.

 Cut the raw chicken into 1" cubes, then wrap half of (a partially cooked) slice of bacon around each cube of raw chicken, and secure it with a toothpick. Next, mix the brown sugar, chili powder, cumin and salt together and roll the bacon-chicken in this mixture. Make sure you get it into all the folds of the bacon.

Place the bundles on a baking screen or cooling rack that you've liberally sprayed with vegetable spray. Set the sprayed rack on a rimmed baking sheet that you have lined with foil (important for easier clean up). If you have any sugar left over, spoon a teaspoon or so on top of each bundle.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Delicious hot or room temperature. If you like a little heat along with your sweet, add some cayenne to the sugar mixture.

 

ENJOY !!!

 

BACON HASSELBACK POTATOES

As I understand it, Hasselback potatoes originated in Sweden as far back as the 1700's and there are a lot of variations. Basically it is an unpeeled baking potato that has been partially sliced, buttered and baked. The outside is crispy, salty and chewy but the inside of the potato is smooth and moist. They are very easy to make, delicious to eat and pretty enough to serve over the upcoming holidays.

A word of warning about these photographs: I didn't realize that the photos were on the blurry side until we finished dinner, so I couldn't re-take them. Sorry about that.

 

This version has bacon in it !!

 

There really isn't a specific recipe, but I do have a few tips that will help you in the process.

Things to do ahead of time: 

Lay 1 strip of good quality smoky THICK bacon (for every 2 potatoes) on a flat surface and freeze for about 30 minutes. This will help you slide the bacon down into the cuts of the potato.

Use meaty bacon

Bring a pot of water (large enough to hold the potatoes) to a full boil.

Wash the unpeeled potatoes, scrubbing them with a vegetable brush, then drying them with a paper towel.

Next, it's time to cut the slices into the potato. Because it is easy to cut too far, it's better to use some sort of cutting depth guide. Personally, I lay the potato between 2 spoon handles and use a sharp (thin bladed) knife to cut down only as far as the spoon handles.

 

Next, put the potatoes into the pot of boiling water. Let boil 4 minutes for larger potatoes and 2 minutes for medium potatoes. Gently lift them out and pat them dry.

Coat the potatoes with melted butter, making sure it gets down into every cut (just don't try to PRY the slices apart too much).

After you've buttered the potato, insert 3 pieces of frozen bacon (evenly spaced) into the potato. Make sure the bacon is big enough to be a little wider and taller than the potato because it will shrink as it bakes.

Butter again and then sprinkle with kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Bake at 350° (2 hours for large potatoes and 1 1/2 hours for medium potatoes). Dab them with a little butter about half way through.

The last 5-10 minutes of baking, melt a little butter and add a finely sliced green onion(optional) and half a clove of minced garlic. Let the garlic toast in the butter JUST A LITTLE, then drizzle the garlic butter over the potatoes and bake a few minutes more.

Carefully lift the potatoes out of the baking dish with a sturdy utensil.

The potatoes have a smooth and slightly smoky flavor. Picky-picky husband loved them.  Like I said, sorry about the poor quality of todays photos.

ENJOY !!

MAPLE CANDIED BACON !!

Now I know that bacon isn't on a lot of our low calorie diets, but once in a while, you just have to live a little!!

I've seen candied bacon recipes all over the Internet and often wondered what all the fuss was about, after all, what can be better than fried bacon? Well, I'm here to tell you that CANDIED BACON is the answer. Holy cow, this stuff is good!!

Some people are dicing it and putting it on top of maple frosted cupcakes, some people are dicing it and putting it into deviled eggs, and some people like me who shall remain nameless, just devour it right out of the warm pan!!  It's just THAT good!!

 

There's not much of a recipe, but there ARE several tips I can give you that will help a bit.

 

First of all, use a large cookie sheet that has a lip on it. Line it with foil (this will make clean up a breeze) and put an oven safe wire rack on the foil (make sure to spray both sides of the baking rack with cooking spray too...that will also help).

 

 

Now a word about which bacon to use. Quality thick sliced smoked bacon works best, but it takes a lot longer to cook. Regular thickness smoked bacon works well but you REALLY have to watch it like crazy so it doesn't burn.......it's your choice.  I think I like the thicker bacon better; I have had great success using apple wood smoked bacon.

 

Preheat your oven to 400° if you are using thick bacon and 375° if you are using regular thickness.

 

Mix 1/2 cup of REAL maple syrup and 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard. Place the raw bacon slices on the baking rack, making sure that the slices don't overlap. Baste the raw bacon liberally (on one side) with the syrup-mustard mixture. 

 

Bake thick bacon for 20 minutes and regular sliced bacon for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, flip the bacon over and baste the other side with the syrup-mustard mixture. Put back in oven and bake the thick slices for another 20 minutes and the regular slices for another 10 minutes.

 

CAUTION: If you use the regular sliced bacon, watch it very carefully the last few minutes, because it can burn quickly if you leave it in too long.

 

 

When you take it out of the oven (the last time), sprinkle it very lightly with black pepper and TAKE IT OFF OF THE BAKING RACK.

 

I cool mine on parchment paper for about 15 minutes; unless I'm eating it right away I turn it over to make sure it cools/dries evenly.

 

NOTE: When I am out of REAL maple syrup, I've tried this recipe using pancake syrup. It works ok too, but it burns easier and the real maple syrup tastes a LOT better.

 

ENJOY !!