I had the fortunate opportunity to highlight my Cajun Spice Blend and Finger Lickin’ Rub Blend at the NC Specialty Shops in Wake Forest, NC this past weekend and it was a blast. I want to especially thank my family and friends who came out and supported me during the demonstration and food tastings. And for those other folks who got a chance to taste some of my flavor at Saturday’s tasting you were one of about 105 who got a sampling portion of either the Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya or the Black and Bleu Chicken. I have already posted the Jambalaya recipe but did not post the other, so I am going to add that one now as I had also promised that I would to some of the very nice people who asked for it on Saturday. This was the first time in over eight years that I had prepared food in a public setting having left the production side of the restaurant industry in July 2000.
The recipe for Black and Bleu Chicken originated as Blackened and Blue Chicken in the late 1990’s and was a featured sandwich on the menu at the City Energy Club in New Orleans, formerly known as the Petroleum Club, and was located on the top two floors of the Energy Center on Loyola Avenue. The club has since shut down when Club Corp of America (CCA) either closed or sold most of its operations in Louisiana including Belle Terre Country Club in La Place and the Camelot Club in Baton Rouge.
The sampling portion that I prepared can easily be converted to the original sandwich form using a larger bun or roll shaped bread, adding a bit more chicken and dressing, and some lettuce and tomato. However I will recreate the recipe in the bite size tasting format that I prepared on Saturday. I am not going to share my formula for my Bleu Cheese Dressing since it is a contender on the list for future bottling production and sales, but you can use any refrigerated blue cheese dressing that contains thick hearty chunks of the aged cheese.
So this version of the recipe makes a perfect party or appetizer portion for any entertaining opportunity. Also, this recipe uses a fresh basil paste that I make up using some of my garden harvest and some fresh garlic from the farmers market, it is not a true pesto since I do not use any nuts, but a basil pesto can be substituted if you wish.
Black and Bleu Chicken
Yield: 25 tasting portions
|
||
Ingredients
|
||
1 |
Loaf |
Whole Grain French Bread |
2 |
Lbs. |
Boneless, skinless chicken breast |
1 |
Tbsp |
Cajun Chef Ryan Cajun Spice Blend |
To coat |
Olive Oil |
|
1 |
Cup |
Blue Cheese Dressing |
1 |
Cup |
Basil Paste (see recipe below)
|
Procedure Steps
|
|
1. |
Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle on the stove top to get very hot. |
2. |
Slice the loaf into 25 thin pieces on a bias cut and then set them aside on a sheet pan. |
3. |
Cut the chicken breasts in half to form two thinner pieces then coat them with the olive oil and sprinkle lightly with the Cajun Spice Blend. You want to have at least four thinly cut chicken breast pieces. |
4. |
Gently add half of the chicken breast flat onto the hot skillet or griddle. Allow them to cook until the edges start to turn opaque or white, then turn them over to finish cooking which is approximately 6 to 8 minutes per side. |
5. |
Reserve the chicken until all pieces are done and allow them to rest 5 minutes before slicing. |
6. |
Coat each side of the sliced loaf bread with the basil paste and add them to the skillet or griddle and brown until crusty on both sides, and about 2 to 3 minutes per side, then line them up on the sheet pan. |
7. |
Thinly slice the chicken and place two pieces onto the top of each piece of crusty bread, and then put a small 1 Tsp dollop of the blue cheese dressing over the middle of each portion. |
Basil Paste |
||
½ |
Cup |
Fresh Basil leaves, chopped fine |
¼ |
Cup |
Garlic, minced |
1 |
Cup |
Olive oil |
½ |
Cup |
Parmesan Cheese, freshly shredded |
½ |
Tsp |
Black Pepper, freshly ground |
½ |
Tsp |
Coarse sea salt |
|
||
Procedure Steps
|
||
1. |
Combine all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a smooth paste consistency is achieved. |
16 responses so far ↓
1 BeFoodie // Sep 17, 2008 at 2:39 pm
A chef is a chef forever!
You look great in the picture Ryan 😉
And even the thought of blue cheese with chicken made a big smile on my face. Added to my to do list 🙂
Best,
Banu
2 Phoenix56317 // Jul 22, 2010 at 3:37 pm
My Dear Friend and Fellow Stumbler, Ryan
You never fail to impress those and myself with your Old and Timely recipes, Outstanding!
Funny that you should mention the Petroleum Club, I can not remember when it was but I was a Busboy many,many years ago at the one in Denver, Colo. That’s where I fell in love with the Baked Alaskan 🙂 .
3 Cajun Chef Ryan // Jul 22, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Hey Walter,
Now I know something new about you my friend! That is wonderful, and I would love to hear more of your exploits at the Club! Indeed Baked Alaska is an amazing dessert treat!
Bon appetit!
CCR
=:~)
4 Evelyne@CheapEthnicEatz // Jul 23, 2010 at 10:46 am
Cajun spices and blue cheese, would not have come to mind but it sounds yummy. Wish I had been at the demo.
5 Nancy/SpicieFoodie // Jul 23, 2010 at 10:52 am
Love your recipe & the name. Just reading this is making my stomach growl. 🙂
6 penny aka jeroxie // Jul 23, 2010 at 11:25 am
Wow!! So chefy!
7 Gina Stanley // Jul 23, 2010 at 11:53 am
Chef Ryan,
This sounds amazing, I love blackened anything, but my girls love chicken. I’m adding this one to my must make list too!
Thanks for sharing, nice picture!
8 bamboobailey // Jul 23, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Awesome……blackened chicken…basil…and blue cheese….thumbs up combo!!
9 digtis // Jul 23, 2010 at 1:10 pm
awesome i like.
10 Priscilla - She's Cookin' // Jul 23, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Sounds delicious – and since you won’t share your recipe for Blue Cheese Dressing (I totally understand), I’ll have to make another batch of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Blue Cheese dressing because I’ve been craving it anyway 🙂
11 Sarah (OC2Seattle) // Jul 24, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Looks and sounds delicious! Can you ever go wrong with blue cheese? Or bacon for that matter . . . 😉
12 Lisa { AuthenticSuburbanGourmet } // Jul 25, 2010 at 12:48 pm
What a great recipe! Anything with blue cheese is outstanding. Thank you for sharing.
13 Cristina - Teenie Cakes // Jul 25, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Hi Chef – sounds like it was a great weekend to share and demo your Blends. Exciting news about your Bleu Cheese dressing contending for production…congratulations!
14 The Mom Chef // Jul 25, 2010 at 7:52 pm
I wish I’d known you were there. It’s just about an hour away from us. The chicken sounds amazing with the combination of spices and bleu cheese (my personal favorite).
15 Mary Jane // Jul 28, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Nice, Chef Ryan! Simple and yummy, my 2 requisites for cooking for myself. Love those flavors together! Cheese, chicken, basil pesto…….. oh!
16 Shree // Jul 28, 2010 at 4:54 pm
yumm I’m always a fan of things blackened and now with bleu cheese AND basil sauce???? fabulous. This is a keeper Chef!