There are breakfast sandwiches, and then there are breakfast sandwiches you crave at all hours. Seasonal Pantry chef Dan O’Brien’s riff on Tennessee hot chicken is one of those. The crispy bird gets double heat from a Sriracha-buttermilk brine and a spiced coating, and it’s piled onto brioche with caramelized onions, cheese, sweet pickles, and a runny egg.
Hot Hot Chicken Breakfast Loaf
Serves 4
1. Marinate the chicken:
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 skin-on boneless chicken thighs
In a large bowl, mix the buttermilk, vinegar, peppers, garlic, Sriracha, and salt. Toss the chicken in the marinade and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours.
2. Fry the chicken:
4 cups rendered pork fat or vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
In a cast-iron pan, heat the oil or fat to between 375 and 400 degrees. Meanwhile, mix the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and chili powder in a bowl. Remove the chicken from the marinade and dredge each piece in the flour mixture until well coated. When the oil is hot, place the chicken thighs in the pan and submerge them in the oil. Cook 18 minutes until golden brown. (If the chicken looks like it’s darkening quickly, lower the heat.)
3. Caramelize the onions:
8 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup maple syrup
Melt the butter in a sauté pan over low heat. Raise the heat to medium and sauté the onions 15 to 20 minutes, stirring continuously, until they begin to color. Add the salt and cook until the onions are golden brown, 8 to 15 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in the maple syrup.
4. Assemble the loaf:
4-6 ounces blue cheese
¼ cup mayonnaise or crème fraîche
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 loaf brioche, cut in half crosswise
8 sweet pickle chips (O’Brien likes Gordy’s)
4 eggs
Whip the cheese with the mayonnaise or crème fraîche until smooth. Butter the cut sides of the brioche loaf, then broil in the oven until golden brown. Take the upper half of the loaf and spread its underside with the cheese mixture. Set aside. Arrange the onion on the toasted surface of the bottom half of the loaf. Top with the chicken, then the pickles. Cook the eggs until they’re sunny side up and slide one onto each piece of chicken. Top with the other half of the loaf, slice into four pieces, and serve immediately.
This article appears in the March 2014 issue of Washingtonian.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
