Pan Fried Chicken+Tomato Sauce Reduction+ Bacon Bits served with a side of Potato Pancakes- Breakfast Dressed up for Dinner

Peanut Butter and Jelly is to Chicken and Bacon hahaha.  Then again, Bacon with anything is good period.

For an American, Breakfast is an integral part of life.  Ronald Mc Donald, Denny's, IHOP, and Aunt Jemima taught me this.  Even my non-English Speaking parents knew this fact of American life.  That being said, I've grown dependent on breakfast.  It's the fuel that get's me going in life.

Since I've grown up a bit and got a lot of exposure to the Food Network, I've been putting spins on my favorite foods left and right.  I took a look around my fridge-eggs, bacon, ketchup, and around my counter- potatoes and flour, and decided to put a spin on breakfast.

I made a real tomato and tomato ketchup combination sauce (ketchup packets) to top off my grilled chicken (Chicken Mc Nuggets) and fried a potato, flour, and egg mixture (hashbrowns). O, and of course, topped everything off with crispy bacon bits.

2-3 servings; 30-40min
Ingredients:
Potato Pancakes-
1 1/4cup packed shredded White Potato (I used Russet, 2 medium potatoes)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp four
dash cayenne pepper
dash cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 egg
oil for frying

Chicken-
4 strips bacon cut into 1/2'' strips (keep 2 tbs fat rendered from bacon)
1 lb chicken thighs thawed out, room temp.
2 garlic cloves minced
1tsp. minced ginger (~1/4'' slice)
salt/pepper/cajun seasoning for dusting chicken
2 medium tomatoes diced
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
juice of 1/2 medium lemon (1/4 cup)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
pinch salt
1tsp bay leaf powder (can purchase at MNIB in excel plaza, one of my fav. spices)

Directions:
Potato Pancakes-
1. Peel Potatoes, Shred, rinse and drain 3-5 times until water runs somewhat clear.  Strain and squeeze out as much water as you can. Transfer to mixing bowl.
2. add salt, flour, cayenne pepper, cajun seasoning, parsley, and egg. Mix well.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge for 20 min.
4. heat pan on medium high heat. add oil ~2tbsp.
5. Drop in 3 heaping spoons of potato mixture into pan and flatten out with back of spoon in an even layer (the smaller the scoops, the crispier the cakes will be).  Wait until one side browns, you can check by lifting with spatula.  Then flip and brown other side. Repeat until potato mixture is gone.


Chicken-
1. Dust chicken with a thin layer of salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning on both sides.
2. heat non stick pan medium high heat. add bacon bits and lay out in a layer (doesn't have to be even even) stir frequently constantly coating them in its own oil so they can cook evenly.  Once cooked to liking (I prefer Crispy), place aside in a bowl.
3.  Dump excess oil, leaving behind ~2tbps bacon fat.
4. Add chicken strips (they usually come packaged this way from Foodfair) in an even layer. Don't Stir! wait until chicken has cooked 3/4 of the way (~6min depending on your stove).  When you see just a little pink left at the top,flip and finish cooking.  Scoop out chicken and place to the side leaving fat and bits behind.
5. Add ginger and garlic. Cook ~2min. Add tomato, peas, and carrots. stir to cover in fat. cover and cook for ~4min or until tomato turns into mush and peas become tender.
6. in a bowl mix lemon juice, sugar, ketchup, cajun seasoning, salt, bay leaf powder.
7. add lemon mixture to tomatoes peas and carrots.cook without cover (reduce) for ~4min.

8. Top chicken with tomato sauce reduction and bacon bits. serve on top of white rice and a side of potato pancakes.  Enjoy!

*Click HERE for a cooking dictionary.