Open-Faced Chicken Sandwich with Basil Mayonnaise

Open Faced Chicken Sandwich with Basil Mayonnaise
adapted from Bon Appetit

I found this recipe on Bon Appetit and thought it sounded fantastic. I wanted to try the recipe the way it was written with ground chicken, but I couldn't find ground chicken? I didn't look really hard, though, so it may be out there somewhere. It tasted fabulous with my go-to chicken marinade on some chicken breasts. I was afraid my family would hate it because they are hard core fans of mayo like I am. I cannot open a jar of mayonnaise without bringing it to my nose to take a whiff. I was right about the girls, but Bobby actually liked it. This is a great way to use up some home-grown basil and tomatoes! Enjoy it! I think we'll be having this again soon.

Ingredients

• Olive oil (for brushing)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/4 cups chopped fresh basil plus 8 large leaves, divided
• 3 tablespoons chopped drained cornichons or dill pickle plus 1 1/2 tablespoons brine from jar (I left these out because everyone else in my family hates pickles- I'd like to try it some time though)
• 4 chicken breasts marinated in lemon-thyme marinade (scroll down a bit for the grilled lemon chicken recipe)
• 4 1/2-inch-thick slices country white bread (I used this recipe)
• 4 1/3-inch-thick slices from large red or orange heirloom tomato

Preparation

• Brush grill with oil; prepare barbecue (medium heat). Mix mayonnaise, 1 cup chopped basil, cornichons, and brine in small bowl. Season basil mayonnaise with salt and pepper.
• Grill marinated chicken.
  
• Grill bread until crisp and golden, about 1 minute per side. Transfer bread to plates. Grill burgers until firm to touch and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
• Spread bread slices thickly with basil mayonnaise. Top each bread slice with tomato, 2 basil leaves, chicken breast, and dollop of basil mayonnaise. Garnish with remaining chopped basil.

Back to School and Baby Sue

The girls started their school year and so far things are going great. From what I can tell, they seem to have excellent teachers and are enjoying their classrooms. The first day of school Franny came home from a letter from her teacher asking me to tell her about Franny in "a million words or less." I liked her immediately. Today Sophie's teacher said, "I'm sure you know how bright and what a delight Sophie is in the classroom." I hoped as much, but it's always nice to hear. It's been two weeks now and Sophie just wore a pair of shorts yesterday for the first time. She only wants to wear skirts or dresses.

As for Claire, I'm really enjoying the one on one time I have with her and I think she is, too. We go on a walk together every morning, then we come home and she watches Elmo (she calls it "Elwo") while I get organized and cleaned up for the day. She has become very attached to Sophie and Franny's dolls. She has about four baby dolls she carries around and she calls them all "Baby Sue." She started pushing them around in this triplet toy stroller we found at a garage sale this summer. It is the cutest thing! Today she wanted them to come with her to watch "Elwo." Here she is giving them both a hug-



And this is the face she makes when she talks about them. She scrunches her face up like she might cry and says, "OH! BABY SUE!!!"