Meal Mimicry: The Barrow House Fried Chicken Sandwich
Not all chicken sandwiches are created equal. And that’s okay! Let’s face it, some are better than others. Half of the world preaches that Chick-fil-A is the best while the other half swears by Popeye’s. Well, to say we haven’t gotten into that debate would be a total lie. Our consensus? Popeye’s duh. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. We’re here to talk about our latest edition of Meal Mimicy where we take Barrow House’s chicken sandwich and make it our own.
A Little Bit About The Barrow House
The Barrow House in Clifton, New Jersey is one of Skopos Hospitality Group’s several establishments here in New Jersey. Though we’ve only been to three of the restaurants so far, each has left us with a great taste in our mouth and full bellies.
The first thing that stands out about The Barrow House is its large size and rustic feel. Where The Barrow House lies once stood a former farm. The farmhouse feel of The Barrow House is actually modeled after a traditional Hall & Parlor Home from the Colonial-Era. But, it’s not just the ambiance we come for. In fact, that’s just the sugar on top. We visited The Barrow House for the food.
Chicken Sandwich Anyone?
This particular trip to The Barrow House was for a late Sunday lunch with some close friends. In fact we were treating one of our good buddies and DnD Dungeon Master, Tyler as a thank you. Away from our normal routine, we did not indulge in any of the several hand-crafted cocktail specials that are on the menu. However, from previous visits we can tell you that the Nutty Professor is one damn good whiskey drink.
To kick off our meal, we ordered a few of their shareable dishes such as the Mediterranean platter, spinach and artichoke dip, and cornbread. It’s really hard to say which was our favorite, because they were all gone in a flash. Not because they weren’t large portions. They were just that good! Next, we moved onto our entrées. Two of us couldn’t resist the short rib sandwich, our resident vegan opted for the veggie paella, and the final entrée choice: Fried Chicken Sandwich. The Barrow House sets their fried chicken sandwich apart by adding a jalapeño slaw, some house made pickles, and a roasted chili aioli. To nobody’s surprise, that delectable sandwich was everything you could ask for and more. And that only meant one thing…time for a mimic.
Making Their Chicken Sandwich Our Own
As you may already know, our Meal Mimicry recipes are where we take a dish that we had out somewhere and make our own version. To make it our own, we came up with a few key changes. First, we took pickles off of the sandwich. Rather than adding a little hint of pickle on top, we decided to brine our chicken in a spicy dill pickle brine. This allows for the flavor to soak into the meat and makes for a juicier sandwich. For the slaw, we kept with the jalapeño theme but pickled our jalapeños alongside some red onions, added them to some red cabbage, and cold corn to make our very own slaw. We had a desire to make our sandwich a bit spicy, so rather than a roasted chili aioli we opted for a spicy garlic aioli for a touch of a spice and tang. I’m sure you can guess how this all turned out, but you should watch our video above to get our live reaction to the very first bite.
You can make your very own Meal Mimicry: Barrow House Fried Chicken Sandwich. And you should! Just follow our simple recipe below or follow along with our video.
Crispy Crunchy Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Equipment
- Deep Fryer Not necessary, but helps with frying the chicken. A deep rimmed sauté pan works for shallow frying.
Ingredients
Spicy Garlic Aioli
- 6 Cloves Garlic Diced
- ¾ Cup Mayonnaise
- ½ Lemon Juiced
- 2 tbsp Siracha
Cold Corn, Pickled Onion and Jalapeño Slaw
- 2 Medium Red Onions Sliced
- 3 Small Jalapeños Julienned
- 1 ½ cup White Vinegar
- 1 tbsp White Sugar
- ½ tbsp Salt
- ½ cup Water
- ¼ Head Red Cabbage Thinly Sliced
- 2 Ears Steamed Corn Cut off of the cob
- 1 Lime Juiced
- Drizzle Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt To Taste
Fried Chicken
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Garlic Powder
- 2 tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 tbsp Black Pepper
- 2 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 2 cups Buttermilk
- 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts Butterflied and cut in half
- 4 Brioche Buns
Instructions
Brining the Chicken
- Allow the chicken breasts to brine in spicy dill pickle brine anywhere from 12-24 hours ahead of cooking. This will allow the chicken to take on a spicy flavor while also being juicy when you bite in.
Spicy Garlic Aioli
- Combine the diced garlic, mayonnaise, lemon juice, siracha, and salt in a small mixing bowl.
- Whisk to combine completely. Set aside.
Cold Corn, Pickled Onion and Jalapeño Slaw
- Add the vinegar, salt, sugar, and water to a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat.
- When the liquid reaches a simmer, add the onions and jalapeños to the saucepan and stir.
- Immediately after stirring, remove from heat and transfer the onions, jalapeños, and pickling liquid to large bowl. Cover and allow it to rest in the refrigerator.
- While it rests, cut the red cabbage and the corn off of the cob.
- Strain the pickled onions and jalapeños. Then combine the onions, jalapeños, cabbage, and corn in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the juice of one lime and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Add salt to taste.
- Mix to combine thoroughly.
Frying the Chicken
- Combine the flour, garlic powder, paprika, kosher salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper in a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to fully combine all the dry ingredients.
- Pour the buttermilk into medium-sized bowl.
- Pat dry the chicken breasts with paper towel.
- Add a chicken breast to the flour mixture. Then dredge it in the buttermilk and back into the flour mixture.
- Repeat until all chicken breasts are thoroughly coated in the flour mixture.
- Once the oil in the deep fryer or in the deep rimmed sauté pan is hot (350oF). Add the chicken to the fryer or pan.
- Fry until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165oF. Remove the chicken and place it on a paper towel lined plate to soak excess oil.
- Repeat until all of the chicken is cooked.
Putting Together the Sandwich
- While the chicken is cooking, toast the brioche buns.
- Place a chicken breast on the bottom bun. Top the chicken breast with some of the slaw. Add the aioli to the top bun.
- Enjoy!