Honey, I’m home! I’ve always wanted to say that. It sounds so retro, like I’m starring in a in a 70′s sitcom. We had an absolutely wonderful vacation but boy, was I happy to see my green baby again. Food-wise, that is. I can’t help it, just can’t.

I found exactly three lonely chicken breasts in an overall empty freezer, but that was all I needed to get dinner started. When I started shooting this posting I had no idea what to do with them, but I knew it had to be simple and pure yet with an explosion of flavor. Sounds easy enough, no?

Then I remembered the last time I whipped up my honey-glazed chicken & bacon bites and I had an epiphany: why not do a more adult version of those? And so I did.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp coarse mustard
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp ricotta
lemon juice
lemon zest
9 to 12 bacon slices
flat-leaf parsley
pepper
salt

Directions:

Note:

I’m using my BGE for this and prepared it for medium-low, direct-heat cooking (350F/180C). Use the same temperature for your oven.

Here are those three lonely chicken breasts I was speaking of earlier.

I’ll often keep some ricotta in the fridge. Grab 3 slightly heaping tbsp ricotta, roughly 1 tbsp per chicken breast—I didn’t want to stuff them, and this is enough to add some flavor and creaminess but not enough to be considered ‘stuffing’.

Lemon. Chicken and lemon were made for each other. I’m grating a little zest—that’s where the flavor is—into the ricotta. Just a pinch.

Add a generous amount of freshly cracked black pepper and salt. Don’t skimp on the salt!

Another ingredient I seldom to never run out of: flat-leaf parsley. I can see myself making this dish with fresh sage or rosemary as well, though. Finely mince a small handful and mix everything up.

Combine the honey, coarse mustard, Dijon mustard (or up the Dijon and use just that) and squeeze in some fresh lemon juice, about a tbsp or so.

And all the world was right again.

Use a very sharp knife and cut a slit into the thick edge of each breast to form a pocket. Spoon a tbsp of the ricotta mix in there, close it up and season the breasts with a little salt and pepper.

Depending on how thick your bacon slices are, wrap strips around each chicken breast making sure to fully cover the ricotta so it won’t drip out, the bacon will form a protective shield. Brush the chicken on both sides with the honey-mustard marinade.

 
Slap them on the grill or put them in your oven. Cook at 350F (180C). Give them 10 minutes and flip them over for another 10 minutes on the grill. When using your oven you probably have to give them 5 to 10 extra minutes. Check for readiness.

If this is wrong, I really really really don’t ever want to be right. Oh Lord almighty.

Kay’s Recipe Card

Click here for printable size.