Smoky Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

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Like most southerners, we enjoy us some good barbecue around our house. Greg smokes a Boston butt that would win first place at barbecue cook-offs everywhere. Wes enjoys smoking ribs, and his method is flawless. Savannah and I have several homemade barbecue sauce recipes that we keep on hand too.

Barbecue chicken is not one of our specialties, though. That is, until recently when I tried a new barbecue sauce recipe. It’s a smoky sauce with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that tastes amazing! It is the number one flavor that I am craving these days.

We have been eating this sauce on everything since I saw Valerie’s Home Cooking.  We have had it on Barbecue Nachos, barbecue burgers, barbecue shrimp, and on these delicious Barbecue Grilled Chicken Sandwiches.

Another important step, not to be skipped, in making these mouth-watering sandwiches is the brining of the chicken. In my opinion, there is no better Thanksgiving turkey than a brined turkey. I don’t fry chicken often but when I do you can bet I will brine it first.

The salt in a brine allows the chicken to retain moisture. A couple of things to remember when you brine chicken are first, try to use kosher salt or sea salt. Also, do not brine the chicken over two hours. It can get rubbery when overbrined.

 

Smoky Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches
 
Author:
 
Ingredients
  • Brine:
  • ¼ c. coarse salt
  • ¼ c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 20 whole black peppercorns
  • 1 c. hot water plus 3 c. cold water
  • 1 lemon, thinlhy sliced
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a cleaver
  • Smoky Barbecue Sauce:
  • 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • ½ small onion, chopped
  • 1 lg. or 2 small cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 c. ketchup
  • ½ c. molasses
  • ⅓ c. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 chipotles in adobo sauce, seeded and roughly chopped
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Grilled Chicken:
  • 2 lg. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half vertically, then cut into thin cutlets, horizontally
  • 4 lg. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Buns
  • Lettuce leaves
  • Sliced tomatoes
  • Sliced red onion
  • Sliced Colby Jack cheese
  • Additional Barbecue sauce, if desired
Instructions
  1. To make the brine: Place the salt, brown sugar, and peppercorns in a large glass bowl and add hot water. Whisk until the salt and brown sugar are dissolved. Stir in the cold water and let cool to room temperature. Pour the brine over the chicken and stir in the lemon slices, onion, and garlic. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and let stand in the refrigerator for 2 hours, turning the chicken once of twice.
  2. To make the barbecue sauce: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook about 30 seconds. Add ½ c. water and the ketchup, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire, chipotles, a pinch of salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth. Store the sauce in the refrigerator.
  3. To grill the chicken: Preheat the grill to high. When ready to cook, brush the grate with oil. Arrange the chicken on the hot grate and grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165° F. During the last 2 minutes or so, start basting the chicken on both sides with barbecue sauce. Remove chicken from grill and assemble sandwiches right away.

 

 

Southern Baked Squash

Southern-Baked-Squash

 

Wow, what a weekend! It was an extremely busy around our house and quite frankly, I’m getting too old for this! First of all, we helped Savannah move out. She sent photos Sunday afternoon; it looks like she and her roommates have organized and decorated their little house beautifully!

After that hot and heavy job, we had a sick puppy that had to go to the vet, I was busy doing laundry and helping Greg pack for South America, and Wesley’s team had a scrimmage game. I need this week to rest!

Today I’m sharing a wonderful recipe from my cousin, Nancy. She makes this incredible baked squash. It has the flavor or fried squash without the mess of frying! Don’t expect it to be crisp like fried squash, but the flavor is spot on. This recipe is an old one, passed down to Nancy by my Aunt Euly.

On a sad note, my Uncle Manuard died last week. Uncle Manuard married my mama’s oldest sister, Aunt Ruby. Uncle Manuard owned and operated a garage and Aunt Ruby raised chickens. They both loved their nieces and nephews. When we would visit them when I was a child, Uncle Manuard would always take me to the vending machines in the garage for a Dr. Pepper and Barbeque chips. Just goes to show that you don’t have to do fancy things for kids to make good memories. He will be missed, but I’m thankful he is with Aunt Ruby once again!

 

Southern Baked Squash
 
Author:
 
Ingredients
  • Small baby yellow squash, washed and cut in half lengthwise
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Melted buter, amount depends on the number of squash
  • Cornmeal, amount depends on the number of squash
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Pour cornmeal in a rimmed baking dish and set aside.
  3. Place cut squash in a large bowl and sprinkle with enough water to dampen them.
  4. Remove the squash from the bowl a few at a time. Roll in cornmeal and place on the prepared pan, cut side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with melted butter. Repeat until all of the squash are coated with cornmeal.
  5. Bake at 400°F until golden brown. Serve warm.

 

Huevos Rancheros for One

Huevos-Rancheros-for-One

Finding a low-carb breakfast, that I enjoy, has been a struggle for me. I tend to crave everything that I’m told I shouldn’t eat…French toast, scones, and muffins. I’ve never been a big fan of eggs, even though I will eat cheese eggs occasionally. Omelets aren’t my thing, and bacon or sausage is just an occasional indulgence for me. What to do, what to do?

I have been on a mission to find a way to eat eggs that I actually enjoy. Even better, it was a bonus if my family liked them too. I have tried recipe after recipe. One recipe that I hit on early was Huevos Rancheros “rancher’s eggs”. After tweaking the recipe, I now make this easy and delicious dish at least twice a week.

Traditionally, these eggs are served over fried corn tortillas with refried beans. Adjust the spices and hot pepper to your taste. I like the look of the small skillet for individual servings. However, if you want to serve a family, and you don’t have several small skillets lying around, use a 10 to 12-inch skillet and increase the ingredients to your need.

 

Huevos Rancheros for One
 
Author:
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. diced onion
  • Chopped serrano or jalapeno pepper, to taste (a tsp. or so)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ c. canned pinto beans, drained
  • 1 tbsp. water
  • ⅛ tsp. ground cumin
  • ⅛ tsp. smoked paprika
  • ⅛ tsp. ground ancho chili pepper
  • 1 egg
  • Queso Fresco
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Serve with: diced avocado, chopped tomato, chopped cilantro, sliced lime, additional Queso Fresco, sour cream, and hot sauce
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Heat skillet, add olive oil and heat.
  3. Add onion, pepper, and garlic to hot oil and saute for a minute or so, until tender. Add beans, water, cumin, paprika, and chili pepper. Stir to combine and heat just until the mixture starts to bubble.
  4. Crack the egg in the center, on top of the bean mixture. Place skillet in the preheated oven and bake until the egg is cooked to your liking and the beans and hot and bubbly. Usually about 5 to 7 minutes for a well cooked egg.
  5. Garnish and serve immediately.

 

Garden Dill Veggie Sandwich

 

 

Garden-Dill-Veggie-Sandwich-2

Are you looking for a great, no-cook meal for these HOT days of summer? Here you go, this is absolutely amazing! I don’t even know how to express in words just how DE…LIC…IOUS this sandwich is!! My cousin, Brandi, gave me this recipe YEARS ago. I had completely forgotten about it until I recently ran across the recipe in our old family cookbook. Now I’m wondering how I could have gone this long without making this oh-so-scrumptious sandwich!

I try to cook low-carb about 75% of the time.  I plan to attempt making this into a low-carb wrap, using a large lettuce leaf, the spread, assorted veggies, and cheese. I’m pretty sure it will be delicious but I’ll update you soon.  In the meantime give this wonderful recipe a try.

Garden Dill Veggie Sandwich
 
Author:
 
Ingredients
  • Dill Spread:
  • 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ c. finely chopped pecans
  • ⅓ c. fresh dill weed, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Optional Sandwich Ingredients:
  • Fresh bun or bread or your choice
  • Green leaf lettuce
  • Sliced tomatoes
  • Slice purple onion
  • Sliced cucumbers
  • Sliced Avocado
  • Sprouts or Microgreens
  • Sliced Provolone cheese
Instructions
  1. Add the pecans to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add cream cheese, dill weed, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and pulse until all of the ingredients are combined.
  2. To assemble the sandwich, spread top and bottom of bun or two slides of bread with the dill spread. Layer lettuce and veggies of your choice on top of the dill spread. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with a slice or two of cheese. Top with your bun top or second slice of bread. Enjoy!