Chipotle Guacamole & Bacon Sandwich

Less chatting. More eating. Eat this not absolutely anything else.

Ingredients

3 slices bacon (thick cut if possible)

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted

2 tbsp each: mayonnaise, store-bought salsa

1 to 2 tsp pure chili powder, such as ancho or chipotle, to taste

6 slices bread

3 large lettuce leaves

DIRECTIONS

Place bacon in large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook, turning once, 6 minutes or until crisp and browned. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain and cool. Chop or crumble.

In medium bowl, mash avocados, mayonnaise, salsa and chili powder with fork until mixed but chunky.

For each sandwich, spread 1/3 guacamole mixture on 1 slice bread. Top with 1/3 bacon and 1 lettuce leaf. Finish each with second slice bread. Cut in half.

Sweet and Sour and Hot Chicken Sandwiches

Delightful, yet shoddily photographed

Hey, I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya. I am still recovering from Monday night. I got to see Sir Paul McCartney play a 35-song-set. It was loaded with Wings and Beatles songs. I clapped my already wrecked hands blue. It was awesome. Tonight is the first I’ve felt like cooking. I have been getting take-out and now I feel a bit sickened and bloated. So tonight I am going to make one of my FAVORITE sandwiches. Inspired by a sliders recipe by Rachel Ray. Again. I know, it ain’t hip to dig RR. She’s probably a republican and she and I probably would not hang out. Still, the bitch can cook. Her version uses chicken thighs, which is quite wonderful, and I don’t enjoy dark meat. From chickens. I adapted this one by swapping out the thighs and upping the heat factor. Otherwise this is all her. The slaw part really just hits you in the right places. It is highly regarded by others as well as myself that the cucumber ties the sandwich together. I think Rachel is a genius. Try these and you’ll agree. I swear. I am so gay for Rachel Ray. Fifties gay. Not Noah’s Arc gay. I’m rambling now. Go eat!

Recipe:

4 chicken breasts cut through in half so they are thin.
4 French Rolls

Sauce:

1/2 Cup Sriracha
1/4 Cup Agave Nectar
1 TBS garlic paste
1/2 TBS ginger paste (or 1 inch fresh)
3 TBS Toasted sesame oil
1/4 Cup Rice Wine vinegar
1/4 Cup Soy sauce

Blend the ingredients in a blender or use a hand blender.

Slaw: I bust out the mandolin for this one.

Napa cabbage, shredded
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup of pickled ginger, thinly sliced
A couple or three jalapeno peppers, very thinly sliced
3/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
1/4 cup agave nectar

Sandwich Toppings:

Sesame seeds
Scallions
Sliced Cucumber

In a small saucepan heat the vinegar, sugar and hotsauce in on medium-high until it simmers. Pour over the shredded veggies and toss. Put this in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to gather mojo.

Heat grill to medium high. Grill chicken on one side for a few minutes or until it gets grill marks. Baste with sauce. Flip, repeat until sauce is gone and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve the chicken with sesame seeds, topped with slaw, garnished with the scallions. I put the cucumbers on the bottom part of the roll to keep it from getting soggy. I don’t usually serve them with anything. Because in all likelihood you will eat two.

Grilled Cheese

Saturday night I made a grand attempt at taco salad and it fizzled. Around ten that night I decided I was going to make grilled cheese. You know you are a foody when you are “out of cheese” when you only have two varieties. I used four cheeses in this particular sandwich. Three on the inside and one to crusty-crust it.

So good. At ten p.m.

You will need:
artisan italian bread. Go to Publix bakery as it is excellent
4 different cheese I used:
Pepper Jack
Meunster
Provolone
Pecorino shreaded
2 TBS 0f Soft but holding it’s shape butter

Heat your small skillet to medium high

blend the Pecorino and butter; spread on the bread. If you butter both sides flip all sides before cheese is added.

Once all the bread and the cheese butter are nearing crisp-done add the cheeses, in any order.
Close the bread together to form the sandwich. Turn on low and heat until melty or bubbly.