Greg and I were super blessed this March to be able to escape from winter for an all too short week visiting my Mom and Dad in Florida. Keeping the activities simple and nature-loving, we were able to re-charge and catch up with my parents in a lovely, warm atmosphere.
Loved it.
Also loved the opportunity to go out for dinner at a couple very nice restaurants. My Mom had planned ahead with some really good casseroles for stay at home dinners, but a bunch of lunches we were able to eat out.
One of the places was this restaurant on a pier in some town. They inspired the Hawaiian Salad we will be bringing to our self serve counter this summer.
Another was Cracker Barrel. Now, I know they have been around forever, and I’m sure many of you already know about them, because they seemed to be literally
EVERYWHERE,
but I hadn’t eaten at one since we went to Florida 7 years ago, and that was a horrid time with picky, tired, miserable kids, so I don’t remember much, other than I couldn’t wait to finish and get out (My apologies to all the patient, kind staff that long ago night).
For this trip, the first time we ate there was the night we arrived, straight off the airplane, and so totally hungry and ready for food of any sort. When my Dad suggested Cracker Barrel, I tried not to have a panic attack and put on a good face. At least this time, we were without children, so it should be fine, right? Of course, right.
So, imagine my surprise when the menu had tons of good options, one of them being
Maple Bacon Chicken.
Served on a bed of caramelized onions.
Ok, seriously? How could they possibly combine so much deliciousness? It was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that we actually chose Cracker Barrel on another day to eat it again. Yup. It was good.
Next step: how on earth can we get that deliciousness up here in Essex? Well, thankfully, the internet has lots of recipes for Maple Bacon Chicken. And we happen to have Chicken, Ruxcom Maple Syrup and Schinkel’s Legacy Bacon, all available at this store I’m quite fond of. Along with Borrelli’s Crushed Garlic, Lynch’s Honey Mustard, Joyful Lynn’s and just about all the other ingredients on many of the recipes.
In typical Andrea Fashion, I combined a bunch of the best elements from about three recipes to come up with my own version. This ended up tasting pretty melt in your mouth delicious. I just had to share.
Maple Bacon Chicken
Recipe
So, I will explain first, that I am a firm believer in using a simple white wine every time a recipe calls for chicken broth. Not sure the science behind this madness. If the recipe is simply trying to add some moisture, what better moisture could there be? Anyway, when I do this, any recipe tastes like it is coming out of the kitchen of some 5 star restaurant. I suddenly get rave reviews coming from my critics (AKA my kids and darling husband). Haven’t had this trick fail me yet, and this recipe just proved it again to be a good method.
Also, I don’t often actually measure anything. Seriously, I never know how many humans will be present at feeding time, I mean dinner time. I’m often literally throwing things together, and adding a few more noodles, or chicken fillets to the mix. So this recipe is actually just what I’m guessing I used in terms of measurements. You, obviously, can adjust to your family’s preferences or amounts.
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A Young Man, a Traeger, and a Passion