La Colombe: The Sandwich Solution
Perfectly portioned to fit on muffins with darker meat that stays moist, even when refrigerated.
Behold the glory of what can happen when we turn our attention from breasts to thighs.
Recipe: Coffee-Rubbed Chicken Thigh Sandwich
Yield: 4 sandwiches but easily multiplied to feed masses
Coffee: Pure Black
Preparation
Spice rub:
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground coffee (We used our RaRa – Haiti Baptiste.)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ dried orange peel
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)
4 English muffins, split
1 good looking red, ripe tomato, sliced ¼” thick
½ avocado, sliced thin
6 ounces pepper jack cheese, sliced
- There was some Hatch green chile cheddar available in the market so we jumped on that. (Hatch, New Mexico being the green chile capital of the country.)
Method
Pre-heat oven to 325°F.
Combine spices, and mix with oil to make a paste. Place the thighs in a mixing bowl, add the spice paste mixture, and toss to coat evenly.
Place the chicken thighs (evenly spaced) on a foil or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. (You can also place the thighs directly onto a roasting rack suspended over a baking sheet. However, it’s still best to line the pan underneath to make clean up easier.)
Roast the chicken thighs for 45 minutes, giving the fat enough time to render out as much as possible, and get the skin crisp. If the skin is still flabby, it won’t be good on the sandwich, and we want to leave it on because all of the spices have baked into the skin. The meat will also be fork tender after this amount of time. Remove the chicken from the oven to cool, but leave the oven on.
When the chicken has cooled until it’s easy enough to handle, turn over the thighs (skin side down) into a small pan, and using a paring knife, cut along each side of the bone. Carefully pull the thigh bone out, leaving the meat intact.
Turn the thighs back over (skin side up), and top with the cheese. Place back in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese, about 10 minutes.
While the cheese is melting, toast the English muffin.
Shingle the slices of avocado onto the bottoms of the English muffins, top with a boneless coffee-roasted chicken thigh, and then finish with a slice of tomato. Close with the top half of the English muffin.
