Rosie Makes Chicken Sandwiches.

 

 

 Let's make some chicken sandwiches.

 

Ingredients: 

 Dinner rolls or you can use a nice loaf of bread  (Please do not use Wonderbread or anything like it.)

 Chicken tender strips

kosher salt

Lawry's seasoned pepper or freshly ground pepper

thyme

 oil

unsalted butter pats

pesto

roasted red peppers

a nice melting cheese - Mozzarella, Swiss, or in my case, a nice Gruyère

 

 

 

Just in case you want to know what part of the bird you're eating, chicken tender strips are like tenderloins.  They're the pectoralis minor muscles located under the chicken breast near the rib cage area.  Smaller and thinner than chicken breast,they're usually described as chicken strips and they tend to be more tender and moist if cooked properly, which of course, I did. Season the chicken tenders with a little kosher salt, pepper, and a few shakes of thyme.

 Pour a film of oil in a small skillet over medium heat.  Add in a pat of butter, let it spit, sizzle, and melt.

You want the temperature around 350°.

Lay in the chicken and cook about 3 minutes on first side, turn over, and cook about 2 minutes second side.  Remove chicken from pan and let rest and cool a bit.

 

Spread a little butter on split dinner rolls and lightly toast. 

I always have homemade pesto in the freezer from last fall's Hurricane Harvest, so I thawed out one of my little baggies of pesto.

 

I also had a jar of roasted red peppers in the fridge which I'd opened up to use for pimiento cheese spread (The big jars of roasted peppers are cheaper than those little jars of pimiento peppers.) and I've found out that those large jars do not last long in the fridge once they've been opened.  The peppers needed to be used, so this is another way, besides making pimiento cheese, to use up the peppers.

 

Spread a layer of pesto on the toasted dinner rolls. 

Slice the chicken tenders lengthwise into 3 or 4 strips and lay on top of the pesto. 

Top with roasted red pepper strips, then slices of your cheese.

Run under the broiler until cheese is melted.

And serve. 

I've made this sandwich several times and each time I find something else to add to it.  You might consider some stemmed spinach leaves, bacon, sliced red onion, sliced pickled peperoncini, and/or sliced avocado doused with lime juice. 

 

 

 Now for the step-by-steps:

I started out with a hot pan, poured an thin film of oil in it, then added a plop of unsalted butter and let it spit, sizzle, and melt.  Temp around 375°.  Season your chicken tenders and lay them in the pan.

Let it brown on the first side maybe 3 minutes.

 

Turn, and brown the flip side (1-2 minutes).

Remove from pan.

 

 

 

 

Let the meat sit for a while so the juices can get reabsorbed.  If you cut right out of the cooking pan, you'll lose that juicy goodness.

  

When cooled down a bit, slice into thin pieces.

 

Thusly.

For the bread, I used those little dinner rolls since I had them on hand,

but you could go with a nice slice of whole wheat, pumpernickle, or even rye if you're so inclined.

Just butter and lightly toast the bread.

 

 

After toasting, I slathered on some pesto I had thawed out.  Every year, my basil in the garden comes up all over the place.   I love my volunteers.  I pick and top throughout the growing season, well into the fall.  And that's when I usually make a big batch of pesto.  I wait for a hurricane to come and hustle out the day before, strip my basil plants of all its leaves because they're gonna be gone anyway, and make a huge batch of pesto.  For instructions for my Hurricane Harvest Pesto, please CLICK HERE.  Just pare down for non-institutional amounts of pesto.  And FYI, I prefer pecans to pine nuts any day.  Also, the type of olive oil you use will greatly affect the taste.  For pesto, I want the basil flavor to shine, so I use a neutral flavored olive oil - Bertolli Extra Light.  And good grief!  Have you checked the price of that stuff lately?

Also, be sure to use a good quality Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. I mean the real thing.  Not Parmesan cheese from Wisconsin which is counterfeit. But Parmigiano Reggiano, which under Italian law, can only be produced in certain Italian provinces and is governed by laws meant to preserve the integrity, flavor, and quality of the product.  For the real deal, look for DOP on the label, meaning Protected Designation of Origin, or in Italian, Denominazione di Origine Protetta.  This is an exclusive certification assigned by the European Union that guarantees that the cheese was made in specific region of Italy according to traditional standards.  It indicates that the product owes its characteristics to its place of origin and that its production and processing occurs within that designated geographical area.  In other words, when making pesto, do not use Kraft Krap In a Kan.  Really, one shouldn't have it in one's kitchen.

 

Start with the layers on lightly toasted bread.

Spread on the pesto, then add some chicken slices. 

Some roasted red peppers.

Top with cheese and run it all under the broiler.

Enjoy.