I know, at least one person out there shrieked at the sight of this title, but please, bare with me; chicken is all I had.
I was hungry, as almost anyone out there has been, and believe it or not, I made this entirely out of left-overs--although my idea of leftovers is probably different than yours. But, it just so happened that I had some left-over chicken from a roast, half of an onion, a half-empty bag of shredded cheese, and a giant roll left over from earlier (I'll post a recipe for these rolls at some point). So I figured, why not. And yes, I did invent a word, and I will strongly be standing behind cheesechicken as the official name.
If you cannot already figure out the recipe for this, here it is. Keep in mind that I improvised as I went along, and you can make your own rendition of this classic sandwich however you like.
Philly-Style Cheesechicken
Ingredients:
- Chicken breast, about half a cup or so, cooked
- Half of a small onion, yellow or white
- Provolone cheese, a quarter cup or so, shredded
- Green pepper, maybe half (not included in this sandwich)
- One hogie roll
- Honey mustard or horseradish sauce to taste
- Chef's knife (and cutting board)
- Skillet
- Toaster oven (optional)
- Spatula (optional)
- A little bit of water
- Cut the roll in half, leaving the end attached. Spread some horseradish sauce (or anything else you prefer--I would try chipotle sauce) on the roll. Toast it open for a few minutes, until the edges start turning brown. Do this while cooking the veggies and the meat, so that they are done at the same time.
- Slice the onion in half-moon slices. This depends on how you cut it in half.
*My recommendation is to cut the onion in half on a meridian (think geography here), place the onion cut side down and slice it. Either way, your final goal is strips of onion.
- If you are using a pepper (as is the classic recipe), slice the pepper into inch-long strips (or a matchstick cut). I simply didn't have one laying around.
- Slice the chicken into thin strips. The same would be done with steak.
- Get your skillet hot, as hot as it gets. Throw some water in, just to get some steam, and what I call roaring beads (you'll see what I am talking about).
- First, put the veggies in and toss them around for a minute or two, squirting some water in every once in a while to get some steam.
*I usually toss things on the skillet, but if you are uncomfortable with that, use a spatula. I don't like having things to clean, so I always skip it. If you are tossing the veggies, do this very quickly and put the skillet back on the fire. If you take your time, the skillet will get cold; you want the heat very high, and the veggies do not cook while the skillet is in the air. Also, do not put too much water in; it is only there to prevent sticking (and to make you look cool if there is a sexy girl watching). If you don't have a squirt bottle, just pour a little bit in from very high above. Don't overdo it, because you are not boiling anything here.
- Add the chicken and toss around for another minute or so (maybe less).
- Add the cheese on top and do one final quick toss. The cheese will stick, so you want it just start to melt, then quickly take it out.
*Take the roll out of the toaster oven right before adding the cheese, so you can put the hot goodness directly onto it.
- The notes are in-line this time, since I think they are more pertinent there.