Chicken Bacon Pizza

We were ripped off on Saturday in regards to weather.  It was pretty much a wash out. A little windy and threatening to rain when Shane and I went for a run. We cut it short to a 5 + mile trek.  

Sunday wasn’t bad at all. It did sprinkle here and there but the sun tried to shine.  The three of us went on a long walk.  Shane and I were out a bit earlier than Ted and so we ran 1 1/2 miles around MVCC track while we waited for “Pokey”.  Total was  5.5 miles and that’s not too bad for a nice Sunday walk around the Golf course. 

After chores were said and done (more saying than doing 😛 ), inside and out, I spent some quality time working on my favorite kitchen creations.  My parents requested some Rustic Raisin Bread (no fennel just nuts and raisins) so I set out to make that for them.  There was the CNYEats Chicken Wing Dip to offer for the afternoon tasty treat. 

Then… I had an idea.  Here it is with some background history:

Last Friday, I came home from work.  Ted was looking like the cat who just ate the canary  😈 . 

Aw! Guilty as charged

 I said “what have you done?”.  He said, “I just had the greatest pizza“.  “Where’s my piece?” I said.   There wasn’t any. It was a chicken and bacon pizza and I wouldn’t have eaten it any way.  But Ted said it was “soooo good“.  That meant I had a challenge.  It must be re-created at home.

Chicken Bacon Pizza

Homemade pizza dough using a bread maker:

For 1 thick 12″ crust

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBS dry milk
• 2 1/4 cup Bread flour
• 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Mix on “Dough” setting in bread maker.  When done, preheat oven to 375 F.  Place the dough on a lightly floured 12″ pizza pan,

form a 12″ shell with the edges slightly rounded and thicker than the middle. Rub some olive oil all over the crust and bake for 10 minutes.

Pizza Filling

• 1 cup Ranch Dressing: separated into 1/2 cups
• 1 cup diced chicken pieces * I cooked the chicken and used 1/2 of it from the Taste of Utica recipe. Link HERE.
• 12 – 15 slices of cooked bacon
• 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 F. Add 1/2 cup of the Ranch dressing to the pizza shell which you pre baked for 10 minutes. 

Add the chicken. Crumble the bacon and add on top of the chicken. 

 Drizzle with the other 1/2 cup of dressing.  Add the Monterey cheese and then the Parmesan cheese. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden around the edges.

If you eat chicken, you’ll love this pizza.  If you don’t eat meat, try a Vegetarian chicken substitute such as Quorn.  Maybe beans would work really well on this pizza?  For the bacon, Morning Star Farms offers a soy bacon substitute.  Either way, according to my trusty chicken fans, this pizza is very flavorful, the chicken is tender, the bacon adds a smokey finish, it’s filling and perfect for a change from traditional red-sauce pizza.

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Monday Morning Workout:

It was chest day.  I hit the sack early last night…well, it’s usually early but about half an hour EARLIER than normal. “Merlin” wasn’t on and Ted and Teddy were watching a movie I had seen before. Can’t stand watching repeats!  So I went to bed. Before I knew it, the alarm was going off. Guess I needed the extra  zzzzz’s.  

• 3.25 mile run on the Tread mill
• 40 minutes of chest and triceps 15 – 20 reps each of the 4 sets for chest and 12 -1 5 reps of the 4 sets for tri’s.
• Shane and I went jogging for 3.6 miles. It was cool but pleasant in the morning darkness.

Hope you had a great Monday.  Tomorrow is Sweet and Simple Bakes day. “Slammin’ Jammin’ Doughnut Muffins”. 

 By the way, what’ s your favorite pizza?

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A Taste Of Utica’s Chicken Wing Dip

This week A Taste of Utica Cookbook  offers a delicious dip that is so easy to cook up, you won’t hesitate to put this on the menu for afternoon munching.

You can make this one of two ways. The first method is how I made the dip and is offered by Jo Giacovelli.  The second method, just as easy and it sounds just as tasty, is offered by Rainie Piccione.

Chicken Wing Dip – Method 1 *Note: Because I don’t eat meat, I divided the ingredients in 1/2 and instead of chicken, I used Dark Red Pinto Beans (1 15oz can) just so I could taste. Oh my!  WOW! Too good. I shouldn’t have done that because it was (as R.R would say)  “DELISH!”.  See below for the REAL chicken version reviews.

• (2) 8 oz cream cheese (I used Neufchatel cheese)
• 1 cup Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing * I used Lite Chunky Blue
• 6 to 8 oz (depending on your heat preference) Red Hot Sauce*I used just under 2/3 cup because Ted is not a real “hot” fan.  It was still very spicy.
• 2 cups cooked, diced chicken*I cooked my own chicken and offer the “how to” below
• 1 cup diced celery (optional)
• 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

*If cooking your own chicken, this is how I did it:   Using 1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you won’t use it all for the dip- maybe about 1/2 of it), preheat oven to broil.  Pound the chicken between 2 sheets of wax paper to about 3/4 ” thick. Slice into 1″ strips.  Toss the chicken strips with 1 1/2 TBS olive oil + salt and pepper + 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (1/3 cup breadcrumbs with 1 TBS Italian seasoning added + 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese).  Place in foil lined baking dish and broil for 4 minutes one side. Turn over and broil 4  minutes second side.  Let cool and cut into diced chicken pieces.

Continuing with the dip:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt the cream cheese over medium heat – or microwave but be careful.  I put one pkg in the microwave at a time for half a minute on high.  Stir.  Add the chunky dressing and hot sauce.  Add the diced chicken and the celery.  Pour into a 13 x 9 pan.  Sprinkle the Monterey Jack Cheese on top and bake for 25 minutes. Serve with Scoop Tortillas.  I also toasted regular flour tortillas until crisp and cut them into triangles for larger dipping “chips”.

Chicken Wing Dip – Method 2

Mix the chicken pieces with the hot sauce and let marinate for one hour. Smear an oven proof dish with softened cream cheese.  Add the chicken with the hot sauce.  Top with chunky blue cheese dressing and the celery.  Top with CHEDDAR cheese (note: not Monterey) and bake 20 – 30 minutes.

Now I didn’t taste this dip with the chicken because I don’t eat meat, but the reviews were in from certified chicken eaters:  “This is GREAT! ”  “Oh wow! You have to make this again!  ”   Guess you can’t get any better than that. 

The Vegetarian Red Bean Version

Next week… want to know how to make your own stuffed grape leaves?  Come on back next Sunday and learn along with me.  It might be fun or we get violent…who knows.  If you have any tips, please pass them along before I delve into this mysterious world of stuffed grape leaves.

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