Crispy Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Arugula Fennel Salad

By KDHarmon

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 1 bottle light-bodied dry red wine, such as Pinot Noir or Beaujolais
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• Small bunch fresh basil
• 2 cloves
• 1 dry bay leaf
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons cold butter, diced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Chicken:
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 1 pound, preferably organic, trimmed and squared off a bit
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 16 slices bacon, not thick cut, from 16-ounce package
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Arugula-Fennel Salad:
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups baby arugula, 2 ounces, trimmed and washed
• 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced, 1 1/2 cups

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Sauce:
In a medium saucepot, over medium heat, combine the wine, shallots, and garlic and bring to a simmer. Add the basil, cloves, and bay leaf, and let simmer until the liquid is reduced to about 1 cup. When reduced, add the chicken stock, and continue to simmer until reduced by half. Strain into another sauce pan and stir in the butter. Season the mixture with salt, and pepper, to taste. Keep warm.

Chicken:
Season the chicken lightly with salt, and pepper, to taste. Lay 4 slices of bacon crosswise on a cutting board with the slices slightly overlapping. Put a chicken breast on top of the bacon. Bring the bacon slices up and around the chicken so the entire breast is wrapped. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and bacon.

In a large oven-proof skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Get the pan and oil hot, and then add the bacon-wrapped chicken and cook until the bacon is crispy on both sides, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake, until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Salad:
Whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil. Season the salad with salt, and pepper, to taste. Put the arugula and fennel into a large bowl and toss until well coated.

Scoop some risotto nicely into the center or each plate, making sure it has some height so the chicken can stand up. Cut the chicken on a bias and put on top of the risotto. Drizzle some of the red wine sauce around the plate and directly over the chicken. Top each plate with some arugula salad and serve.

Serves 4.