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.

Cream of Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

My mom used to make me Campbell's Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese when I was a little girl. And I remember eating it once or twice at my best friend Annie's house. Her mom Phyllis has always been so good to me. So I have wonderful memories of this dinner as a kid when it was a bit chilly outside.

So when I saw this recipe for Cream of Tomato Soup on Smitten Kitchen, well, I knew it was just what I was looking for.

This recipe was in fact "adapted" from the recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen, but in no way do I believe it to be an improvement. I used garlic instead of shallots. I had garlic on hand, not shallots. I think shallots would have been better. I skipped adding the brandy or sherry that is called for in the recipe, and I believe I used light brown sugar instead of dark brown. Sometimes it's just not worth an extra trip to the store, you know what I'm saying? For the grilled cheese I used sourdough bread purchased the day before from Panera (OH YEAH.) and medium cheddar cheese.

Cream of Tomato Soup
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice, drained, 3 cups juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tsp minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Pinch ground allspice
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken stock, homemade or canned low-sodium
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and cayenne pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450°F. Lined rimmed baking sheet with foil. With fingers, carefully open whole tomatoes over strainer set in bowl and push out seeds, allowing juices to fall through strainer into bowl. Spread seeded tomatoes in single layer on foil. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to color, about 30 minutes. Let tomatoes cool slightly, then peel them off foil; transfer to small bowl and set aside.

2. Heat butter over medium heat in large saucepan until foaming. Add garlic, tomato paste and allspice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are softened, 7 to 10 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Gradually add chicken stock, whisking constantly to combine; stir in reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover, increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.

3. Pour mixture through strainer* and into medium bowl; rinse out saucepan. Transfer tomatoes and solids in strainer to blender; add 1 cup strained liquid and puree until smooth. Place pureed mixture and remaining strained liquid in saucepan. Add cream and warm over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in salt and cayenne. Serve immediately. (Soup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Warm over low heat until hot; do not boil.)

I also recently learned how to can. I mean to make a post about my recent canning efforts complete with recipes, but I make no promises. Only because typically when I promise to write about something on this blog, I don't follow through. Anyway, this applesauce recipe is so awesome! If I'm not careful, we could burn through all this applesauce in a week. And I used a lot of apples for this!

Autumn Apple Sauce
found on Epicurious

I used mostly McIntosh, with a few of the following: Granny Smith, Gala, Honeycrisp.

8 assorted apples (i.e., Rome, McIntosh, Royal Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and Red Delicious)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh apple cider
1/2 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches long)

1. Peel, core and cut the apples into large chunks, tossing them with the lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

2. Place the apples and remaining ingredients in a large, heavy pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover partially and cook until apples are very tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover the pot and cook 5 minutes more.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick. Coarsely mash the apples with the cooking juices. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate, covered, until ready to use, up to 5 days.

Then I just processed them using a water bath canner for fifteen minutes.

Caesar Club Sandwich, adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home

Ingredients

• 2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 oz bacon
  
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup good mayonnaise
• 1 large ciabatta bread
• 2 ounces romaine lettuce
  
• 12 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
• 2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Cool slightly, discard the skin and bones, and slice the meat thickly. Set aside.

Fry bacon until crisp. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until minced. Add the anchovy paste, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and process again to make a smooth dressing. (Refrigerate the Caesar dressing if not using it immediately.)

Slice the ciabatta in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom. Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up, for 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing. Place half the romaine on the bottom piece of bread and then layer in order: the sun-dried tomatoes, shaved Parmesan, crispy bacon, and sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of arugula. Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in thirds crosswise. Serve at room temperature.

Toasted Chicken and Cheese Sandwich

I found these big sourdough sandwich rolls that looked amazing and started putting together the perfect grilled chicken sandwich in my head. Here's what's on it:

Chicken, seasoned and grilled (I used great american land and cattle co. steak seasoning)
grilled red onions
romaine lettuce
a generous slap of mayonnaise
avocado

Also, I toasted the bread under the broiler. I spread butter on the bottom half and sprinkled shredded mozzarella on the top. It was good.

slow-roasted and pulled turkey sandwiches

There was this sandwich place in Utah that I LOVED to go to. When my boss wanted me to order sandwiches for a lunch meeting, I'd always suggest this place and order one for myself. I'd get it on sourdough bread, pay the extra 75 cents for the avocado and hope whoever was slathering on the secret sauce was feeling generous that day.

Well, here's how I recreated that lovely sandwich.

Actually, the turkey is my Mom's recipe. I've only made it three times. The first time I made it it didn't turn out. (There as a period of time where I failed each and every one of my mother's "no-fail" recipes.) But it seems like every time I make it and I have to call her and ask, "Okay, so you don't add water? Just the turkey breast and lemon pepper?" And that's it! You just take a turkey breast and sprinkle a lot of lemon pepper on it and leave it in the crockpot all day on low. So simple it can't even really be called a recipe!

So then you shred the turkey. (It will be tender and moist and oh so delicious!) Here's the funny thing- I used to dream up ways of how I could persuade the cashier at the sandwich shop to divulge the secret of the secret sauce to me. Could I make up an allergy? Say my boss has an allergy and I need to know the ingredients of the sauce? Well, before I was able to work up the courage during one of my many visits to the sandwich shop, I overheard a guy ordering a sandwich and he did all the work for me. Here's how that conversation went:

Guy: "I'll have a turkey sandwich."
Cashier: "Would you like the sauce?"
Guy: "What's in it?"
Cashier: "Mustard, mayonnaise, and a little bit of sour cream."
Guy: "Uh, no thanks."

A-ha! I was embarrassed for thinking I needed to concoct some sort of secret operation, but I didn't care, I finally knew the ingredients to the secret sauce! And it's so yummy!

You must have avocado with this sandwich. And it's best on sourdough. Tomatoes are good, too. So are alfalfa sprouts, lettuce and a little red onion.

French Food

Yeah, we're pretty classy around here on Thursday nights. French Dip Sandwiches and French fries. I was reading My Kitchen Cafe and saw she made something similar to my recipe and was reminded that we hadn't had this meal in a while and I started to crave it!

I don't know why, but this is one of my favorite Thursday night meals. I think it might be because growing up my Mom always took us into Fountain Valley for dance lessons with Miss Joan on Thursday nights and she didn't have time to make anything but a crockpot dinner, so we would often have this.

1 3-lb boneless chuck roast
1 packet au jus mix
1 tsp garlic powder
½ yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Place roast and sliced onions in slow cooker
Prepare gravy according to package directions and pour over roast and onions. Sprinkle with garlic powder (and onion powder if using), salt and pepper.
Cover. Cook on low all day (8 hours). Shred meet and return to slow cooker.


(I didn't start making this until about 12:30 PM, so I used my pretty new blue cast iron pot in lieu of the crockpot. It only took 3 1/2 hours for the meat to be tender enough to shred. I ended up shredding it after about 4 hours and just keeping it in the pot until we were ready to eat.)

Deli rolls
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Butter!

Heat your broiler. Place your rolls facing up on cookie sheet and butter bottom side and sprinkle top side with shredded mozzarella. Broil until golden brown. (Keep an eye on them. Should only take 2 or 3 minutes, maybe less depending on how close your rolls are to the broiler.)



Put the shredded meat on your sandwiches, cut in half, and serve with a small cup of the juices from your crockpot.

My mom and dad always served these sandwiches with frozen fries that you bake in the oven. We do that, too, but lately I've been serving them with homemade fries and fry sauce. Yes, I allowed myself to be seduced by the creamy indulgences of a high ration of mayo to ketchup long ago.





In other news, we discovered on Friday that Franny can have No Bake cookies with just a few minor adjustments! I substituted margarine for butter (something that I never thought I would say- but hey, you make certain sacrifices for your kids when you're a mom ;) and rice milk for regular milk. I thought they tasted great. Franny, unfortunately, did not. On the upside, Bobby and I got to pig out on delicious No Bake cookies, so we didn't mind too much that Franny wasn't interested.

Turkey Salad Sandwich

Here's my something pomegranate for Thanksgiving! (or post-Thanksgiving, rather.)

Ingredients
1 cup chopped pineapple
3 cups diced cooked turkey
1 cup celery, sliced on the slant
1 cup diced apples (Rome, Winesap, or any red-skinned variety)
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream

Instructions
Toss pineapple in large bowl with turkey, celery, apple, and pomegranate seeds. In separate bowl, combine mayonnaise and sour cream. Toss dressing with turkey mix in the larger bowl. Garnish with additional pomegranate seeds and toasted almonds.

Gouda and Nutella Panini

I know that about 63% of you think this is a wacky food combination, but trust me, this was very tasty. I used sourdough bread from Panera.

My new panini grill

For my birthday this year my Dad hooked me up with this sweet contraption. It's a panini grill/indoor grill/griddle and I'm pretty sure it's going to solve all of life's problems. It's raining outside, can't use the grill? You've got the Cuisinart grill pan! What? The skillet isn't big enough to cook all the pancakes, bacon, or eggs for breakfast? Good thing you got that griddle from Dad! Your George Foreman grills only one panini at a time? That won't do!

Ashley came to visit for the weekend because our husbands were both MIA due to hospital rotations. It was great to be able to spend some time together and have the kids play while we played Dr. Mario. On Friday night we tried out the panini grill. I had a bunch of different ingredients so Bobby and Ashley gave me their orders and I got to work. Ashley made her homemade fries which are a wicked indulgence, but oh so satisfying served with fry sauce. Here's what I put on my panini: prosciutto, basil leaves, roasted red peppers, tomato, mozzarella, and mayo. Ashley's panini: prosciutto, red peppers, tomato, mozzarella, and pesto. Bobby had pesto, mozzarella, and prosciutto on his. Delicious!