Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs With Apple Cider Pan Sauce Food

RUSTIC CHICKEN WITH APPLES AND BACON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375° F. and line a baking sheet with foil (for easy cleanup!). Set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Dry chicken thighs well and sprinkle skin with salt and pepper. Once oil is hot, place thighs, skin side down in to the oil and allow to cook until golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side for a few minutes. Remove chicken to the prepared baking sheet and place in to the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes. (*Watch skin as chicken cooks in the oven and cover loosely with a piece of foil if it starts to brown too much).
• Meanwhile, remove the oil and drippings from the pan and discard. Cook the bacon in the same skillet over medium-high heat until starting to brown. Add the onions and cook until the bacon is crisp and the onions are lightly browned. Add the white wine and allow to cook until the alcohol smell burns off (1-2 minutes). Add the apple juice, chicken stock, apples and thyme. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer until apples soften. Add the cream and dijon to the sauce and stir to combine. Add a bit of the cornstarch/water mixture a bit at a time until sauce thickens to your liking. Taste and add salt and pepper, to taste.
• Remove chicken from oven and check for doneness (if you have a thermometer, should be about 165° F.). Otherwise, cut in to one and check. Juices should run clear and the meat should not be pink near the bone. If necessary, return to the oven for longer while you keep your sauce warm over low heat. Place chicken on a large serving plate. Spoon sauce around chicken and serve. This chicken is nice with mashed potatoes or rice.

BACON WRAPPED BBQ CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 1. Pat dry and season the chicken thighs with garlic & onion powder, salt, and pepper. 2. Take one strip of bacon and starting from below the thigh, begin to wrap the bacon around the thigh as many times so the end of the bacon ends underneath the thigh. Place the thigh with the ends of the bacon facing down in a shallow roasting tray 3. After repeating this on all 8 thighs, place in the oven and roast the thighs for 40 - 45 minutes or until the internal temp of the chicken comes to 165F 4. About 10 minutes before cooking time ends, baste the chicken with the bbq sauce. Flip the thighs over first and baste, then flip them back, right side up, and baste again. 5. Two minutes before cooking time ends, baste any remaining sauce over the thighs. 6. Remove the chicken thighs from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. 7. Plate and enjoy!

BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS AND APPLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degree F. Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large, deep ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the skillet skin-side down and cook, flipping once, until golden on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the thyme and leeks to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Pour in the wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom. Cook until the skillet is nearly dry. Stir in the broth, apple cider and a pinch each of salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
• Use a fork to mash the butter and flour together in a small bowl until smooth. Whisk the butter-flour mixture into the skillet until dissolved. Stir in the apples and remove from the heat. Nestle the chicken skin-side up in the skillet along with any collected juices from the plate. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

BACON-WRAPPED CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Move the oven rack 6 inches from the broiler element and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, and rosemary.
• Sprinkle the chicken thighs all over with the seasoning blend.
• Wrap each chicken thigh with 2 pieces of bacon, ending with the bacon seams on the undersides of the chicken thighs.
• In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until simmering.
• Add the chicken thighs, bacon seam side down, and cook, without moving the chicken, until the bacon is golden about 2-3 minutes. Don't flip the chicken over.
• Sprinkle the tops of the chicken evenly with brown sugar.
• Move the skillet to the preheated oven and roast the chicken until the chicken thighs registered 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 15-20 minutes longer.
• Remove the skillet from the oven and heat the broiler to HIGH.
• Put the skillet back in the oven and broil until the bacon is well browned about 2-3 minutes.
• Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Serve.

BAKED CHICKEN AND BACON-WRAPPED LADY APPLES

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, turning over once, until edges are lightly browned but bacon is still flexible (it will continue to cook in oven), 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to paper towels to drain, reserving fat in skillet.
• While bacon cooks, core apples, if desired, from bottom, with pointed end of a vegetable peeler or a paring knife, leaving stems intact. Wrap a slice of bacon around each of 8 apples, securing ends of bacon by piercing with stem or using half a wooden pick.
• Brush a 3-quart (13- by 9-inch) shallow baking dish with some bacon fat, then add apples to dish and bake, uncovered, 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat bacon fat in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook chicken, turning over once, until browned, about 8 minutes total. Transfer chicken with tongs to baking dish, rearranging some of apples so that chicken fits in bottom of dish, and bake, uncovered, 5 minutes.
• While chicken bakes, pour off fat from skillet and add cider, vinegar, and marjoram sprigs to skillet. Boil, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half (about 3/4 cup), about 5 minutes. Pour sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup, pressing on and then discarding solids. Add butter and chopped marjoram to sauce, stirring until butter is melted. Pour sauce over chicken and apples and continue to bake, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through and apples are tender, about 20 minutes more.