Chicken Alla Caccitore picture taken with my phone

I made two very good chicken dinners at camp this year.

The first was

Chicken alla Caccitore

8 Chicken leg quarters
3/4 cup rough chopped onion
3/4 cup rough chopped carrots
1 package of sliced mushrooms
2 Tbls of minced garlic
1 pound of Bacon Ends and Pieces
2 cans of diced tomatoes
(wishes and fishes I wish I would have had a couple of red bell peppers to put in this I also wish I would have removed the skin from the chicken)

Render the bacon pieces and remove remove all but 2 Tablespoons of the bacon fat. Season chicken pieces and brown in the dutch oven. Remove chicken and add the veggies let veggies cook until the onions are starting to soften. Add meat back to the pan and add tomatoes. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes and then back off the heat to a simmer for 2 hours.  Par (cook half way) boil a hardy pasta (riggatoni, Penne, fusilli etc) remove the chicken to a plate, drain pasta and then add to the cooking liquid to finish cooking.  Serve with shaved  Romano cheese.

The Second was

Bacon-Ranch Chicken

3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 packets of Ranch Dressing mix
1 lb Bacon Bits and Pieces
1 lb Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 cup of water

Render the Bacon pieces and remove the bacon fat. Add half the chicken breasts sprinkle one packet of the ranch dressing and half the cheese; repeat with the remaining ingredients. Add water and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours stir and serve.

On a side note I have decided that I LOVE the Bacon pieces and ends for anything dutch oven and frankly most things where Bacon is in something and not the something. It has bigger pieces and odd shapes that just seem to work better. Plus it is cheaper. Skip it for breakfast though, yuck.