Ranch Style Chicken

Boneless, Skinless Chicken BreastsT

hick cut baconBacon grease

HoneyDijon Mustard

Lemon juicePaprikaCrushed

Red Pepper (optional)

Sharp Cheddar CheeseCanola oil

To begin, mix together 1/2 cup Dijon or country/grainy mustard with 1/2 cup honey. Add juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. And have some fun here! Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like things a little spicy.

Whisk it together until smooth.
Next, rinse the chicken breasts under cool water and pat them dry

Place one chicken breast between two sheets of waxed paper

With a mallet or a rolling pin (you can also use a heavy can!) lightly pound the chicken breast so that the thickness is uniform. By the time it all evens up, it’s usually around 1/2 to 3/4″ thick.

Next, just add all the chicken to the bowl with the marinade. You’ll want to cover this with plastic wrap and let it marinate in the fridge for at least an hour—usually I let it go about 2 to 3 hours, but that’s only because I’m always running behind.
While the chicken is marinating, go ahead and fry up some bacon

Next, and this is important, reserve 1/4 cup of the bacon grease, and go ahead and clean out the skillet. Otherwise, it’ll get too smoky.
When you’re ready to prepare the chicken, preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Remove the chicken from the fridge and pour off excess marinade into the sink. Heat half of the reserved bacon grease with an equal quantity of Canola Oil in the clean skillet over medium-high to high heat. (We want to sear the chicken, not cook it completely.) When the grease is sufficiently heated, add a batch of chicken to the skillet. Don’t overcrowd the skillet—just 3 pieces is usually enough.

Flip it to the other side. Cook just until brown/blackish areas appear. Each side should cook for a maximum of 1 to 1 1/2 minutes

Repeat with all the chicken breasts, then set them on a large baking sheet. Go ahead and throw the pan pan of chicken into the hot oven for about ten minutes to continue cooking. Then remove the pan from the oven

And lay a couple of bacon slices over each chicken breast

Next, grab some grated sharp cheddar and sprinkle it over the top as generously as you’d like.

Just return the pan to the oven for an additional five minutes, or until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling.
Then serve immediately