Copycat Chick Fil A Spicy Chicken Sandwich

There's been a lot of hype lately with Chick Fil-A. And they haven't been positive. I'm not gonna get into the details of it, nor am I going to discuss my views on it. It is what it is and people can form their own opinion on it, but not me. I'm here to discuss food.

Hubby and I recently decided to try out Chick Fil-A because they've been appearing in random places here in Southern California. I decided to try out their Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It had just the right amount of spice without burning the roof of my mouth. And it was quite yummy. I also loved the friendly vibe I got in this fast food joint. So I told hubby that this was a good fast food place we can frequent. But because of the recent media attention they've been getting, I didn't think it would be a good time to visit one. And because of the recent media attention, I've been seeing a lot of copycat recipes for their chicken sandwich.

This recipe appeared on Shine from Yahoo and I decided to give it a go. It was pretty simple to make and quite tasty. Very flavorful. A good alternative if you can't make it out to a Chick Fil-A.

2 boneless, skinless chicken
1/2 cup pickle juice
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 cup oil for frying
toasted hamburger buns
dill pickle slices

1) Place chicken between two plastic wrap and gently pound with a meat mallet (or any heavy kitchen utensil) to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut chicken into two even pieces and place in a bowl. Pour pickle juice and Tabasco sauce in bowl and stir until well incorporated. Marinade for 30 minutes to an hour.

2) In a small bowl, bet together egg and milk. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and all the spices.

3) Heat oil in a skillet to 345-350 deg F. Dip chicken in egg mixture and then coat with the flour mixture. Fry chicken for about 2-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Place on a paper towel to drain oil and serve on toasted bun with pickles.

Ham Sandwich Casserole

I recently discovered that King's Hawaiian had a website full of recipes using their beloved sweet rolls. As I searched through all the yummy recipes, I found this interesting casserole for Mini Baked Ham Sandwiches. It was so easy and so tasty. Its an alternative recipe for a plain 'ol ham and cheese sandwich. I'm definitely going back to website for more tasty recipes.

1 (12 pack) King's Hawaiian Original Rolls
1 lb. deli ham, shaved
1 lb. Swiss cheese, sliced
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. prepared mustard (preferably Dijon)
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. dried minced onion (or onion powder)
poppy seed for garnish

1) In a small saucepan, melt butter. Mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and onion. Set aside.

2) Slice entire pack of rolls horizontally in half, keeping all the rolls in tact. Place bottom half of rolls (cut side up) in a 9x13 inch pan. Arrange deli ham and cheese on top of rolls. Cover with the top half of the rolls.

3) Drizzle butter mixture on top of rolls. Refrigerate overnight.

4) Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Bake casserole for 15-20 minutes. Separate rolls and serve.

Sausage Pancake Egg Sandwich

I've been looking for great breakfast recipes to make on a lazy Saturday and found this recipe from Paula Deen a while ago. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to make it until recently. We've been on a cereal diet since we got back from our vacation in Hawaii. And so we've only been eating cereal for breakfast. But I decided one morning to splurge and have a good breakfast and this recipe came to mind.

This definitely was a good breakfast. Hubby really loved it. It isn't for the diet conscious, but its okay to splurge every now and then. This dish gives a great balance of salty and sweet from the pancake or maple syrup used to top it off. A definite make-again recipe.

Pancakes
2 1/2 cups self rising flour
pinch of salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil, plus more for cooking
butter

1) Preheat oven to 200 deg F.

2) Combine flour and salt. Mix milk, eggs, and oil together. Add milk mixture into flour mixture and stir until well combined.

3) Heat a skillet or pan over medium heat. Rub butter on the bottom of the pan and add about a teaspoon of oil to prevent the butter from browning. Ladle 1/4 cup of the batter, for each pancake, onto the skillet. Cook pancakes for 2-4 minutes until the bottoms are brown. Flip the pancake over to cook on the other side, until lightly browned. Place pancakes in preheated oven until ready to serve.

Scrambled eggs
8 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. butter
4 cooked sausage patties, crumbled

cheese slices (Swiss or cheddar)
maple or pancake syrup
butter

1) Heat a large skillet or pan over medium heat. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs until the whites and yolks are combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2) Melt butter in the skillet. Add eggs and reduce heat to medium-low. Add sausages and stir frequently until eggs are cooked through. Remove from heat.

3) To assemble the sandwich, place a slice of cheese on top of one pancake. Top with scrambled eggs. Place another slice of cheese on top of scrambled eggs and cover with another pancake. Place a dab of butter and drizzle with syrup and serve warm.

Hot Browns

This is another one of hubby's favorites that came about as an experiment. I was experimenting, at one point, with plain turkey sandwiches. Instead of regular turkey sandwich with the standard tomato, cheese, lettuce, etc., I started playing around with it by adding a fried egg and toasting the bread. Sounds yummy, huh? Then one day, I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network and they featured Hot Browns. I had no idea what Hot Browns were. Its an open-faced sandwich of turkey, tomato, and bacon, topped with a white sauce called a Mornay sauce. Its apparently a Southern favorite, and was originally created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.

I saw this sandwich being made on the throwdown and so I decided to give it a shot and put a twist to my experimented turkey sandwich using my white sauce from my Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe. The end product was a gooey, yummy spin on an old classic that hubby absolutely loves.

slices of sandwich bread (white or wheat), toasted

turkey slices

tomato slices
White Sauce
4 cooked bacon slices

1) Preheat oven (or toaster oven) to broil. For each hot brown, place 2 slices of toast on a baking sheet. Place a liberal amount of turkey slices on top of the toast. Top with with desired amount of tomato slices. Ladle desired amount of white sauce on top of sandwich. Place entire dish under the broiler until sauce is bubbly. Remove from broiler and top with a slice of bacon. Serve hot.

Turkey Meatloaf Sandwich with Russian Dressing

I was searching through some recipes from Delish and came across this recipe that looked really good. I haven't made my Turkey Meatloaf in a while. And I have a couple of trays of ground turkey in the freezer that I needed to use up. And I've been craving for some meatloaf for a while. So I decided, enough justification! Its time to make some meatloaf. This sandwich was super yummy and super comforting. The Russian Dressing used as a condiment complimented the sandwich really well. I've always heard about making a sandwich out of leftover meatloaf and have been meaning to try it out. Leftover meatloaf happens often in our house, and I'm so glad to have found a great way to use them up.

Sandwich

Turkey Meatloaf

French Baguettes

lettuce leaves or shredded lettuce

1) Prepare turkey meatloaf according to directions. Cool for about 10 minutes. Slice a french baguette in half and place a 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick slice of meatloaf. Top with Russian dressing and lettuce.

Russian Dressing

3/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 plain yogurt

1/2 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

3/4 tsp. black pepper

1) Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Guava Jelly

Hubby and I always love taking back some Guava Jelly from Hawaii. We haven't been to a Hawaii in a while and I MISS not only Hawaii but Guava Jelly. Our neighbor has a guava tree and when the guavas are really ripe, our backyard smells of sweet guava that reminds me of guava jelly. I've always been tempted to just climb over and pick some sweet guava so I can make guava jellym but never get the nerve to do it. Well, yesterday, one of my co workers brought some guavas from her tree. Score! I can now finally make some. So off I went to look for a guava jelly recipe and found this one. I got home from a party today to the smell of guava in my house. The guavas I got yesterday were starting to over ripen, so I figured now was finally the time to make it. It came out pretty good. The recipe didn't really call for exact measurements, so I've modified the recipe a bit with my measurements. This'll definitely tie me over until our next trip to Hawaii.

4 1/2 cups quartered, ripe guavas

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. lemon juice

1) Boil guavas in 8 cups of water until softened. Remove guavas from the water. Push softened guavas through a sieve (you may have to mash it through with a spoon. You'll end up with approximately 2 cups of puree).

2) Mix guava puree with sugar and lemon juice. Return guava mixture to heat and cook until temperature of the mixture reaches 220-225 deg. F using a candy thermometer.

3) Pour guava mixture in a prepared mason jar. Skim off the foam that forms on the top. Cover and cool.

Crockpot Sloppy Joe's

Hubby would often tell me that his favorite food as a kid that his mom would make was sloppy joe's. I asked him if she had a recipe and he said she used the can mix. Well, I was sifting through my Crockpot cookbook in search of what to cook for dinner and found this one. It was definitely easy to make. I cut the recipe to a quarter because the original recipe served 20-25. Too much for a family of 3. So I've adjusted the recipe. Too bad hubby is at school tonight because this was so good. I have to admit, I haven't had sloppy joe's in ages. Probably not since my elementary school days, eating the cafeteria sloppy joe's. I don't remember sloppy joe's being this good. Hubby will have to wait until lunch tomorrow to try this one out.

1 lb. ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1/2 (10.74 oz) can condensed tomato soup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. ketchup

3/4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. mustard

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

toasted hamburger buns

1) Brown meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat. Drain fat and discard.

2) Add onion and bell pepper. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently, or until onion is translucent and mixture is fragrant.

3) Transfer meat mixture to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients, except buns. Stir until well blended. Cook on low for 4 hours. Serve on buns.

Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini

Say THAT 3 times. What a tongue twister.

I made some of my Basil Pesto a couple of days ago and had some more leftover. I wanted to find creative ways to use it up other than just tossing it in some pasta. And then I remembered that I had mentioned that pesto would go perfect in a sandwich. So I decided to be innovative and created one.

Its really delicious, flavorful, and more than anything, really easy to make. Perfect for an evening like tonight, where I don't really want to have too many steps to make dinner. Hubby likes this one.

2 boneless, skinless chicken

salt and pepper to taste

sliced cheese (such as provolone, mozzarella, swiss or any other gooey kind of cheese)

sliced wheat bread (or any kind of bread you like)

2 Tbsp. prepared pesto

lettuce leaves

tomato slices

1) Heat grill to medium heat. Season chicken with a good amount of salt and pepper. Cook chicken until done, about 5-7 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes. Cut into slices.

2) To assemble the sandwiches, place a slice of bread down. Top with cheese, tomato, and sliced chicken. Top with a 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of pesto, and place lettuce leaves on top. Place another slice of bread on top and put the sandwich on a sandwich press. If you don't have a sandwich press, like me, put it on the grill. Place a heavy pan on top of the sandwich and hold it down with a heavy can. Grill on both sides until heated through.

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich)

One of my favorite sandwiches is Banh Mi. Its a Vietnamese sandwich, influenced by the french when Vietnam was once colonized by France. My co-worker first introduced me to this a few years ago and its been my favorite ever since. Unfortunately, there isn't many Vietnamese sandwich places in our area and the sandwich place she took me to is a little far from home, so I don't get to eat it often. The ones that are somewhat near home isn't as good. Needless to say, its been a while since I've had a Banh Mi.

I was surfing for some new recipes and found this one. I think the hardest part of making this is cutting the carrots and daikon. Luckily, I have my handy-dandy food processor that I absolutely love using. This sandwich came out so delicious, its almost comparable to the sandwiches my co-worker introduced me to. I think I may have found my new favorite Banh Mi. However, I feel the need to add a disclaimer regarding the pickled vegetables......the daikon reeks after its marinated. Its delicious with the carrots and pickling juices, if you can get passed the putrid odor. So, I'll probably be eliminating the daikon the next time I make this.

Marinade

1 cup fish sauce

1 cup lime juice

1/2 cup sugar

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 red Thai chilis, thinly sliced (more if you like it more spicy)

1 Tbsp. salt

8 boneless skinless chicken

Pickled vegetables

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

pinch of crushed red pepper

3 large carrots, julienned

1/4 lb. daikon radish, julienned

4, 8 inch baguette, split and grilled

mayonnaise

1 cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise

10 cilantro sprigs

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced

1) For the marinade: In a bowl, whisk together fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, chilies and salt. Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

2) For pickling the vegetables: In a small saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Add carrots and daikon and cover to keep submerged. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

3) Heat grill. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry. Grill chicken over medium heat, turning once, until cooked through, about 14 minutes. Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes.

4) Drain 1 cup of the pickled vegetables. Slice chicken. Spread mayonnaise on each side of baguette. Place cucumber on bottom half. Top with chicken, pickled vegetables, cilantro and sliced jalapenos. Serve.

Grilled Salmon Burgers

I've been making these Salmon burgers for a while. I think I first started making them when hubby and I were on a diet kick and I was sick of just grilling our never-ending supply of Salmon that I bought at Costco. Well, I was at Costco the other day and came across some salmon. Hmmmm....I haven't made Salmon Burgers in a while, might as well grill some again.

This is a really quick and easy way to use up Salmon or any type of flaky fish that you might have. Yummy and healthy too.

2 1/2 cups flaked salmon (or a 14 3/4 oz canned salmon)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbsp. Dijon-style mustard (I used regular mustard)

3/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

1/2 cup sliced green onions

3 egg whites

salt & pepper to taste

1) Combine lemon juice and mustard. Blend together flaked salmon, breadcrumbs, green onions, and lemon juice with mustard mixture. Mix in egg whites until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2) Form mixture into patties and cook on a lightly oiled grill or saute in a skillet until golden brown on both sides. Serve on a bun with lettuce, tomato slices, and condiments.

Strawberry Jam

You know that summer is on its way when you head to the grocery store and you find that they start selling a lot of fruits. Watermelons, peaches, mangos, and STRAWBERRIES! I bought a huge box of strawberries at my favorite store, Costco, hoping that my daughter would love eating them as much as I do. Well, she didn't quite fancy them. Yet. But I'm working on that. In the meantime, I had a huge supply of unused strawberries that were beginning to over-ripen. So I had to find ways to use them up. I froze some of the good ones for use later on. The rest that were too soft to freeze, I decided to make jam with them.

I searched for ways to make them, and they were all pretty much the same. The hardest part of this recipe is finding fruit pectin. Where the heck am I going to find that??? Well, I did find it in the most unlikely places in the supermarket. Next to the fire logs, at the front of the supermarket, where I would never look. They also had the mason jars that you would use to store the jams. Perfect.

The recipe is a 1:1 ratio of sugar and fruit. If you don't like it too sweet, I suggest you lessen the sugar. Which is what I did.

4 cups whole strawberries (cleaned and stems removed)

4 cups sugar

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp. (powdered) fruit pectin

1) In a food processor or blender, puree strawberries to your desired consistency. Place in a medium saucepan. Add sugar, lemon juice, and fruit pectin. Stir until well incorporated. Simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes.

2) Remove the whitish foam that forms on the top. Pour into warm, sterilized jars all the way to the top. Cover for 10 minutes. Invert the bottle on its lid until cooled. Store upright.

Slow cooker BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich

Happy 4th of July everyone! I wanted to do a BBQ today, which is what I normally like to do for the 4th of July. But our BBQ grill has still been out of commission. And I still want to have some type of BBQ. So leave it to my trusty crockpot to save the day. We'll be watching some fireworks tonight, and I didn't want too much to clean up after lunch, so I slow cooked the pork overnight and prepared it with the BBQ sauce right before lunch. I served this with coleslaw on top and washed it all down with some Hawaiian Iced tea.

Dry rub
2 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
4 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar

4 lb. pork butt
1/2 cup water
liquid smoke (optional)
2 cups BBQ sauce

1) Mix all the dry rub ingredients in a bowl.

2) Massage dry rub onto meat. Cover meat and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

3) Place roast in slow cooker. Pour water and a splash of liquid smoke on the bottom of the slow cooker pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

4) Remove roast from the pot and discard the liquid. Shred the meat with forks. Return the shredded meat into pot and toss in the bbq sauce. Heat on low for another hour. Serve on toasted buns with extra BBQ sauce.