I love chicken. I love sandwiches. Back when I was in college there was this chicken place that served nothing but wings and chicken tenders. They had my favorite which was the Professor Plum. That was fried chicken tenders topped with a tangy plum sauce and mozzarella.  It was the best ever. They also had a sandwich that was dusted with bbq rub, slathered in honey and then drizzled with bbq sauce. This is my attempt at that sandwich. Nothing is like the original but with this sandwich being a complete hit with everyone I served it to, I must say it is pretty dang good.




I made my own chicken tenders but you can use store bought or frozen.
If you make your own, you will need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 tbsp of Creole Seasoning or your favorite dry rub
1 cup of cold water  or buttermilk
Vegetable Oil for frying

Clean your chicken and slice them into tenders.  In a bowl mix your flour and seasoning. In a smaller bowl, fill with either cold water or buttermilk.  Dip your tenders in your flour and coat. Quickly dip into the liquid and then back into the flour mix. Make sure to coat by pressing down. You can do this one more time. I flour mine a total of three times for a nice crunchy coating.

Heat your oil on meduim and once oil is hot, place your tenders in. Remove when they are golden in color. Place on paper towel to drain grease.




The idea of this sandwich is more assembly then recipe. My mom made a batch of bbq sauce in preparation for Thanksgiving and I snagged a half a cup of her sauce. You can use your favorite bbq sauce or make your own.

For the Sandwich:

Texas Toast
Honey
BBQ Sauce
BBQ Dry Rub
Mozzarella
Fried Chicken Tenders

In oven toast your bread, before it is completely toasted, add slices of mozzarella to the bottom slice of bread.  Allow it to melt in the ovena and remove.

Place your chicken tenders on top,  sprinkle with a bit of your BBQ dry rub, drizzle your honey on top and then add about a tablespoon of BBQ sauce on top of that. Top with the remaining slice of bread.

And there you have it, a big fat tex sandwich that is HUGE and so filling.

When  I am not cooking, I am a children's photographer.  I will be in Atlanta, Georgia September 26th and have two openings for either a portrait session or more editorial session. Email divianc @ gmail . com

For more of my photography check out my site www.divianphoto.com

I love making school lunches for my kids. I guess it is the thrill of coming up with new ideas to try that my kids will actually like and eat. I have this weird notion that if children can be diverse in their eating, they are more accepting of the diversity of people. We try lots of foods that are often cultural.

When it comes to school lunches, we try to be healthy and balanced. I include a fatty or sugary sweet but for the most part, everything is fresh. Since I include veggies, fruit and a dairy product along with the main entree, I like a certain look and vibe to the lunch boxes. No oozing, no leaks, no mixing of the foods from being tossed in the backpack. I need a box that will stand up to my now 11 year old.

Here are a few that I found that I really like.

Many moons ago, when I was a wee college student, I took a trip with friends to Orlando, Florida. Of course, your usual college student activities went on and of course one was a trip to the mail. I remember trying one of the mall Chinese places and I ordered Bourbon Chicken. It was so good.  Once back in Mississippi, I was not able to find it anywhere and alas, I have not had it since.

The other night, I really wanted to try garlic noodles. I know a lot of people swear by the goodness of butter and noodles but I have always wanted a bit more taste to my noodles so it is something I never tried. Who knew basically naked noodles with a bit of garlic, Parmesan would be just so good.


Bourbon Chicken

2  boneless chicken breasts (cubed)
1⁄4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1⁄4 cup Hoisin Sauce
1⁄4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Dumpling Sauce
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 garlic clove (diced)
2 tablespoons olive  oil

In skillet, place your olive oil and garlic. Saute on medium for 2 minute, stirring.  Add in your chicken cubes, then add in the rest of your ingredients. Cook on medium for about 15 minutes, continuing to stir so that the sauce does not burn. It should turn into a glaze. Do a taste test and add more honey for sweetness if needed.



For the garlic noodles I followed the recipe here from  The Noodle Guy and my kids absolutely loved them! The only thing I did was add 2 teaspoons of Soy Sauce.

When it comes to making red beans and rice, I do them two ways.  One is super easy using cocktail sausages, canned beans and gravy mix. The other uses traditional sausage, dried red beans, and tomatoes.

For this one, I used the latter method. It takes a bit longer because you have to slow cook the beans.

You will need:

1 bag of dry red beans
2-3 knorr chicken bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons of dried Italian seasoning
1 can of Rotel tomatoes with chiles
1 package of sausage links or bratwurst


In large pot rinse your dried beans and then fill with water. Mix in two Knorr cubes. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium.  Cook on medium for one hour, stirring to prevent sticking to the pot. Reduce heat to low and cook another hour.  Check the softness of the beans.  Cook until beans are tender and not chalky.

You can also cook your beans in a crockpot. Cook on low for about 4-6 hours.

The beans will make their own 'gravy' from cooking so long.

After beans are cooked, you can taste to make sure they have flavor. If not enough, add in one more Knorr cube. Cook until it is dissolved.

Slice your sausages and saute in skillet.



Place sausages and can of Rotel into the beans.

Serve over rice.