Fried Chicken Sandwiches

I was greatly disappointed the first time I had a Chick-fil-A sandwich.  Don’t get me wrong, it was fine. But, for all the hype, I was expecting something spectacular.  The sauces were like any other fast food sauce, and I thought they were a little stingy with the pickles.  For the most part, it was a fine fast food fried chicken sandwich.

I wanted to make a better one.

A group of us gathered one night for what we call the LPB test kitchen, which is a wine infused night of creating new recipes with friends sitting around the kitchen.  I thought that I would take the preparation from our Grilled Lemon Chicken Breasts, but cut them into little chunks and fry them like our Fried Boneless Chicken Fingers, then add a sliced pickle as well as a dollop of LPB’s world famous Dill Remoulade.

The outcome was a crisp, tasty treat and we had to keep making more of as the night went on.  I know what you’re thinking when you look at the preparation and steps it takes to make this amazing appetizer.  Trust me, this is not a lot of work.  You marinate the chicken in the morning and throw it in the fridge.  You might as well make the remoulade then too as both get better with time.

When it comes time for the party, you fry the chicken and assemble the sandwich.  Simple and worth the effort.

Marinating the Chicken

Ingredients 

• 6 skinless chicken breasts, put in a gallon plastic freezer bag and flattened to 1/2 inch with a rolling pin (pounding it not rolling)
• 1 bottle of Sriracha Sauce
• 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, whisk together and then add the chicken a let marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours or over night

Frying the Chicken

Ingredients 

• Marinated chicken cut into cubes the size of your rolls
• 6 eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 cups Tobasco sauce
• 3 cups self rising flour
• 1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning

Beat the eggs, water, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. In another bowl, sift the flour and Old Bay together.

Time to get frying

• Fill the pot halfway with oil and put in the candy thermometer.  This is easiest with a gas stove 🔥 and use a medium to high setting to heat the temperature to 350 degrees.
• Take the seasoned chicken and dip in the egg batter, followed by the flour mix.  Do not do this too far in advance.  Use the tongs to gently drop the chicken in the oil.  Do in batches as you do not want the oil to cool too much.
• Depending on the size of each piece, the cooking should take 4 minutes. Test and see.
• Place the cooked chicken on a paper bag.

Putting it All Together

Ingredients

• Brioche rolls
• Kosher dill sandwich slices
• Lettuce
• LPB Cilantro Sauce or Dill Remoulade

Toast both sides of the rolls on a grille pan, put the lettuce on the bottom, the fried chicken, then the  sliced pickle, the sauce, top it with the bun.

Serve immediately.

We go through herbs like a wildfire so grow our own and a lot of them.