Fry Me A River - No Fry Sweet and Tangy Chicken

Now you say you're lonely
You cried the long night through
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river
I cried a river over you

Oy ... I'm crying a river for my beloved Magic, who are having a bad weather day.  Oh yes, the Thunder are in town and at Amway, and if the first quarter is predictive, the Magic are screwed.

During play-offs, I root for the Thunder.  I love Kevin Durant, and who wouldn't love a team with players named Sir Chewbacca (Serge Ibaka) and Reggie Jackson?  But these aren't the play-offs, and Orlando is 30 points down.  One small glass of wine is not going to help, but that's my limit.

This is one of the 6 billion recipes for cooking chicken.  I found it about 20 years ago, and make it a couple of times a year.  It's got three of my favorite flavors combined in the glaze, honey, Dijon mustard, and curry.  I like this on the chicken thighs rather than the breasts, because I think the glaze works better on the richer dark meat.  The original recipe calls for pan frying the bacon and then frying the chicken in the bacon fat before putting it in the oven, but today I was simply not in the mood to spew oil all over my cooktop.  

Sweet and Tangy Chicken (Oven Version)

1/2 pound bacon
8 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)

Spices for chicken:
kosher salt
black pepper
granulated garlic
sweet paprika
cayenne pepper
curry powder

Glaze:
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
kosher salt
cayenne

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the bacon slices in an aluminum baking pan and into the oven.  Let them brown and crisp, then turn over and repeat.  Remove the cooked bacon to drain on paper towels.  Once the bacon fat cools to room temperature, place the chicken into the same baking pan, turning each piece to coat with some of the bacon fat.  Season both sides of the chicken to taste with the spices, and finish with the skin side up.  Place the pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and carefully pour off most of the collected juices. Using tongs, turn the chicken pieces skin side down, and return the pan to the oven for another 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven.  Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.  Carefully pour off most of the liquid in the pan, and use the tongs to turn the chicken skin side up.  Combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl or glass measuring cup, and mix until smooth.  Spoon over the chicken in the pan, using up all of the glaze.  Place the pan in the oven and bake another 15 minutes for the glaze to set.  If you like, turn on the broiler element for a minute, then immediately remove the pan so the glaze won't burn.  Before you return the pan to the oven, finely chop a few of the cooked bacon strips.  Immediately upon removing the finished chicken from the oven, sprinkle on the bacon bits, and serve.