Fried Chicken Bruschetta Burgers

The Valentine's Day hoopla was totally overshadowed in the PNW by Snowpocalypse 2019.  We have been intermittently snowed in for the past 2 weeks, and it has been pretty glorious.  We're those people that totally embrace hunkering down any chance we get, and this was perfect stay-in conditions.  We dooms-day prepped and everything  to make sure we were ready for a fun few days at home.  I stocked up on all the food & booze needed to keep us happy & fed for like 10 days, so definitely enough supplies to conquer a weekends worth of snow days.  I'm pretty good at prepping for being housebound.  My motto is always buy enough so you have options & no desire  to venture out, even if it means spending the extra $75 bucks at the grocery store.   I mean hello - I'm from Arizona!  Snow is like a foreign concept to us, so I'm certainly not going to drive in it to go buy weekend snacks!  My husband and I both saw that snowy forecast and were excited to have an excuse to not go anywhere and embrace staying in, so I just did my part to make sure that's was exactly what we were set-up to do. 

Hunkering down means you are NOT doing that un-expected shopping - no spur of the moments stops at Target or Fred Meyer for that quick little something.  What that kind of resulted in was missing Valentine's Day being forced down our throats through those massive holiday displays that are pretty impossible to miss.  I literally did not walk by one oversized box of chocolates or tempting aisle of Valentine's Day sweets.  So, when Valentine's Day hit this passed Thursday, it really didn't feel like it.  It was like and "Oh, it's here" moment.  We aren't those people who go all out for Valentine's Day anyways, but I honestly feel like our extreme homebody lifestyle the past 2 weeks lead to it coming out of nowhere.

I am on a personal quest to bring some new at home activities to our household. Something new & fun that can be enjoyed with a cold beer and stupid movie on in the background.  This year I was Pinterest inspired (naturally) by homemade Valentine's Day cards.  No extreme love notes or anything too cheesy - think punny Valentines day cards that are perfect for a giggle amongst friends.  So inspired that a couple weeks ago I stopped at Hobby Lobby on my home from work, spent thirty bucks on some fun stamps, stickers, & other handmade card supplies to dust off for a crafty night in.   Thank god I did because it was the activity for one of our Snowpocalypse days at home, and craft day that paired perfectly with a bottle of Prosecco and Fritos because that's how we roll.  End result - Valentine's Day cards ready to be shared with friends and a little tickle of our festive spirit.

I think if you were to ask either Jordan or I individually how we do Valentine's Day, I think we both would say we kind of don't do it.  We try not to buy into the commercial bits of it - no reservations at trendy restaurant or big gifts.  It's not second Christmas for fucks sake.  We do cards & maybe a little loverly treat, but no one is getting jewelry, new Lulu Lemon, or anything name-brand in a pink hue.  My Valentine's gift mantra is lingerie or nothing because we're a young married couple that values keeping it spicy!  We do usually use Valentine's Day as an excuse to prolong the holiday so we can each curate a special at home dinner date for each other.  This year, it called for 3 day Valentine's Day celebration - night one is pizza at a favorite local dive for a workweek treat, and Friday & Saturday reserved for celebrating Zehner style.

For my planned date-night, I wanted to make something fun for the two of us - something we could eat with our hands & that paired perfectly with a bottle of rosé champs.  A little messy & a little sophisticated is honestly my idea of dinner heaven.  & I really wanted to eat something on a pretzel bun, so burgers it is!  Also to note, burgers & champagne is one of my favorite pairings of all time that I highly recommend.  Due to still having a small stock of chicken breasts as a result of dooms day grocery shopping, fried chicken burgers is what I committed to! 

To me, a sophisticated burger is one that has a chutney or aioli or some to other take on a custom sauce.  That's what says fancy burger treat.  I was inspired by a recipe I saw for a tomato chutney - a seemingly fresh sauce with lots of herbs and garlic that would be a perfect addition to a cheese board, but I thought whipping it up would be a clever way to  sneak some veggies into our meal.   It's a chutney, so essentially that's code for super simple to make.  For this sauce, you literally just add all the ingredients to a sauce pan, put the heat on medium, and let it go for at least an hour.  No babysitting required.  No stirring.  Just cover and let everything cook in the those tomato juices until you get something that's almost jamy.  I tell you - I am literally obsessed with with this tomato chutney!  It's like a warm brushcetta - kind of a tangy, tomato-y jam with onions that are melt in your mouth tender mixed in.  It's perfectly acidic from the tomatoes, and a heavy handed amount of garlic added in is what makes it parallel bruschetta at first bite.  This stuff piled on top of crispy, fried chicken totally gave chicken parmesan vibes, which was a fun surprise.  I even sprinkled parmesan on top of my sandwiches last minute because it just felt right.  Having a pretzel bun in the mix to make it a Fried Chicken Bruschetta Burger just made it that much more irresistible.  

Definitely not your typical romantic Valentine's Day meal, but it was the perfect Italian - chicken - burger fusion that washed down perfectly with a bottle of good champagne.  The perfect weekend meal with my main squeeze for this burger lover.

For the Tomato Chutney
2 tbsp EVOO
1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
2 large beefsteak tomatoes or 4 small plum tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
Salt & pepper

For the Fried Chicken Burgers
Vegetable oil (for frying, at least 2 cups)
2 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
Salt & pepper
1 c. flour
4 pretzel buns
4 tbsp good quality mayonnaise 
Parmesan Cheese (for sprinkling on top of each burger)

Start by making the tomato chutney.  Place a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add in the EVOO and red onion, and let the two cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After you've let the onion cook a few minutes on its own, add in the tomatoes, the garlic, and a pinch of both salt and pepper.  Stir the ingredients together, cover, and reduce the heat to medium low.  Let the mixture sit over the heat and cook for one hour.

Now time to prep the chicken.  Start by cutting each chicken breast in half short-ways, potentially cutting the chicken breast into 3 pieces if you have a large chicken breast.  Goal: you want each piece of chicken to be sandwich size, so use your best judgment.  If you're not sure, just stick to cutting each chicken breast in half.  Get a piece of plastic wrap that you can use to cover just the top of each piece of chicken.  Now, using a meat tenderizer or rolling pin, pound the chicken using the piece of plastic wrap as your barrier between the chicken and your chosen pounding tool.  You'll want to do this on top of a plastic cutting board.  Pound the chicken with moderate force so it's thickness is reduced by half.  Once you done this with each piece of chicken, season both sides of chicken pieces generously with salt and pepper.

Up next is the dredging.  Place the flour in a shallow baking dish.  Lay each piece of seasoned chicken individually in the flour, pressing down firmly to coat both sides in the flour.  Set them aside on your cutting board.

Now it's fry time.  Place a large skillet over medium heat, and add in the vegetable oil.  Once the oil is hot, lay one piece of chicken in the oil.  You'll know it's ready because the oil will begin to bubble once the chicken touches it.  If your oil doesn't do this, increased the temperature slightly to medium high.  Layer one to two pieces of chicken in the oil at a time, being cautious to not over crowd your pan, and fry the chicken for 5 minutes on each sides.  If you want to darken the brown color a tad, cook the chicken for an additional 90 seconds per side.  Remove the chicken and set on a paper towel lined plate.  Repeat this process until all of your chicken has been fried.  You can keep the meat warm by placing it in a 200 degree oven after frying.

Now time to check on the chutney.  After it's cooked on low for at least an hour, uncover the pan and crank up the heat to medium high.  Let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes, and simultaneously halve the pretzel buns and let them toast in the warm oven as the chutney simmers away.  After that 10 minute cook time, stir in the parsley and remove the chutney from the heat.

Now it's time to assemble the sammies!  Remove everything from the oven.  Place all of the buns on a large serving tray, plate, or cutting board, lining up all the tops and all the bottoms.  Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over all the bottom bun pieces, and place one piece of fried chicken right on top.  Top the chicken with a spoonful (or two) of the chutney.  The more the better!  Finish it off with a sprinkle of parmesan right on top, and then place the top half of the bun back on the burger at the very end.  Eat up!