Hot Chicken Sandwich

Yes. I’ve eaten chicken before. Yes I’ve cooked chicken before. Yes I’ve handled chicken before.

No laughing. Remember no laughing.

I’ve never cooked a whole chicken. Nope. Never.

I had my first experience last week. Was it delish.  Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. Worth what you ask? Man I so wish I had pictures of this procedure but I knew getting through “cooking this chicken” was going to be tough.

Ok enough already. Here goes:

So I have this thing with bones. I don’t know why so don’t even ask. I just hate eating meat on a bone. Will I? Yes, I’ve graduated over the years and now I pick meat off of the bone if need be. For example, ribs, they are so good, but I just started eating them on a bone this year. Another example is Chicken on a bone, it’s always so full of flavor, sometimes more flavor, how about chicken wings, the marinades and all the different kinds of ways you can make them (I’ve discovered since my joy of cooking has come alive), I sued to make my husband (ok fiance at the time) pick it off the bone for me, now I can do it myself. Hey it’s something. And not for nothing but I don’t even like dark meat, on a chicken or turkey.

So……….I’ve been dying to try cooking a whole chicken for quite some time now. My husband and I recently made a trip to Canada to my in-laws house for a wedding. If you know anything about Canada you have to know about two things, one, Hot Chicken Sandwiches and two Poutine. I wanted to make my husband a Hot Chicken Sandwich because, well he loves it and I knew this meal would be something he would REALLY love me for. Poutine is basically french fries topped with curd cheese and a special gravy they sell in Canada called Poutine Sauce. Every time my MIL goes to Canada to visit her sister she picks us up the basics, Poutine Sauce, Ketchup Chips, Curd Cheese and sometimes even there soup, their soup is fabulous.

Ok back to the nasty chicken. So after getting some advice from others, I was off to go buy and gut my whole chicken. Some people had told me that some chickens will have the “innards” in a bag in the center of the cavity so when I remove the “innards” at least it’s all in a bag and I can just throw it away and call it a day. Well I didn’t know which chicken would have this so called “bag”, I read a few of the descriptions, how to cook, all that stuff. Another thing, OMG Chickens are expensive!! I ended up splurging and spending an extra $5 and bought an organic chicken because on the back of the package it said that I would have to remove the bag with the innards in it before cooking. Score!!! I found a chicken with a bag in it!!! WRONG.

So I put on my gloves and ripped open the bag (Insert picture here of me doing this because it would have been quite the scene I bet!) I reached into the cavity and started pull stuff out, and more stuff, and more stuff, I was like, seriously, first off where is the bag? Stupid me was so grossed out by gutting out this chicken that I putting it in the garbage disposal was the furthest thing from my mind, Another words it probably wasn’t the best place to put it! AH! I know I know I’m making it sound like I caught this poor bird, strangled it, chopped it’s head off, de-feathered it and cooked it whole!!!! I don’t know why but that’s how I felt.

The best way I can explain why I hate the thought of this procedure is because it resembles a live bird!! All it’s parts and legs and arms are all right there, yes I love meat, yes I enjoy cooking it but by god I don’t want to think what it was before it was in my belly!!!

Ok ok, back to my chicken. Once I removed everything, or so I hoped, I patted it dry and seasoned it with salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence and literally threw it into the Crock Pot. I have to admit, it smelled amazing within a couple of hours. As the day went on I was a bit hesitant on how I was going to “de-bone” this chicken to make my Hot Chicken Sandwiches…….

In steps hubby. Hubby to the rescue! Well I did the breasts, I love white meat and it did literally fall off of the bones so it wasn’t all that bad, way better than getting that bird into the Crock! Then hubby finished the rest for me.

It had such an amazing flavor, I know I didn’t do anything special, it’s not even worth typing the recipe because no one else has this “fear” of cooking a whole chicken so I just thought it would be fun to tell my story and at least show you the end result we got.

Now yes I did buy Poutine Sauce from a can but you can make it yourself if your interested in making this sandwich. Go visit my friend Susan over at The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen to see how to make it, it’s easy. Hey it’s gravy it can’t be that hard!

Curd Cheese, I know what the heck is that right? Here is the proper definition: Cheese Curds are squeaky fresh, delectable cheddar cheese in its natural, random shape and form before being processed into blocks of cheddar. Their flavor is mild with about the same firmness as cheese, but they have a slight rubbery texture. They are somewhat salty. Fresh curds squeak against the teeth when bitten into, a defining characteristic. Cheese curds are sometimes referred to as “squeaky cheese.” Don’t be freaked out, cheese is cheese and it’s good so you have to trust me. All you need is fresh mozzarella balls and cut it up, it’s a little different, but again…….cheese is cheese.

Oh, are you asking what’s up with the peas? Well it’s the French tradition to add some cooked peas on top of the Hot Chicken Sandwich! Don’t ask, I didn’t, I just made it the way the French do for my hubby.

Here is our finished project folks!! Yes I used one piece of bread vs. two for my dish, I don’t know why I bother cutting out things it’s not like it stops from actually gaining weight!

Let’s talk about some other awesome dishes that you could make if you wanted to make a whole chicken some day:

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Chicken Pot Pie

Momma’s Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Creamy Chicken Chowder

Skinny Chicken Waldorf Salad