My introduction to the chicken cutlet sandwich was thanks to my younger brother. Out of my entire family, my younger brother is the most adventurous when it comes to trying new foods at as many restaurants/delis/specialty stores/markets as he can. Several years ago, my younger brother came home with a sandwich he had purchased at a local butcher/meat shop in Brooklyn. I’ve passed by the local butcher shop many times, but never thought about buying a sandwich from the shop. When my brother unwrapped the sandwich, I didn’t expect much of it. As he was eating the sandwich, he kept telling me how delicious it was. I was skeptical because I didn’t think a sandwich can be that delicious. He offered to cut a small piece for me to try so I would be able to understand how good the sandwich was. When I took a bite out of the small piece he shared with me, I was pleasantly surprised at how well balanced the flavors in the sandwich were. The sandwich had a crispy chicken cutlet, roasted red pepper, fresh mozzarella, tomato, lettuce, and mayo. For such a simple sandwich, the flavors worked so well together. I decided to recreate the sandwich from many years ago over the weekend. I’ve made chicken cutlet just a few times over the last few years for Kevin. He loves anything fried so whenever he gets to choose what we eat, he would pick something fried. This weekend, he was craving something fried, so I decided to make chicken cutlet sandwiches for both of us to eat for lunch. After I was done preparing the sandwiches, he ate one up right away.
Chicken Cutlet Sandwich
(Makes 8 sandwiches)
Chicken Cutlet:
· 2 chicken breasts, sliced into eight equal pieces and pounded thin
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ½ cup all-purpose flour
· ½ cup panko bread crumbs
· ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· ¼ teaspoon oregano
· ¼ teaspoon paprika
· 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
· 1 ½ cups vegetable oil
Sandwich:
· 4 large romaine lettuce leaves, divided into eight pieces
· Tomato, sliced into eight round slices
· Fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into eight slices
· Roasted red pepper, cut into eight pieces
· Eight small ciabatta bread, toasted and sliced in half
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Season the chicken breasts with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Set aside. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet. Set aside.
2) Heat a Dutch oven pot on medium heat. Add the vegetable oil. Let the vegetable oil heat up before frying the chicken. The oil is ready when you see waves form in the oil.
3) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, bread crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika. Set aside.
4) In another medium bowl, add the lightly whisked eggs. Set aside.
5) Prepare the frying batter by setting up two shallow bowls. In the first bowl, combine the flour, bread crumbs, cheese, salt, pepper, oregano, and paprika. In the second bowl, add the lightly whisked eggs.
6) Use tongs (or chopsticks) to pick up one piece of chicken. Dip the chicken in the first bowl and coat with the flour mixture. Dip the chicken in the second bowl and coat with the whisked eggs. Dip the chicken back into the first bowl with the flour mixture. Continue this process with the rest of the chicken breasts.
7) Fry the chicken in the Dutch oven pot one at a time for about 2 minutes per side until the chicken breasts are golden brown. Rest each piece of chicken breast over the wire rack to prevent the chicken from becoming soggy at the bottom. Continue the process with the rest of the chicken breasts until all the chicken breasts are fried.
8) Transfer the chicken breasts resting over the wire rack and baking sheet into the oven. Let the chicken bake for 5 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts from the oven.
9) To make the sandwich, layer the bottom piece of ciabatta bread with a piece of lettuce, roasted pepper, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and chicken cutlet. Close the sandwich with the top piece of ciabatta bread. Continue with the remaining ciabatta bread.
Takeaways: The added step of baking the chicken for five minutes in the preheated oven definitely makes for a crispier chicken cutlet. In the past, I just served chicken cutlet after frying without also baking it. When I added the additional step this time around, the chicken was extra crispy that even Kevin noticed the additional crunch.