Friday, June 3, 2016

Chef Tina Prepares Outback Copy Cat-Alice Springs Chicken

I'm delighted to be holding the guest spatula during Missy Tippens' hiatus. In fact, I'm honored to be here among these amazing chefs. One of my favorite meals is Alice Springs Chicken at Outback Steakhouse. 

I took a compilation of several online copy cat recipes for this delish version. *Note: the chicken should marinate in the fridge for two hours in the honey mustard sauce before you start dinner. Dinner itself takes about thirty minutes from start to finish.



 Honey Mustard Ingredients

1/2 cup Dijon Mustard 
1/2 cup honey (be liberal)
3 Tablespoons real mayo
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Chicken Ingredients

4 boneless chicken breasts (pound a little first if they're really thick) 
8 ounces of sliced fresh mushrooms
1-2 tablespoons butter
4-6 slices of bacon cooked
6 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 ounces shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese

Cooking bacon in the microwave saves time and mess:

Place 2 sheets of paper towel on a microwave-safe plate.
Lay up to 8 slices of bacon on the paper towels. Make sure not to overlap the slices.
Place 2 more sheets of paper towel on top.
Heat in the microwave on high for 3 minutes. 
Flip and cook an additional 3 minutes.




Honey Mustard Sauce:

Mix ingredients in small bowl. Pour half into a zip bag with the chicken and refrigerate chicken for two hours, turning bag over at intervals. Save the rest in a covered container in the fridge to accompany the meal.



Chicken:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a small frying pan, melt 1-2 tablespoons butter. Add the mushrooms and until cook tender and lightly brown.

 

At the same time start heating up your a large frying pan for the chicken.  Place the chicken in the pre-heated pan. Cook for about 4-6 minutes, on each side  until the chicken is seared a lovely light brown on the outside.



 


Transfer the chicken to an oven safe casserole dish. Spoon some of the mushrooms on top of each piece of chicken. Then add half slices of cooked bacon over the  chicken. Sprinkle evenly with the Monterey Jack cheese and the Cheddar cheese.  Bake for about 20 minutes  or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 and the cheese has melted. Serve with remaining honey mustard sauce on the side. You can heat the sauce if you like.






Viola!


Serve with a tossed salad.

Of course for dessert you want a small brownie with whipped cream and topped with fresh raspberries! 


What's your favorite menu item from Outback Steakhouse??



Guest Chef Tina Radcliffe has lived in Western New York, Oklahoma, Colorado and now calls Arizona home. A two-time Golden Heart finalist, she is a 2014 Carol Award winner. She is celebrating the reissue of her favorite Italian romantic comedy, The Rosetti Curse! 


 

41 comments:

  1. Welcome, Tina.

    I hate to say it, but I don't think I've ever eaten at Outback. So I was very confused when I read this title. Remember Bryan Brown from The Thornbirds? He did another movie called A Town Like Alice - referring to Alice Springs. So here I was thinking you were making some Australian recipe. Which I guess you are.

    Scary how my mind works sometimes.

    Anyway, welcome to our little cafe world here. I adore anything with honey mustard.(Though I buy it that way. I've never made it.)

    And bacon. This is not going to make it easy to fall asleep.

    I shall dream of bacon and Australia. And maybe Bryan Brown.

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  2. Yes. Outback is an Aussie chain in America. (Seriously, don't they have anything in Brooklyn?? OMYGOSH!!)

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    1. There are two, but they're nowhere near me. Brooklyn is BIG. ;)

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    2. Big? Compared to what? Must go look it up.

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    3. 2,636,735 residents in Brooklyn in 2015.

      Okay, fine. You got me.

      The entire state of Colorado is 5,029,324.

      The entire state of Arizona is 6,828,065.

      Wow. More people in AZ than CO. No wonder it seems crowded here.

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  3. Chef Tina, thank you for so capably filling in while my life is upside down with a move and wedding! :) I love that photo!!

    This recipe made my stomach growl! Sounds so yummy!

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    1. My pleasure. It forced me to....cook.

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  4. BTW, this is how I make honey mustard dipping sauce. But I've never heard of adding the lemon juice! Seems it would help thin it out a bit. Nice!

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  5. What, five comments already?? And here I thought I was going to be FIRST.

    Anyway, I've never been to Outback Steakhouse but this looks incredibly delicious. We have guests this weekend an I'm going to make this. When they compliment me, I'll tell them it just came right out of my creative little self, hahaha!
    No, seriously, this looks awesome. Can't wait to try it out!

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  6. That's a lot of pressure on me, Mary Jane Virginia!!!!!

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  7. Tina, we are definitely sisters separated at birth, I love this recipe. I usually throw my chicken on the grill though. I'll have to try it this way. Add that brownie (yum) and a Tina romantic comedy and I'm all set for a perfect evening!

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    1. You already make this, Tracey? Cool! And I will try it on the grill. That sounds like a great summer plan. Ha! Thanks for the kind words. Anything with cheese and I am in.

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    2. Yes I make it, one of my favs, but sometimes I cheat and take a bottled dressing shortcut (no shaming please ;)


      I make a variation of this I had at another restaurant, don't remember where, using barbeque sauce instead of honey mustard, then the cheese and bacon, then chives on top. We grill chicken a lot so we have to change up toppings to keep it interesting.

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    3. YUMMMMM!!!! We grill a lot too and are boring about it. This is a nice change up. Thanks.

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    4. Even though I live within 5 miles of an Outback, we hardly ever go any more, every time we drive by the line is out the door and we're just not great at waiting. Good thing this is an easy recipe to replicate.

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    5. Confession. We do carry out from there when we want to go anymore. Or we go at off times.

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  8. I know nothing about chicken but the whole Australian flavour of this post reminds me to ask you about an Aussie cowboy series....somebody's daughters? I think? I seem to remember you loved it and I caught a few episodes years ago but have a hankering to see if my library carries the dvds only I can't for the life of me remember the name of the series and searching 'daughters' in the library catalogue is totally futile. LOL So, does the chef answer Australian trivia questions while creating in the kitchen?

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    Replies
    1. Mcleod's Daughters. But like most TV shows. The first few seasons are good and then it becomes a giant soap opera

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  9. Looks good! Outback...never was a fan except the blooming onion appetizer, but I was young then. Now, fried foods doesn't agree with me well. I used to live very close to one, about 10 blocks walking distance. Been there once when I wasn't living close. Now nada.

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    1. Well that's too bad. They have lovely sweet potato fries at the one in Colorado. And their salad with candied pecans and blue cheese and bits of steak is delicious.

      This really is not fried. It's pan seared to lock in the juices and then baked. I don't do fried either.

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    2. And Tracey does her chicken on the grill. So no frying there either.

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    3. On the other hand, you could always just go straight to dessert. Brownies with whipped cream and fresh raspberries are definitely NOT fried.

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  10. That looks so good I know it has to be bad for me :)

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    Replies
    1. Only the cheese, Rogenna. But I guess you could use low fat cheese. We were doing Atkins when I made this so it fit perfectly.

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  11. this looks like a great recipe Tina. I tend to like the steaks at Outback and their green beans - except I think they stopped doing them. I loved how the green beans were cooked, yet crisp.

    I'm also a HUGE cheese lover.

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  12. Yes. I agree. Steak is my first choice. I mean, it is a steakhouse. Second choice is the chicken. Third, their steak salads.

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  13. I love their Alice Springs chicken! And Tina, what a beautiful presentation you put together!!! Thank you so much for being here, for doing this!

    And Brooklyn is crazy big/crowded/fun. Oh my stars, any of the boroughs make my head spin, but it's such a treat to come down there and visit you, Cate Nolan! We've had a couple of "Financier" meetings the past couple of years, and they mean the world to me! Writer time in the Big Apple!

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  14. You know, I do fried with some things because I love them, but there is nothing better than seared chicken and steak to seal in the juices.... Oh my stars, I'm so hungry right now! This is marvelous, Chef T!!!

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    1. I'm starving and I went grocery shopping hungry at 6am. Had to go early. 111 degrees here today!@!!

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  15. I'm getting out MY chef's hat and making this.
    JUST SEE IF I DON'T!
    It sounds delicious.

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  16. WAIT! I know where an Outback Steakhouse is.
    Maybe instead of making it, I'll just go there!

    Mary "Shortcut Queen" Connealy

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    1. I am all for leaving the cooking to the professionals.

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  17. Yummy!! I'll have to try and make this next week. Getting ready now to head out to Arkansas for the weekend for our grandson's first birthday.

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  18. I am making this. For real. This looks AWESOME!

    And thank you, thank you, thank you for putting the marinating instructions first! I don't know how many times I've started a recipe that says "prep time 10 minutes," only to find out you need to marinate the meat for 3-10 hours before that prep time starts!

    BTW - Welcome to the Cafe, Tina! So glad you're here!

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    1. And that's why I did it. I started this one and THEN discovered the marinating thing. I only marinated thirty minutes. It was still amazing.

      Thanks for the hearty welcome.

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  19. You had me at bacon and mayo. This looks delicious, Tina! Hope to try it soon.

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    1. hahaha! Thanks, Laura. It really is yummy. Thanks for stopping by. Good to have familiar faces in the audience.

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  20. You had me at bacon and mayo. This looks delicious, Tina! Hope to try it soon.

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  21. See..it was so good you said it twice. As it should be.

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  22. Tina, except for the honey mustard, this chicken has all of my favorite ingredients. Yum! Will have to give this a try.

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