Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

I was talking with my friend Donna at work this morning about her weekend, which lead to a conversation about her dining experience at Norman's Steak and Seafood the other night, which lead to a description of her boyfriend's 26-ounce ribeye, which lead to a discussion about bacon-wrapped steak, which eventually proved my hypothesis:

All conversational roads lead to bacon.

Of course, we had this conversation during breakfast, when my mind is about 90% occupied with the daily "Bacon or Grape Nuts?" debate, anyway. But I knew that I, too, must wrap something in bacon. And soon.

How about tonight? Fantastic. Chicken? Excellent.

This is an incredibly simple recipe that you can doctor up in any way. For example, I prefer to dip my chicken in barbecue sauce rather than slather, but slather you may. And you can use whatever seasoning you prefer. You could top with cheese! My main tips are these:

• Flatten the chicken so it doesn't take as long to cook through.
• Keep the grill on about medium-low -- or even cooler -- so you don't thoroughly char your bacon while your chicken is still raw.
• Don't panic if your bacon doesn't continue to thoroughly hug your chicken. It's bacon. It's got a mind of its own. If it crisps up and slightly unravels, it'll still taste good.

Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and pepper
Grill seasoning or chicken seasoning (I like Backwoods Hickory Rub from The Spice & Tea Exchange; Montreal Chicken seasoning by McCormick is another good option)
8 slices bacon
Barbecue sauce, for dipping

1. Trim your chicken of any visible fat. (Chicken fat is one of the most disgusting substances known to man.) Cover the chicken with plastic wrap, and pound with a meat mallet or other heavy object until the chicken is of more uniform thickness.

2. Sprinkle one side of the chicken with olive oil, and then season with salt, pepper, and your choice of seasoning.

3. Criss-cross two pieces of bacon on a flat surface. Lay chicken, seasoning side down, over bacon. Drizzle chicken with a bit more olive oil and add seasoning.

4. Fold ends of bacon over, so bacon is hugging the chicken.

I like hugs.

You could always poke a toothpick through to help keep these together while they're cooking, but I didn't want charred toothpicks in my chicken. I'm sure I'd forget about them.

5. Heat a grill to low or medium-low; place chicken carefully on grill. (I don't think it matters much which side you lay down first.)

6. Grill until bacon is crispy and chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.


I like my bacon really crispy. This one's mine.

7. Serve with barbecue sauce for dipping.