Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Family Sandwich

For my first recipe into this blog I would like to post one of my favorite and one of my first real recipes which has been a huge success to everyone i've offered it up to. The best part about it is: after purchasing the initial ingredients, which will run you about 20 bucks, you can make one of these sandwiches for about 10 bucks, give or take a dollar or two, and it feeds 4 people comfortably. This recipe is the Family Sandwich.

Just so we're clear on a few things before we get into the recipe, that sheet in the image above is a 16" cookie sheet. This sandwich is roughly 13 inches long (i didn't actually measure it but it's safely over a foot long ) and about 4-6 inches wide. When it's all finished, it's about an inch and a half thick maybe more. This thing is gargantuan; hence why it's fit for 4 people comfortably.

What you'll need for this mean sandwich is:

  •  8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenderloins OR 4 Boneless Skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 Small package of provolone cheese (i worked with a package of 12 slices by Lucerene for those of you who have safeways in their area)
  • 1 Italian Loaf
  • 1 can of Hunt's Rosemary & Oregano Diced Tomatoes
  • Garlic
  • Dehydrated Onions
  • Rosemary Leaves
  • 1/4th stick of  butter
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Paprika(Optional)
As optional additions, you can also add jalepenos and peperoncinis but for those who don't like the spice of these, they are not required.


  1. Make garlic bread seasoning out of 2 parts garlic, 1 part dehydrated onions, 1 part rosemary leaves. Crush in Mortar and pestle until evenly granulated.
  2. Cut Italian loaf into halves and evenly spread garlic seasoning across the two pieces
  3. Warm butter so it is soft and spread over loaf halves
  4. defrost chicken
  5. flatten chicken evenly with poultry hammer or bottom of pan. (1/3rd inch will be sufficient)
  6. cut chicken into strips or cubes
  7. place pan on stove, pour in olive oil and start heat at medium-low to medium
  8. season chicken liberally on both sides with garlic, salt, pepper and paprika (if you have it)
  9. drop all chicken into pan and cover immediately (keep pan temperature at medium to medium-high the remainder of this recipe.
  10. place Italian Loaf halves on skillet 1 at a time at 200 degrees or medium-Low
  11. flip chicken frequently until white then another minute aftwards
  12. place chicken on plate covered with 3 layers of towels to strain out the excess oil, turn stove head off
  13. when first half of loaf a golden brown on the outside and a little yellow in the middle, remove and place second half on skillet.
  14. Turn oven on to 350 degrees.
  15. Take can of diced tomatoes, strain often, dump tomatoes out on loaf half and spread evenly with a knife
  16. lay chicken over tomatoes.
  17. cover all chicken with cheese.
  18. drop into oven regardless of whether it's preheated or not.
  19. pull out bell pepper, remove core, and slice into strips of any desired size.
  20. when cheese is thoroughly melted, remove loaf half from oven, turn oven off.
  21. when second half is browned like first half, remove.
  22. spread bell peppers, jalepenos and peperoncinis over cheese
  23. cover with second half, slice sandwich into segments with bread knife and enjoy!


If you do not have pan covers, you can use a pot cover of a similar size, it's alright if some of the steam escapes, you're just aiming to sear the chicken to lock in the flavor.

I seasoned the chicken heavily which added to the robust flavor of everything else. All in all this is an amazingly delicious dish that is very versatile. any meat sandwich you could make normally you can adapt this to. I've made this into things as complex as a philly cheesesteak before and things as simple as a massive grilled cheese and ham. 

How easy were my instructions to follow? And if you made this dish, what did you think of it?

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