Monday, November 24, 2008

Pollastre (Catalan Chicken Sandwich)


I had this about ten million times when in Barcelona. There is a sandwich stand in Plaza Sant Jaume (in Barri Gotic) called "Conesa." The first sign that this might be a good place to eat was the line twenty people-deep at any given time of day. I was lucky enough to be staying with a friend about 2 blocks away. My favorite sandwich was the "pollastre," I am going to try to reproduce it here.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 onion
1 tablespoon alioli
2 large pieces lettuce
1 tablespoon butter
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Pa amb tomaquet

Rinse chicken breasts in cool running water and pat dry with paper towel. Using a meat mallet, pound breasts until thin between two pieces of wax paper. Salt and pepper chicken. Cover and refrigerate for later.

Wash onion and cut into long, thin strips. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large saute over medium heat and add onions, stir so that onions are coated with butter. Turn heat down to medium-low and stir occasionally, until onions are lightly golden (about 20-25 minutes).

Heat up about 1 tablespoon olive oil in clean sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan and turn down to medium. Cook about 4 minutes on each side or until juices run clear (you can also cut into chicken, pink=undercooked, white=good to go). Remove chicken and cut into thin strips.

Wash lettuce and cut into thin strips. Place caramelized onions, lettuce strips and chicken on tomato bread. Drizzle alioli over chicken and top with another piece of bread. Grill on panini press for 5 minutes.

2 comments:

  1. That's me! I´m that friend you refer to! I feel famous now. Hi Carlos!

    Seriously though, I am loving your blog. I can actually hear you saying the recipes in my mind as I read them, which means I guess that the blog captures your authentic voice (or, I´m going mad).

    Also, I like that the recipes don't presume that the reader has a really high level of hygiene or cooking know-how: you explicitly say to use a CLEAN sauté pan and to WASH the lettuce before using it. You caught me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was wondering if you would ever be interested in becoming a featured publisher with Foodbuzz.com? If so please conctact me at lizstambaugh@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

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