Yummy Ranch Style Chicken

Ranch Style Chicken.  

 Right now your asking yourself what is that?    Never heard of this recipe before in my life! I hadn’t either until it was made up by a fellow foodie, like myself, The Pioneer Woman…. Ree.  If the name doesn’t say it YES, she does live on a ranch, and YES she comes up with some the most DELICIOUS recipes.

She said, “that originally she just made this recipe to feed to hungry men so she could hear them moan and grown.” HAHAHA! Well I definitely think the name goes perfectly with the recipe. Thanks Ree, for being so creative! 😉

You will need: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thick cut bacon, bacon grease, honey, Dijon Mustard, lemon juice, paprika, crushed red pepper (optional), sharp cheddar cheese, and canola oil.

Start by, mixing together 1/2 cup Dijon or country/grainy mustard with 1/2 cup honey.

Add juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. If you feel for some heat sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne.

Next, rinse the chicken breasts under cool water and pat them dry. Get out your mallet or a small frying pan because we are going to do some heavy pounding on the chicken.

Place one chicken breast between two sheets of waxed paper… Lightly pat the waxed paper so it adheres to the chicken.  Using wax paper will help prevent teeny tiny bits of nasty raw chicken from flying all over the kitchen.

Start pounding…… Remember we’re also building little arm muscles so keep on, great 5 minute workout.

Try to get all the chicken pieces looking uniform so they will all cook evenly.  Trim off the little fat pieces if there are any.

Next, just add all the chicken to the bowl with the marinade. You’ll want to cover this with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, I actually kept it ion the fridge for 3 hours.

While the chicken is finishing marinading, take out your thick pieces of bacon and start frying.

Why does the smell of bacon smell so good???? Can’t you smell it now.  YUMMY!

    I had to shoosh a lot of sneaky hands out the way for this bacon.

Just try to remember to always make more than needed, because if not you will be wondering what happened to it all. Make sure to reserve 1/4 cup of the bacon grease, and clean out the skillet. We do not want the pan to get too smoky.

At this time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and pour off excess marinade into the sink. Heat half of the reserved bacon grease with an equal quantity of Canola Oil in the clean skillet over medium-high to high heat.

Ree says, “We want to sear the chicken, not cook it completely.”  When the grease is sufficiently heated, add a batch of chicken to the skillet. Don’t overcrowd the skillet—just 3 pieces is usually enough.

Watch the chicken, and when it starts to get brown/black on one side, flip it to the other side. Cook just until brown/blackish areas appear. Each side should cook for a maximum of 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Repeat with all the chicken breasts, then set them on a large baking sheet.

**The chicken will not be cooked all the way through right now we are only browning the outside.  The chicken will finish cooking inside the oven.

Go ahead and throw the pan of chicken into the hot oven for about ten minutes to continue cooking.

Remove the pan from the oven and lay a couple of bacon slices over each chicken breast.

Next, grab some grated sharp cheddar cheese and sprinkle it over the top, put as much as you’d like.

Return the pan to the oven for an additional five minutes, or until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling.  Doesn’t that just smell Devine!!!! YUMMY 🙂

Serve Immediately and with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes.

Ree, says you can definitely turn this chicken into a sandwich….hmmmmm maybe next time I will try that, couldn’t this time there was none left over.  

Ranch Style Chicken

(recipe from Pioneer Woman Cooks)

1/2 cup of Dijon or Country Grain mustard

1/2 cup of honey 1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Crushed Red pepper (optional)

Thick slices of bacon bacon grease

canola oil  

Start by, mixing together 1/2 cup Dijon or country/grainy mustard with 1/2 cup honey. Add juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. If you feel for some heat sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne. 

Rinse the chicken breasts under cool water and pat them dry.  Get out your mallet or a small frying pan because we are going to do some heavy pounding on the chicken.  Place one chicken breast between two sheets of waxed paper. Lightly pat the waxed paper so it adheres to the chicken.  Using wax paper will help prevent teeny tiny bits of nasty raw chicken from flying all over the kitchen.