Fried Chicken Sammich with Hatch Chiles... Mini BGE

Dyal_SC

So I started a thread yesterday about marinating / brining chicken in pickle juice. It is rumored that Chic fil-A gets that vinegary bite from a pickle juice marinade.  So I did an experiment and brined some thighs in pickle juice (they use breasts, but I already had thighs in the freezer).  Here is the original thread:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1952098#Comment_1952098

I went ahead and started a new thread in the egghead forum category since I technically fried them on the Mini.  

Anyways, they turned out great.  Not sure if chic fil-a uses pickle juice or not, but these were off the chain.    Definitely had a very noticeable bite from the pickle juice.  Topped the sandwich with some hatch chiles that @northGAcock gave me.  The sambal olek in the brine made them nice and spicy too.  Enough words... here go the pics:
















Buttered and toasted the Captain John Derst bread before assembling.  That was seriously one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten.  Definitely not tossing leftover pickle juice from now on.    

bgebrent

I officially hate you.  Looks and sounds absolutely delicious.  Look out for @northGAcock, he's got a dog for you.  Thanks for documenting!

chuckytheegghead

Looks great

Jeremiah

Outstanding. The shot of the finished chicken looks identical to chic fila. The mrs will be sorry she missed that!

Dyal_SC

Thx fellas!  @Jeremiah , she's at Epcot currently with her friends, so she isn't missing much.   

northGAcock

You are killing it. I will say that between Dukes and the green chile, they will make anything great. you my friend are on top of the food chain making machine. Enjoy.

Jeremiah

Oh snap you didn't tell me she was going to Disney! That's super cool. 

Dyal_SC

@northGAcock , those hatch green chiles are phenomenal.   I'm addicted!!  @Jeremiah , yup, she's there all week, so I get to eggsperiment.  Lol. Although between tonight's 5 premade leftover sandwiches, granola bars and Sunday's egged teriyaki chicken, I think I'm set for the week on meals.  

epcotisbest

Dyal_SC said:

Thx fellas!  @Jeremiah , she's at Epcot currently with her friends, so she isn't missing much.   

Epcot! We sorta like that place. Headed there next month for the Flower and Garden Festival. The sandwich looks fantastic. I won't be throwing out pickle juice or pepper juice either. I have been using the leftover Mazetta tamed jalapeño juice to marinade chopped onions for omelettes but will try chicken next time. Thanks for the idea and inspiration.

Mattman3969

That is a seriously prime sammich!

bhedges1987

That right there is awesome

NC_Egghead

Just WOW! 

And totally agree with @northGAcock about the Duke's!

TTC

Legume

That looks great, love the idea.  Inspired by you, I took 5 bs breasts out of the freezer and put them in a ziplock with 1/2 qt of Famous Dave's spicy pickle juice this afternoon.  Will see what I can turn them into tomorrow night.  Looking forward to it.

texaswig

That's a good looking cook. I need to try that pickle marinade out. 

johnkitchens

Another great cook Craig! You are killing it. 

JohnnyTarheel

Dang Dyal.. You are just showing off now.... Eat moe Chikin!!

Botch

epcotisbest said:

Dyal_SC said:

Thx fellas!  @Jeremiah , she's at Epcot currently with her friends, so she isn't missing much.   

Epcot! We sorta like that place. Headed there next month for the Flower and Garden Festival. 

What's-her-name and I went down there for the Food and Wine Festival, had a great time but didn't sample much food (I lost my notes).  

Eggingaround

Looks awesome. I'll have to give that pickle juice marinade a go. 

CodyA88

looks awesome.  thanks for idea! can't wait to try it

NDG

unreal . . looks soo damn good !!  

Griffin

Nicely done Dyal_Wants_2B_TX  Learn me how you fry on the Mini. What temp do you stabilize it at? I'll probably never do it, just use the turkey fryer, but I've always been curious. What size CI skillet?

SkinnyV

For those like me who have never done the homemade hatch chiles....trader joes makes a great jarred salsa with them. I've gone through 4-5 jars now need to restock.

Legume

@SkinnyV love that stuff.  Try tossing some bs chicken breasts or lean pork in a slow cooker with some onion, pour some of that over it and let it rip for 6 hours or so.  Great chile verde cheat.

Dyal_SC

Thx guys!  @Griffin, I like using a skillet over a turkey fryer for a couple reasons.  Main reason is way less oil that way.  Another reason is that I personally always have a crispier and crunchier texture pan frying over deep frying.  

I put just enough oil in the skillet to come up half way up the chicken, and bring it up to 365-375 deg f.  Then add in the chicken. Flip a few times until both sides are golden brown.  The temp will drop once the chicken is added, but it'll creep back up. Just hafta monitor it periodically with the thermapen. 

Not or sure what size the skillet is.  It's a lodge and I've had it for several years now. It sits perfectly on top of the mini with woo.  The mini's cooking grate is about the same size as your standard kitchen burner, so there is very little scare for the oil to splatter into the coals. Works really well.  Plus there is no stinking up your kitchen of fried meat.  The mini is a perfect little fry daddy IMO.

hashissmokin

looks great.  what kind of raised grid is that?

Griffin

I meant using a CI skillet over the burner that most people use with their turkey fryer. Wasn't talking about using the big pot and deep frying.

Dyal_SC

Oh ok that makes sense too @Griffin. I'll hafta try that sometime, but usually I have that tucked away in the shed. @hashissmokin, that is the mini woo from ceramicgrillstore

shucker

I declare this the ultimate winner of all cooks

Legume

Legume said:

That looks great, love the idea.  Inspired by you, I took 5 bs breasts out of the freezer and put them in a ziplock with 1/2 qt of Famous Dave's spicy pickle juice this afternoon.  Will see what I can turn them into tomorrow night.  Looking forward to it.

Pulled these from the brine, sliced 'em up, seasoned and double dredged and fried them up as chicken fingers.  Served with some Whataburger jalapeño ranch, some sweet potato fries with some kind of other Greek yogurt sauce my wife whipped up and a quick Cole slaw kit.

The pickle brine works - you could taste it, really nice tang to the chicken.  I also grilled up a few pieces on a skewer with a heavy dusting of Loveless Cafe Chicken Shake.  Next time I will skip the frying, just nekkid with some rub was really good.

Dyal_SC

Wow, that looks amazing @Legume.    I will try without frying as well.