Bacony Chicken and Rice Bake

This recipe comes from Mary at Deep South Dish. I love her blog! Absolutely mouth watering Southern and Cajun food. Not only do I enjoy her recipes, but I feel like I'm getting an education in Cajun cuisine with posts about how to make a dark roux, gumbos and jambalaya...it takes me to another place! She also makes a fabulous fried chicken...and catfish for that matter. When I saw her post about this Bacony Chicken and Rice bake I knew it was going in my recipe queue. It was fun to make. With my recent struggles with my crock pot, this recipe had a crock pot feel, only it really was no fuss! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

You begin with lining the bottom of a 9X9 baking pan with bacon. This recipe made the perfect amount of food for two adults, 2- 4 year olds, and a one year old, with a little rice to spare. If you're cooking for a larger crowd you could double it and use a larger baking dish.


Now top the bacon with a cup of uncooked rice. I used brown, it's my favorite.


Next, arrange your chicken pieces on top of the rice. Mary used chicken thighs. I had a couple of breast halves thawed. Go ahead and leave the skin on. You can peel it off before you eat it.


Season the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, and Cajun seasoning. Mary uses Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning. You'll find the link on her blog. I used a variety that I picked up at my local supermarket.


Now mix a can of cream of chicken soup with water and season with garlic salt, nutmeg, oregano, and parsley.


Pour the soup mixture over the chicken and then cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours.


It turns out just perfect! Tender, juicy chicken. Delicious, perfectly cooked and seasoned rice. It was absolutely amazing. Everyone loved it!


My 4 year old had a friend over for dinner this evening. I learned a lesson the last time I cooked for these two. One doesn't like one thing, the other doesn't like another. Opinions are voiced. Forces are joined...and nothing gets eaten. I was a step ahead of them here. I told them that I cooked them a special, fancy dinner just for them. I made up a whole story about the celebration. I told them to be part of the celebration they had to wear lots of beads to dinner and use their best manners because it was extra fancy. Then I lit a candle and arranged the chicken and rice and vegetables into this:


They ate every bit, asked for more chicken, and then made a pretty good dent in the bacon that lined the bottom of the baking dish. Oh yeah. I rock.

Here's the recipe from Mary's blog

Bacony Chicken & Rice Bake
Adapted from Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook (and Financial Planner)
Posted at www.deepsouthdish.com

4 slices of bacon, cut in half
1 cup of uncooked rice
4 chicken thighs
Couple pinches of Kosher salt, or to taste
8 turns of the pepper grinder
Couple shakes of paprika
Couple dashes of Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of water
Sprinkle of garlic salt
Pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of oregano
Small palmful of dried parsley

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cut 4 slices of bacon in half and layer them on the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch baking dish. Pour the rice on top. Add the chicken over the rice and season with the salt, pepper, paprika, and Cajun seasoning. In a separate bowl add the cream of chicken soup, water, garlic salt, nutmeg, oregano, and parsley and whisk together well. Pour over the chicken. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours without peeking at it!