Apple Pecan Bacon Chicken for the Birdie Know It All Tutorial Contest

What do you do when you have bacon grease left over from bacon and need to think of a fun recipe to enter into Gisele's Birdie-Know-it-All Tutorial contest?

You use it to make a sweet and savory Sunday dinner, Apple Pecan Bacon Chicken, to be exact :). So here's my tutorial! Have you all checked out the contest? It is so cool because it's no just for cooks/bakers; if you're into designing stationary, making handmade cards, or even creating your own holiday decorations, you can join too. Plus, you get to feature this cute little logo on your blog :). Click it to find out more about the contest and cute prizes!

I think Paula Deen would've been so proud seeing me use up the bacon grease to fry some chicken! (Have you all seen that episode of Paula's Party where she fries everything, including that yummy pumpkin cake? Delicious!)

This dish is tasty and fun to make, it offers afew different textures and tasty flavors...not to mention two of my favorite fruits, cranberries and apples! Yum! Plus, I threw in some bacon, the hubby's favorite food. It wasn't a one skillet meal, even though it kinda looks like it. I cooked the apples in a separate pan, then I baked the chicken, but it was worth all the dirty pots/pans/cutting boards/time etc. :). (The cool thing is that you can stick that skillet in the oven, though.)

These pictures are a part of the tutorial, please excuse the not-so-pretty yellow tinge of my kitchen, I don't get very much natural light in there! A big thanks to my hubby for taking these photos, please don't cook and take photos...it really isn't safe :P!

Ingredients:
You can use 4-6 chicken drumsticks for this recipe.
Bacon drippings (from about 4 strips of bacon)
1 iron skillet
1/2 cup gluten-free chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1/4 cup chopped leeks
2 TBSP honey
pinch of pepper
1 large Macintosh apple
2/3 cup pure apple cider
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup cranberries
1 strip of bacon
Aluminum foil
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/4 tsp thyme

Instructions for Tutorial:

1. Preheat oven to 350
   
2. Cook 4 strips of bacon in an iron skillet.
   
3. Save the bacon drippings in the skillet.
   
4. Chop 1/4 cup each of sweet onion and leeks.
   
5. Cook onion and leeks on medium/low in bacon grease (in the skillet) for about 3 minutes.
   
6. Add chicken, use tongs to brown chicken drumsticks on all sides (watch for popping oil, be careful not to burn yourself).
   
7. Sprinkle chicken with a pinch pepper and add about 1 1/2 - 2 TBSP of honey.
   
8. Pour 1/2 cup gluten free chicken broth in skillet with chicken; cover and cook chicken on low for about 20 minutes.
   
9. Flip chicken onto side that wasn't cooking and now cook for another 15-20 minutes on low while you prepare the apples.
   
10. Peel and slice 1 large Macintosh apple.
    
11. Pour 1/4 cup warm water and 2/3 cup pure apple cider into a sauce pan, add about 1 1/2 TBSP brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Then add about 1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans. Cook on medium/high for about five minutes (without apples). Then lower flamer to low, add apples and 1/3 cup cranberries and cook for about 5 minutes (you don't want them too soft, just cook until they are slightly soft but still somewhat crunchy).
    
12. Cover the chicken in the skillet with the apple mixture (use only 1/2 of the apple mixture if you use 4 drumsticks, use all of the cooked apples if you have 6 drumsticks). Sprinkle with thyme, bay leaves, and bacon bits (from 1 freshly cooked but cooled strip of bacon) and bake (COVERED WITH ALUMINUM FOIL!) for 10 minutes then turn chicken drumsticks over. Lastly, bake for about 15 more minutes minutes. Let cool then eat! :)