The Best Chicken Sandwich

Yesterday I felt like being adventurous and decided to make baguettes for the first time. After this achievement I needed to do something to make a meal out of them. I found a great recipe on foodnetwork.com for a chicken sandwich by Michael Chiarello. It was delicious. 

The baguette recipe is from "The Good Housekeeping Cookbook."

For the baguettes you will need:

2 Cups warm water (105-115, you should use an instead read thermometer to check the temperature of the water as this is very important)

1 package active dry yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt

about 5 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour

1 large egg white

1. In large bowl, combine warm water, yeast, and sug

ar; stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 3 cups flour. Beat well with wooden spoon until smooth. Gradually stir in 1 1/2 cups flour to make soft dough.

2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (good workout), 6 to 8 minutes, working in enough of remaining 1/2 cup flour just to keep dough from sticking.

3. Shape dough into ball; place in greased large bowl (I us

e vegetable crisco), turning dough to grease the top as well as the bottom. Cover bowl with greased plastic wrap and let rise in warm place (80-85 degrees, I placed it in my oven) until do

ubled in volume, about 1 1/2 hours.

4. Grease two large cookie sheets. Punch down d

ough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and cut in half. With rolling pin, roll each dough half into 18" by 7" rectangle. From a long side, with hands, roll up tightly, rolling dough back and forth to taper ends. 

Place each loaf on diagonal on one prepared cookie sheet. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until almost doubled, about 1 hour.

5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. With s

errated knife or single-edge razor blade, cut five 1/4-inch-deep diagonal slashes in top of each loaf. In small cup, beat egg white and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; brush over loaves. Bake until well browned, 30-35 minutes, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower oven racks halfway through baking. Transfer loaves to wire racks to cool. Makes 2 loaves, 8 slices each.

While your bread is baking you can start to prepare the Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Grilled Mushroom Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

Bread for Sandwiches (which we have made above) or

 4 mini ciabatta loves or 2 baguettes that you purchase

1/2 to 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus more for brushing bread

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound mixed fresh mushrooms such as shitake, morel, chanterelle, and domestic. ( I didn't have these options at the store closest to my house so I just bought crimini brown mushrooms)

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves, divided

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced shallot

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar ( I accidentally put in the entire shallot, still good, but your breath suffers)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

3 to 4 cups arugula or watercress ( I used arugula)

Since I baked my own bread, I would cut each baguette into 4 pieces for sandwiches. Using the larger pieces for the center for serving. You can set

 aside the end pieces for use the next day. Or if you bought ciabatta cut each loaf in half along the length of the bread. Brush the inside of each half with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. If your baguettes just came out of the oven you can ignore this step.

This recipe recommends grilling your mushrooms, but I prefer to saute them in a pan. Feel free to do which ever you prefer. 

Leave the mushrooms whole, and toss in a bowl with 1/2 

cup of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the thyme, the garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Immediately toss the mushrooms in the sa

ute pan and toss in the pan to cook them evenly for about 7 to 8 minutes.

In the same bowl you prepared the mushrooms in, add the shallot, 1/2 cup of olive oil, vinegar, parsley, the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme, and salt and pepper, to taste. Stir well. Let the mushrooms cool, finely chop, and add to the marinade bowl. Toss well. (This can be made up to a day in advance and kept covered and refrigerated.)

Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken. Drizzle with a little olive oil. I grilled my chicken in a grill pan on the stove, but you can also use a grill outside. Cook for about 7 minutes turning once throughout the grilling. I also like to check the chicken before I pull it from the grill and make sure it is cooked all the way through. Remove to a plate.

In a bowl, toss the arugula with the mushroom vinaigrette mixture. Slice the chicken breasts crosswise at a 45 degree angle. Spoon the mushroo

ms on top of 4 slices of grilled bread and top with the chicken. Place remaining slices of bread on top and serve immediately. 

This was delicious and I think the only thing I would change is to add cheese next time, probably swiss or pepper jack.

Enjoy!!!

KOGI Korean Taco truck

Tonight we decided to check out a phenomenon that we have heard about around town. It is the Kogi Korean Taco truck. That is right. I used the word Korean and taco's in the same sentence and I am glad I did. These taco trucks have been traveling around LA to all of the hot spot bar scenes and delivering up Korean tacos. That means corn tortillas filled with short ribs and kimchi (my favorite choice). They also have spicy pork tacos, chicken tacos, and tofu tacos all with sauce and kimchi cabbage for the lovely price of $2.00. A great price during this economic down turn. I personally ate 4 tacos and it was the perfect dinner. The truck was parked at a local bar in Silverlake, 4100 bar. For those of you who need more to fill up on they also offer burritos. I heard that after the 4100 they were heading one truck to down town LA and the other to Venice. Try to catch up with them and enjoy!

kogibbq.com

Uncooked Oatmeal Cookies

This is a different kind of cookie recipe from my child hood. It does not actually require any baking. You just cook the ingredients on the stove and scoop onto wax paper. It is great for those weeknight sweet cravings when you don't have a lot of time, but need to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I used a double boiler, but you can cook on the stove you just need to work quickly.

Put together in pan and then over heat till all ingredients are melted and incorporated. Bring to a boil and then boil for only 1 minute.

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons Peanut butter (I recommend using a normal brand and not organic. My girlfriend once used the organic kind and the peanut butter is too oily and the cookies will not set up correctly.)

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

*Before you begin cooking rub a stick of butter around the top of the pan so it won't boil over.*

Remove from heat and then work quickly!!!

Already have wax paper laid out on your cookie sheets

Add to the mixture 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3 cups oatmeal.

Stir fast and then drop by spoonfuls on to the wax paper.

Let cool and set up and then enjoy!!!

I always think of my friend Karie when I make these cookies. Aahhh memories of cookie exchanges in San Francisco.

Enjoy!

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Evan called me this afternoon and wasn't feeling very well. So I decided to make some chicken soup. My "Good Houskeeping" cookbook has a recipe for Greek Style Lemon Chicken Soup (also none as avgolemono in Greece). I decided to try it. The prep time is fast (15 minutes).

Ingredients:

1 large skinless, boneless chicken breast half (6 ounces)

1 small onion, peeled and studded with 2 whole cloves ( I didn't have cloves so I skipped this part)

1 carrot, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces

1 stalk celery, cut into 2-inch pieces (I bought the already cut carrots and celery, Mirapoix, from trader joe's)

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth or you can dilute the "Better than Bouillon" chicken base in water

2 1/2 cups water

2/3 cup regular long-grain rice

3 large eggs

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)

1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces

1. In non reactive 3-quart saucepan(I love my Le Crueset pan), combine chicken, onion, carrot, celery, broth, and water; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes.

2. Remove chicken and vegetables from saucepan. (I poured over my strainer into a bowl, but you can also use a slotted spoon.) Discard the vegetables. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into thin strips.

3. Meanwhile, add rice to simmering broth; heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until rice is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, with wire whisk, mix eggs and lemon juice until combined.

5. Slowly whisk 2 cups simmering broth into bowl with egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return broth mixture to saucepan; heat just to simmering, whisking constantly, until broth has slightly thickened, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat and stir in  shredded chicken and butter. Makes about 7 cups of soup.

Evan and I loved this soup and it definitely helped his cold. I also served it with toasted french bread. Enjoy!