Breaking Bad is one of my all time favorite series’. In general,  I feel like the creation of conversation is what makes something brilliantly done and I can honestly say that I have argued, discussed and talked about this show…a lot.  Each characters’ motivation, their loyalty and the idea of “fault” are just some of my favorite things surrounding Breaking Bad. It also has a lot of great drama and suspense which I love. It also makes me crave fast food chicken…which I also love. So, while hanging out this weekend, re-watching the “Mandala” episode (again) it dawned on me that I should recreate Walter’s meal from his first meeting with Gus at Los Pollos.

So, we begin with the research. I wanted to recreate the first meal Walter orders at Los Pollos which is a pretty basic looking chicken sandwich meal. So I begin my research with how to make a fried chicken sandwich; something with a southwest feel but still standardly fast-foodish. It breaks down to the three main parts-the chicken, the breading and the spices.

For the chicken I decided to use lime juice as a marinade. It seemed appropriately southwestern enough. Along those same lines in terms of spices I go with the standard-chili powder, paprika, onion and garlic powders, cumin and coriander. I also like a bit of heat so I threw in some ground red pepper for good measure. The spices made the breading exciting enough so that the only other ingredient I needed to add was a couple of cups of flour and a bit of confectioner sugar. Yes, sugar. While researching I read in many different places that a bit of sugar is what makes the breading at restaurants like Chick fil-a so delicious. I decided to give it a shot.

Now that I had a pretty clear idea on what I was going to do, I spent an afternoon in my kitchen channeling Los Pollos. I marinated the chicken for a couple hours. Once that was done I set up a chicken assembly line on the counter and got to frying. I used shortening for the frying because I felt that was more fast foodish.  I have to admit my kitchen smelled amazing from the spices. Once the chicken had been cooked 3-4 minutes on each side I set it on a rack above some paper towels to drain.

I served it up on a potato bun and added the Los Pollos curly fries. My kids and husband actually really loved this chicken. They said it was a great combo of spicy and sweet.

In the episode, Walter’s chicken sandwich appears to be pretty plain. I kept it the same way for authenticity but this sandwich would be fantastic with some pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo or even some avocado added to it. I actually threw together a quick sauce to put on it (because I love anything with a sauce ) made out of a couple of tablespoons of Miracle whip, ketchup and relish mixed together with a dash of paprika and chili powder for good measure. I enjoyed it.

Los Pollos Hermanos Chicken Sandwich Recipe:

2-2 1/2  pounds chicken breasts butterflied and cut in half

1/2 cup Lime Juice

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 cups flour

1Tbs powdered sugar

2Tbs Chili Powder

1Tbs Paprika

2tsp Garlic Powder

2tsp Onion Powder

2tsp Cumin

2tsp Coriander

2tsp Ground Red Pepper

1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

shortening

1. Marinate chicken in lime juice for at least 2 hours.
2. Combine eggs and milk in a bowl.
3. Combine flour and spices in a separate bowl.
4. Heat enough shortening in the skillet to cover the chicken halfway.
5. Take the chicken, dip in egg mixture, then in flour mixture and place in hot skillet.
6. Cook chicken 3-4 minutes each side, remove from skillet and drain on rack or paper towels.
7. Note: if outside of chicken gets too brown before inside is fully cooked lower your heat a little.