Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Sandwiches

This homemade sandwich is an easy reinvention of my favorite sandwich at Breadwinners Cafe, the Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Sandwich. This is a very easy sandwich, perfect for a Friday night dinner at the end of a long week. I usually have most of these ingredients on hand, and if you have leftover chicken that makes the sandwich even easier. Making this sandwich at home also lets me share two of my favorite products with you!

Fischer & Wieser is a fantastic company that specializes in sauces, spreads, jellies, dressings, and salsas. My tiny local grocery store has a very small selection of these products, but it does carry the Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, something I use for lots of different recipes. Check out their website to see all of their products and ideas! 

I love Borden's Shredded Gouda because it melts much more easily, especially on sandwiches, than if I shredded a big chunk of Gouda myself...they must have changed the composition a bit so that it melts at a lower temperature. 

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Ingredients:

non-stick spray

1 loaf of ciabatta or other hearty bread

2 breasts of chicken, thinly sliced

1/2 a cup of shredded Gouda

4 tablespoons of Fischer & Wieser Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Steps:

1. Slice the ciabatta loaf into two 3 inch pieces, and then cut in the middle to expose the soft interior of the bread.

2. Thinly slice the re-heated chicken breasts and then set aside.

3. Place one piece of bread of each 3 inch piece in a skillet heavily coated with non-stick spray. Heat the skillet to medium heat. 

4. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of Gouda on each piece of bread in the skillet. 

5. Let the Gouda begin to melt, and then place the sliced chicken on top of the cheese.

6. Carefully drizzle 2 tablespoons of the Chipotle sauce over each sandwich half. 

7. Add the other piece of bread to your sandwiches and press down. Cook for another minute. 

8. Carefully flip each sandwich and press down again. You want both sides to be pressed and crispy, but not burned. Cook on this other side for about 3 minutes. 

9. Pull off the skillet and enjoy with sweet potato fries! 

Cort playing the piano with me.

Cort and Shafer cuddled up with me at the piano!

Bunker's Reuben Sandwich

Bunker conceptualized this sandwich. He likes Reuben sandwiches, but likes parts of them much more than others. So, we took his least favorite parts (the rye bread, the corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut) and used some of his favorite ingredients (sourdough bread, sliced chicken breast,  muenster cheese and coleslaw). The result was a messy but tasty new sandwich!

Along side the sandwich, I served baked sweet potato chips.

How can you play around with a traditional sandwich to make it more your own?

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Ingredients:
Two slices of sourdough bread
One chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of coleslaw
2 tablespoons of Russian dressing
2 slices of Muenster cheese

Steps:
1. Gather your ingredients and begin to heat the skillet to medium-high heat.

2. Add the bread to the pan with non-stick spray.

3. Add the cheese and chicken one of the bread slices.

4. Let cook and brown for about five minutes.

5. Remove both pieces of bread from the pan.

6. Add the coleslaw to the side with the chicken, and add the Russian dressing to the empty piece of bread.

7. Serve with sweet potato chips and enjoy!

Toasties

Toasties, basically European grilled sandwiches, are incredibly simple, versatile and satisfying. A few summers ago, Bunker and I backpacked through Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. As I have stated before, I am a picky eater...and the further east we traveled...the more difficult it was to find easily identifiable foods!

View of Zell am See from the other side of the lake, a village perfectly tucked in among the mountains and heavy clouds.

Another picture from Zell am See during our hike.

One day in Zell am See, Austria (one of the most beautiful places in the world) after a long hike we stumbled upon an adorable little restaurant with a sweet little eating area overlooking the lake. The people next to us ordered "toasties" and we asked what those were...and I was just so happy to hear the description...basically a grilled cheese sandwich with ham! Yum! So, from that meal onward, I ordered toasties, and I was always pleased with each one. What was the most fun was how the format of the toasties stayed the same country to country, and yet even the slightest variation (different breads, cheeses, meats, spreads, accompaniments and environments) changed the whole experience.

 Restaurant where I ate my first toasty!

Dinner in Zell am See with our dear friend Eric who moved to Austria and met his beautiful bride Ilse!

Without further ado...here is our version of a delicious toasty!

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Ingredients:
Hearty bread, sliced in to 4 thick sandwich slices
4 slices of honey ham
2 slices of smoke Gouda cheese
1 tablespoon of Durkee's Sauce (this is Bunker's favorite spread, kind of a mix between mayonnaise and mustard)

Steps:
1. Heat a heavy skillet to medium high heat and coat with a small amount of olive oil or butter. Collect all of your ingredients while you wait for the pan to fully heat.

2. Place 2 of the pieces of sliced bread onto the skillet with the sliced cheese on top.

3. Heat the ham in another smaller skillet so that it browns slightly.

4. Place the heated ham on top of the cheese. The heated ham will aid in the melting of the cheese.

5. Spread the other two slices of bread with Durkee's Sauce.

6. Place the bread on top of the rest of the sandwiches.

7. Press down.

8. Flip the sandwiches over after about 5 minutes (from the time of putting the initial slices of bread and cheese onto the skillet), making sure that the bread has browned but not burned.

9. Cook for another 5 minutes, again, check to make sure the bread is browning, but not burning!
10. Remove and enjoy this fun and easy treat! Try out your own combinations of your favorite cheeses, meats, breads, and spreads!

Shafer loves to cuddle!

Orange Cranberry Chicken Salad

My husband is obsessed with chicken salad. Pretty much any given day of the week if you ask Robert what he wants for lunch his response will be, "Chicken salad sandwich." Our favorite place to purchase chicken salad sandwiches uses dried cranberries and almonds in the salad and an orange cranberry bread. I'm a big fan of orange and cranberries together, so I decided to make my own chicken salad recipe that would incorporate both.

The result was delicious. As this was my first attempt at this recipe, I certainly have in mind some changes I would make for next time. Mainly, instead of shredding the chicken by hand I would instead place the chicken in a food processor to finely shred the chicken. This would allow the salad to stick together better rather than being a loose mixture.

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Orange Cranberry Chicken Salad
Ingredients
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons freshly sqeezed orange juice
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
zest of a medium orange
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 cup toasted slivered almonds

Instructions
Begin by toasting the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant, set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, white wine vinegar and orange juice.

Whisk to combine, set aside.

In a larger bowl, combine the chicken, orange zest, shallots, celery and almonds.

Pour in the dressing.

Stir until thoroughly combined. Serve on bread as a sandwich or with crackers, fruit and cheese.

Enjoy!