Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Yummy Eats

Today we will learn how to make this sandwich. It does not have a name. The Limelets, well the omnivorous ones anyway, just refer to it as "That yummy chicken sandwich." You can call it "Lime's Awesome Marinated Grilled Chicken with Mozzarella, Pesto, and Roasted Peppers on Ciabatta Bread Sandwaich." On second thought that's kind of unwieldy so feel free to call it Herman or Brad or Ronaldo or whatever works for you.



You'll have to forgive me for only having this completely poor picture of the completely yummy sandwich and none of the process. Now I warn you all in advance, I am no chef. I made this thing up myself and I didn't measure a thing or time stuff either. I guess you're going to at least want an ingredient list though huh? Ok, here goes.

Boneless split chicken breasts (come back tomorrow for a special story all about chicken breasts)
Ciabatta rolls
Paul Newman's Light Balsamic Vinagrette
Lemon pepper seasoning
Roasted peppers
Pesto (basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil)
Fresh Mozzarella
Portabella mushrooms


MARINATION (Is that a word? Well, it is now.)
First you want to get some split boneless chicken breasts and pound them till they are I dunno, maybe a half inch thick. Just beat the hell out of them until they are an even thickness, however thick ya want. Feel free to imagine the face of whatever jerk has made your heart break. Pounding chicken breasts is a great way to vent aggravation. A little kitchen therapy plus it burns calories before you ever consume them..It's all good. For the men out there, we only pound chicken breasts.This is no way to treat your lover's breasts. Oh yeah, ya might want to stick em between pieces of saran wrap to keep the mess to a minimum....the chicken breasts, you doofus, not your own hooters. Then again, who am I to say what turns you on is any less valid than what turns me on. Pull off an extra long sheet for yer own breasts if ya want.

Next you want to sprinkle some lemon pepper on the breasts and then pour some balsmaic and olive oil over them to marinate. Or you can cheat and grab a bottle of Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinagrette. I do it all the time. Whatever floats yer boat, or yer chicken breasts in this case. Let em marinate however long ya want....well, not until they mutate and crawl out of the fridge, mind you.

Now, while the chicken tits are marinating you can make your roasted peppers and your pesto. Yeah I know you can go buy this stuff but it just ain't as tasty. You see those colors up there. They don't come out of a jar and they don't come from Photo Shop. I like my food all bright and cheery. Tie dye on a plate, my friends....well, if tie dye weren't actually toxic. You get the idea.

PEPPER ROASTAGE (More coinage a la Lime)
Ok, so the peppers. Get a red one, an orange one, and a yellow one. Color, I tell ya! Wash em, dry em and smear em up with olive oil. Feel free to imagine you are smearing George Clooney or Hugh Jackman...actually no...that's who I fantasize about and I won't share. I am sharing this recipe ok, I don't have to share my men. Find your own damn celebrity to smear with olive oil. If you're a guy, feel free to grab Salma Hayek or whoever. Ok, back to the peppers. Smear em up, stick em on a pan and stick the pan in a 400F oven until the skin gets blistery or black in spots. I dunno how long that is. Don't ask me. Just check on em when they smell good enough to make your belly gurgle. When they are done let them cool until you can handle them and peel the skin off, take the stem and seeds too and toss all that. Now cut up the pepper into strips or squares, whatever ya like. The guy who taught me to roast peppers is adamant about slicing into strips. I slice into squares just for spite. Do what makes ya happy. Get out cookie cutters if it makes you smile. They are your peppers and the last time I checked our flag was still red, white, and blue.

PESTO
As for the pesto, get a big bunch of basil and throw it in your food processor. How much basil? I dunno, as much as you can get. Beg, borrow and steal to get a pile of basil because pesto is so good, you can never have too much pesto. It's good on pasta. It's good in couscous. It's good on these sammiches. I love me some pesto. Ok, so whiz it up until it's good and minced up. Then throw in maybe a third to half as many pine nuts as you used for basil. Whiz that all around. Throw in some garlic. A clove or two for a big pile of basil (ok, ok, I have a 3 cup processor...so however much basil you can cram in that and still make it work) , add more if you are afraid of vampires. Sometimes I double the garlic, sometimes I don't. It depends on my mood. Yep, that's how I cook, deal with it. This is your pesto, be happy. Ok, so next you need to toss in some parmesan cheese and pulse that around. Not a lot though. Yeah I know. You want to know how much. I use maybe half a palmful. I got small hands. Figure it out. Whiz it around and then start dribbling olive oil in the processor and whizzing that up until it looks like a consistency you'd like to spread on your bread. See I am all about your happiness here, folks.

GRILLAGE OF BREASTS AND SHROOMS
Ya still with me? I know this is long but trust me, it's worth it. Get out those breasts now and grill em. How high the heat and how long...yeah yeah.....pffft. I dunno that either. I don't make the heat too high so they don't dry out. I put the grill on medium low and grill em till they are all nice and juicy.

Holy crap I almost forgot the portabellas. Get some of them and slice em up, pour some leftover balsamic dressing on them(fresh, not from the chicken) and stick them on the top rack of the grill while ya do the chicken. I had to add those for my vegetarian kid. She was happy. Then one day I threw a few on top of my sammich and now she and I arm wrestle over the mushrooms.

When the chicken and shrooms are done throw some nice ciabatta rolls on the top rack to toast them. There's a place near here that sells the yummiest ciabatta rolls. Those I don't make from scratch. I mean gees, people.....have I not done enough here? Now you want me making my own bread? Next you'll expect me to plant my own wheat and mill it. For crying out loud, I don't have that kind of time. This post is already crazy long!

ASSEMBLAGE
Ok, so ya got everything. Take a roll and slather it with some of that yummy pesto, throw on a slice of fresh mozzarella, a chunk of chicken, some peppers, and some shrooms. If you want to, you can stick the whole thing back in the grill for a minute to make the cheese all melty. Oooooh, bite into that baby and tell me it's not a mouthful of happiness. Please chew and swallow first though. I don't need to see a half chewed sandwich rolling around in your mouth.

33 comments:

G-Man said...

Well.....?
I'm waiting!!!!!!!

Damn, does that look good!

I love Chicken and Pesto!
That gives me an idea for supper, thanks...G
xox

barman said...

I think I will go with "That yummy chicken sandwich" as the name, thank you very much. That sammich sounds like it is to die for. Everything in it sounds wonderful. I have no idea what Ciabatta Bread is however but I suppose I could substitute or get off my lazy butt and see if I can find any.

Now how am I going to be satisfied with cereal for breakfast now. See that, I think I just drooled. Nicely done.

BBC said...

I made a crock pot of split pea soup yesterday so will be working on it for a few days.

furiousBall said...

could you put that in a blender for me and my sore mouth?

lime said...

gman, glad to be of service and congrats on marking me first. ;)

barman, i don't know what the technical definition of ciabatta bread it but it's just got a nice texture, lots of nooks and crannies, hearty and crispy when ya grill it.

bbc, well enjoy yer soup

furiousball, i think i just threw up in my mouth a little. sorry if this was torment...try to view it a something to look forward to.

S said...

Ooh I remember that sammy from last time.

Ok, I bought you the comb that you asked for! :P

Neener neener, I couldnt resist.
Now, WHO needs a comb?
:P

Moosekahl said...

Haven't been to the grocery store in two weeks because of house sitting and vacation. Think I know what ingredients I'll pick up tomorrow when I go...looks very, very yummy.

I have a summer version of this sammy...ciabatta rolls, sliced, buttered, and broiled till crispy. Cover with fresh basil leaves, slice fresh tomatoes over basil leaves, sprinkle with sea salt, add thick slices of fresh moist mozarella. Heavenly!

lime said...

susie, LOL AMY needs the comb! not me...AMY!!!

moose, oooooooh, that sammie of yours sounds mighty tasty too!

jillie said...

You lost me at the mushrooms...blech!!! They make me GAG! But...I am sure I could make it without them right?

It does look yummy!!

James Goodman said...

Oh, that does look quite tasty. I'll have to give it a whirl. :D

Anonymous said...

Paul Simon called and said you could call it Al! ;)

Looks and sounds yummy!!!

Casdok said...

That certainly does look good!

lime said...

jillie, like i said, i am all about your happiness here. no mushrooms for you if ya don't want em

james, do enjoy!

seamus, you are brilliant...the sandwich shall now be known as 'you can call me al'

casdok, i dunno about you but i am hungry right now!

Keyser Soze said...

MARINATION and NAVIGABLE are indeed words. Roastage and Assemblage. Roasting and Assembly.
So sayeth the cunning linguist.
Since when do I need to tell YOU this stuff??? Good sammich!

barman said...

Thank you Lime. After investigating Ciabatta Bread I think I found a couple of bakeries and several retailers that are promissing sources. Also reading about it, this sounds like a must have for the sandwich. Looking forward to it.

Mother Theresa said...

I couldn't possibly eat someone I know, so I think I'll call it Teodiseldo.

ttfootball said...

Dis ha to be a real good sandwich for such a long-ass post, lawd!
But DEFINITELY will try it sometime =)
...minus the mushrooms

Cooper said...

That looks awesome...I think you should call it the "The Limeinator"

tsduff said...

I can only chow down on the faxed version right now (fax one over to me will you please?) as I'm on my
2nd day of the next 11 day diet. When I get my next 3 days off in between 11 days of the diet, I'll chow down for real!!! YUM. I love every single ingredient.

Jeni said...

How about "Lime's Luscious Chicken Sanmmich" - looks and sounds really good.

Hale McKay said...

Geesh, if I wanted to get hungry, I could've watched the Food Channel on TV!

Yum! That sure sounds good.

Sorry I haven't visited in a while, besides being busy and working on another short story, I had a set back with another attack of cellulitis - in the same leg - and it was far worse than before.

I'm doing okay as of today. This time around I'll have missed almost three weeks of work. The healing process has been slow and I had to receive five IVs of anti-biotics in addition to pills.

I hope you had a belated Happy Valentine's Day.

Now I have to listen to stomach and scrounge up something to eat.

Hypersonic said...

And now I have to find somewhere that sell fresh mushrooms.

snowelf said...

Lime, if you wrote a cook book, I would learn to cook asap.
I am absolutely making these sandwiches this weekend.
I'll post pics and linkage.
And I promise to write a disclaimer that you are innocent in case they don't turn out.

Now, where to find some real parmesian cheese...

and a food processor...

hmmm...

--snow

Sheri said...

I had to run and get a towel to wipe up the drool from my own mouth after reading this recipe. YUMMO! Thanks for sharing!

tsduff said...

Man, whenever I close my eyes I see that sammich.... groan***

Balou said...

What? You didn't bake your own bread? ;) Sounds delish. I'll be thinking of Matthew McConaughey while oiling up the peppers thank you very much.

barman said...

Ha FIRST after you of course!

It took some doing, some ingredient shopping, some tool shopping, a little cheating but that was my super late dinner tonight. I have to make a few more attempts at this before I am willing to post a picture. I am afraid mine was a bit sloppy but yummmy! Thanks for the sammich.

The Zombieslayer said...

No, you want to be gentle with a woman's breasts. But at the right moments...

Oh, food? Oh yeah.

It looks like a lot of work, but you have all kinds of ingredients I love - pesto, mozzarella, portabellas. Yummy!

Thanks for doing this post. I'll have to try to talk Mrs. Z into being my prep.

Mona said...

Lime! I am Dying! That was such a hilarious post!

I love the breast beating! ( do you know? We have a special sect of breast beaters called 'rudali' in India. They are professional women who are 'hired' to beat breast and cry at the top of their voice on the 'occasion' of a death in the Rajasthan families, so that the departed soul 'sees' that it was 'wept for' enough and go away 'satisfied' otherwise it mat 'linger' and haunt the family and bring in bad luck! ( can you believe ! they still believe this crap)

'Chicken tits' :D Now you will have me smiling with this post for the rest of my day. I am just imagining you doing whatever you have described here & grinning from ear to ear :D

& By Jove! Those Sammiches sound worth their battering!!

KFarmer said...

All I got to say is sho is! and when's lunch? I'll bring the beverage of your choice :)

lime said...

keyser, twas all said with tongue firmly in cheek

barmn, do enjoy

theresa, whatever works for yo umy dear, but that is quite a mouthful!

ttfootball, hey the post on stewed chicken was long-ass too ;), good to see you again

cooper, i wouldn't argue with that either :)

tsduff, i hope you enjoy it when it's allowed

jeni, works for me!

hale, sorry to hear of the repeat appearance of cellulitis. take good care of yourself please.

hypersonic, well the shrooms were an afterthought, it's still yummy even without them

snowelf, i can't wait to see your results. :)

sheri, maybe I should have issued napkins with the post

balou, hope you and matthew have a great time ;)

barman, glad it all worked out

zombieslayer, all things in their proper time and place my friend, hehehehe. it is lots of work but oh so yummy.

mona, i know many cultures employ professional mourners for various reasons. i'll take the real ones thank you. glad to have given you a giggle.

kfarmer, how about some hard cider around noon ?

Bunny said...

Sounds wonderful (except the fungus - I'll be skipping the fungus!) I'm afraid of vampires, so I'll be going heavy on the garlic. I love me some fresh garlic!

You cook like I do - lots of color and very little measuring or timing.

Catmoves said...

Found you through Mushy's posts. This has to be a great sammich if you've got enough strength left to eat it after all that exertion. Besides, I've got 3/4s of a pot of Chili Con Carne to eat up first.
All I've gotta do now is find out about that bread.