Yes it is a chicken sandwich. No, it isn't boring.

Sandwich of the week at my house: Broiled Chicken Breast with herbs, avocado, cranberry-pepper jelly and great bread. I’ve been eating this sandwich every day for a week and I’m still loving it. I make a big batch of the chicken and keep it in the fridge so that I can whip up one of these masterpieces whenever I’m hungry. The sandwich is sweet and spicy, creamy and crunchy. It really has me going as evidenced by my being unable to eat anything else for so long. I love it with the Herb Broiled Chicken, but if you are in the mood to cut corners you can used canned chicken like the kind they sell at Trader Joe’s and CostCo… it won’t be as wonderful, but it is still pretty good.


What you will need:

1 Herb Broiled Chicken breast (see recipe below)
two slices of your favorite bread
1/2 a ripe Haas avocado
Cranberry-Pepper Jelly

To assemble:

Place two slices of bread side-by-side on a plate. Slice the avocado into thin slices and lay them, overlapping, across one slice of bread. Spread the other slice of bread with a generous slather of cranberry-pepper jelly. Arrange chicken breast on one of the pieces of bread and top with the other (topping side facing the chicken). Slice and eat.

It helps to have ripe avocados on hand. I have the best luck with avocados if I purchase them rock hard, let them ripen up in a hanging basket in my kitchen and then refrigerate them once they are ripe (before they get too ripe). They’ll keep at the point of ripeness in the cool of the fridge for several days at least.

I use the cranberry pepper jelly that I discussed in my posting of 11/15/06. And the bread I make myself from my posting on 12/8/06. You can use whatever jelly and bread you prefer.

-----------------------------------------------
Herb Broiled Chicken Breasts

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloins removed
freshly ground coarse sea salt
freshly ground coarse black pepper
2 teaspoons dried herbs (such as sage, thyme, marjoram)


1. Lay chicken breasts on counter between two sheets of butcher paper or plastic wrap. Using a kitchen mallet – or a cast iron frying pan – pound the meat until it is a uniform thickness – between 1/4 and 1/2 and inch thick.

2. Liberally season pounded chicken breast and chicken tenderloins with salt, pepper and herbs on both sides. Wrap chicken up in the paper or plastic wrap you are using and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 1/2 hours.

3. Pre-heat broiler. Remove chicken from fridge, unwrap and arrange in a single layer on a broiler pan. Cook for 4-6 minutes per side under the broiler (tenderloins cook in 3-4 minutes a side). Remove from broiler and check internal temperature with an instant read thermometer or slice into to check for doneness. Wrap chicken in a clean sheet of aluminum foil and refrigerate until cool.

Learning from Leftovers

This year my Thanksgiving leftovers taught me something that is going to come in handy next year. I re-heated my cider braised squash with rosemary for lunch today (see 11/18/06 blog entry for the recipe) and it was actually much better today than it was yesterday. Next year I'm making it one day ahead and heating it up in the oven before the meal. Although I love this dish and wouldn't skip making it, it is a last minute dish that takes up a lot of space on the cooktop when I'm trying to finish gravy and saute brussel sprouts. I'm excited to save myself the headache next year. I'll do the whole dish ahead, but wait to sprinkle it with vinegar until right before I serve it on the big day.

This year I was feeling a tad lazy during the clean up. I noticed that my slow cooker was already out and plugged in since it had been busy keeping my potatoes warm all day so once I'd cut all the salvagable meat off the turkey I didn't bother to put it all away in the fridge, but just threw it in the slow cooker (I had cleaned out the leftover mashed potatoes - just so you know) along with

all the leftover celery I could find - about three stalks,
one whole onion (skin still on) sliced in half
two bay leaves
and an entire bunch of parseley that I hadn't used
water to fill
2 teaspoons kosher salt
5-10 whole peppercorns

I set it on low and left it until this morning after breakfast. This was the best turkey broth I've ever made. It was clear and amber colored and rich and tasty. I've strained it now, discarded all the bones and vegetables and frozen most of it in small batches.

When the broth was finished, I salvaged the little pieces of turkey meat from the bones - most of the time I would just toss it along with everything else, but I felt like saving it this morning so I picked it carefully out of the tangle of overcooked celery, parseley and turkey bones and found that I had about 1 1/2 cups. The texture was reminiscent of canned tuna -since it had been cooked to death - first roasted yesterday and then in the slow cooker for 12 hours - so I ended up making a turkey salad with it - adding mayo, chopped celery, an entire bunch of scallions chopped - both green and white, and a grated carrot, and some fresh ground pepper. It is good as it is, but I'm thinking maybe a little curry and some red grapes or diced apple might be a nice addition.