Cheesy Chicken Sandwiches

This week’s challenge was inspired by an article my husband saw in the New York Times Magazine, extolling the virtues of those cheesy, meat-filled sandwiches that taste so good after a night of drinking. Every college seems to have its own specialty, and the grandfather of them all is the Philly cheesesteak. My husband wanted me to create such a sandwich.

To be honest, I am not a fan of these types of sandwiches, as they are usually too greasy and heavy for me. So I tried to come up with a sandwich that pays homage to the cheesesteak and its ilk, but is still something I would like — that is, lighter and more flavorful.

While the resulting sandwich is not a true cheesesteak in any sense, we both still enjoyed the results. It begins with a toasted hoagie roll (my husband says the bun would not be toasted in a real Philly cheesesteak, but I am a Southern girl and didn’t know this; besides, I like a crusty roll). Before toasting, I pulled out much of the doughy insides, leaving a bread shell in which to stuff the filling. This keeps the sandwich from spilling out all over your shirt as you eat it.

Inside the bun, layer sauteed, thinly sliced chicken; sauteed red onion and mushrooms; sliced sweet piquante peppers; and sliced provolone cheese. The whole torpedo is put in a hot oven for a few minutes to warm it through and melt the cheese. Meanwhile, spread on the top bun a homemade chili mayonnaise of my own concoction to add flavor and creaminess. My husband doesn’t like mayonnaise, but that doesn’t seem to apply to homemade, flavored mayos, which don’t taste anything like the jarred variety.

This challenge was a definite hit, and pretty easy to make too. Serve with a pickle and oven fries. Next week: a Mexican menu!

Chili Mayonnaise

I made this mayonnaise with a hand blender, but it can also be made in a blender or food processor or, if you are very industrious, whisked by hand.

Combine in the blender:

• 1 egg
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Cayenne pepper to taste (about a dash)
• Juice of ½ lemon

Blend until well combined. While the blender is running, slowly pour in ¾ cup vegetable or canola oil. The mayonnaise should emulsify to a thick, yellowish-white consistency as you pour in the oil.

Mix into the finished mayonnaise:

• ¼ cup chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup roasted red pepper, minced
• ¼ cup scallions, minced
• additional salt, cayenne and lemon juice to taste

The finished mayonnaise makes 1 cup and will keep in the fridge for about 1 week. In addition to eating it on the chicken sandwiches, I used it as a dressing for salad greens and for chicken salad, and I spread it on turkey sandwiches. Yum! I think it would also be very good as a dipping sauce for fried fish or boiled shrimp.

How to Make Mayonnaise

I think I’ve finally found the best formula for homemade mayonnaise. Just in time, too, because as part of my no-packaged-foods challenge, I won’t be buying commercially prepared mayonnaise anymore. The jar that is currently in my fridge will be my last.

Fortunately, mayonnaise is simple to make. I think the troubles I had before were due to incorrect proportions of egg to oil. This latest batch is the best I have made to date.

I also got better results by using my immersion blender with the whisk attachment. Whisking by hand also works well, but takes longer, of course. Either method works better than the food processor for creating the proper emulsion, though.

Here’s my basic method for making mayonnaise.

Bring 1 egg to room temperature. Combine the full egg or just the egg yolk with ½ tsp. prepared mustard and 1 tsp. kosher salt. Whisk until well blended, about 30 seconds.

Add 2 tsp. lemon juice (about ½ lemon’s worth). Whisk another 30 seconds.

You will need 1 cup canola or vegetable oil. Begin by adding the oil a teaspoonful at a time while whisking, until the mixture starts to thicken and the emulsion begins to form. Then you can slowly pour in the remainder of the oil, whisking constantly, until the mixture turns thick and creamy and looks like mayonnaise.

Most recipes say you can store mayonnaise in the fridge for a few days. This makes 1 cup of mayonnaise, which is a lot, so I plan to store it at least a week. So far, I’ve used it in coleslaw and on turkey sandwiches. Yum, yum!

Mayonnaise is like a blank palette. You can flavor it up many ways. Tried and true flavor combinations result in aioli, tartar sauce, Russian dressing, Thousand Island dressing and remoulade sauce. Recipes for these abound. But it’s also fun to experiment.

Try mixing in to the emulsion:

• chopped garlic, onion, scallions or shallots
• minced tomatoes, roasted red peppers, chiles or pimientos
• minced capers or pickles
• chopped nuts
• fresh herbs
• ginger, horseradish, wasabi, chili sauce or hot sauce
• honey
• anchovy paste or Worcestershire sauce
• soy sauce and/or sesame oil
• Parmesan
• cayenne, paprika or a seasoning mix

A Simple Pan-roasted Meal

Last night my husband wasn’t feeling too good, so I scrapped the recipe I had planned to make. Instead, I simply pan-roasted a chicken breast. Once the chicken was browned on both sides, I added a few wedges of cabbage to the pan and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, minced garlic and a little olive oil. I covered the pan and let it cook over a lower heat until the chicken was cooked through and the cabbage had softened and browned on the edges. It was simple and delicious.

Earlier in the day, I had made a lemon and herb mayonnaise, which I drizzled over the chicken to give it a little oomph. However, the mayonnaise turned out a little thinner than I like, and the olive oil taste was overwhelming. I haven’t yet perfected my recipe for mayonnaise, and it seems like each cookbook has a different way of making it. I do think that the delicate flavors of mayonnaise just cannot stand up to the strong flavor of olive oil, and it’s better to use a more neutral oil (unless you’re making something like aioli, with all that garlic). Or at least substitute half neutral oil for the olive oil called for in some recipes. I’ll keep working on it. I really want to be able to make a good mayonnaise every time.

Tonight, if my husband is feeling up to it, I’m going to try to poach salmon using Thomas Keller’s technique from Ad Hoc at Home. Plus roasted brussels sprouts. I haven’t had brussels sprouts all winter.

A Question About Mayonnaise

I love homemade mayonnaise. It is creamy and delicious and super-easy to make in the food processor. But I don’t make it often, and here’s why.

All of the recipes I have call for either 1 egg or 1 egg + 1 egg yolk and 1 cup of oil. This makes 1 cup of mayonnaise. Because it contains raw egg, my cookbooks advise me to keep the mayonnaise only 2 days in the refrigerator. Now, even if we ate mayonnaise at every meal, I doubt my family could go through 1 cup of mayonnaise in 2 days. And I hate flushing most of my mayonnaise down the sink. So I generally only make it when I’m out of the jarred stuff or I’m having a party.

Perhaps one of my loyal readers can help me. Is there a way to make homemade mayonnaise that keeps longer? OR cut down the recipe? Would using 1 egg yolk and ½ cup of oil work, for instance?

I eagerly await any advice in the comments.

Aioli

Aioli is essentially mayonnaise, but mayonnaise with a pedigree. Redolent with raw garlic and olive oil, aioli is synonymous with Provence. It is used as a condiment for many dishes, including simply cooked vegetables, fish soups and seafood. It also makes an unusual spread for toasted croutons or dip for crudités.

Traditionally, aioli is made with a mortar and pestle and a whisk. In these modern times, I am thankful for the food processor, without which I wouldn’t attempt it. The food processor ensures emulsion, which is when the oil becomes suspended in the egg yolk, resulting in a thick and creamy texture.

The trick with aioli is not letting either the olive oil or the raw garlic overpower the flavor. Normally, I love the taste of olive oil in everything, but in aioli, too much olive oil can definitely be too much of a good thing. Many recipes call for all olive oil, but I have found that using a ratio of one part olive oil to one part neutral-flavored oil, such as canola or vegetable oil, yields the best results. Similarly, I have seen recipes calling for 4 or even more whole garlic cloves, but for my tastes, 2 large garlic cloves is the perfect amount. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Aioli

Yields: ½ cup
Serves: 8
Time to make: 15 minutes
Keeps: 1 week in the refrigerator

What you need:

• 2 eggs, yolks only, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 large garlic cloves, pressed
• ¼ cup olive oil and ¼ cup vegetable oil, mixed
• food processor

1. Process together the egg yolks, lemon juice and garlic
2. With the food processor running, slowly pour in the oil, beginning with just a few drops until the emulsion starts to form
3. Continue processing until all oil is combined

Notes: If you like, vary the flavor of the finished aioli by adding a little seasoning. For instance, to serve aioli with a Spanish tapas spread, I stirred in 1 tbsp. smoked paprika.