Nashville is best known as being the Music City and home to some of the most delicious hot chicken. When we took a road trip there last spring everyone told us it was an absolute must try and being a lover of all things spicy, I was up for the challenge. We seem to be plagued by rain on most of our trips and it was a particularly chilly day so we ducked into Puckett’s Restaurant and Grocery for a quick bite to eat. I thought the perfect way to warm up would be to order this hot chicken we had heard so much about. I chose their Music City Hot Chicken Sandwich and ohhh my holy mouth on fire! It was delicious and MUCH hotter than I anticipated. I of course chugged my beer down in seconds as if that would help at all and had to keep asking Chris if my brows were sweating off my face.
I knew I had to recreate this spicy little sandwich when we got back home, but in my own Midwestern way, hence the “Midwest Hot Chicken” title. I decided to make mini-slider versions with Texas Toast and used a hot sauce made locally here in Des Moines called Lola’s Hot Sauce. I chose the ghost pepper version for some extra kick and served it with my habanero chunk pickles that I made with my end of summer cucumber haul. It was nowhere near as spicy as Puckett’s but still packed quite the punch of heat and struck that perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and savory. I also tried to make them a little healthier by baking the chicken instead of frying it, which still resulted in crispy delicious chicken!
P.S. Tomorrow is officially Hot Chicken Day and I had no idea! haha enjoy celebrating!
(makes 8 sliders)
Ingredients:
1 1/2lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 Tbs water
3 Tbs Lola’s Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
Spicy Glaze:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs Lola’s Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
4 slices of Texas Toast, toasted and cut in half diagonally
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line and a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut chicken into large chunks about 2″ by 2″ and half an inch to an inch thick. Chicken breast sizes can fluctuate quite a bit, so give it your best guess. Essentially you want the chicken to fit to your bread triangles as best as you can get them to. Pat chicken dry and set aside.
Place flour in a shallow dish. Whisk egg, water, and hot sauce in a separate small bowl. And finally place bread crumbs in a third shallow dish. Take your chicken pieces one by one and place in the flour until all sides are coated, dunk in egg and hot sauce mixture until coated, shaking off excess, and then finally placing in bread crumbs, flipping to completely coat.
Place on the prepared baking sheet and when finished, place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken over and bake another 15 minutes.
While the chicken is baking in the first 30 minutes you can prepare your glaze.
In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, brown sugar, and hot sauce until completely smooth.
Remove chicken from the oven and baste with prepared glaze. Flip and brush the other side of the chicken and then place back in the oven to finish cooking another 10 to 15 minutes or until no long pink in the middle.
When finished place chicken between two triangle slices of Texas Toast and serve with some spicy pickles!
Enjoy!
