BBQ Bacon Cheesy Chicken recipe

I don't share recipes very often. What will I make to surprise you when you come over for dinner?

But, I'm in love with the idea of duplicating recipes from restaurants that I LOVE and they don't make anymore.

Today is a recipe that I created based on a chicken dish from Ruby Tuesdays. It was soooo good, until they removed it from their menu. Bastards.

I have tried this several different ways and will continue to make it several different ways, depending on what I have on hand.

The first step is to get onions. If you don't like the real ones, try Frenches fried onions. They work great. If you don't like those, I think a green onion or a chive would work as well. If you don't like those...then I really don't know what to tell you. I think onions add flavor to a dish, so I can't guarantee it will taste like it should without them.

I decided to use a Vidalia onion and I used Pioneer Woman's recipe- from her older cookbook- for Onion Strings. SO PERFECT...and really good dipped in ranch when you need a snack during the cooking process.

The recipe tells you to soak the chopped onion in buttermilk for a few hours. After this your fridge will smell terrible. Evan walked around the kitchen during my chopping process and complained that I was "boiling" his eyes.

Buy the book or see if she has it on her blog. It's the best thing ever!

Season your chicken using anything you like. I picked the BBQ 3000 because it's my favorite. Season heavily, unless your a big wimp, then do what works. Then find someone else to cook your chicken, because you will be busy. Unless you pop it in the oven. Feel free to cook it anyway you like. But because it's summer in Minnesota, I'm using my grill for EVERYTHING.

At some point you will also need to chop tomatoes and fry some bacon. I did this all ahead of time and didn't take any photos. Sorry. =)

Set up a frying station for your onion strings-unless you chose another route. I've also coated my chicken in Frenches Fried Onions and baked them in the oven. Turns out wonderful! But sometimes you have to go all out for a dinner- so a frying I shall go.

At Ruby Tuesdays, they served the chicken with their mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Best combination ever- so why mess with what works? But my mashed potatoes are awesome and very fattening. Enjoy.

I just used Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped. Boil until soft. Drain and put back on the burner to dry out a bit. Then, I dumped in a bit of milk, sour cream, cream cheese, butter, seasoned salt, pepper, minced garlic, cheddar cheese and green onions.

Mash until creamy. Then lick the masher clean...it will be too hard to resist.

Soooo creamy. Yum.

Once the chicken is cooked, you can build an assembly line and whip through this process quickly.

1. Start with BBQ sauce. I mixed together two of my favorite brands together. Dump on quite a bit.

Pretty....I can't get my stomach to stop growling at me.



2. Dump on your cheese. I used Cheddar because that's what I had and what I like with this dish.



3. Then sprinkle on some chopped tomato, crumbled bacon and those onion strings. After you chicken is done, add your steamed broccoli (just fresh chopped broccoli thrown in the microwave with salt) and your mashed potatoes.

ooooohhh...yum. The one on the left is Morgans plate. She ate the bacon and tomatoes. The one on the right is mine. I ate it all....seriously...every single bite.

Can you blame me? It was delicious!

I don't often post recipes because I don't often "create" them on my own. I find a few pieces here and there and combine them all for one dish. It works here, but other times, it's a hot mess.

The kids whined, threw fits and Declan ate only the broccoli, then left the table in tears.

But Jalon and I licked our plates clean.

And then I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to run that dinner off.

Enjoy!