The Great Barbecue Chicken Galore

Imagine biting into a delicious mouth-watering barbecue chicken sandwich. Hearing the crunch of the toasty buttered buns. Tasting all of the flavors of the sautéed vegetables and the grilled chicken, the sweet and savory barbecue sauce, all in one bite. Pulling away from the sandwich leaving the stringy cheese behind. This could be in your hands in just a few moments.

To make this amazingly delicious sandwich, you will need the following:

• Bread of any sort (I would recommend regular hamburger buns, they seem to work the best)
• Chicken breast (preferably skinless, they seem to shred a lot easier)
• Homemade barbecue sauce (see down below two to make)
• Vegetables of your choice (I'm choosing to use lettuce, onions, red and green bell peppers, and mushrooms - you also definitely have the choice to sauté the vegetables, and to use whatever brand of vegetables you would like. I will be sautéing the onions and peppers. I am using Pennsylvania Dutch mushrooms, which are already sautéd.)
• Any cheese of your choosing (I will be using sliced colby jack cheese. I think this just gives the sandwich a better flavor overall, and colby jack cheese is my favorite type of cheese.)

To make the homemade barbecue sauce, you will need the following:

• 2/3 cup of ketchup
• 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 tsps of smoked paprika'
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 2 tsps of Worcestershire sauce

For this sandwich, you're going to want to spread the chicken to give it the best possible texture. Shredding the chicken also makes eating it a lot easier.

The chicken that you'll want for the best results is skinless chicken breast. This is a lot easier to shred and will make the overall process easier.

Seasoning the chicken breast is totally optional since the chicken will be covered in barbecue sauce. For this recipe, I will not be seasoning the chicken breast. Shredded chicken is already meant to be a blank canvas to be able to add different sauces to it.

To cook the chicken, place the chicken breast into a medium saucepan or skillet. You'll want to cover the chicken with 1 inch of water not broth.

Bring the water to a gentle boil. Once the water is boiling, you'll want to reduce the heat of the stove and let the chicken and water sit for about 12-16 minutes.

When the center of the chicken reaches about 165 degrees F or about 74 degrees C, it is done. If the chicken is super dry or tough, that is an indication that the chicken is overdone, or overcooked. The lowest temperature to remove the chicken from the heat is 160 degrees F or about 71 degrees C. Continue to check your chicken towards the end, making sure that it does not exceed 165 degrees F or 74 degrees C.

There are multiple different ways to shred chicken. The easiest way is to use a hand mixer. Simply just place the chicken at the bottom of the mixing bowl, and use the hand mixer on low speed. The chicken should just simply break apart. If you don't have a hand mixer, you're able to just pull the chicken apart with two forks or your hands. You're also able to shred the chicken as much or as little as you would like. You can shred the chicken into tiny pieces, or even cut your chicken with a knife into thinner smaller chicken strips. Whatever you feel sounds more appealing to you personally.

Whatever vegetables you choose to use will taste so much better sautéed and seasoned. The vegetables that I chose to use include red and green bell peppers, lettuce, and mushrooms. I will not be sautéing the lettuce solely because I believe that lettuce tastes better raw, however you may sauté your vegetables however you want.

First, you'll want to slice the peppers and onions into strips. This will make it easier for the juices and seasoning to reach every part of the vegetable. It will also make it easier to apply the vegetables to the sandwich.

After you've sliced the vegetables, you'll want to add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a saucepan or skillet along with your sliced vegetables. You'll want to add your seasoning. I will be using the following: Kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried oregano.

Continue cooking the vegetables and seasonings for 15-17 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft and cartelized, add in 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 1 teaspoon of minced garlic. Once you have that added, allow that to cook for about 1 more minute. After you've allowed everything to cook together for 1 minute, you're done sautéing your vegetables and they're almost ready to be added to your sandwich.

You'll want to use good quality bread. For me, I'll be using brioche buns. This difference between a brioche bun and a regular hamburger bun is the increase of ingredients used to make the bread, including eggs, butter, and a dairy product, usually in the form of liquid.

You have the option to either toast the bun before and after applying all of the other ingredients to the sandwich, or just after applying the other ingredients or just not toast the bun at all. I don't recommend this, only because the barbecue sauce may soak the bread and it may not turn out the best. I am going to do a light toast before adding the ingredients just to make the cheese melt easier.

To toast it, you're able to do it really any way you'd like. I will simply be toasting the bread in the toaster. It's the simplest and fastest way. (You'll always want to keep a clean workstation just to stay organized throughout the process of making this sandwich).

After I've toasted my bun, I will be adding the cheese. Any cheese you want to use is totally fine. It's really just a personal preference. And just like everything, adding cheese is optional, but I think it will give it the best quality possible. I will be using Colby Jack cheese because it is my favorite cheese, but mainly because it melts the easiest. (I would definitely try to stay away from mozzarella cheese, just because it's a little rougher when it melts and it's really just not the best to use on sandwiches).

After you've finished toasting your hamburger buns and applying your cheese, you're almost ready to put your sandwich together.

You could definitely start making your barbecue sauce before everything, especially since it does have to cool down a bit before you add it to your chicken to apply to your sandwich.

To make your barbecue sauce, you'll need these ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of Ketchup
• 1/4 cup of Apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of Brown sugar
• 2 tsps of Smoked paprika
• 1 tsp of Ground cumin
• 1 tsp of Kosher salt
• 1 tsp of Black pepper
• 2 tsps of Worcestershire sauce

The procedure for making this zesty barbecue sauce is actually pretty simple. All you have to do is combine all of these ingredients in a medium saucepan, allow the ingredients to simmer over medium heat and cook them together for five minutes. Your barbecue sauce is going to be hot, so you may want to let it cool down for a bit before actually applying it to the chicken.

• First, you want to start with covering your shredded chicken in your homemade barbecue sauce. This is a simple step. You can do this multiple different ways. I'll be adding chicken to a bowl and just add the barbecue sauce and stir it all together until all of the chicken is covered in the sauce.
• After you've covered your chicken in your barbecue sauce, you'll want to obtain your bun. Add the shredded barbecue chicken to your bread. You can add as much and as little as you would like. After all, it is your sandwich. (If you skipped out on toasting your bread before adding everything, you can for sure do that step either now or after you've added everything else.)
• The rest is pretty self explanatory. You'll want to add your vegetables to your sandwich, and you're ready to eat it. If you would like, you're able to toast your bread after this step.

After you've finished this step, your sandwich is done and ready to be eaten. Sit back, and enjoy the creating you just made!