Bacon Wrapped Chicken Legs and Fingerling Potatoes

Chicken Legs were on sale again and I bought 2 packages.  I was trying to think of what to make for dinner and it hit me.  Wrap the chicken legs in bacon!  It's not bacon wrapped chicken breast, but it IS bacon wrapped chicken.  Just as good!  I used 2 pieces of bacon for each leg.  Approximately 3/4 lb. of bacon.  I took the skin off, because I just don't like the skin.  There will be enough fat with what is left on the chicken and what is in the bacon.  And the bacon provides that crisp factor.

We haven't prepared the grill for grilling season yet, so I wasn't sure if there was enough propane and I haven't used the charcoal side yet.  I need to have Steve show me how to do that again.  So, instead of grilling the chicken (which would have been nice since it's 80 degrees outside) I decided to attempt broiling it inside. 

After wrapping the bacon around the chicken, I covered the pan with foil and let it sit to warm up a bit.  One thing I have learned from Food Network, is that it is a very good thing to let your meat warm up a bit before cooking or grilling, so that it cooks more evenly.  I did not season the chicken because the bacon had seasoning in it already.  I used low-sodium bacon so that the baby could eat it too.  I preheated the broiler and put the broiler pan in with the foil still on it for about 20 minutes.  Then I took the foil off and continued broiling for about 20 more minutes.  The chicken came out with a pinkish color, but that's what happens with meat that's been smoked, so I'm assuming that's just the result of wrapping with bacon.

Don't you wish this was scratch 'n sniff?

I decided to serve pan-fried fingerling potatoes.  Aren't they beautiful?  I love fingerling potatoes.  Sometimes there are some pretty purple ones.

Here I've put them cut side down in a hot pan with butter and olive oil and 2 smashed cloves of garlic.

After frying for about 5 minutes, or until the cut side was nicely browned, I flip them over and continued frying for another 5 minutes, or until they were fork tender.

After the potatoes were done, I sauteed some zucchini with shallot and minced garlic  Why smashed cloves with the potatoes and minced with the zucchini?  Because the potatoes need to cook longer than the zucchini and minced garlic would have burned.

What did baby think of all this?  She kept handing her fork back to me to reload for her.  She couldn't get enough!  Until she saw that chocolate cookies were for dessert.  Then she was ready for chocolate!  The chicken was a hit with everyone in the family.  Definitely a keeper!  We are going to have to try it on the charcoal side of the grill this season.

 So to recap:

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Legs

Ingredients

1 Family pack of chicken legs (mine turned out to be 5 legs)
3/4 lb. of bacon (I used low-sodium)

Directions

Wrap chicken legs with 2 pieces of bacon.  Cover with foil and let sit out for about 30 minutes to warm up.  While the chicken is sitting, preheat broiler.  I left the oven rack at it's regular location.  Broil with foil on for about 20 minutes.  Take foil off and continue to broil for about 20 more minutes.  Check the temperature of the chicken to make sure it is fully cooked.

Pan Fried Fingerling Potatoes

Ingredients

Approximately 2 lbs of fingerling potatoes, cut in half
2 Tablespoons olive oil per round of frying - basically to your taste
2 - 4 Tablespoons butter per round of frying - basically to your taste
2 Garlic cloves, smashed, per round of frying - again, basically to your taste

Directions

Heat pan.  Add butter and olive oil.  The olive oil is suppose to help prevent the butter from burning, but I found I needed to drain and add fresh butter, oil and garlic for each round of frying.  When butter has melted, add the potatoes, cut side down.  Fry for approximately 5 minutes, or until the cut side is golden brown.  Turn the potatoes over and continue frying another 5 minutes, or until fork tender.

Sauteed Zucchini

Ingredients

2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 - 2 shallots, sliced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 - 4 Tablespoons butter

Directions

Add butter and olive oil to heated pan.  Once butter is melted, add zucchini, shallots and garlic.  Saute for about 7 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.