These were my contributions to the slider party.
1 pack chicken breasts
1 box Japanese style Panko bread crumbs
4 Tablespoons flour
milk
baking soda
salt
pepper
oil
1 pack Hawaiian Sweet King rolls
Hamburger style dill pickles
A handful of stolen Polynesian Sauce packets from Chick-fil-A
With the chicken breasts, I cut each into 4 chunks; however, this made for very large sliders. I would recommend slicing some of the thicker cuts in half horizontally to make them more manageable. I then salted the chicken and made the dredge and breading
For the dredge, I mixed about 4 Tablespoons of flour with about a Tablespoon of baking soda in a bowl. I then added milk while stirring briskly until it was the right consistency. Just enough to coat a dipped finger.
I poured the box of panko into a bowl and added some more salt and a good dose of black pepper.
I dipped the chicken in the dredge, then sat them in panko. In order to get as much breading on as possible, I let them set covered in panko for about a minute before pulling them out of the second bowl.
I only had vegetable oil on hand to cook with, but peanut oil is always best for frying. I used a smallish put with about 3 inches of oil heated until it was about 350 F. This is a hard number to hit when you don't have a thermometer or stand alone deep fryer. The first few pieces I tossed in got too brown on the outside while the inside was still raw. Once I got the temp right, it took about 3 minutes to cook the chicken all the way through and at 350 F, the panko was just able to get nice and golden.
To keep the chicken crispy, it is important to not but them in an air tight container. Just set them on some paper towel to let the oil drain off and as they cool they will stay crispy.
I split the Hawaiian King rolls in half, placed a single dill pickle slice on each, set down the chicken, and drizzled on some Polynesian sauce. I found that each packet would cover about 2 1/2 sliders.
Another burger for ya. In the meat section you will find Romano and Gouda cheeses mixed into the meat itself. A healthy portion of cheese that is. The burger itself was flame broiled over charcoal which we finally got going after some vigorous fanning action. While the burger was on the grill I dashed on some Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper.
That meat was topped with a crushed raspberry and blueberry mixture and lettuce.
On first burger (this one was the second) I mixed the berries right into the meat. This however made the meat too wet. I was afraid that when I placed it on the grill it would just drip through the grate. But with some careful flipping, I kept it in tact. The taste of the berries didn't really come through, and that is why I made the second one.
Or, Boiga-splosion, as I prefer it. So you might have heard that a few of us got together and cooked some stuffed burgers. Well it's all a lie and, though I may have lost the civil case, you can't prove a word of it. But, if we had done it, this is how it would have happened. (above is an artists rendering of what one of these hypothetical burgers may have looked like.)
Mine would have been stuffed with smoked gouda, slapped with basil and garlic salt, pan-fried in olive oil for 4 minutes on both sides, splashed while still in the pan with white cooking wine and cooked an additional 2 minutes on each side. It might have been served on a toasted bun, topped with caramelized mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and finished with a fig and red onion tapenade and green leaf lettuce.
Don't ring the bell. Remember, this never actually happened.
http://chicagohamburger.com/Where: 3749 E. Indian School Road - Phoenix, Arizona
What: Some of the best burgers in Arizona.
This place has been one of our favorites for years now. We were originally turned onto it by Mike, who had originally seen it in a vision after hours of torturous vomiting induced by ingesting the sacred ayahuasca vine on one of his weekly excursions to the Amazon.
It is greasy. It is messy. It will give you heartburn, and just sort of generally mess your whole system up potentially. But ignore all that, because most importantly it is super, duper good. The place has charm up the flue, and a staff that is really friendly, and obviously bonded like family. It's all run by this guy Bob who is one of the coolest, and nicest people I've ever met.
Anyway, onto the food:
This particular outing I went with my usual - the 1/3 pound cheddar burger, with a side of fries. It's big and fantastic, and ranks in the top 3 of my favorite burgers anywhere. It's got cheddar in the title, but instead of using real cheese they use that fake, cheez-wizish stadium stuff that just makes it that much greasier. Some people would view fake cheese like that as a negative, and for most everything else I would too, but in a burger - the kind that seems to celebrate ignoring better judgement and lets good health be damned - it's exactly what the doctor ordered.
I would like to take this opportunity to point out, for those of you who haven't seen it already, our restaurant map. It is currently featured at the very bottom of this blog, so if you scroll down you'll find it. Basically, our plan is to put any restaurant that gets reviewed on this blog, good or bad, on the map. So don't hesitate to post a review for any restaurant. Pictures are appreciated but not necessary.
