Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken with Spicy Bourbon Bacon Honey Glaze

Today's post has nothing to do with romance. And that picture has nothing to do with this recipe. But this post is all food all the time. I tried out a new recipe from a favorite food blog a couple weeks ago and was quite pleased with the final product, but not with the amount of time it took (marinating overnight, grilling, making a glaze). Plus I, um, don't have a grill. But I love to make stuff in the crock pot when we have our friends over for game night. It keeps me sitting at the table instead of cooking in the kitchen. So I decided to translate this into a crock pot recipe.

Once I'd rejiggered the recipe, several of my Twitter buddies requested it. Of course, those same Twitter buddies are probably gonna hate it because the standout of this dish is really the spicy bourbon bacon honey glaze that I decided to go ahead and keep from the original recipe. Which means that this isn't a full-on crock pot recipe. That said, the crock pot part is so extremely simple and you're going to have to make rice or quinoa or something to eat with it anyway so this hardly even counts as an extra step. (I hope.)

Oh, and sorry for the lack of pretty food pictures, but I never really intended this to be a blog post. It was just...dinner. I do just cook sometimes without taking photos of it.

Rarely.

Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken with Spicy Bourbon Bacon Honey Glaze
adapted from The Food Charlatan
Makes: 4-6 servings
Time: 6 hours, Hands on time: 30 minutes

8 bone-in chicken thighs or 4-6 boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons Barbeque seasoning (I used McCormick's the 1st time & a local one the 2nd time--just pick something with brown sugar in it--not sauce--the dry stuff in the spice aisle)
2 cups chicken stock

8 slices bacon, chopped
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup honey
4 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons hot sauce

1. Combine first four ingredients in a large crockpot. Cook on high for 6 hours.

2. Half an hour before chicken is done, brown the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour out bacon fat and reserve for another use. Deglaze the pan with the bourbon. It will steam so keep fingers and faces out of the way. Add honey, worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce to the bacon and whisk to combine. Simmer on medium-low for approximately 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced by half. Set aside until chicken is finished. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

3. Serve chicken over rice or other grain and top with sauce.