Pancetta Embossed Chicken

[mamster]

Pancetta Embossed Chicken

My creation is no penicillin, ice cream cone, or Toll House cookie, but it could save your life if you are starving and has at least as many calories as the latter.

There's nothing wrong with the "bacon-wrapped" motif, but its execution is so often inferior to its promise. The bacon is frequently over- or under-cooked; bacon is sliced so thick that it overwhelms whatever it is wrapping; too much bacon fat is absorbed; and so on. Here's a technique that avoids all of these problems and pairs bacon with one of its ideal partners: chicken skin.

It started with a recipe for "Chicken with Pancetta and Balsamic Vinegar" from Mark Bittman’s column in the New York Times. I halved the ingredients and used chicken thighs, and it was quite good. But the best part by far was that bits of pancetta had been caught under the chicken while it was browning. They had become fused with the chicken skin! The crispy chicken-bacon, combined with the tender meat, made for a terrific eating experience.

Again this triumph was an accident. I had been trying to avoid the bacon bits when I put the chicken into the pan, figuring I'd end up with a pancetta-laden pan sauce. Good thing I blew it.

Unfortunately, because I had chopped the pancetta, these moments of glory were rare. I wanted all of the chicken skin to be bacon-infused. The solution was obvious: give each thigh its own slice of pancetta. It requires no more bacon than the original recipe, but it all ends up in exactly the right place. If you put this stuff in a plastic pouch at the 7-Eleven, it would put jerky out of business. Plus it's my recipe so I get to give it a ridiculous name.

• 4 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)
  
• 4 slices of Pancetta, round and thin
  
• 1 T olive oil
  
• salt and pepper
  

Place the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Add pancetta and cook a few seconds until translucent.

Add chicken skin-side down, placing each thigh directly onto a pancetta slice. Reduce heat to medium.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 15 minutes or until bacon and skin are well browned.

Turn chicken and add a bit more pepper. Cook until underside is browned and chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Alternatively turn the chicken, transfer the pan to a 400-degree oven, and bake until cooked through (about 10 minutes, but check around the bone for pinkness and pull it as soon as it's cooked through). If you're using the oven, you may want to transfer the chicken to a foil-lined jelly roll pan so that you can use the skillet to make a pan sauce.

For the pan sauce: pour off most of the chicken fat, deglaze with 1/2 cup white wine, reduce by half, and season with salt and pepper. Off the heat, add a pat of butter and a tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Pool it under the chicken -- you worked hard for that crispy skin, and it would be a shame to spoil it now just because you were feeling saucy.

Serve on hot plates with mashed potatoes or egg noodles and your choice of vegetable.

Keywords: Chicken, Main Dish, Intermediate, Dinner, Italian, The Daily Gullet

( RG191 )