Zesty Pulled-Chicken with Portobello Mushrooms Sandwich

Risk - venture - dare! These are some of the words that define my daughter's love for food. On innumerable occasions I have seen her dish out recipes that she painstakingly makes from scratch - NO shortcuts for her!
So it was not at all a surprise when I received a message from her saying that she had tried a new recipe over the weekend and as was expected it turned out to be scrumptious!
Thank you dear daughter for sharing the recipe!

Pulled-Chicken with Portobello Mushrooms Sandwich
Makes Approx. 10-12 Sandwiches
Slow-cooking:  Up-to 3 hours
Preparation: 30 Minutes

Ingredients
For Slow-cooked Chicken
1 Whole Chicken + 3 Leg Pieces
1 Onion
2 Jalapenos
Handful of Fresh Coriander Leaves
1 Bay Leaf

Dry Rub for Chicken (1 tsp each)
Black pepper
Red Chilli Powder
Cumin Powder
Garlic Powder
Crushed Dried Fenugreek Leaves
Salt to taste

Vegetable Broth
4 Cups Water
1 cube of Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Butter
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Soya Sauce
Zesty Sauce
Cooked broth from the Chicken
3 tsp Butter
3 tsp Corn Flour

Seasoned Portobello Mushrooms
4-5 Portobello Mushrooms
3 tsp Butter
3 tsp Soya Sauce
Salt to taste



Additional Ingredients for Assembly
Burgers Buns
Tangy Salad Dressing
Mayonnaise
Shredded Cheese

Directions

1: Except for the wings, remove the skin from the rest of the chicken and the additional leg pieces. It will help infuse more flavor into the broth. 

2: Turn on the Slow-Cooker and set to ‘High’ and place the meat in the slow cooker.

3: Spread the dry-rub on the meat and make small cuts for the spices to seep in.

4: Add bay leaf, onions and jalapenos (cut in large sizes) into the slow cooker, surrounding the meat well.

5: Take a handful of washed Coriander or Cilantro leaves and spread it around the meat as well.

6: For the vegetable broth, in a separate pan bring the water to boil and mix in all the ingredients mentioned. Cook for about 2 minutes.

7: Once the vegetable broth is ready, pour it into the slow cooker. Cover and let it cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours.

8: Place the cooked chicken in a tray and set aside to cool.

9: To make the zesty sauce, drain the chicken broth into a pan using a sifter and bring to a boil.

10: Place the cooked onions, jalapenos and coriander leaves into a blender and make a paste.

11: In another pan, make the roux for the Zesty sauce. Heat butter and add the corn flour. Cook the mix for about 1 minute and add it to the boiling broth.

12: Add the paste made from the vegetables to the sauce and cook it on slow-medium heat for 15 minutes. The Zesty Sauce is ready once it reaches a thick consistency.

13: Cut the Portobello Mushrooms length-wise and approx. 0.25” in thickness. Melt the butter in a pan and pour the soya sauce on top. Coat well and sprinkle salt for taste.  Remove from pan quickly.

14: Shred the chicken in long and thick pieces and place it in a serving tray. For added flavor, pour and coat the chicken with a tangy salad dressing such as Chipotle Lime or Tuscan Italian.

15: To assemble the sandwich, lightly toast the bun and spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on ach      side. Scoop a bunch of chicken pieces and place it on the bun. Pour the zesty sauce on top and sprinkle the cheese.

Easy to make Sandwiches.

As they say "like mother like daughter," I am seeing my daughters take delightful interest in the art of culinary skills! I am myself very eager to attempt and experiment with food preparation and I see that my daughters too like working with new recipes and they have been receiving handsome compliments for their efforts.

It was a proud moment for me when my daughter's recipe got selected in a local contest - this I am sure is very motivating for her and should further motivate her too keep the ball rolling!

This is a recipe for a simple sandwich but with amazing flavour. The best part is, there is no hunting for ingredients, no rushing to the grocery store, moving from one aisle to another, looking for customer assistance when unable to locate or decipher what a particular ingredient, and also no searching for substitutes!

Sandwiches are no fuss and easy meals, it's all about assembling of things together, this does not in anyway interfere with your other activities. So we owe it to John Montague who is today most known as the man who popularized the sandwich!

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh Coriander

1" Ginger

2 Garlic cloves

3 Tbsp Mayonnaise

4 Green Chillies

salt to taste

1 medium Tomato

1 medium Cucumber

1 medium Red Onion

 Sandwich Bread

Directions:

For the paste:

Put mint, coriander, ginger, garlic, chillies and salt in a mixer and mix until a coarse paste. Transfer the coarse paste in a bowl and mix it with mayonnaise.

For the sandwich:

Cut the tomato, onion and cucumber in thin slices (you will need only 2 to 3 slices for 1 sandwich). Lightly toast 2 breads. Spread the mint chutney paste on one side of each bread. Lay the sliced vegetables on one side of the bread and  lay the 2nd bread on top and voila, your mint chutney sandwich is ready.

Enjoy.