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Maryland Spring Chicken

Say hello to a dish that was created on a train! During the golden age of Pullman cars, a creative chef in a cramped train kitchen invented this recipe. I found it in a church supper cookbook, at a tag sale, WAY back in the early 1970′s.
Course One Dish Chicken
Cuisine Old - very old!
Author Dang Good Cooking Blog

Ingredients

  • 1 4-5 lb. Fryer Chicken
  • 4 tbsp. Canola Oil - or whatever oil you have handy
  • 1/2 cup Flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 6 slices Bacon - Cut into squares just cut the whole slab of slices with a pair of scissors
  • 1 tsp. Nutmeg
  • 2 cups Cream or 2 Cans of Evaporated Milk they used evap. milk on the trains(Toni uses Evaporated Milk)
  • Paprika for added color- Optional

Instructions

  • Fry bacon pieces in a large skillet over medium-low to medium heat until slightly brown but not crispy.
  • Cut chicken into quarters, then remove wings to make 6 pieces of chicken. I like to also remove the wing tips - they just get in the way anyways!
  • Brush with oil and dredge with flour, salt, and pepper.
  • Stir bacon, then sprinkle half of the nutmeg over the bacon.
  • Place chicken skin side down on top of bacon (without draining off fat). Sprinkle the chicken with the rest of the nutmeg. Leave the skillet uncovered and cook over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
  • After 20 minutes, check the chicken. The skin should be golden brown and some bits of bacon should be stuck to the skin. If not, cook for another 10 minutes. Once the skin is golden brown, turn chicken pieces over.
  • Add 1 can of evaporated milk or 1 cup of cream, turn heat up to high to bring to a boil, then return to medium-low, and cook uncovered (or with an offset lid) to let milk cook down. After 10 minutes, add the remaining evaporated milk or cream.
  • Turn heat up to medium and let the chicken simmer for 10 minutes, then serve hot.
  • To serve:
  • Spoon cream gravy over chicken pieces, sprinkle with paprika to garnish. Is awesome served with garlic mashed potatoes to use up the extra sauce!

Notes

Toni's Notes: To cut a bit of the fat and calories you can drain off the bacon fat after you render it down and you can use skim evaporated milk in place of the cream/evaporated milk. You can also spray the chicken with Pam spray instead of using oil before the flour. The flour will stick just as nicely using Pam.