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Wednesday May 23, 2012

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Bob's posh chicken sanger

Posted by: 3AW Radio | 4 November, 2011 - 1:12 PM
Chicken Sanger

THOSE fortunate enough to have spent their Melbourne Cup carnival cruising the Birdcage and flitting from marquee to marquee will have ingested some very clever food with their champagne, which is as it should be.

But when you encounter brilliant canapés or nibbles, there is one important question you have to ask yourself: is this as good as a perfect chicken sandwich? I reckon the answer, most times, is absolutely not.

There are rules, however, and they are these:

- Use only a freshly and perfectly roasted chicken - not poached chicken breast, or any such thing. Briskly roast a well seasoned chicken on a roasting rack over a baking dish with a splash of water and/or wine in it. Ensure the chicken is oiled, salted, peppered, and with a bouquet of herbs and lemon in the body cavity. Turn the chicken on the rack, every 15 minutes, as you roast it - usually for around 75 minutes at 200 C, but that depends on the size of the chicken.

- After roasting the chicken, rest it. Then, pour off the pan juices so that they can set, and you can remove the fat, into a chilled glass bowl. When the chook is at room temperature, run a blade down the breast bone and lift each breast, carefully, away from the frame, being careful to leave the golden skin in place. Now, carefully cube both breasts into 1cm cubes, ensuring you keep the squares of golden skin in the mix.

- Toss the chicken in American mayonnaise - either Best Foods of Hellman's - which you have cut with sour cream and laced with finely chopped chives. Fold it all together gently. And that's your filling.

- On this occasion, I break all my usual food rules: buy a loaf of boring, thickly-sliced supermarket white bread. Now, lightly spread one slice with the set pan juices from which you have removed the fat. Pile the filling on top, then top with a second slice (no need for butter), press gently down and then slice off the crusts.

- And remember, sangers this good should always be eaten with Champagne. And I am not talking about domestic sparkling wine on this occasion, although that could be your second choice. Better, however, to pick up a bottle from whichever great French Champagne house the wine discount places have on special. And chill it well.

You won't regret it, and it still works out, for most of us, much cheaper than having too many flutters on the carnival.

3AW Food Directory

3AW Food 3AW is Food: Melburnians love to eat so it's fortunate we live in the culinary capital of Australia. On this dedicated food page you will find the latest recipes by Bob Hart as well as Tony Leonard's Pub of the Week reviews. La Luna head chef Adrian Richardson also serves up a dish from his own cook book and food reviewer Ela Carte visits one of Melbourne's hottest eateries weekly.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Thats scraping the bottom of the barrel Steve, oops Bob likes the bottom too.

    Banana McCoon Friday 4 November, 2011 - 5:11 PM

  • I thought Bob Brown preferred wedgies>!!

    Steve Friday 4 November, 2011 - 3:53 PM

  • Sounds like something Bob Brown would eat, apparently he is always saying he loves a good sandwich.

    Banana McCoon Friday 4 November, 2011 - 1:37 PM

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