Smoked Chicken Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Shallots and Peppers

The Cheese, The Cheese!

Yes, I am at it again! You all know how I feel about sandwiches, if you don't, look through my blog and it will tell you the story. I love sandwiches and most of all I love a nice, cheesy, melty, spicy, smokey, grilled cheesy, yes, cheesy again sandwich.

I decided to take some smoked chicken, shred that baby up, toss in some barbeque sauce and make me a sandwich fit for a queen!

Did I mention the jack cheese, caramelized shallots and peppers, yep, had to add more goodness to my sandwich.

If you can't handle the spice, omit the pickled Italian peppers, there spicy and hot, which I love.

This is B.G. (before grilled,) and this alone is yummy enough! But hey you know me, gotta take it to the next level!

Hot off the grill, and this is CHEESY!!!!!

Look at my cheesy, wheezy, baby, full of veggies.

And look at Big Goo's, NOTICE the lack of veggies, lol...

Smoked Chicken Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Shallots and Peppers

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Sandwich:
6-8 smoked chicken thighs (recipe below)
1 1/2 c. barbeque sauce (recipe below)
8 slices of semi thick country white bread
8 slices of jack cheese
2 bell peppers sliced in rings
4 shallots, sliced in rings
4 Italian Peppers sliced into rings, pickled
butter
extra virgin olive oil
pinch of pepper
pinch of creole seasoning

Directions:

Remove skin from smoked chicken and shred chicken with hands. Add barbeque sauce to chicken and toss well.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to pan and saute veggies until caramelized about 5 minutes, sprinkle with a pinch of creole seasoning and a pinch of black pepper and set aside.

Add about 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to skillet over medium heat, place once slice of cheese on bottom of bread, top with a handful of smoked chicken, top with veggies and top with another slice of cheese and top bread.

Place sandwich into pan and press down until lightly browned, flip and repeat. Enjoy!

Smoked  Chicken

Ingredients:

Brine:

8 chicken thighs, skin-on, bone-in 
4 c. water
2 c. soy sauce
2 tbsp. grated ginger
10 tbsp. garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. creole seasoning or seasoning salt
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
1/2 tbsp. black pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil

Rinse chicken, pat dry, in a large plastic or glass bowl, place chicken. Rub olive oil over the chicken, season with all the spices.

Add ginger, garlic, soy sauce and water. Brine chicken in the refrigerator for about 2 hours if possible or overnight. Remove chicken from brine and drain well.

Smoke chicken at 230 degrees for 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees F when inserted into the thigh part of the chicken. Remove chicken from smoker and baste with sauce.


Bar B Que Sauce:

2 c. ketchup
1 c. pineapple juice
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
8 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. black pepper
1/2 tbsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. creole seasonings or seasoning salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. molasses
1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce


Cook sauce over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes.