The Ultimate Chicken Sandwich

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How do you master the art of the perfect chicken sandwich? 

I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve never tried to make one. So many restaurants make delicious chicken sandwiches, I’ve never felt the need to make one of my own.

Until today.   

The ultimate chicken sandwich was born. And you’ll never want another fast food substitute again.

What you’ll need:

  • Thin-cut chicken cutlets
  • Bacon
  • Pepper jack cheese
  • Buns
  • Lettuce
  • Tomato
  • Avocado
  • Ranch seasoning
  • Smidge of butter

Fry some slices of bacon. Get it crispy.

While the bacon cooks, prep your chicken and coat it in ranch seasoning. I used about half a packet, maybe less. But sure to give it a coat of black pepper, too. 

Sauté the chicken in the bacon grease. Yep, in the bacon grease. You’ll like it. I promise. 

Turn on the broiler, and butter the hamburger buns. Broil until butter is melted and buns are toasted.

Once the chicken is cooked completely, place a few slices of bacon on the chicken and top it with a slice of pepper jack cheese. Put a lid on your pan so the cheese can get melty.

Assemble the sandwich. I topped my chicken, bacon and pepper jack cheese sandwich with shredded lettuce, thinly sliced tomatoes and fresh avocado. 

I made some fried potatoes to serve as my Southern “French fries.” 

Nobody at the table complained. 

It’s a messy, delicious sandwich. You won’t be sorry you made it. 

Semi-Homemade Kind of Night

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Today is the first day I’ve felt inspired to write.

I have been cooking. Lots of good food. And sharing it with others. But for some reason I haven’t felt like writing about it. Or taking pictures.

I just wanted to be in the moment.

Creativity is just like any other muscle. If you work it too much, it gets sore and tired and cranky. So I just let it be that way for a little while.

But today after work, I found myself wandering the aisles of The Fresh Market. Picking up stuff and putting it back. Drinking the thimble of complimentary coffee. Hoping inspiration would strike me.

And then I saw it.

A box of frozen porcini mushroom raviolis with a hint of truffle oil.

My aimlessness was finally holstered. I had purpose.

So I grabbed a jar of marinara sauce and two white wine and garlic turkey sausage links from the butcher, and I got out of there.

While I’d much rather make my own pasta sauce from scratch, it’s a Thursday night. That just ain’t happening. But I took the sausage out of the casing and created little meat balls. I sauteed the meatballs in a skillet, and then added the jar of sauce. Plus a little more pepper and basil.

I cooked the noodles just a bit in a pot of water, and I let them finish cooking in the sauce to get some flavor-melding action.

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Then I did something crazy. I put the raviolis, tiny meatballs and sauce on a plate, topped it with Parmesan cheese and threw together a fresh side salad of greens, cucumber, yellow bell pepper, radishes and my favorite vinaigrette.

I give you the semi-homemade supper. A delicious creation in half the time. Now if today was Sunday I would have taken the time to create it all from scratch. But it’s Thursday so…I’m just being a real human.

P.S. Annie loves little turkey meatballs when they accidentally fall on the floor during the plating process.

A Decadent Brunch

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I love Sundays. It’s my favorite day. I always feel most creative in the kitchen on a Sunday. Like it’s the last day before the work week where I can truly create something beautiful and delicious and have time to do so.

Yesterday I ate lunch at a local bakery, and a friend of mine bought a loaf of chocolate brioche.

Chocolate brioche is one of my favorite breads. So buttery and delicious, and the chocolate makes it extra special. Rich and sweet without being overpowering.

I usually just eat chocolate brioche slightly warmed in the toaster with a side of coffee.

But today I thought it’s Sunday. And what could be better for Sunday  brunch than chocolate brioche French toast. 

  
Y’all. This will change how you think about French toast. I’d go as far as saying it will change your brunch life. 

What you need:

  • A loaf of chocolate brioche from your favorite local bakery
  • 2 eggs
  • A splash of half and half 
  • A splash of vanilla extract 
  • Two dollops of Kerrygold butter
  • Cinnamon (optional)
  • Maple syrup (optional)

Heat up a skillet with the butter. Cut semi-thick slices of the chocolate brioche. Whisk together the eggs, half and half and vanilla. 

Dredge the slices of brioche in the egg mixture. Cook until both sides of the toast are golden.

Put it on a plate and finish it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup.

This is definitely one of those recipes you don’t want to drowned in syrup. It’s already a rich bread without coating it in egg and frying it in butter. So go easy on the toppings. 

But Lord have mercy, this is a game changing brunch item. My advice would be to pair it with bacon or sausage to help curb the richness. 

It’s perfect for lazy Sundays spent doing laundry and binge watching movies on Netflix. 

Five Miles of Redemption

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I’ve been in a personal running rut lately. I’ve been running, but not at my normal pace and not with any regularity. Aside from the 10K mentoring I’ve been doing, I haven’t gotten any runs in purely for myself.

Until today.

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I ran five glorious miles in the 90 degree heat and all by my lonesome. It was amazing.

Once I settled into the first mile, it was golden. My brain shut off. It was heaven.

Until the fourth mile. There is always one mile, usually in the middle, that plays mind games with you. And for me, it’s happens after my comfort zone of 3 and before I settle back in at 5. So mile 4 was a tough one.

But I finished strong, and under an 11 minute mile average pace. Not quite as good as my former race pace. But it felt good to push it today. There were times when I felt absolutely alive and aware of my body and my breathing.

Plus I’ve been doing a lot of running with other people, which is always nice. Sometimes I just need to go out alone and run. And today was one of those days. I craved the solidarity. So glorious.

And my dinner wasn’t too shabby either.

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Apple chicken sausage with pepper and onions, a baked sweet potato and a huge side salad with avocado and tomatoes. Day one of meal planing was a huge success.

I just wish I had some chocolate milk for dessert.

Stir Fry Sunday

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I’ve had a hankering for Asian food. Specifically sushi. But I’m not even going to attempt making my own sushi. I figure that’s one thing I should just leave to the pros. 

But I do make a pretty tasty stir fry. And this batch from today is quite delicious.  

 
What you need:

  • Broccoli 
  • Yellow bell pepper
  • Shallot
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4 cup of brown rice
  • Teriyaki sauce 
  • Ginger garlic stir fry oil (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Boil some water to cook the brown rice. Brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice so give yourself at least 45 minutes. You can prep everything else while that cooks.

Heat up a skillet on medium high with the ginger garlic stir fry oil. If you don’t have any of that, just use olive oil. 

Slice up the shallots and bell pepper into thin strips. Mince up the garlic. Throw all of that into the ginger oil. Steam your broccoli. (I cheated today and used broccoli you steam in the microwave because it cuts down on the cooking time and it doesn’t dirty another dish.)

Chop up the steamed broccoli florets and add the the veggies. Add teriyaki sauce to taste. I like to have enough so it cooks down and creates a sauce. Just be careful because teriyaki is salty.

When the rice is cooked, add it to the teriyaki vegetables. Combine and let cook a few minutes if you aren’t overcome with the delicious smell. 

I’m trying a new thing this week with meal planning. Usually I just make whatever sounds good. But I’ve been wasting a lot of ingredients, and without a plan, I’ve been eating out more. So I’m excited to see how this week goes with creating a loose menu.