Recipe; Smoked chicken sandwich with homemade garlic mayonnaise with peppermint!

Today we are making a lovely sandwich full of surprises.

Not your regular smoked chicken sandwich, but one with a few surprises.

I tried it and it all has a great balance, and a nice bite to it.

First, I think you really need to make your own mayonnaise, it is not at all difficult!

Regular bought out of the shop mayonnaise often tastes too artificial having refined sugar in it or even sweeteners. This shop mayonnaise really puts me off, making loads of dishes taste like cra#.

Next to the normal lemon juice I add a touch of balsamic, and to the normal oil I add some Extra Vierge olive oil. I don’t make from olive oil, as that tends to give a rather bitter mayonnaise spoiling the taste of food. A slight bitter is what I am looking for, so I only add a little.

These extra’s make a mayonnaise with a perfect balance between sweet and sour, salt and bitter.

So I tend to make the stuff myself, which takes me about 10 to 15 minutes, so give it a go.

For the recipe you need bake off baguettes, of even better to make bread yourself, depending on how much time you have.

Other than bread and 2 smoked chicken breasts you need this:

2 egg yolks

peanut oil, sunflower oil or any other neutral oil

extra vierge olive oil

lemon juice

balsamic vinegar

a teaspoon good mustard

half a teaspoon of honey

some super fresh garlic

2 peppermint leaves

some salt

some fresh ground pepper

some sweet paprika powder

A nice and sharp chilli

All the ingredients need to have room temperature!!!!!

The hard part of making sauce mayonnaise is the making of the emulsion, in other words making a smooth mix. It has to do with the first adding of the first drops of oil, that needs to be done slow in the start. It might be handy to ask someone to help once you start adding the oil.

Put 2 egg yolks in a bowl, add some salt and some fresh ground pepper, white if possible for the looks.

Give it a whisk so that all is nicely mixed, adding a teaspoon good mustard, and adding half a teaspoon of honey. 

When it is nicely mixed add a small tablespoon with lemon juice and a few drops off balsamic, and again give it a whisk.

Now comes the part to add the oils, and that has to be done taking good care not to add too much in the start. Someone can help you now, adding the oil.

Start whisking the mixture, adding slowly drop after drop of oil, once you see the colour getting lighter or more yellow, you can add the oil faster. Do not stop whisking adding a splash, keep on whisking while adding oil. If you have the idea that it is stiffening a bit, add a good spoonful of olive oil. At this point you should taste the mayonnaise; it should be creamy and have the right balance between spice and salt, sweet and sour. The olive oil should have given it a very light bitter,

If it isn’t creamy enough keep adding some oil until you think it is about right. As for the honey, you should barely notice it giving it just a touch of sweetness and not overrule! If you think there is not enough honey, just add the tiniest bit while whisking it.

So, now what?

Well we were about to make a garlic mayonnaise so, you need some lovely fresh garlic, super fine sliced and chopped. Please do not smash squash press or whatever the garlic as it spoils the taste!

Mix it in giving it a whisk or a stir.

Now from my friends in the UK I learned to use peppermint, and that was something I was missing out off before. That really lightens the garlic and gives a nice surprise.

To keep it as a surprise in the mayonnaise, you need to cut it with a very sharp knife in small pieces. Don’t bruise or roll the leave before cutting as it will start releasing the natural oils and this time we don’t want that! Stir the cut leaves in the mayonnaise very carefully.

The thing you want to have later, that people don’t right off taste the peppermint, until the chew on a piece of leave, that is the surprise here.

Ok, bake off some baguettes or make bread. While baking it off slice the smoked chicken breast in thin slices.

I smoked the chicken breasts myself, if you want to know how, just ask!

As soon as the bread or the baguette is done, cut it lengthwise and cover one half with cheese having it melt a bit, and put a layer of lettuce on the cheese. Put the chicken breast slices on top. Then add some mayonnaise over the chicken breasts, not too much as the taste will be rather strong and you are looking for the right balance.

Sprinkle some sweet paprika (bell pepper) powder on the mayonnaise for adding some extra sweet tones, then sprinkle fine sliced chilli over it all and serve with the top half on!
Now while people taste this they will have 2 surprises. You will not notice the peppermint and the chilli with the first bite. They will only notice the chilli and the peppermint while chewing, and guys, that is ever so lovely !!

 The bread and the chicken are very light, so that is good. The mayonnaise made like this has about approximately 700 calories per 100 grams of product. This makes mayonnaise a very highly caloric food by itself, then again you only add about 15 gram to one baguette, so that is not half bad. The chilli can raise your metabolic rate by up to 23% for about 3 hours, lowers your blood sugars and even thins your blood. So don’t worry and do enjoy !!

Yours truly,

Bart J. Meijer