Croque Poulet: Chicken Sandwich Recipe

Our teen chef, Kayla, from The Nerdy Chef, created a chicken sandwich recipe inspired by her love of a sandwich she tasted and her love of a hot soup and sandwich in winter. She'll be bringing you more soups soon.  I created this chicken sandwich recipe after eating a sandwich in a French restaurant, hence the French name (I'm not sure what a croque means, but poulet is chicken).* I loved the combination of gooey cheese, chicken flavored with Herbes de Provence, and salty, crispy bacon all piled on buttery toasted bread. Of course, I had to put my own spin on it, so I changed the cheese and the seasoning of the chicken. The original sandwich had Swiss cheese, but I prefer Provolone. It melts really well and the mild flavor complements the other components. However, you can use any good melting cheese like cheddar, american, or Swiss. The second change is the chicken. If you're running short on time, you can slice up a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store. If I have the time to cook, though, I found something incredibly easy and incredibly tasty. After I cook the bacon, I leave the fat in the skillet and cook the chicken in it. Yes, I take pieces of chicken and saute it in bacon fat. It absorbs all the flavors of the bacon and stays unbelievably juicy. Again, you can always use store-bought chicken, but this method adds another layer of flavor. If you do buy the chicken already cooked, just skip the marinating and chicken-cooking steps. Either way, you will love this chicken sandwich recipe!

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts 8 Slices Bread 3 T Butter 8 Strips Bacon 8 Slices Cheese 2 Cups Buttermilk

Trim the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Marinate in the buttermilk overnight.

Cook the bacon to the desired crispiness. Heat a grill and pat the chicken dry. Grill the chicken until cooked through. Slice into 1/4" thick slices. (If using rotisserie chicken, skip these steps.)

Lay a slice of cheese on each piece of bread. Top half of them with two strips of bacon each and equal portions of the chicken. Lay the other slices of bread on top.

Heat some of the butter in a grill pan or panini press. Cook the sandwiches until browned and cheese is melted.

Makes 4 Sandwiches

*Editor's note: croque in the instance and with a croque-monsieur translates to "crispy" or "crunchy" since the sandwich typically is! 

For more delicious recipes by our Teen Chef, Kayla, check out her blog, The Nerdy Chef!

Chocolate Truffle Mini Tarts

Our teen chef, Kayla, from The Nerdy Chef, is here to help us with an amazing Valentine's Day Chocolate Truffle recipe: I am addicted to these tarts. I absolutely love chocolate, and this has three types (four if you include the decoration): the crust, the filling, and the ganache. I start with my basic pie crust recipe, substituting cocoa powder for part of the flour. After I bake the crust, I make a delicious fudgy filling. It is creamy and velvety with just enough sweetness to complement the slight bitterness of the chocolate. To top it all off, I make a basic chocolate ganache. For Valentine's Day, I like to make white chocolate hearts as a garnish. When the occasion does not call for hearts, you can either leave the tarts plain or experiment with other decorations. All you do is melt some white chocolate and drizzle it in whatever shape or pattern you want. It is the perfect topping for the perfect dessert and a twist on a regular Chocolate Truffle recipe to make it special for a special holiday!

1 Recipe Chocolate Pie Crust (See Below) 1 1/4 Cups + 2 T Cream 11 oz Chocolate Chips 2 Eggs 1 tsp Vanilla 1/4 tsp Salt 1 tsp Corn Syrup

Heat oven to 350F.

Bring 1 1/4 cups cream to a boil, then pour over 9oz chocolate. Whisk until combined, then add the eggs, vanilla, and salt.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the crust and bake until mostly set, 25 minutes. Chill.

Boil the remaining cream. Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining chocolate. Stir in the corn syrup and 1T warm water. Pour onto the cold tart and chill until set, about 3 hours.

Chocolate Pie Crust

1 Cup Flour 1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder 1/4 Cup Sugar 1/4 tsp Salt 1 Stick Butter, Chilled 1 Egg Yolk

Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse until small pieces remain. Combine the egg yolk with a tablespoon of cold water and add in. Pulse until it begins to form a ball, adding more water as necessary. Chill.

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease 10 4" tartlet pans or 1 9-11" tart pan.

Roll the dough out to fit the pan(s). Grease a sheet of foil, then press onto the dough. Fill with pie weights and bake until firm, 10 minutes for tartlets and 20 minutes for a tart. Remove foil and weights; cool.

Makes 10 Tarts or 1 9-11" Tart, Recipe Adapted from www.hummingbirdhigh.com and Bon Appetit

For more delicious recipes by our Teen Chef, Kayla, check out her blog, The Nerdy Chef!

Nutter Butter Love Bites

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and handmade gifts are a surefire way to impress the ones you love. But who has the time? Kim from KC Bakes is back with yet another amazing creation! Although you could certainly dress up her cake pops, marshmallow pops and push pops for Valentine's Day, these Nutter Butter Love Bites are amazingly delicious, simple to make and easy on your wallet.

Taking less than an hour to create, they only involve 3 ingredients and can be made for less than $20! Here’s what you’ll need…

Nutter Butter Love Bites Yields 24 bites

Ingredients:

• One (1) box of Nutter Butter cookies • One (1) 8-oz package of Philadelphia cream cheese, brought to room temperature • Two colors of candy melts

Supplies Needed:

• Food processor o If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a Ziploc bag & rolling pin • Peanut butter cup mold tray (found at any craft store) • 1.5” cookie scoop (not crucial, but it’s helpful to make the same size bites)

OK! Let’s get started…

1. Place the cookies into the food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, place the cookies into a large Ziploc bag, and use a rolling pin to smash them into crumbs.

2. Grind the cookies until you get a fine crumb consistency. You don’t want any big pieces of cookie remaining, or the mixture will not absorb the cream cheese.

3.  (a) In a medium-sized bowl, mix in about a 1/2 of a block of cream cheese… you may end up adding the whole block, but it’s better to start off with a small amount, and add more as you go. I found it easier to use my hands to thoroughly combine the crumbs and cream cheese.  (b) A good test to know if you’ve added enough cream cheese… the mixture should hold its shape when squeezed in the palm of your hand, or measured out with a cookie scoop.

4. Roll the mixture into smooth, round bites. Place them into the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, while you melt your chocolate.

Fill the peanut butter cup mold wells about two-thirds full.

Place the peanut butter bites into the chocolate. If you over-fill the well, the chocolate will spill over the sides and leave an edge around the bites. If you under-fill them, you can see it will leave crevices in the mold.

Once you’ve filled all of the wells in the mold, place the tray into the refrigerator. After 5-10 minutes, the bites will easily pop out of the mold.

Holding the bite upside-down, dip it into your second color of melted chocolate, just up to the edge of the cup.

Allow some of the excess chocolate to drip off into the bowl, then place the bite on a plate to dry. Jazz up your bites by adding some conversation hearts or sprinkles to the tops before the candy hardens. You can also let the top chocolate harden, then drizzle on some of the other color chocolate.

If you want to get really creative, use a toothpick to draw some decorations into the mold wells (top row, shown below). Put the tray into the refrigerator and allow these designs to harden before filling the well with the other color chocolate, then insert the peanut butter ball.

Now that you have the sweetest little homemade treats, find a festive way to package them to add that final personal touch.

1. I found this box at Michaels for $1!

2. Line it with tissue paper to protect your treats.

3. Tuck the paper into the box so that there is nothing hanging over the edges.

4. Voila! The perfect little gift of love that any friend or significant other will be truly touched by.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tutorial!

~ Kim from KC Bakes

For more recipes, check here from KC Bakes, and also follow her around the web… Facebook, Instagram & more!