Bacon Nation: 125 Irresistible Recipes (22 page)

4 skinless, boneless organic chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each), trimmed of fat

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

About ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour, for dredging the chicken

6 slices bacon, diced

Olive oil, if necessary

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed, mushrooms wiped clean and sliced about ¼ inch thick

½ cup low-sodium chicken stock

1 ripe plum tomato, seeded and chopped

2 medium-size cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2½ teaspoons minced fresh sage

1⅓ cups Marsala

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter

Grated zest of half a lemon

1
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 225˚F. Place a large shallow baking dish on the oven rack.

2
Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels and season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish (a pie plate works well for this). Dredge both sides of the chicken breasts in the flour, lifting and shaking them to remove any excess flour. Set the chicken aside.

3
Cook the bacon in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until lightly browned and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the skillet. If necessary, add enough olive oil to the skillet to measure 2 tablespoons.

4
Place the skillet over medium-high heat and heat the bacon fat until it shimmers, about 1 minute. Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer in the skillet and brown them on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side, turning them once with tongs. Transfer the browned chicken breasts to the baking dish in the oven. They will continue to cook slowly as you prepare the Marsala and sage sauce.

5
Place the skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and ¼ cup of the chicken stock and, using a wooden spoon or flat metal spatula, scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the mushrooms until most of the liquid in the skillet evaporates and the mushrooms start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato, garlic, 1½ teaspoons of the sage, and the drained bacon and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

6
Add the Marsala and the remaining ¼ cup of chicken stock. Increase the heat to high and let the sauce come to a boil. Then, reduce the heat as necessary and let simmer vigorously, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Let the sauce simmer until it is reduced and slightly thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the butter. Stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon of sage and taste for seasoning, adding pepper, if necessary.

7
The chicken breasts should be fully cooked at this point but use an instant-read meat thermometer to check that they have reached an internal temperature of 165˚F. Or, using a paring knife, cut into the thickest part of each breast to check for doneness; the chicken meat should appear white and opaque, without a trace of pink. If necessary, place the breasts in the skillet and let them simmer in the sauce until they are completely done, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken breasts to serving plates. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts, sprinkle them with the lemon zest, and serve.

Serves 4 to 6

Our favorite part of this recipe? The biscuit topping. The combination of bacon and rosemary makes the biscuits more than something to soak up sauce. They are a full savory partner to the rich pie filling. The first time we tested this recipe it was a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon so we poured ourselves a glass of sherry. A lightbulb went off: Why not add a touch of earthy sweetness to the sauce? So in went the sherry.

2¼ to 2½ pounds skin-on, bone-in organic chicken breasts

3 cups low-sodium chicken stock

5 whole peppercorns

4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch-wide strips

Olive oil, if necessary

1 medium-size onion, diced (about 1¼ cups)

3 medium-size carrots, trimmed, peeled, and sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds

1 rib celery, cut crosswise into ¼-inch-thick pieces

2 medium-size cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

⅔ cup fresh green peas, or ⅔ cup thawed frozen peas if fresh are not available

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

4 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

⅓ cup half-and-half

2 tablespoons dry sherry

½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Rosemary-Bacon Biscuit Topping (recipe follows)

1
Combine the chicken breasts, chicken stock, and peppercorns in a 4- or 5-quart saucepan. Add enough water to just cover the chicken. Cover the pan and let the liquid come to a boil over high heat. Then, reduce the heat as necessary and let the chicken simmer, partially covered, until it is just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. To check for doneness, using a paring knife, cut into the thickest part of one of the breasts; the chicken meat should appear white and opaque, without a trace of pink. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl to cool; strain the broth into a medium-size bowl and set it aside.

2
While the chicken poaches, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until the bacon is browned and crisp and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet. If necessary, add enough olive oil to the skillet to measure a total of 1½ tablespoons. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until just crisp-tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute, stirring often. Season the vegetables with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste and set them aside.

3
Transfer the poached chicken to a large bowl to cool. Strain the broth into a medium-size bowl and set it aside. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the chicken, discarding the skin and bones. Cut the chicken meat into bite-size pieces. Scatter the chicken, the cooked vegetables, drained bacon, and the peas evenly in a 13- by 9-inch baking dish and set the dish aside.

4
Pour 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth into a small saucepan and let come to a simmer. (Set aside any remaining broth for another use.)

5
Melt the butter over medium heat in the skillet used to cook the vegetables. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the flour lightly colors, about 1 minute. Gradually stir in the 2 cups of hot broth and cook, whisking often, until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the half-and-half and let the sauce simmer until it is about as thick as cream, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the sherry and nutmeg. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as necessary.

6
Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and set it aside in a warm place while you make the Rosemary-Bacon Biscuit Topping. Or, you can prepare the chicken filling up to a day before. Refrigerate the baking dish, covered, then rewarm the filling for about 15 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 300˚F before topping it with the biscuits.

7
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.

8
Arrange the biscuit rounds in an even layer on top of the chicken filling and bake in the middle of the oven until the biscuits are browned and the filling is bubbling, about 25 minutes. If after 20 minutes the biscuits appear to be browning too quickly, tent the baking dish with aluminum foil and continue to bake until the filling is warmed through. Serve the chicken and biscuits warm.

Rosemary-Bacon Biscuit Topping

Makes 8 to 9 biscuits

Bacon and fresh rosemary add just the right accent notes to these buttery biscuits.

3 slices bacon, diced

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces, plus melted butter, if necessary, for adding to the bacon fat

1⅔ cups packaged dry biscuit mix, such as Bisquick

1 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary leaves

Freshly ground black pepper

½ cup milk

Unbleached all-purpose flour, for rolling out the biscuits

1
Cook the bacon in a medium-size skillet over medium heat until browned and crisp and most of the fat is rendered, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often and adjusting the heat as necessary. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, setting aside 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat in a large mixing bowl. If necessary, add enough melted butter to measure 1 tablespoon.

2
Add the biscuit mix, cold butter, rosemary, a few grindings of black pepper, and the drained bacon to the mixing bowl with the bacon fat. Using a fork or your fingers, blend the butter into the biscuit mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and blend until a soft dough forms (it will be very soft).

3
Generously sprinkle a work surface with flour. Transfer the dough to the work surface and sprinkle it with a little flour to firm it up. Generously dust your hands and the rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough into a round that is ¼ to ½ inch thick.

4
Using a small inverted glass or a cookie cutter with about a 2 ½-inch diameter,

5
Cut the biscuit dough into 8 or 9 rounds. (Dip the edge of the glass or cookie cutter into flour each time you use it to help release the biscuit from the glass or cookie cutter.) Continue with Step 7 of the Velvety Chicken with Rosemary-Bacon Biscuit Topping recipe.

Serves 4

There are food facts most of us learn early in life that we never think to question. For example, the word cacciatore, we were told, means hunter’s style. Fair enough, yet the only way most of us heard that word was in connection with chicken. But who hunts chickens? We never asked. In fact, what the word cacciatore probably refers to is the strongly flavored ingredients, on the theory that with such bold flavors even the scrawniest game would taste full-flavored and delicious. It occurred to us that bacon with its inherent smokiness adds the aroma of the autumn woods and a crackling fire, which is exactly what a hunter wants after a long day in the field. Because this is a recipe that stews, we find that dark meat keeps its succulence much better than white meat so our cacciatore is made with chicken thighs.

6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch-wide pieces

8 skin-on, bone-in organic chicken thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat

1 cup chopped onion

1 large red or yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into thin 2-inch-long strips

1 carrot, trimmed, peeled, and cut into thin disks

½ cup diced fennel or celery

3 medium-size cloves garlic, minced

4½ teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1⅓ cups dry white wine

1 cup low-sodium chicken stock