4 Levels of Chicken Sandwich: Amateur to Food Scientist

[preparing food]

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I'm Sharif and I'm a level one chef.

Hi, I'm Julie and I'm a level two chef.

I'm Danielle, creator of Diversity Kitchen.

And I've been a professional chef for 15 years.

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Chicken sandwiches is a good alternative for a burger.

You can do a nice, healthy chicken breast chicken sandwich.

We're doing sandwiches today.

And I couldn't be happier because I love sandwiches except

for hot dogs.

A hot dog is not a sandwich.

Now I'm really particular about my chicken.

I want to make sure that I have good quality pasture-raised

organic, if possible.

[swoosh]

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For my chicken sandwich, I like to use chicken,

[All] breasts.

The first step is to slice it in half.

I'm gonna lay my hand flat like this.

And then I start from the thicker side.

I'm going to slice the tender off first,

and now I'm just gonna slice it down the middle.

And then you see we have two somewhat equal pieces

of chicken.

So I've got two nice pieces ready to go.

So now that we have our chicken cut in half,

I'm gonna place it on the parchment.

We wanna pound these breast halves really thin

because we want to cook them really quickly.

So I'm using a mallet.

We're going to pound [pounds] these babies thin.

I create my own seasoning salt.

Here I have salt, paprika, garlic powder and black pepper.

So I'll just place those all in a bowl.

Don't hit too hard,

sorta be annoyed when you do this, not angry.

Whew!

I always seasoned my chicken first and whenever I season,

I always season from a high.

And then of course you do both sides.

So make sure you flip your chicken and get in there

and do the other side.

Now that we've gotten them nice and flattened,

we're gonna put them to the side while we mix

up that delicious dredging mixture.

Now we are going to dredge our chicken.

First, we want to add our seasonings to the flour.

You might say, don't you dredge in flour.

Normally you do.

But I like to use corn starch because to me it has kind

of a lighter consistency and it also absorbs the flavors

of the herbs and spices we're going to put in.

To me anyway, a little bit better.

So I'm just gonna add a little

[Both] salt.

Don't ask Julie how much, just watch.

I don't want to add too much salt since I'm also going

to add my Lowery's seasoning salt.

I'm not sure what's in Lowery's but it tastes good.

And now the Cajun seasoning.

It's gotta have that right Cajun umph.

So next, I'm gonna add my black,

[Both] pepper.

Dried thyme.

Now the one fresh ingredient I'm using is yes,

you know, chives.

I'm in my chive mode.

I have a number of secret weapons.

This is my newest one.

It's called Marash pepper.

Now I just,

[Both] mix it up a little bit.

I'm going to crack some eggs and scramble those

because our dredging station is always flour, egg

and then Panko.

I know people like we'll put like egg,

but I'm making a sandwich and I don't really want like a

fried chicken.

And now I'm going to add all of my seeds

to my Panko mixture.

So first with the pumpkin seeds,

I always like to chop these up a little more,

just because sometimes you get pumpkin seeds

and they can be really big, our poppy seeds

and our sesame seeds.

So I'll take this and I'll just make sure

it's nice and mixed.

All right now I'm going to add my buttermilk

to the dish and we're gonna to dredge this baby up.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

Just somewhat coated.

Dip it in the buttermilk, gives you that good crunch.

Now back in the flour.

Shake off your excess and put it aside.

You can kind of clap them together and that helps just get

off any excess flour.

We got this baby, and then those can sit for a minute.

I'm gonna put this into our egg and you can always work

by keeping one hand clean.

So you got a wet hand and a dry hand.

My fingers have a little batter on it,

but that's all right with cooking with love.

You can always wash your hands.

So it's fine.

Now I'm gonna lay it in here.

And this one, I like to just kind of almost like

you're burying it.

And then I like to always flip it too,

and now I'm going to place that right on our baking sheet.

And there you have it.

Next step is the cooking.

The chicken is dredged.

So now we're going to get to frying.

What's key here is to make sure that your oil is hot

and ready to go.

It's been heating up and I'm just going

to put a little bit of olive oil.

I have my vegetable oil here.

It's already hot.

So I'm gonna place the chicken in now.

Now here I use sunflower oil.

I love sunflower oil because it's a high heat oil

that is a neutral flavor.

If you're using a thermometer,

you can just check to make sure the oil is between

about 325 and 350.

I have the vegetable oil at 300 degrees

and we're gonna let this chicken fry up.

I want to make this really hot because I'm literally going

to almost sear these cutlets on each side.

The last thing you want to do is have

your heat too high and then everything's browns

super quickly and you're left with raw chicken.

That's why I have to eyeball this chicken breasts

because I don't cook chicken breasts all the time.

So I want it to be done correctly.

Maybe five minutes, four minutes on each side.

Maybe two, three minutes on each side.

But again, you'll know.

So let's go ahead and give this a,

[All] flip.

I'm a proponent of the two flip method.

So we flipped things twice.

You'll notice it's getting nice and

[Both] golden Brown.

Browning really brings out the flavor.

It doesn't have to be totally brown.

It's not a fried chicken sandwich.

It's a sauteed chicken sandwich.

So this golden color is what I like to see.

Chick-fil-A has nothing on my chicken sandwich.

Now we're gonna quickly saute our shallots

and our mushrooms.

Take a little salt.

We're simply going to spoon this mixture on top

of our chicken breast.

So I'm just gonna place this on my rack over here.

Now I'm gonna take my chicken out

and place it on the rack.

Sprinkle a little salt.

Now we're gonna top our breasts with a slice

of provolone cheese, maybe a slice and a half.

I chose to use ciabatta bread for my sandwich.

I'll cut it in half.

So here we go.

A little bit of olive oil. I'm gonna brush it with

and I add a touch of salt and pepper

[sniffs] Nothing like the smell of fresh sourdough bread.

So now I'm gonna toast my bread for about three

to four minutes on broil.

We're headed to the broiler.

I'll be back.

All right, now we've just fried our chicken.

And now we are gonna start on our special sauce.

I want to just kind of make a little jushed up mayonnaise.

I'm making a pesto, but this is not

your traditional pesto.

So first I'm going to start off with my basil.

Just gonna give this a rough chop.

Okay, so I have my chopped pickles here and mayo,

my ketchup, black pepper.

So I'm gonna put my marash pepper,

always have to use a lot of chives and thyme.

And we are now just going to meld this together.

My almonds go first and then my pine nuts.

I make sure that all my nuts are toasted, my almonds

and my pine nuts.

It just really brings out the flavor.

Rather than using measuring spoons,

we'll use a measuring mouth.

I think maybe I will add just a little more black,

[Both] Pepper.

Did I say a little, much more chives.

And then we're gonna mix this up.

Let it sit.

Yes.

That's better.

Now that my basil is nice and chopped.

I'm going to add that to the blender,

rough chop on my mint and then add it to the blender.

So now with my peeled garlic,

I'm just gonna give it a rough chop.

The longer things sit,

the more they coalesce and come together.

So time is our friend, not just the spice,

but the melding process as well.

now I'm gonna add a pinch of salt

and then I love black pepper and then olive oil.

I make sure that we're starting on a low

and then slowly work our way up in speed.

Always taste things because you can season along the way.

I'm gonna add a touch more salt, and there you have it,

my pesto.

All that's left is to get my toppings

and put it all together.

So now we are going to prepare our toppings

for our sandwich.

I like to have radishes sometimes with sandwiches and I want

them sliced really nicely thinly and uniformly.

So I am going to use a mandolin.

Okay.

Now I'm gonna cut my,

[Both] Tomatoes.

Tomato of course is nice,

but sometimes it's really seasonal.

I like thin slices on my chicken sandwich.

I don't like paper thin tomatoes.

The things that we're slicing really need to stand up

to our chicken.

This is how I do it.

We have olives to slice.

I chose red peppers.

I go ahead and toast them or roast them until they're nice

and black.

I'll place them in a bowl and then I'll cover

them with plastic.

So let me take this off.

I'll just kind of slowly scrape it.

And what I like to do sometimes

is just grab like a paper towel

and kind of get any of that excess off.

And now I'm just gonna chop them up so that it's easier

to place on the sandwich.

We're ready to build our sandwich.

So we take our two pieces of bread.

I'm gonna start by putting some of this great pesto

on both sides.

I like a lot of mayo.

You do you.

I'm gonna do me.

You can never have too much sauce.

After you have your mayonnaise

you layer your spinach leaves and then our tomato slices.

So for my chicken sandwich,

I decided to go with a brioche bun.

So now we'll add the chicken.

Then I'm gonna put some radishes.

We're gonna make this a monster sandwich.

Let's use both of these.

My Monterey Jack cheese.

Got this great fresh mozzarella.

And then a few pieces of my roasted red pepper.

I don't like too much tomato.

So I'm just going to do two thin slices, add three pickles.

Now add my lettuce.

I hate lettuce on sandwiches.

I find it to be an abomination.

That's why I like to use spinach.

I'm embedding the olives in our mayonnaise.

Sauce.

So I'm gonna sauce the top bun

and maybe one little drizzle.

Top it off.

We make contact.

This is my chicken sandwich.

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This is my sandwich.

[click]

There you have it.

My chicken sandwich.

[click]

[light music]

Now here's the moment of truth.

[bites]

Oh, slap my face and call me Nancy, um.

That is um.

Spinach is nice and crunchy.

The radishes, picante.

That provolone, shallots.

It's good, believe me.

You get that crusty bread and that crunchy chicken.

And then all of a sudden you're hit with the creaminess

of the mozzarella and the sweetness of the pepper.

And then you get all that nutty flavor from the pesto.

This is the sandwich to have.

Chicken makes a wonderful sandwich with so many options

for cooking, seasoning, and serving.

Let's see how each one of our chefs made theirs.

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Shariff dredged has chicken in wheat flour seasoned

with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning,

which is a blend of ingredients like salt, paprika,

chili powder, and garlic powder.

A Cajun kick that right amount of cayenne.

He was careful to shake off excess flour so that the rest

of the breading doesn't fall off when he fried his chicken.

Only a thin layer of flour will adhere to the moist chicken.

If you have too much flour,

other ingredients will start to fall off

because flour doesn't stick to flour.

Dipping the chicken first in wheat flour allows the starch

and clingy proteins in the flour to adhere

to the smooth moist surface of his chicken.

The wheat flours, irregularly shaped particles also stick

to the buttermilk,

which is the next step in his dredging process.

His third step is to redredge in the flour mixture.

The flower becomes dehydrated and gelatinize

for a crispy coating once it's fried.

This is a conventional way to coat chicken because

it consistently works so well.

Julie used corn starch for her dredging.

Corn starch gave Julia an extra crispy coating

on her chicken because the particles

in corn flour are larger than wheat and absorb less water.

This is gonna be so simple, guys,

you're going to say why don't I do this.

She seasoned her corn starch with dried thyme,

salt, pepper, chopped fresh chives and Marish pepper,

which is from Turkey and is similar to paprika

or Aleppo pepper, but slightly sweet.

It brings a complex smokiness to Julie's dredge.

Don't use this much unless you're me.

Danielle used a classic breading method,

but with a level three flavor profile.

She salted her chicken first,

which is always a good first step.

The reason I season from a high is because

I don't want chunks of seasoning salt on one piece

of the chicken.

And then the other piece is not seasoned.

Danielle added salt, pepper, paprika,

and garlic powder to her wheat flour

and dipped her chicken strips just to coat them,

shaking off any excess flour.

Next she coated them in beaten eggs,

which have globular proteins that adhere very well

to the flour mixture.

Finally, she dipped her chicken in a combination

of Panko bread crumbs and pumpkin, sesame and poppy seeds.

Panko is a Japanese type of exceptionally crispy breadcrumb

with a coarse and jagged texture and increased surface area,

which comes in contact with hot oil when frying.

They're specifically made from white wheat bread

that's specially processed.

They're extremely crunchy and crispy when fried.

Danielle chopped her pumpkin seeds so that

they're small enough to adhere to the eggs

when she fried her chicken and also made

for a nicer eating experience

because the pumpkin seed flavors are blended better

and don't overpower her breading.

They're a beautiful green color from the presence

of chlorophyll and are high in protein and fat.

Sesame seeds are very small and added a nice nutty flavor

to Danielle's dredge.

The nuttiness comes from a compound called furfurylthiol,

which is also found in roasted coffee.

The three of these have great flavor,

but there's just something about the sesame seeds

that I just really enjoy.

Poppy seeds are extremely small round

and have a beautiful deep, dark bluish color,

which is actually an optical illusion.

The seed is brown, but covered

with a compound called calcium oxalate in crystal form.

The calcium oxalate acts like a prison which refracts light.

So the blue wavelengths in the spectrum are what

we actually see.

This combination of textures, flavors and colors

is what makes this a level three dish.

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Shariff fried his chicken in peanut oil,

which has a high smoke point and resists rancid

or off flavors because of oxidative stability.

It's excellent for frying.

Shariff maintains an oil temperature

of 350 degrees Fahrenheit before taking it out of the oil.

It took about three minutes on each side.

I've been frying chicken since I was like 13.

So I should be level 10 at frying chicken.

Shariff set his chicken on a rack so that it could drain

and ensures that the crispy exterior won't steam

and become soft.

He salted his chicken hot out of the oil

when it will adhere best to the chicken.

It took about three minutes on each side to cook.

Julie sauteed her chicken in olive oil.

She used less oil than Shariff

because her chicken was thinner

and it didn't have a thick dredge.

Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fatty acids,

and is good for frying.

You don't want to use extra virgin oil for frying

in this case,

as it would change the taste of the chicken as it's heated.

Blended less expensive olive oils do the trick just fine.

Danielle fried her chicken strips and safflower oil,

which comes from the seeds of the safflower plant.

It is a high smoke point and is neutral in flavor.

You don't have to worry about the oil imparting a lot

of flavor onto whatever you're frying.

She fried at a higher temperature, 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

So her chicken cooked more quickly.

Shariff used to rich, buttery and soft brioche bun

for his chicken sandwich.

I love how Shariff put his sauce on his lettuce instead

of his bun.

It's more like dressing a salad that way

and didn't make the bun soggy.

Never have too much sauce.

Julie broiled her chicken and toppings as well

as sliced her sourdough bread so

that the outside was crisp and the inside was soft.

This is so flavorful, colorful, delicious,

and well, tall.

This is not a meal.

This is two meals.

There's lots going on with Julie's chicken sandwich.

And it goes to show you that

you can make a delicious sandwich with ingredients

you might already have on hand or switch out a few too.

The other thing that I love about sandwiches

is pairing different textures.

Danielle used ciabatta bread.

Ciabatta is a moist dough that rises slowly.

As yeast ferments the sugars in the dough over time,

large holes are formed from carbon dioxide

and steam from excess water when the dough is baked.

It's a soft, chewy, flatter bread and delicious

for Danielle's chicken sandwich.

I wanted something that was sturdy

and would hold my chicken, my pesto, and my peppers

and cheese.

It's a beautiful level three masterpiece

of a sandwich with texture, flavor, and color combinations

that are so well balanced you just might want to make two.

It's so colorful.

I love it.

Next time you're in the mood for a chicken sandwich

you can make a tall, short, crunchy, colorful.

There's no shortage of variations for this classic sandwich.

We hope you'll use some of these tips

from our three creative chefs.