Best Ever Hunter's Chicken

 

Hunter's Chicken.  This midweek chicken entree is comfort food pure and simple, as well as being very easy to prepare. I guarantee that this version is the best ever Hunter's Chicken or I will eat my hat!

Tender marinated chicken breasts are baked to perfection and then topped with a mix of BBQ Sauce, grilled peppers, mushrooms and onions, crisp slices of bacon and melted cheese.  Each bite is a little taste of heaven in your mouth!

 

This is not Hunter's Chicken in the Italian sense, which we also know as Chicken Cattiatore, or Chicken Chasseur.  This is English style Hunter's Chicken.

We have always eaten a lot of chicken in our house. It si quite economical as opposed to other meats, and is much better for you. Especially if you choose to eat it with the skin off. 

My chicken of choice is usually boneless, skinless chicken breasts which are the leanest and healthiest of all. It need never be boring however. I think I must know a bazillion ways to cook this cut of chicken, and none of them are ever boring.

 

Aside from the cost, one of the reasons I really like cooking with chicken is the fact that is is so very versatile. It lends itself beautifully to a huge variety of flavours and cooking methods.

Chicken breast can tend to be dry sometimes, but that is usually caused from excess heat and overcooking. If you always follow my timings you can be assured that you will always have perfectly cooked, moist and tender chicken. Always.

 

You do need to plan a bit ahead with this dish however as the chicken needs to be marinated for several hours at least prior to cooking it.  I use a teriyaki/sauce/marinade that I pick up at Costco, which is rich and delicious, but you can use any teriyaki sauce you prefer.

The chicken gets pricked all over and marinated in a dish with some of this sauce to cover.  The very least amount of time I recommend is 2 hours, but you can actually pop it into a dish to  marinate early in the day before you go to work or whatever.  That way it will be ready to cook to perfection by the time you get home.

 

Once you have it marinated, you drain it (discard any marinade!) and place it into a large shallow baking dish, and pop it into the oven.  While it is baking you can use that time to put together the other delicious elements of the dish. 

One very important element of Hunter's Chicken is crisp cooked streaky bacon.  Don't be tempted to use those precooked strips. You will need some bacon fat to cook all of the vegetables for the topping in. Choose a good quality bacon. Dry cured if possible and thick cut is best!

 

You will need to cook your peppers, onions, and mushroom in the pan drippings along with a tiny bit of butter. If you have too much bacon fat in the dish, drain most of it off. You only need a little bit.  You want the flavour however, so do keep some.

The vegetables are sauteed in the bacon fat and butter until crispy tender.  Once this has been achieved you stir in a bit of BBQ sauce and wait for the chicken.

 

Once the chicken is just about cooked you remove it from the oven and slather the remaining BBQ sauce over top. I like Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, but you can just use whatever BBQ sauce is your favouite kind. 

Don't be tempted to overdo it however. A little bit of sauce goes a very long way in this and remember there is also some of the BBQ sauce in the vegetable mixture.

 

This vegetable mixture gets spooned over top of the sauced chicken. If you are really fond of peppers, onions and mushrooms, you can double the quantities but I find this amount to be just right.  All things in moderation. 

The crisp bacon gets placed on top of the cooked vegetables.  Can you ever have too much bacon?  I think not, but two slices is perfectly ample for this without going over the top.

 

The final addition is some good cheddar cheese which is placed on top of the crisp bacon.  You then pop the whole dish back into the oven long enough to make sure everything is properly heated through and the cheese is nicely melted and bubbling. 

Tender, moist perfectly flavoured and cooked chicken, topped with lush sauteed vegetables, smoky crisp bacon and rich melted cheese, all with the slight flavour of BBQ.  Comfort food just got even better!  This is fabulously tasty and so simple.  

 

Some rice or a baked potato on the side and you will have a supper guaranteed to please even the pickest of eaters! Who knew tasty could be so easy!

 

Best Ever Hunter's Chicken

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

prep time: 2 H & 10 Mcook time: 40 Mintotal time: 2 H & 50 M

This delicious classic is amped up with the addition of sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms! Plan ahead as the chicken needs to marinate for several hours.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup (240ml) teriyaki marinade sauce 
• 1/2 pound streaky bacon
• 1 TBS butter
• 1 medium onion, trimmed peeled, and cut into half moons
• 1/2 each green, red and yellow/orange pepper, trimmed and cut into strips
• 1/2 pound mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• 4 TBS your favourite BBQ sauce
• 4 slices cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Place the chicken into a non-porous glass dish or bowl. Prick all over with a fork. Pour the teriyaki sauce over top and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours to marinate.
2. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
3. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and place into a baking dish large enough to hold them all comfortably. I use a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish. Discard the marinade.
4. Bake the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes until the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through.
5. While the chicken is baking heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook it until crisp. Drain on some kitchen paper towelling. Set aside and keep warm.
6. If there is a lot of bacon fat left in the pan, drain most of it away. Add the onion, peppers and mushrooms to the pan along with the butter.
7. Cook, stirring over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until they are softened and the mushrooms are turning golden brown. Add half of the BBQ sauce to the mixture. Remove from the heat.
8. Remove the chicken from the oven. Spread the remaining BBQ sauce over top of the chicken. Spoon the onion mixture over top, dividing it equally amongst the chicken pieces. Top each with a couple strips of the cooked bacon. Place a slice of cheese over each and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
9. Serve hot.

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