Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Day 2: Chicken Cheese-"Steak" Sandwiches

Today was the first of what I'm sure will be many last minute "plan B" dishes.  Originally I planned to do some pan fried chicken tenders with mixed vegetables.  Unfortunately the frozen chicken tenders I had didn't separate cleanly when I thawed them (yes I used frozen, but I would bet good money that you have too, so we'll just ignore that part).  As a result they just weren't going to work for a pan fry, they wouldn't hold together, and wouldn't bread very well. 

Thankfully, a plan B occurred to me "chicken cheesesteak sandwiches."  I really quickly sliced up an onion, half a green pepper and a red pepper.  This was followed up with some garlic that I sliced up and all of the veggies were sweated down in some olive oil until translucent.  They got a hint of salt, pepper and an Italian herb blend sprinkled on top.  The chicken I chopped up into some medium sized chunks and seasoned liberally with smoked paprika, Cumin, salt, pepper, the same Italian herb blend and a hint of garlic and onion powder.  The veggie mixture got pulled out of the pan and replaced with the seasoned chicken and a bit more olive oil, just to keep it from sticking.  The chicken was just simply sauteed until it was cooked through, at which point I tossed the veggies back in and turned down the heat.  I pulled out a second pan for the final prep\assembly and started toasting up my buns (just simple hotdog buns from the 4th).

The final step was pretty simple as well.  My serving of chicken and veggies were thrown into the second pan with a pair of provolone slices tossed on top.  And because I like my food a touch spicier than some in my family I lightly sprinkled some cayenne pepper on top causing it to look a little something like this:

The liquid around the sides is a little bit of apple cider vinegar added in to help steam and melt the cheese, and for a tiny hint of acidity.  The whole pile was then scooped out and piled high on top of my bun.  As you can see from that first picture I might have overdone it a little bit... The bun didn't close so mine became an open faced sandwich instead of your classic mixture, but delicious nonetheless.  I was actually pretty happy with the outcome.

Well, that's day two over and done with, time for some ice cream (to be detailed the next time I a fresh batch).  I feel like I earned the treat for being good and getting off my rear and onto a bike for a bit (well, sort of off my rear, but it's close enough).  I think tomorrow will be something a little more complex since my first two meals were so simple and straightforward.

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