It is Principally a Hen Pot Pie on a Bun and It is Wonderful

In response to one story, the sloppy Joe originated in Iowa, a descendant of the state’s unfastened meat sandwich. True or not, the Joe went mainstream a long time in the past, whereas its poultry counterpart continues to be roughly distinctive to a different a part of the Midwest.

The Ohio shredded rooster sandwich, additionally known as a “sloppy chicken,” is mainly rooster pot pie filling on a bun. Within the northwestern and central components of the state, it’s a staple, served in colleges, ice cream outlets, and retirement houses. The usual recipe requires a can of rooster breast meat, a can or two of cream-of-something soup, a gradual cooker, and a pack of burger buns. Many cooks additionally use crackers, stuffing combine, breadcrumbs, or potato chips to thicken the slow-cooked filling, making it extra scoopable.

The sandwich is simple to make and simple to get pleasure from, so long as you have got a Midwesterner’s appreciation for carbs on carbs, which is why it’s been standard in Ohio because the Nineteen Forties. Compact and transportable, it’s the strolling taco of rooster dinners. It doesn’t have the zing of a tomato-sauced sloppy Joe, nevertheless it has its personal heat, steamy, comforting attraction.

As you may think, some variations can be bland and mushy. Engaged on this recipe, I didn’t wish to reimagine the sandwich, or add something you possibly can’t simply discover on the grocery store, which might really feel like a betrayal of its convenience-food origins. I needed to give you a model that tasted like extra than simply comfort… with out plenty of further effort.

Ranging from scratch acquired me there. As an alternative of canned rooster breasts, I used recent rooster thighs, which is a extra forgiving lower—much less more likely to dry out and naturally richer in taste. I sear the thighs to develop fond and taste, braise them, shred them, then end them in a kind of do-it-yourself cream of celery soup. The ingredient record continues to be quick and acquainted, however I changed the crumbly thickeners corresponding to breadcrumbs utilized in conventional recipes with a roux and puréed greens, to maintain issues easy and comparatively gentle.

For some mouthwatering tang, I added pickled banana peppers, a preferred topping for different sandwiches in addition to pizzas in Buckeye State sandwich outlets and pizzerias. They aren’t normal on shredded rooster sandwiches, however I’m not the one Ohioan who makes use of them, and my analysis turned up extra shocking secret components, together with mushrooms, eggs, and varied cheeses. Customization is a part of the custom.

There’s no good purpose why the shredded rooster sandwich is simply an Ohio factor—no hyper-regional surplus of canned rooster, to my data. It’s a dish that would slot in nearly wherever. (Who doesn’t like rooster and gravy?) Hold this simple recipe in your again pocket for potlucks, tailgates, and all these different events once you want a sloppy sandwich to scoop out of a skillet.

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