Piggy Chicken

Well, once again I have proven that I have the self control of a gnat.  I gained weight over the holidays.  And you can count the holidays starting with Valentine's Day, LAST YEAR.  So, I am trying to get a jump start on losing this weight by going back to VERY low carbohydrate eating.  You must understand that I think baked goods should be one of the most important food groups. Sugar?  White flour?  But, of course!

So now, I am trying to be good.  I like salad, but EVERY night?  Boring.  So I will be searching high and low for items to add in to my diet that are low carb.  And not boring.

Luckily I recent read Cinnamon Roll Murder, by Joanne Fluke.  She is one of my favorite "murder with recipes" author.  The other one being Diane Mott Davidson.  Joanne Fluke is best know for her cookie recipes.  And there are quite a few in this book that I will be making.  Eventually.  Especially the Cinnamon Rolls from the title.  Picture this, cinnamon rolls with chocolate.  I'm already drooling and I can't make these for months.  Unless I get a B&B customer.  Then I will have to eat one before serving it....to make sure it is OK...good business practices, and all.

 But she also throws in a bunch of other recipes and there is one she calls Piggy Chicken that will fit the bill.  It was our meal when watching the Super Bowl.  (Which bored me and I left half way through.)

Piggy Chicken is a chicken tenderloin pounded flat, spread with a cream cheese mixture, wrapped with a strip of bacon and baked.  I made a few minor changes to suit me in the cream cheese, but it is basically the recipe from the book.  I really liked them, but next time I make them, I will leave the bacon off.  Sure it was delicious, but I am trying to do low carb and not go crazy high fat, although it is allowed.  Can't be good for you, right?

 

Piggy Chicken

Chicken tenders   I used five from the package and will use the others in a soup later.
Bacon  Five strips for just the two of us. 
1/3 block of cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons finely minced onion
dash garlic salt
Pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 375°.

 

Place a piece of plastic wrap on your cutting board and put one of the tenderloins on top.  I like to cut off the thick white tendon with a pair of scissors. 

 

Put another piece on top and pound the tenderloin flat.  I used a rolling pin.  You don't want it so flat that it falls apart, but you can easily quadruple the width.
 
 

Place the chicken "pancake" to one side and repeat for as many pieces as you are making.  I made five.

Find an oven proof dish (or two, if you are making enough for a family) that will hold your pieces about an inch apart, so the bacon can crisp.  Spray it with Pam.

 

Mince the onions and add them to the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl.  You may need to pop it in the microwave to get it soft enough to spread on the chicken.  I added a dash or two of garlic salt, but regular salt works. 

 

Place one of the chicken packets back on your cutting board and peel off the top layer of Cling wrap. 
Use a rubber spatula to spread a layer of cream cheese on the chicken.  Sprinkle with a bit of pepper.  Roll it up from the long side in the shape of a big, fat cigar.  This is where you will discover if you pounded them too flat!  Take one piece of bacon and wrap it around the chicken cigar  You may have to stretch it a bit and not cover the whole thing.  Place your Piggy Chicken in the prepared dish and continue with the rest of the chicken.

 

Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.  Then turn the oven up to 425° for 5 minutes to crisp the bacon.  My bacon didn't get crispy and I didn't want to overcook the chicken, so I took it out after about 6 minutes and it was fine.  The bacon did get a bit more crispy as it cooled.

 

Then disinfect everything you touched with your raw chicken and raw bacon fingers.  I wiped the pepper mill, the Cling box, etc.   I sent the rag I wiped my hands on to the laundry and washed everything else in hot soapy water. 

 

I liked them and Lee liked it enough for me to make again.  I may add some chopped herbs to the cream cheese.  Like I said, I may leave off the bacon.  Of course, then I will have to call it something else.  Cream cheese chicken cigars???

 

Serve with a salad.  I made cole slaw.