Ranch Style Chicken

 

25 recipes down, 94 to go

(pages 130-131 in The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier)

Thanks to Ozark Natural Foods for the finest organic ingredients.

@story Tonya McCoy

@recipe The Pioneer Woman

 

First I must apologize to my family for stealing the spotlight at a recent family bbq because of this little dish.

Sorry to my brother Kevin, your burgers were good, but I win this time for my chicken!

Ok, ok, it’s actually Ree Drummond’s (The Pioneer Woman’s) chicken, but you can impress your whole family at your next summer get-together by learning this easy recipe too. It’ll be our little secret.

Did I say this recipe was easy? Well it must be if I can pull it off. But I must warn you, it is time consuming. You need to allow four to five hours, but most of the time is taken by the marinade. So set an alarm the day of the family picnic – it will be worth it, I promise.

First in a large bowl mix half a cup of Dijon mustard, ½ cup of honey, ½ teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, and the juice from one lemon. Add if you like add some red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste. (I put in a handful  of red pepper flakes - about  two tablespoons full.)

Whisk and set aside. Easy enough.  (I must warn you – this concoction puts off a very strong smell, but the taste it gives the chicken makes it all worth it).

 

The next part makes me a little squeamish. I’ll admit it, I’m not Julia Childs and just the texture of raw meat makes me squeamish. So whenever I handle raw chicken I use vinyl or latex gloves.

 

Take 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and rinse them. Then place them between a couple of sheets of waxed paper.

Ok, this next part is my favorite! Take a meat tenderizer or mallet and pound the chicken.

 

That’s right take out all your aggression. I chose to focus on a store that closed too early on Memorial Day weekend.  Hey, I was really close to saving tons, before I was herded out just because it was supposedly closing time. You know who you are!

Once you’ve taken your aggression out, the chicken breasts should be about ¾ to ½ inch thick. Be careful though. I got a little over-zealous and pounded one until it split nearly in two.

Now add the chicken to the marinade and refrigerate it for one to three hours. I let it marinade for the full three, and the flavor was amazing.

About forty five minutes before the chicken was done marinating I started frying up the bacon. (The recipe suggests you start frying the bacon as soon as you put the chicken in the fridge, but if you wait, the leftover bacon grease will be nice and hot. This is helpful because you’ll need to use the grease when your chicken is ready.)

 

After frying your bacon, reserve a small bowl of bacon grease, about 5 tablespoons worth. Wash the pan or grab a clean one for your chicken.

Add three tablespoons bacon grease and three tablespoons canola oil to the pan and turn the pan to medium-heat. Take out the chicken one piece at a time and let the excess marinade drain back into the bowl. At this point, I halved the chicken breasts, because they were big pieces, and I wanted to make smaller pieces to take to the family bbq. And you may want to try this anyway, because the chicken smothered in bacon and cheese, makes for a pretty hearty entrée.

Put each piece in the pan, as many as you can fit at a time, and cook for about a minute to a minute and a half, on each side. The breasts should look brown and maybe a little blackened in parts. Ree says that the chicken should look brownish black. At first it took about two minutes until I fried a couple, and the grease got warmer. Then it took closer to one minute. Add some more of the excess bacon grease if your pan starts to go dry when cooking.

 

This part’s pretty messy and the grease seems to splash everywhere, so get ready to do a little cleaning afterwards, but it’s so worth it.

After you fry each piece of chicken, place it on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10 minutes.

(For this next part I transferred the chicken to two glass baking pans, so it wouldn't be as messy when I added the cheese and bacon)

Break the bacon into smaller pieces so you can place them on the chicken. Take the chicken out of the oven, and place a couple of pieces of bacon on each piece.

Then sprinkle your favorite shredded cheese on top. The recipe calls for sharp cheddar but, I chose Organic Valley’s Mexican Blend from Ozark Natural Foods to give the recipe more spice and it turned out to be a delicious choice.

Now put the chicken back into the oven for five more minutes, until the cheese is melted and the bacon is sizzling.

Take out and serve immediately.  Or take a short drive to your family bbq and get ready to impress. Let me tell you, chicken + bacon + cheese = a lot of happy kin folks.

 

Ranch Style Chicken

Ingredients

    1/2 cup Dijon Mustard

    1/2 cup Honey

    1 Lemon (juice of)

    1/2 teaspoon Paprika

    1/2 teaspoon Salt

    Crushed Red Pepper (optional To Taste)

    6 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

    1 pound Thick Cut Bacon

    Bacon Grease

    Sharp Cheddar Cheese, to taste

    Canola Oil

 

Preparation Instructions

To begin, make the marinade. In a large bowl mix together ½ cup Dijon or country/grainy mustard with ½ cup honey, juice of ½ lemon, ½ teaspoon paprika, and ½ teaspoon salt and whisk until smooth. Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like things a little spicy. Set aside.

Next, rinse the chicken breasts, place between two sheets of waxed paper and pound to around ½ to ¾ inch thick with a mallet. Next, add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

While the chicken marinates, fry up some bacon. When finished cooking, reserve ¼ cup of the bacon grease and clean out the skillet.

When the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the chicken from the fridge and pour off excess marinade. Heat half of the reserved bacon grease with an equal quantity of Canola Oil in the clean skillet over medium-high heat. When the grease is nice and hot add two or three pieces of chicken to it. Cook until brownish/blackish, about 1 to 1 ½ minutes per side. Remove chicken to a large baking sheet. If cooking many pieces of chicken, repeat skillet process and remove finished chicken to baking sheet. Place chicken in preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Lay a few pieces of bacon over each chicken breast. Sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar cheese over the top of the chicken as generously as you like. Return pan to oven for an additional five minutes until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling. Serve immediately.

 Strawberry Shortcake Cake

 24 recipes down, 95 to go!

Pages 246-249 from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier.   Makes one ten-inch cake.  To skip to the unadorned recipe, just scroll down the page until you see “Ingredients”.

 

@recipe The Pioneer Woman

 @ingredients Ozark Natural Foods

 @story Marla Cantrell

It was one of those glorious summer nights.  My house swelled with friends and family. The kids were playing ball outside.  The dogs and chickens and what-not were being, well, dogs and chickens and what-not.  My point is, it was a great night, and in the middle of it all I was baking this cake.

 Who would not love a dessert that has the word cake in it twice? 

It was a tower of goodness, but the next time I’ll cut down the amount of frosting.  I think it would look great without the sides frosted.  (Kind of like this!)

The other thing I did differently than the PW is that I baked two layers, so that I wouldn’t have to cut one layer cake in two. That sounded difficult, and I’m not a fan of difficult.

 Let’s get started.

 Gather your ingredients.  Mine were from the Ozark Natural Foods in Fayetteville.  So good.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9-inch (or 2 8-inch) cake pan(s).  Must be at least 2-inches deep, if you’re using one pan.

 

To make cake batter, beat together 3 large eggs, 1 ½ cups plus 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add ½ cup sour cream (at room temperature) and 1 teaspoon vanilla, then mix until just combined.

 Sift together 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 3 Tablespoons cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon baking soda and add it to the bowl.

 Mix together until just combined.  The batter appeared a little thick but it turned out fine.

 Spread in a pan or pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is no longer jiggly.

 Carefully remove the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely.

 

Next, mash 1 pound strawberries with a potato masher or fork (I used a fork). Reserve a few for garnish if you like.

 Sprinkle the strawberries with 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar.  Set aside.

 

To make the frosting, combine one 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature, 2 sticks unsalted butter,  1 ½ pounds powdered sugar, sifted. (I didn’t have a sifter, and this still turned out great.) 1 teaspoon vanilla, and ¼ teaspoon salt in mixing bowl.

Mix until light and fluffy.

 

Here’s where I saved time. I didn’t have to cut a one-layer cake in two.  I made the two layers, cooled them , and I was good to go.

I put each layer on a separate plate and poured the strawberries and the juice that had accumulated onto the cakes. 

Freezer time!  Put the cakes in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm them up. You’re going to be frosting ON TOP of the strawberries, so don’t skip this step.

Take the cakes out, placing on layer on a cake stand.  Ice the top, over the strawberries, plop on the other layer, and do the same.

 

Carefully ice the outside with the remaining frosting. 

 Store leftovers (if there are any!) in the fridge.

Enjoy!  I loved the cake, my company loved the cake, and Rudy, the rowdy schnauzer who stole some off a plate left on the coffee table, loved it too.  Bad dog!

 Strawberry Shortcake Cake Ingredients

 Cake

1-1/2 cup Flour

3 Tablespoons Cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter, Softened

1-1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons granulated Sugar

3 whole Large Eggs

1/2 cup Sour Cream, Room Temperature

1 teaspoon Vanilla

 Strawberries

 1 pound Strawberries, hulled and halved

 3 Tablespoons granulated Sugar

 Icing

 One 8-ounce package Cream Cheese, Room Temperature

 2 sticks (1 cup) Unsalted Butter

1-1/2 pound Powdered Sugar, Sifted

1 teaspoon Vanilla

¼ teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions

 IMPORTANT: Be sure to use a cake pan that’s at least 2 inches deep! Before baking, the batter should not fill the pan more than halfway.  (Or use 2 pans – an @Urban recommendation)

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and corn starch.
Cream butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well each time. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just barely combined.

Pour into greased and floured 8-inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, or until no longer jiggly like my bottom. Remove from cake pan as soon as you pull it out of the oven, and place on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely.

Stem strawberries and slice them in half from bottom to top. Place into a bowl and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar. Stir together and let sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, mash the strawberries in two batches. Sprinkle each half with 1 tablespoons sugar and allow to sit for another 30 minutes.

Make icing: combine cream cheese, 2 sticks butter, sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, and dash of salt in a mixing bowl. Mix until very light and fluffy.

Slice cake in half through the middle. Spread strawberries evenly over each half (cut side up), pouring on all the juices. Place cake halves into the freezer for five minutes, just to make icing easier.

Remove from freezer. Use a little less than 1/3 of the icing to spread over the top of the strawberries on the bottom layer. Place the second layer on top. Add half of the remaining icing to the top spreading evenly, then spread the remaining 1/3 cup around the sides.

Leave plain OR garnish with strawberry halves.

IMPORTANT: Cake is best when served slightly cool. The butter content in the icing will cause it to soften at room temperature. For best results, store in the fridge!