Fried Chicken Benedict

Unlike the last two posts, our latest Man Vs. Food excursion is more emulation than inspiration, as we only changed a single ingredient from the original recipe. This delectable meal was brought about due to the Las Vegas episode on Season 2. The idea is to take two heavy breakfast favorites, the chicken fried chicken and the eggs benedict, and meld them into one single perfect dish.

The Fried Chicken Benedict is a layered tower that starts with a base of griddle mashed potatoes.




This is my very do-able wife stirring chives into the mashed potatoes to give them a bit more color and life.

We wanted to make absolutely everything from scratch, so I put together a coating for the chicken breasts consisting of flour, corn flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and chili powder for some spice.


The recipe on the episode uses a full one pound chicken breast, which seemed a little excessive even to food lovers like ourselves. Since we were planning on feeding several people I pounded out the chicken breasts and then cut them in half, and they still ended up bigger then strictly necessary. You can also see my oh-so-stylish (and insanity inducing) Cthulhu apron.

Megan put together buttermilk biscuits to go on top of the griddle mash. As an interesting side note, this was the first time she ever made roll out biscuits, as she usually makes drop biscuits.

A spicy chipotle sauce goes on top of the tower instead of the more traditional hollandaise sauce that would accompany eggs benedict. To make the sauce we mixed together chiles in adobo sauce with heavy cream in the blender. It didn't end up that pretty red color, so I added in paprika to bring to the right hue.

Here's the chicken breasts just before getting dipped in egg wash and dredged in the coating. Each breast was rubbed with pepper, sage, rosemary, and garlic powder.

Hey, what are these guys doing here? You'll see soon enough....

Finally the construction actually begins! Here's two big dollops of mashed potatoes getting fried on the griddle so that the bottom is just slightly crispy and the top is nice and hot.

The finished griddle mash is the base of the tower. If only it knew then the weight it would have to support!

The next layer consists of the buttermilk biscuits and the finished fried chicken breast.

We layered fresh spinach leaves and tomato slices on top of the chicken breast. What would a breakfast meal be without a little bacon as well?

And now for the layer of scrambled eggs!

We're finally nearing the top of the tower. This is a layer of cheddar cheese we cooked directly on the griddle to act as a gooey top and hold everything in place.

Finally the chipotle sauce is drizzled all over everything and the Fried Chicken Benedict is complete!

I think my face pretty much says it all. This is one meal I can guarantee you won't be disappointed in. The only problem? Where to attack first?!?

The Corned Beef French Fry Sandwich

We've been going through and re-watching the first two seasons of Man Vs. Food thanks to the glory that is Netflix instant streaming via the Wii. Every episode has given us new ideas of amazing meals to try out, and we've got a stack of potential recipes just waiting to be made. Our most recent concoction came about due to the Pittsburgh episode of the first season, when Adam Richman heads out to the Primanti Bros. restaurant for some unique sandwich creations.

The idea of putting fries directly on the sandwich piqued my interest, so I decided to try putting my own twist on one of the mouth watering Primanti Bros. designs. They use hand cut Italian bread, and I followed suit, picking up a nice loaf from Albertson's. I chose a brand that had a slightly crusty outside with a soft and sweet inside.


After carefully cutting the bread into several thick slices I started assembling the core of the sandwich: thin cuts of corned beef. The Primanti Bros. sandwiches all include coleslaw, but I wanted to take it a different direction will still keeping in some of the sweet with the savory. I picked up the Beaver brand "Coney Island Hot Dog" flavor mustard, which uses relish as a main ingredient. To make it more interesting and add in a little spice I got some flavored hummus as well.



I knew the taste and texture of the fries would be important, so I went with plain frozen fries that weren't already seasoned. Chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and roasted red pepper were sprinkled liberally on top before these bad buy spuds hit the oven.


Here's the mixture of the cucumber dill hummus, Coney Island Hot Dog mustard, and a heaping teaspoon of horseradish for some real kick!


The hummus mixture was applied in a thick layer to both halves of the Italian bread.


Echoing the Pimanti Bros. method of sandwich building, I opted to cook the corned beef slightly and melt mozzarella cheese directly on top.


The beef and melted cheese were added to one side, while tomato slices graced the other end of this non-traditional sandwich.


Still piping hot from the oven, the fries got tossed on in a row. Each new layer made this exponentially more delicious, and as odd as the individual ingredients all sound, they work great together.


Here's a scandalous side view of the sandwich showing off a little fry and letting out some gooey melted cheese.


Jake didn't want to go with the hummus, as tahini makes his tummy unhappy, so he uses a mixture of spicy grown mustard and ranch instead. Chow down time!



There are a lot of ways to change up the sandwich we are looking forward to trying. We're thinking of using waffle fries next time, and possibly thin slices of buffalo chicken breast and buffalo sauce flavored cheddar.

Hey there food blog readers! We're taking a break from your regularly scheduled Megan blogs so I can show off a real monstrosity of a sandwich I made awhile back. We've been watching the "Man Vs. Food" TV show, and all the ridiculously mouth watering meals Adam Richman partakes of have given us a lot of ideas for our own over sized entrees.

In one of the episodes a cook added macaroni and cheese to a cheeseburger, which got me thinking there might be some interesting applications there. I'm a fan of making sandwiches with chicken and wing sauce, so I decided to combine the two ideas. The base of the sandwich is a chicken thigh (skin removed) that I coat heavily with several different seasoning mixtures. The thigh gets baked instead of pan cooked.

Here's me putting together the first layer on an onion bun. That's a mixture of wing sauce and horseradish on the bun for added kick. The macaroni and cheese goes on top.



The next layer is strips of extra thick bacon. I decided this already absurd sandwich needed to go to a whole new level, so I also put on popcorn shrimp. The bottom layer is the finished chicken and more of the wing sauce/horseradish concoction.



That's the face of happiness, right there.




Here's the finished product, in all it's messy and monstrous glory. Part way through I had to start using a fork to catch all the cast offs. This was easily one of the best sandwiches I've eaten, and I'd definitely pay twelve bucks or more to eat this in a restaurant. The combination of flavors and textures is absolutely spot on, and everything mixes together perfectly in your mouth for a truly "Man Vs. Food" worthy meal.

Albertson's Ad (Wed. 5/5 through Tues. 5/11)

For the past three weeks Ty and I have been picking up the Albertson's store ad when it comes out on Wednesdays. What began as a diversion to get out of the house for a few minutes has become a real money-saver. Though we still do most of our weekly grocery shopping at WalMart, Albertson's always has a few of the items that we need (or want) for less.

Here are some of the highlights from this week's Albertson's ad:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenders $1.99/lb.
Pork Shoulder Boneless Country-Style Ribs $1.99/lb.
New York Strip Steak $4.99/lb.
Wild Caught Lobster Tail $4.99/each
Kellogg's Cereal 5 for $10 (buy 5 and receive a $4 coupon for your next visit!)
16 oz. Butter $1.79
Fresh Express Salad $1.88 with coupon
Cottonelle Toilet Paper 12-pack $4.88 with coupon
SoBe Lifewater 10 for $10
Mountain Dew Dewmocracy 10 for $10

Pick up an ad from your local Albertson's stores to see more of the items that are on sale this week. There are a lot of special items on sale for Mother's Day (May 9th) including flowers, boxed chocolates and other gifts.