I am notorious for making up recipes that are inspired by actual recipes. Sometimes this is in order to repurpose leftover, sometimes I am too lazy to bother doing it the correct way, and sometimes it’s because I’m a picky eater and I need to remove yucky things like olives or broccoli. Most often it’s because I have some of the necessary ingredients but not all of them. So I improvise and substitute. Tonight, I had considered making lemon fig chicken. I had bought the figs a few weeks back, and I had the chicken defrosted in the fridge. But i knew this wouldn’t be a big hit with my family. A few google searches and I now present:
Chicken with Bacon and Figs *
Ingredients:
1/4 lb. thick bacon, chopped
1 whole yellow onion, sliced
8 dried, Turkish figs, chopped
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. maple syrup
1.5 lbs. thin sliced chicken breast
pepper to taste
Cook the yellow onion and bacon in a cast iron skillet for 1-2 minutes on medium high heat until the bacon fat has the frying pan well greased. Add the figs. Sauté for 4-6 minutes until the onion is translucent and slightly browned and the bacon semi-crispy. Add lemon juice to deglaze the pan. Remove to a separate bowl and drizzle with maple syrup. Stir. In the same frying pan, cook the chicken in the left over bacon grease. When the chicken has cooked all the way through, return the bacon and fig mixture to the frying pan. Serve over rice.
Review: My husband, who generally doesn’t like meals that have fruit in the main course or meals that are sweet, thought it was good.
My son, who “does all he can to avoid figs,” was barely able to begin his dinner. Even though he was vocal about how even bacon couldn’t overpower the fig taste, he did say he wouldn’t mind having it again.
* Disclaimer: I don’t use measuring spoons or other measuring devices. These measurements are approximate.
